Outdrive1

I haven't bashed anybody yet, all names have been removed to protect the innocent............but on that note, the builder did say the knock was just valve train noise and that after an adjustment that he never performed that it was perfectly good to go. No matter what you want to blame the failure on you can't exactly trust his intentions after pulling a stunt like that. What he did was completely dis-honest and un-trustworthy. He lied once that makes everything he did a lie in my book. Nothing worse than a lier or a thief.......
Bearings at the front of the motor are trashed. Hard to say what caused the failure. I was planning on sending them to a lab to see what exactly caused the failure. With as much junk that's in the bottom of the pan there's no telling what let go first and what went through the entire motor. Here's a pic of the pan.

Outdrive1

Ok so will 10 work or will it fail because of 10? The builder specifically told me 10 would work when I was putting it together. Everything is new, I could have put 12 in there at that point for minimal difference in cost. He even came to look at everything before we fired it up the first time. After the failure he as amnesia........

Mr Gadgets

I have been running 10an on my present motor for several years... like they said.. 12 is better, but 10 works.. Looks like you got ripped.. I would run and take what you have and start fresh.. just no good way out of it.. Sorry hear about your loss..

monstaaa

the only issues i ever heard of wit hthe smaller lines was bursting after running for a period of time, due to temp and the higher presure at higher rpm.

mnore important are the fittings that the -10 are attached to. for example if you have the -10 hose, going to a -10 x 1/4 or 3/8 npt then you will be defeating the purpose of have an adequate sized line because of the diminished i.d of the fitting itself, therefore creating a restriction. plus using a machined fitting verses a radiused hose end doesnt help.

BillK

bk,

I doubt that a lab will be able to tell you what caused the failure. They may be able to tell you that it was lack of lubrication, but not why. If you really want to find out what caused it, and you are not an experienced engine builder, you really need to have an experienced builder on hand as you disassemble the engine. If nothing else, make sure to keep all of the parts in the proper order so someone can look at them. And absolutely do not clean anything. You can usually figure out what caused an engine to fail IF you carefully inspect and measure everything as it is disassembled. There are many things that can cause bearing failure other than oiling system problems. Detonation, excess fuel in the oil, having the blower belt too tight, etc. A good engine builder should be able to look at everything and figure out what happened, but the further you take it apart yourself, the harder the job becomes. Too bad you are so far away, I would love to see the carnage and try to figure out what happened.

By the way, I want to make sure you understand that I am not defending your original builder. Its just that I have seen too many failures blamed on engine builders over the years that were actually caused by installation, tuneup or abuse. I have been extremely lucky to really not have anything major happen with any engines I have built. I am also very picky as to who I will build them for and how they are started and run.

Bill K

articfriends

iTrader: (1)

What kind of block are you using, if its a factory block does it have the oil bypass valves plugged off or the stiffer ones installed? There have been numerous osoe'rs who have had similar experiences due to block bypass valves allowing oil to bypass the cooler and filter due to oversight on this small detail. I personally would NOT run -10 hose on a bbc running a high volume pump and the kind of load you are running due to the restrictions in the elbows and -10 fittimg being as small as .425 thous. If you have a motor with large clearences,high volume pump and quite a few fittings and adapters running between point a and b you will lose some pressure that you might not want to lose. Would it destroy your motor in 5 hours,probably not,at least not without some warning. How was your oil pressure hot when you first ran it? Did it start dropping as you rpm'd it higher? Smitty

TylerCrockett

iTrader: (1)

When you do put it back together you will need a new oil cooler again. I would use -10 lines. Also make sure they were plumbed right as far as the out of engine to the filter to the cooler and back into the engine.

CcanDo

Was the engine primed before before inital start,do you know if the cam was lubed,what oil was installed,how long and what RPM was the inital start,how did you run the motor on the inital trip.....The valve lash could have been re-adjusted and drifted subject to answers to the questions.

articfriends

iTrader: (1)

If your going to run -10 hoses again make sure you use full flow fittings and avoid any extra bends,measure every fitting and adapter to make sure your not installing any restrictions. I have went as far as boring out/polishing adapter fittings before that were beefy and necked down unnecessarily. Keep your hoses as short as possible too,there are frictional loses thru them too. -10 is only 1/2id,adapters are often as small as 7/16 id,be careful and measure everything,Smitty

articfriends

iTrader: (1)

Something Monstaa mentioned that I can't stress enough too,use full flow radiused hose ends instead of adapter fittings anywhere possible,the adapters,especially 90 degree ones have sharp bends and reduced diameter in them,thats one of the main reasons I use -12 hose and fittings,even though they are also reduced when making turns the smallest ones are about .550 id,Smitty