Last spring I had my '90 L98 engine fully refreshed (all bearings replaced with Clevite, ARP bolts, rods resized, ARP main studs, crankshaft cut/polished, cyl. bores honed, minor deck shaved -.006", new plasma moly rings, etc.)...........mods were then installed............and shortly after engine was broken in, started experiencing oil smoke/blowout on an increasing basis. Approx. 1 qt/200-300 miles . Drive it for about 2,500 miles total, which was barely 4 of the last 12 months.

Well, the diagnosis came in......head gasket failure by one of the water jackets on driver's side bank, causing coolant leakage.......scratched up all the cylinders, cyl. #3 the worst and thats what was responsible for much of the oil burning.

Depending on how deep the scratches in the cylinder walls are (machine shop will determine), its either another re-hone or an overbore.

It could look like time for a 383 stroker. To be truthful, I never imagined this, but it might as well become a reality.

If bored & stroked, what stroker kits are out there that are good and reliable?

Also.......what kind of reliability can I expect? Frankly, I don't hav ethe stomach to continue spending much $$ after this is done. Is engine maintenance any more of an issue? What do I need to be midful of?
Not being a mechanic myself, I'm trying to kepp the extra babysitting and bank account on this to a minimum.

 

Brad, I am soooooo disappointed to hear this. I was hoping the rings hadn't seated in one or two cylinders and you could get by with a rehone........ (maybe you still can?)

Contact Vettenoob. He's currently doing this exact same research and told me yesterday he has some great info

 

That's a real bummer Brad, sorry to hear it. You would be wise to have a minimum skim of the heads this time.

I have heard good things about Eagle cranks and rods, not too expensive either, Summit do 'em.

So much for the original budget!

 

Damn, I knew my ears were burning..

Brad, sorry to hear about the motor, but there is good news

http://home.comcast.net/~pontiacgta/.../Newengine.htm

How's that for a motor? You'll never guess what it puts to the ground through a t56. 440rwhp You probably dont need to use as big of a cam and still put 400+ to the ground.

 

If you don't go too radical on the 383 it should last a long time. That is the route I went.

 

Please advise what head gaskets were used (brand and number), and if they were at fault. I had a recent head gasket failure on my 87 (also alum. heads), and found a slight dip near #7 plug on the head surface (it was not a gasket failure).

Thanks and good luck,
Plasticman

 

Brad, almost never does a head gasket fail on a mild motor. In your type of situation. They do fail on high milage or overheated stuff, but even then, there is a contributiong factor. I smell bs at the machine shop.

 

113K miles on my engine, 70K of which were hard-driven by me over 9 years time, never had any oil burning or coolant leaks. Cylinders still looked new when I took the heads off to put my new ones on last year. How come you didn't cry foul and take it back at the first signs of the problems?

 

Is the machine shop in question paying for anything at this point?

 

damn, Brad....

did he have to bore the block the last time? If so, that block could be junk.

I would see the shop that did the last rebuild owes you something.... That's **** poor QC if you want my take.

 

Check out Scat. They have some real good stuff and are marketing stroker kits for good prices. If you aren't going to be racing every week end a cast crank will work just fine and cut the cost considerably.
I'd be looking for a different machinist too.

 

If the block is real bad, are you going 406?

 

Sorry to hear Brad
It sounds like some chatting with the builder and machine shop is in order
Good Luck with it Brad and hope to hear some good news soon

 

Shoot Brad, hang in there, I know how you feel!

Larry
INDY

 

Thanks everyone for your wonderful support and advice.

I provided Fel-Pro #1010 head gaskets.

It might not be a great idea to shave much on the heads, these already are 54cc chambers.

I didn't cry foul right away because I'm an idiot and assumed it was most likely an intake leak due to the oil. I went on to drive about 1,000 miles. And after so many months of not driving due the downtime with rebuild, I just wanted to be behind the wheel. This is the first time ever in my life I've been involved with engines, mods and the like. I should be shot for my stupidity.

My mechanic is going to press the machine shop for every possible penny. As far as assembly, he torqued down the heads
correctly. He said he never saw a Fel-Pro head gasket fail under my conditions.

It might be noted that very the next day after the rebuild, my engine did get hot (coolant about 240 degrees for a very short period of time, maybe 2 mins.), but this was corrected.

The final evaluation by the machine shop should be done early next week, then I'll know alot more.

Thanks again for all your support. I'll report back as soon as I know more.

 

Brad, 240 is not hot enough to kill it. 235 is when factory aux fan comes on in my car. Felpro gaskets generally do not fail as I mentioned previous. If the do they will accept the proper amount of responsibility including labor.

 

Here's my experience with head gasket problems this past summer. I pulled the stock 113 heads for porting and valvesprings. Installed the heads with thin Cometic? head gaskets. Drove it to town and back. Low coolant light came on. Car wasn't running right. Next day pulled plugs. #7 was wet with coolant. Pulled the heads and took them back to machine shop with gaskets. The coolant passages had eroded larger and did not compress the ring around the cylinder. I had to have the coolant holes welded smaller and have the heads resurfaced. Reinstalled the heads with new thin head gaskets. No problems. Good luck with yours.