632C2

I'm always here to post all of the good news about how much power my cars make. Well, it has finally come to an end. The 632 in my '67 Corvette coupe blew up big time.

I had Jeff Prock at Applied Nitrous come up with 5 new tune-ups on my double cross plate system. The last time I made some nitrous runs was in June of 2007. The car made 1374 rwhp on the highest nitrous settings. These new tune-ups start up where the old ones left off. Naturally, I started with the lowest settings and that is what produced the 1448 rwhp.

After that 1448.54 rwhp run I decided to go up two steps and the instant the nitrous was engaged at 3500 rpm I heard what sounded like two sonic booms and the motor immediately stopped running. I new I was in trouble.

The following pics give you some idea of the damage. The culprit is one of the Carrillo rods - it snapped in half! I am guessing that it happened out of fatigue. I installed this motor in May of 2003 and have driven numerous street miles plus over 210 DynoJet chassis dyno runs.

The aluminum block is pretty chewed up and I am not sure if I will try to get it repaired or not. The Sonny Bryant crank looks good as do 6 pistons and rods. #4 rod is the one that broke and #3 got some collateral damage. I haven't looked closely at the cam but the key that indexes the cam portion of the Jesel belt drive sheared off. I also haven't had time to look closely at the Big Chief heads but there is definitely one bent titanium intake valve.

Oh well, time to figure out what direction I am going to go in repairing this mess...








Steve

gkull

Very sad day

Boy's and their toy's. Each of us have different crying levels. Does yours start about $$ 30 grand?

burners

Bummer, Steve. That's bad news. I always enjoy reading your latest exploits on the dyno but that's too bad. That is truly some wicked damage. I wonder what the cycle life is on those rods at the piston weight you are running. You're not spinning it like a pro-stock but I bet the forces are greater on your engine combination.

tshort

Oh my!!!!
Not sure any amount of words will do my thoughts justice. Sorry to hear it, Steve.
I'm sure you'll have fun building a new bigger and better one though. Any idea yet what direction you want to take it? Replacement, more 'street' power, exotic, etc?

zwede

Very sorry to hear/see that. But we all know you'll come back bigger & stronger than ever!

Alan 71

Hi Steve,
We haven't spoken for a while. I'm the NCRS type guy who is in awe of what you build.
I don't know enough to say anything intelligent! Has anyone ever said even the broken pieces are beautiful when you realize what it took to break them?
Incredible pictures!!!!
Regards,
Alan

632C2

Thanks, George. I hope I am not talking about $30 grand!

Thanks. I agree that I must have exceeded some kind of "life" on these rods.

I appreciate the sentiments from both of you. I am not sure what direction I will take but right now I am leaning towards turning it down a notch or two and make it more streetable. I was happy as a clam with my 542 until Jim and Mark pushed me into a 632.

Steve

632C2

Alan, I remember your posts well. It does my heart good to know that an NCRS type guy can take the time to go outside the box and take the time to look at something like what I have. I appreciate what you say and agree about the broken pieces! Thanks.

Steve

99 Black Bird TA

Steve, that's serious horsepower and amazing pictures, I always enjoy reading about your exploites. Just wondering, had the motor been freshed up recently? Why go up two steps instead of one?

GDaina

yeowzzzaaaa, what a mess, but the block looks repairable, might be cheaper than a the price of a new one. Prolly a new set of rods and sell the surviving ones?

zwede

Yeah, you have to watch it with Jim. You listen to the guy a just a little while and all of a sudden you find you built a pro-stocker. "nah, it'll run just fine on 13:1 compression. Just needs a little more cam to bleed it off."

Maybe it's time to look into exotic stuff? Try to match the 632 power with a twin-turbo small-block? Or maybe the new LSx engines? You haven't played around with EFI yet, right?

7T1vette

Nearly 1500hp out of 632 cubes is a bunch! I don't know what those rods are rated to withstand, but apparently not that much. I wish you the best on your salvage and repair work.

Gordonm

I always enjoy your posts and the numbers you put up are amazing. Don't really enjoy this one but you kept pushing it to see what it could do. Well I think you found it. That is a shame but I'm sure you will come back with something impressive.

632C2

Thanks, Wade. No, the motor has not been freshened up. I pull the pan off from time to time and examine the bearings. They always look perfect. I run a dry sump with this deal. I do leakdown tests quite frequently and it is still registering less than 2% across the board. Also, I pull the roller lifters constantly - they are Isky EZX - and they look perfect as well. I honestly never gave any consideration to the rods fatiguing. As to why I went up two steps instead of one - well that's easy - greed!

George, I agree with you that repairing the block will be cheaper than a new one. I just don't have enough info yet on the strength of the repair. I will need a new set of rods along with a new set of pistons. I'm not sure I would feel very good selling the rods though.

Jim is one in a million alright. You bring up some good points about twin-turbos or LSX engines. Unfortunately I am still hung up on big-inch motors. I have done some work with EFI on my Callaway Twin Turbo and I have toyed with the idea of running it on my 632 from time to time. I appreciate the interest and suggestions.

Thanks for your well wishes. Don't forget that that 1448 rwhp is at the rear wheels. If I were to use a conversion factor, it would amount to 1777.25 flywheel horsepower!!

Thanks Gordon. Yes I will come back but the question is with what. I really like the suggestions I am hearing.

Steve

zwede

The average pro-stocker only makes around 1200hp. You've done alright.

63mako

You can build it as strong as possible and it will still have a breaking point. Finding yours @ over 1777 flywheel HP shows how well built this beast really was. Carrillo rods are the best. Don't think you got anything available stronger. Sorry for your loss as it is our loss also. Always enjoy your posts and looking forward to the new build. I would go with a complete new short block

632C2

Thanks Markus! Now if I can just get some sponsor money...

I appreciate the kind words.

BTW, I have made all of these nitrous runs with the Autogear M-22. It is still together and working like a champ. I called George @ Autogear and he appreciated hearing about the numbers and the fact that the trans is still together. He said that those numbers are way outside their design criteria.

Steve

VETMANIAC

Steve,
I am very sorry for the carnage, but in the famous words of Jim Moorepower: "What you need to do is...."

http://www.sonnysracingengines.com/sar932.html

You should look at this as a SOFU (Significant Opportunity For Upgrade).

Add some twin turbos to the 932 above, some fuel injection and see how far you can go on pump gas with the hair dryers. Should keep you busy for a while trying different cams. You could even tune for E85 for the killer runs. Speaking of dyno runs, you do know that there is a chassis dyno competition in one of the Popular Hot Car magazines? The current champ is above 1700 RWHP. I don't think there are any limitations on C.I.s. You should be able to walk away with the title next year no problem.

Why? Because you gotta have goals.

632C2

Thanks Nick. Some of Jim's ideas must be rubbing off on you!

As far as the chassis dyno competition, heck that's for dyno queens only. That leaves me out.

Steve

63mako

Yes The Autogear is a pretty bulletproof trans. Like I told you before, the guy that built mine is a weekend warrior at the dragstrip. 540 W/ 3 stages of nitrous. 3 years of 5000 RPM launches and powershifts on slicks in his street legal 57 every weekend the strip is open and no trans issues. But 1777 HP will break this too. If you stage your nitrous you will have a better chance of keeping the motor and drivetrain in one piece.