Just lucky I guess. It's not as rare are you think. There are 4 fixed calipers and 275mm/335mm of R compound that will pull more G's than most sports cars. It stresses everything. I bet a 10 psi residual out back will fix it, I'm just worried about excess heat. I've also considered doing springs behind the caliper pistons like they did in the old days. Wilwood claims it won't work, but I don't think they want the liability of telling me to mod my calipers. The other alternative is a floating rear end. Power brakes with a larger piston would help dramatically but I don't make enough vaccum. A hydraboost unit would also allow a bigger piston and would help dramtically but I like manual brakes on the race track. I know how to fix it, it's just at what compromise and how much money I want to spend.
Well I decided the engine needed torn down and inspected after an oil filter examination. For those of you that have been following along, I lost a bronze distributor gear at around 1800 miles on the engine. The engine builder made a mistake. The camshaft has a cast gear and you can't use a bronze gear.....Anyway, all that debris went through the motor from day 1. I changed the oil twice within 500 miles and found bronze and silver metallics. I've put about 1500 miles on the car since the last oil change. This time it was no different. The engine clearly was slowly hurting itself. Every pleet had some bronze and silver.
I started at about 9 and Aj showed up at around 10:30. We had it on the stand by 1:30 or so. Thanks for the help. You talk about a flippin mess!!!!!
I ripped into it yesterday afternoon but ran out of steam and needed a 7/16 12 point 3/8 to loosen the rod bolts. I have done a brief inspection and here are some of the biggest findings.
Most bearings had distributor gear debris embedded. The worst were the bearings that had actually started coming apart and had deep pits. Number 3 main and number 4 cam bearing were the worst. I also found 2 pushrods with excess wear.
So anyway, would the engine have lasted a while? Maybe..... but I wasn't taking any chances of grenading the motor on the road course etc. Now I need to find a reputable engine shop that can blueprint, re balance the crank, hot tank the block, etc. Any recomendations will be appreciated.
Now for the fun part, more compression and a mechanical cam. I'll put it together and make sure it's done right. It will be better. Here is where I stand.
Man, it's always something huh, Todd? Sucks about the engine, but at least no major damage. Now you can rebuild it yourself and KNOW FOR A FACT that it is good to go!
GOOD LUCK BUD & cool of AJ to come over and help out!
So anyway, would the engine have lasted a while? Maybe..... but I wasn't taking any chances of grenading the motor on the road course etc. Now I need to find a reputable engine shop that can blueprint, re balance the crank, hot tank the block, etc. Any recomendations will be appreciated.
Now for the fun part, more compression and a mechanical cam. I'll put it together and make sure it's done right. It will be better. Here is where I stand.
Good luck with this Todd and as stated IT WILL BE BETTER Up here we call that winter work. But considering where your from there's no such thing I guess.
Dang I fell way behind on this thread. Had to spend the last couple hours catching up, guess I never subscribed. It's great to see the story continue and get to learn from the problems you are running into and the adjustments you make. Thanks for all the good info
You are pretty resilient. How may times can a person rebuild a new car? I like you attitude.
The way most balance a motor is put the lightest piston with the heaviest rod and take material off the balance pad of the rod and add or subtract weight at the crank.
Have a friend that has one of GM's ZL-1 blocks punched out to 496. His motor made 603 at the flywheel. Not sure the specs, but I can get them for you if you like as it would be a good starting point to try and squeeze out another 50 hp.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
It's not as rare are you think. There are 4 fixed calipers and 275mm/335mm of R compound that will pull more G's than most sports cars. It stresses everything. I bet a 10 psi residual out back will fix it, I'm just worried about excess heat. I've also considered doing springs behind the caliper pistons like they did in the old days. Wilwood claims it won't work, but I don't think they want the liability of telling me to mod my calipers. The other alternative is a floating rear end. Power brakes with a larger piston would help dramatically but I don't make enough vaccum. A hydraboost unit would also allow a bigger piston and would help dramtically but I like manual brakes on the race track. I know how to fix it, it's just at what compromise and how much money I want to spend. 
You talk about a flippin mess!!!!!
Hybrid Mode
