Well, it wasn't long till my built motor let go. Here is the original thread from a few months ago when I first bought the car:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-f...ing-blown.html

Cliffnotes version:
Bought car with 18k miles
2004 Z06 - let go when it had 19.8 k miles - the built motor had at most 10k miles on it
ECS built motor (stock crank, manley rods/pistons, steel top/napier second)
ECS Novi 2k with 3.0 pulley (20# of boost)
ECS cam
ECS meth
ECS tuned
AFR 205 heads
Boost/FP gauge (worthless bc its not boost referenced and showed a static 55#)
No AFR gauge
Tex OZ700 clutch

Fast forward to two weeks ago, I was on the highway, with Bret riding shotgun, and at the top of third gear, the far fell on its face. I pull over, pop the hood and we notice the dipstick is pushed out, as I limp it back to Bret's house, the check engine soon light is blinking, indicating that the car is missing. I park it as his place, we pull the plugs and check compression and find that cylinder #1 has ZERO compression and also find that it is puking coolant.

Fast forward to today. Bret finally had time to tear it down and found some very interesting things inside my motor. Keep in mind this is a forged motor

#7


#7


#1


#1


#1


#1


#1


He also had to cut a rocker out of the head as it was bolted down so tight that it broke one of his snap on sockets

I will also have to replace a valve and have the heads shaved a bit to ensure they are flat.

The tune was a MAF tune and Bret pulled the tune from the car, didn't not make any adjustments, and noticed that fueling was not boost referenced (ie: running 20#s, my effective fuel pressure was 35#). We logged the car when I first got it and it did not have any knock. I did have the seller take the car over to ECS before I purchased it to have the car and tune looked over and it was given a good bill of health; this is when it laid down the 853rwhp number.

The meth was full and operating correctly and 93 octane was in the tank.

Cause of destructions: Do we know what happened, not really. By the looks of things, it was obviously catestrophically lean. Bret and I conclude that it wasn't caused by a faulty injector in the #1 cylinder as the #7 cylinder was on its way out too. The fuel pressure, or lack there of, due to it not being boost referenced looks to be the main driver of this failure.

After knowing I blew my motor, I contacted ECS first to see if they could help out any way and to see what their thoughts were about what could have happened. They told me that they didn't ship motors out because they liked to build/install/tune the entire package. Chris told me to contact LME here in Texas and that they would try to extend their dealer cost to me; not what I was hoping for as LME wasn't involved but that is what I was told. After thinking things over, I decided against this route for a few reasons and decided that I would go with the shop that is local(ish) and whom everyone seems to have success with, HKE.

I called Erik over at HKE and we talked for about 45 min and he gave me a GREAT price on a 402 using the following parts:

-6L Iron Block
-Callies Dragonslayer crank
-Callies rods
-Weisco pistons
-Mogul main bearings
-ACL rod bearings
-LS7 Lifters
-LS9 head gaskets
-ARP hardware
-Reusing my cam/heads

Erik has been great over this entire process, we have talked many times on the phone and have exchanged numerous emails. He is confident that this motor will hold what I plan on using the car for. I HIGHLY recommend contacting HKE directly via email or phone for any motor build.

The rods and cam will be sent to Erik tomorrow and I hope to have everything back in a week or so. I will keep this thread updated as I know more info.

What this thread is:
-A place to document my build
-For others to learn what happened
-To present the FACTS as I find them by posting as many pictures as I can
-To thank the vendors/individuals that have helped

What it is not:
-A finger pointing thread

Thanks for following

 

Parts being added to the car:

83# injectors
McLeod RXT clutch and steel FW
Remove clutch bleeder
SD tune by Bret
2001 Honda Accord

 

Wiring BEFORE


...During...


And AFTER!!!

 

Last reserved spot!

 

Good luck Brian! Hope everything works out in the end. Got the wheels on




Seen any bigass Tigers lately lol!

 

Did someone say 1k RWHP?

 

Can't wait for updates.

 

Me either!

 

The wheels look perfect! Wish I didn't have to sell them but am glad they went to someone that will appreciate them! And no, I haven't seen any more Tigers lately

 

Going to be a sweet build for sure.. Keep us posted...

 

Nice build you have going and wow that is carange

 

Thanks! And no kidding....Ill keep everyone updated

 

 

The key thing to focus on IMHO, is why this happened after 4? years of use, and some hard runs prior yourself. The original owner was fairly tame on it I think, but the second owner did not have drag radials on it for nothing.
Instant carnage like this has to come down to something failing, bad fuel, etc. That is the key thing here, because one time stinks, two times is crushing..

Let us know if you have any questions.

 

Just for facts/clarification for the thread, the motor was built in Sept 08 and has at most 9k miles on it. The original owner, Ken, had DRs on it as well as evidenced by his FS thread a year or so ago. DRs were replaced by the second owner bc with anything but DRs the car is undriveable. Ken drove it pretty gingerly and from talking with Nicky, the guy I bought it from, he didn't drive it much as he only put less than 5k miles during his ownership. The car has never been to the track, it is a 100% street car.

The car did have 93 in it and the meth was spraying. We will never know if the gas is bad or not.

Thanks Doug, Ill give yall a call if I need anything during the rebuild!

 

Damn that sucks bro. At least its in good hands now. Still sucks. I know the feeling all to well.


JB

 

that sucks Brian! I know how long and hard you looked for that car too.

IMO, I would ditch the meth on the next go around. you can make more than enough power on 93, if you want increased octane throw some race gas in there and call it a day.

 

Motor disassembled, parts being reused are cleaned and have been sent to machine shop.

Heads dropped off locally for surfacing and inspection.


The assembly of the motor was good. The one fact that really bothers me is the fact that this car was making 857rwhp and running 60lb injectors. Those injectors had no business in this motor. Period. They won't be going back in, I promise!

Looking back won't help except for learning from mistakes. The motor's hurt and needs fixing. It's going to take some work and cost some dough and it'll be back on the road in a few weeks.

Just a reminder. It's a hobby. Not an investment.

 

I agree, Im having the car SD tuned this time around and tuning it without meth then will add some on top for safety. It will not be a meth reliant tune. If I could go back 4 months I would have spent the extra 2k and gotten your car.

Live and learn and I hope others learn from this too.

Your the man! Cant thank you enough for what you have done for me so far

 

Bret is a huge asset to the community