Fatal Mistakes....

[bsfc9]

Installing super 7 keepers on a 10 degree retainer.

[Noob]

I saw a racers at the track towing his car around the paddock. I asked him what he was doing and he said "This here's my new engine just got done rebuildin her. I'm clearancing the bearings right now. This engine's so tight I couldn't spin it with a breaker bar. It's gonna be awesome!"

At that point I wished them luck and smiled like anyone else would have.

[MaxFlow]

This is one of the best threads I've ever read. I'm gonna piss myself in a minute. Keep em' comin'




I'm sure a few guys have seen this one.



Guy comes picks up a fresh rebuild. Takes it home to install it in the car. Bout a month later he calls and says the engine won't run. Just burps and farts. Cusses me to no end that he had worked for a month on that think and he was going to take it out to bring it back to me to see what was wrong. I instantly thought about the rotor turning backwards and ask him about it. He said, "**@)$#(%&@)$(& thanks.

[PackardV8]

Most of the first-generation OHV V8s and 6-cyls used shaft rocker arms and oiled the rockers via pressure up through a passage around a head bolt. These passages are usually located/contained by a pressed steel sleeve. Sometimes the rocker stands themselves also have a sleeve. Carelessly tightening down the rocker stands against spring pressure, it is possible to crimp one of these sleeves. Then, the full oil pressure is diverted sideways out between the block and head, or between the rocker stand and head. Happened so often back in the bad old days, one local track had to treaten to start banning anyone who oiled the track by not starting a rebuild and checking it for leaks before going out on the track.

[k-star]

The worst thing i ever did.......This was the 4th or 5th engine i ever rebuilt. It was a 289 ford. The guy wanted to turn it into a hi-po..He found an orginal fomoco 289 hi-po cam. When i pulled the cam out of the box it looked like it had chicken pox or something... I was only to build the short block and he was going to install the heads and cam..I just finished the engine because he never seamed to have the time to come to my garage. I am not sure what i was thinking or if i was even thinking at all but i never polished the cam journals to remove the "POX". he installed the engine and upon firing it the thing only ran 30 seconds and shut off... I went to his garage and discovered the rotor not turning when the engine rotated....We took it apart and found the snout of the cam broken flush with the block. The timing chain in the pan... The thing stuck 2 cam bearings to the cam also....


IMO one of the most over looked and preventable problems in engine building is cleaning the crank oil holes.... Most builders assume when the crank comes off the grinder it's clean,,, and we all know it's not any where close to being clean most of the time...Back when i used a bunch of re-man cranks ,, them things were filthy in the oil holes.. All that crud gets washed throught the bearings and alot of times something else gets the blame for it... Even the aftermarket cranks are not real clean when you get them.... I use a small light to inspect every hole before and after cleaning..just as a double check...


The same goes for rings... I have been in some high class shops and wathced builders take the rings right out of the box, gap them and install them on the pistons and never clean the crud off of them first...

Keith

[MDT]

I also found out in high school (when my shop teacher told me you cant weld a steel pick up to a cast iron pump housing) that it take just about the whole summer for that pick up to fall off.What a Donkey !

[toddcalo]

Whats the fastest way to remove two quarts of oil from a small block chevy, (and prevent you cieling from ever rusting ) with out ever starting it or removing the drain plug?? Prime the oil pump without the rear galley plug in place ( you know the one that points straight up right in your face right where your standing when you priming the pump at 2:30 in the morning trying to get ready to go circle racing. Been there done that.

[sgodbey]

Found out the hard way what happens when you put the spring in a chevy oil pump backwards. Blew the seal completely out of the filter and ruined a perfectly good pair of shoes, not to mention the oil slick on everything within a 5 foot arc around the thing.

[SonnyJames]

Installing the rear cam bearing in to far uncovering oil gally starving top for oil.

[Mark Workman]

I contracted to build an engine for a fellow, but just as the parts arrived, he called me, said I "was taking too long", he would assemble it, and was on his way over to pick up the parts. This guy had always been a PITA, so I did not even try to talk him out of it. So he pays for his parts (with a bad check, but that's another story) and is gone. I didn't hear anything for a couple of weeks, then he calls me and inquires about the "warranty". I said while there was no official warranty per se, I had always stood behind my own labor, but since I didn't do anything to his engine except machine the block and order parts, he was S.O.L. Then he proceeded to tell me the engine was junk, wanted his money back, was going to sue me, etc, etc. I have found that when there is litigation involved, it is always best to perform the initial autopsy, rather than have to defend oneself from incompetent failure analysts at a later date. So just B.S'ing him a little, I "offered" to determine the cause of the failure, and if my parts were at fault, I would "make good". I knew they weren't.

I found that every bearing in the engine was completely burned out/spun, with heat signatures everywhere. I knew the clearances were correct, and since the engine had failed shortly after start-up, what happened? As soon as I removed a main bearing from a cap, it became obvious. This guy had LOCTITED the bearings in place! Every one of them! After we all shared a good laugh, I called him up, told him I had it figured out, come on over and we'll discuss. I guess he thought I was going to write him a check, 'cause he showed up very quickly. I made sure my shop helper was present at the discussion when I inquired about the "stuff behind the bearigs". He readily admitted it was red Loctite(seemed rather proud of his idea, actually). As soon as he did that, I explained to him that his actions were the cause of his troubles, that our business was done, he could remove his parts and himself from the premises immediately, and he was welcome to sue me if he cared to. Funny thing, I never did hear from him again, and when I saw Loctite(his instant new nickname) at the track a few months later, he acted like we were old friends.

[RMHP]

i got 2 real quick ones. starting a 70 corvette for the first time in early spring. fire it up and a geyser of oil comes from oil line hole that had not been fitted. said geyser shoots really high and goes right into the radiant heater which then converts the oil into flaming oil falling back on this nice vette! i didn't see it but the guy who did it said it looked crazy as heck.

tbi chevy pickup comes in the dealership one day another tech has the ticket so i don't pay much attention to it. next thing he's askin if i wanna give him 25 bucks for the core cuz hes puttin a target in it.( there never used to be a core on gm new engines so the tech got the core). i asked what was wrong and he said it was makin some noise. i already had a load of them and was gettin them for free so i wasn't too interested so the lube kid bought it. couple days later the lube kid comes over to me and says look at this cam! this cam had the goofiest grooves on the lobes i had ever seen!!!! it ended up someone had rebuilt the motor and put a roller in it and hyd roller tappets with no tie bars or spider!!! so they were just spinning away! i should have hung that cam on the wall

[beth]

Years ago many people were standing in a garage watching a 55 chev with a nicely built 427 and and new 4 speed. The motor sounded great while it warmed up and adjustments were made. After a bit the Throttle was blipped a few times and all was well until the last blip when the bone dry 4 speed transmission had the bearings seize to the shaft and the nice 55 crashed thru the persons workbench and stopped against the garage wall. Luckily those in front got out of the way in time.

[Masher Manufacturing]

[quote="RMHP"] put a roller in it and hyd roller tappets with no tie bars or spider!!! so they were just spinning away! [/quote]

I changed a 4.3 in a Astro with a similar problem. At 50K ( judging by the dirty heads and pretty short block ) the motor got a short block but the spider was never installed. Van came to me at about 80 K. One tie bar had popped up allowing the roller lifter to spin. The main issue was the metal from the cam made it's way through the oiling system causing a crank bearing failure.

[hotrod]

1) Trying to test fire a Chevy 409 with no carburator on it, using a plastic squeeze bottle full of gasoline to provide fuel.

(memo -- when a big block back fires into an open manifold it will blow a plastic bottle full of gasoline out of a 17 year olds hand. Leading to a merry game of pickup the burning bottle and heave it out of the garage)


2) Shimming the oil pump for improved oil pressure with a shim that is too thick. Results include pinging the 100 psi oil pressure gauge off the stop so fast it looks like a tach needle. Shortly after noticing the oil pressure gauge pin, watching the oil filter can bouncing across the gas station parking lot followed by most of the engine oil. Reflex test of driver soon follows --- how fast can you turn off the ignition?


3) Improperly staked "saucer freeze plugs". A 392 hemi will make a very nice contrail of boiling water and antifreeze when it looses a freeze plug at 90 mph. This contrail makes it easy to complete your pass as the other driver jumps on the brakes as his visability goes to zero. The bad news is the pass does not last long as your forced to pull over and figure out what that loud "Thwack ------ Ting ---- Clang ---- ding ding " sound was. Good news is when you look in the rear view mirror and see the steam cloud you have the problem diagnosed before the car stops rolling.


Larry

[racin69z]

Forgot to hook up the oil pressure line on the back of the block, started the motor and out shot the oil. The motor wouldn't shut off because the msd was backfeeding. Had to pull the coil wire.

Built a new motor for brother and law, filled it with water, started it up and it sounded good. About 10 minutes into breaking in the cam I looked down at the upper radiator hose and it was as big around as a football. It blew up just as we ran out of the shop.

Changing the oil in the wifes exploder after night shift and poured 6 quarts of synthetic oil into the motor and realized I forgot to put in the drain plug.