If you can think of anything you want me to look at or take pics of let me know I'll gladly do whatever I can to get to the cause, I'm leaning towards the cam bolt not being as tight as it should for some reason and letting the cam get out of phase for now, anyway gotta run, see ya'll afterwhile.
FYI, your local guy spraying 250 is probably an exception to the rule and this will not last forever either. Has your engine ever been over-revved to your knowledge?
I've been thinking that from the beginning but I didn't want to insult you since you said it was torqued to spec and had loctite. I still don't think the valve kissing the piston like that would have bent/broken a connecting rid though. Possibly 2 things causing your failure... What do the cam lobes and bottom of lifters look like?
okay so the rod definitely went before #8 valves bent considering the, in my opinion obvious, rotation of the piston. that much force could cause the pin on the cam to shear, therefore bending the rest of the valves... so the rod is more then likely one of the first if not the first thing to go... i don't honestly think the cam bolt being loose had anything to do with it because of the fact the rod broke... i personally think that the broken rod is the cause of this. how the rod broke? i don't know.... hydrolock is possible but what else could cause the rod to break?
Was the #8 valve still locked into the valve spring or were the keepers dislodged? A dropped valve could have been the beginning of the train wreck. I would look at the retainer and keepers for clues.
OK, Let me try to answer all these questions, first it won't insult my intelligence John, I did use a torque wrench and loc-tite however who's to say I didn't have my mind on something else and instead of 40 ft. lbs. I used 30, don't think so but hey.......I can't see the rod being the first to go because I had just cranked it up and prior had driven about 5 miles gently and again if the rod broke and hit #8 valve that shock would have to travel up the vavle stem through the roller rocker, back down the pushrod through the hydraulic lifter and then lock up the cam...seems an awful big stretch, in my opinion one of those many other links would have gave way first, but hey I'm totally open. All the valves are still locked into the springs and keepers they are just hung open from the bent shafts not making it back through the guides and as for over revving...well it has seen right at 7000 rpm a couple times but according to piston velocity for a 3 inch stroke is good for 8k with valvetrain gear that will accomodate it of course, I know that it never once floated the valves and was pulling very strong at the 7k mark, the couple times I turned it to 7k was well over a week or so ago and it had seen mutiple 5500 rpm pulls since those, so I'm still at the cam bolt for some reason backing off enough to put all the load on just that pin which is just a guide I have learned and the cam bolt is actually what drives the cam.......open to all options
and yes I know he is on borrowed time, my point was merely his stock rods taking that hydrolock shouldn't break a rod IMO only
oh, and the cam lobes and lifters are in excellent condition, you would think they were still new, as they almost are
Could this have originated from a stuck valve? And fwiw. I hydrolocked my motor while it was running recently with a fairly decent volume of water (engine fire) and didn't break any rods. So I doubt that's your issue
don't think so as the heads are fairly new and again would one stuck valve cause all this damage, opinions seem to vary but I am more firm on the opinion that the cam gear bolt loosened or wasn't torqued properly the first time around and it caused the failures...........but here is where it stands now.....the granma's both got together and bought Sam a used Mazda Miata from a family member so he would have transportation and it would take the pressure off of having to rush to get his Mav going although he say's the Miata looks like a girl's car he is grateful but one of the first things he said was 'Dad, can we build a 408?" I said where did you hear about 408 strokers and he said his friend was telling him about them, odd thing was I was just thinking that very thing after I found out they got him some wheels, soooooo anyone got a good 351 roller block?lol
There is one in Tampa a member has in the for sale section, I wanted it but the drive would eat me up in fuel.
Yeah way out of range for me, however I'm in no rush I'm actually relaxing and am not going to even touch a car for at least a week, then the youngster and I are going to sit down and have a serious talk, because now we are starting to talk about very serious power and he needs to understand what type of power that is on the street, I for one think it's a good idea to go with a block that can handle 700 hp or up to 1000 hp with 4 bolt mains and a girdle instead of being limited to a block that will split once you get above 450, not saying it has to have that much power to start with but the money to get say 450 hp out of a 302 block will get you well into the 600+ range on the 351 and you can still build upon it as skills increase, regardless this is a slow process, if anything for right now I have that non roller 0.60 over shortblock and a pair of E7 heads that I could throw him a motor together for a few hundred dollars if he just has to drive his Mav, just a cam/lifter set and gasket set and I think I have everything else..oh yeah an oil pan
Yeah my Grabber has the 351W roller in it now and I am pulling it soon, just busy, the Grabber gets better gas mileage than my 2004 Ford F-150, F-150 gets like 12 to 15 mpg, that would cost me to run down there, yes take it easy sit back and contemplate your options, 408 is what I am doing, should be plenty for me, as for the 302, I may put my 289 heads I have now on my 351W on it and keep it for a backup.
Yes I will and it's nice to have options like that, funny thing I ran an ad for 302 roller blocks and have had 2 calls in the last hour, one complete with heads for $150 never bored and another guy wanted $500 for the bare block, lol
Well I think we have covered as much on this as there is too cover so let's let this thread sink on down, it has been running headline for awhile and it's time to move on..now if anyone has info or wants to ask more about it feel free to bring it right back up but as for me, I'm going to accept cam bolt backing out/being loose/etc. as cause of failure...thanks for all the input, ya'll are a great bunch
