Okay, it has been over a year since I started this project, mainly because I don't have a place to work on the car here in San Diego so I have to travel north to turn wrenches on it. First of all the motor is a pretty stout motor. It is a rebuilt 302 with a 550 bump stick from Comp Cams, it's got a nice set of heads (don't remember what exactly) but they boast a 550 lift and duration (sounds right) 600cfm Edelbrock carb, and Edelbrock torker II intake manifold, it is bored over .30 and have high compression pistons (about 10:1) After getting it all together and trying to drive it home from Lemoore, CA. to San Diego (first mistake ) I had the best 83 miles of my life. She ran strong, pulled hard and I felt like nothing could touch me. Long story short, this was on Tuesday of last week, pulled over after hearing a few knocking sounds. The alternator bracket snapped in two, the top alt. bolt that goes into the head....snapped in two. After getting it home and on the lift....passanger side had two header bolts back out...new welded metal brace on the exhaust pipes snapped, dist. bolt backed off. Then after getting everything bolted back up on Thursday, I noticed that the bottom ear on the starter (where it bolts to the tranny) was snapped! Got a replacement (parts house wouldn't honor the warranty and only gave me half credit on the core ) Get the new starter bolted up...run it down the backrouads pretty hard and bring it back to the garage and to my amazement, not both ears on the starter are snapped clean off, leaving the starter dangling. Both mounting bolts are in the tranny holes with the ears bolted in place! It looks aligned right...but I am having issues right now with what to do. Any help guys......:confused:
My first guess would be a major vibration since all your attaching stuff is what is breaking. I would think that you would be able to feel it though.
I can only give you a guess (provided the balancer and flexplate/flywheel are correctly matched). One thing I was told I must do before taking my Maverick out after the install, was to "Nut and Bolt" from one end of the car to the other. That means re-torquing EVERY SINGLE NUT AND BOLT on the car before taking it out. I was amazed at how many loose fasterners I found (starter included). The headers should be re-torqued after 'so many' hours on them. Also, the head bolts should be re-torqued (not what you wanted to hear, but that's what 'they' say). re: starter prob / broken flanges Could be that the bolts were loose during one (of the many) times it was cranked before you took off. The starter has to take one helluva side load AND torque load to turn the the engine over. I could see where if the starter wasn't sinched to the block, that the torque would put the flange eyelets in direct shear (whereas the starter would be nearly integral with the block if it was tightened down properly). Of course I can't say this is the case nor am I suggesting you didn't do something right, but it's a plausible explaination. Better luck next time out.
as far as I know the harmonic balancer is the correct one as well as the flywheel. I don't feel any abnormal vibration, but the car does have enough rumble to it that things shake like crazy...rear view mirror, change in the ashtray but it doesn't seem like a "bad" shaking, more like a :bananaman shaking!!
You sure about the balancer and flywheel balance? Sounds like way too much shaking to me ... although I never heard of a starter breaking ... ???
I use my ash tray for change also. Very convenient location for change when going through a drive through. No one smokes in my car anyways and the radar detector uses the cig lighter most of the time.
If your car is shaking that bad, you have something misbalanced If you overtighten a started also it can break, same as not tightening it enough. A cam with 550 lift shouldn't shake the whole car that bad. I've rode in a car w/ that size lift and solid motor mounts and didn't shake that bad. You have a balance problem somewhere... Check damper, flywheel, etc
83 miles of driving on a unbalanced setup (if that is indeed what actually happened), can NOT be good on the bearings. Let's hope that's not the case.
I have 566/576 of lift and havent broken a thing. Went many passes down a strip too. You have a higher frequency vibration problem.
dont let anyone with dentures ride with you... it will shake their teeth right out of their mouth i would have to say you have some balancing issues... maybe the flywheel... dampner.. or maybe something in the crank and rods... i hope you get it fixed.. but i have NEVER heard of those ears breaking off before...
I had a problem with the mustang starter breaking ears. the flywheel ring gear was out of alignment ( had some crap between it and the flywheel. Advice on the return to the store: JB WELD!
