327 340 hp bad rebuild?
07-10-2015, 06:52 PM
#22
Team Owner
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07-10-2015, 06:55 PM
#23
Racer
Also it sounds like the first cam failure with such low milage may have been from not using the correct oil with additives for flat tappet cam / solid lifter. Then the the rebuild /change over to roller lifters as John Z explained without proper valve springs was second disaster.
07-10-2015, 07:03 PM
#24
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This explanation also matches your result's symptoms.
Weak stock springs unchanged on installing a roller cam? Not smart, and not knowledable.
07-10-2015, 07:19 PM
#25
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07-10-2015, 07:26 PM
#26
Burning Brakes
Did they forget to install a cam button to prevent the cam from walking forward? Just another item to look for.
I hate to hear stories like this. Best of luck to you getting everything back and running again.
I hate to hear stories like this. Best of luck to you getting everything back and running again.
07-10-2015, 07:49 PM
#28
Le Mans Master
John, would that also be the case with a hydraulic roller? Any guess how much lower RPM?
07-10-2015, 08:00 PM
#30
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07-10-2015, 08:41 PM
#31
Melting Slicks
If he kept the stock springs with a roller cam you have a smoking gun.......
07-10-2015, 08:48 PM
#32
Team Owner
There is nothing wrong with solid lifters....you were sold down the river
07-10-2015, 08:56 PM
#33
Le Mans Master
We have not heard the shops version of this but it sure sounds like the shop was not qualified to touch your engine. Very Sorry for your issues. If he is still in business Bob Fall Machine was just across the boarder in Ohio. Bob is very good. He may have retired.
I have not spoke with him in 10 years now.
I have not spoke with him in 10 years now.
07-10-2015, 09:10 PM
#34
Instructor
Thread Starter
Thanks for your info. I was reviewing my bill & I noticed the shop charged me for 6 gallons of antifreeze. I am pretty sure this car holds around 16 quarts. Do you happen to know the capacity for this car with the radiator & engine totally drained?
Last edited by 1963Corvette; 11-24-2015 at 10:19 AM. Reason: legal
07-10-2015, 09:23 PM
#36
Le Mans Master
Yes, it would. Don't know without actual testing, but when a flat-tappet factory spring is 190# open, a typical roller is 300#-400# over-the-nose, AND the actual lift at the valve is much higher as well; that can lead to coil bind (and the sad results of that problem) if the flat-tappet valve springs aren't changed.
This engine was built in 1971 with a Crane solid roller and saw about 500 miles of use, with more than a dozen runs at over 7000 rpm... without a cam button...
Even thought the engine never let go, when it was torn down 30+ years later, this is what was discovered...
...I can only guess, luck was in play.
GUSTO
07-10-2015, 09:48 PM
#37
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If you filled the cooling system with 100% antifreeze, it wouldn't hold 6 gallons!
07-10-2015, 10:06 PM
#39
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A competent shop, it seems to me, would not convert a solid lifter engine to hydraulic without asking you and certainly not without doing it correctly. I'm not sure why a competent shop would suggest anyone make such a conversion in the first place.
I had a Pontiac 389 burn a rod bearing after a rebuild, this occurred shortly after I got the engine hot, but not boiling over from dragging brakes. The shop wanted to blame me. When I finished with them, they fixed it.
When a shop gets positional immediately you must immediately get them a well crafted lawyer's letter threatening a consumer fraud action which in Massachusetts is a 93-A action and comes with automatic triple damages. See if Michigan law is any different. Ask a lawyer you know for a referral to or google up a lawyer who specializes in defective products and services in the biggest city near you. The burden of proof is on him that you over sped the engine since he makes that contention while you are merely making a claim under the warrantee.
Done right it will get the pr*#k's attention. If he's a stupid pr*#k you may have to sue him, if he's a run of the mill pr*#k he will come around as soon as he sees he will need to pay lawyer to defend him and it is cheaper to put things right. Once you get him to fix it, pay him to break it in himself, take it back only after he says it can be driven normally.
Dan
Last edited by dplotkin; 07-10-2015 at 10:38 PM.
