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Originally Posted by fulcrumaero

LS
Richard's Machine shop in Euless

What's wrong....still trying to figure that out. At MSR-H, on lap one, my oil pressure suddenly dropped to zero, and the motor locked up before I could pull off. The engine had a light-rebuild, and only had about 5 hours of dyno time on it.
After I took apart the engine, rod bearing #4 had spun, and 1-6 were heavily scored. The oil-pump (previously new) had zero signs of wear, and had no contaminates in it. The oil pan was full of bearing shavings, and the pump pickup screen had shavings on it, but none made it into the pump. I didn't find shavings anywhere on the top end. I keep forgetting to cut apart my oil filter to examine it.
So, I'm not sure if low oil pressure lead to the rod bearing failure, or if the bearings killed the oil pressure. If not the bearings fault, I'm not sure what to blame.

My crank was warped, and is being replaced with a used unit. The block is currently being line-bored (I hope).

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Did you use ARP Rod bolts? Their instructions say you need to resize the rod ends after torquing them to spec. I have read of similar failures to yours when skipping this step and I have read about guys having no problems when skipping this step. Not saying this is what happened just throwing it out there, also this doesn't explain the lack of shavings anywhere other than the pan?
We have been using katech rod bolts specifically because they don't require this step.
Good luck with your motor, I hope you make it to Cresson

Yes, I did use APR rod bolts, as was suggested by a couple of people. I did not know that the rods should be resized, since they install from the cap side. My machinist also believes this to be the cause. Great info for the future, thanks!

Block was not ready yesterday...boo
they have some pro 5.0 build that's more important. It's not Richards fault per say. He had to sub contract the line-bore, as he's unable to do it for aluminum blocks (weird).

I'll still swing by on Saturday for a bit.

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Originally Posted by fulcrumaero

I put a new o-ring on it, and I doubt I screwed up such a simple thing.
I appreciate your thoughts though.

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Might surprise you how easy it is to do and how many times it happens.
Very common occurence with results just as you describe ... fine for a while then catastrophic loss of oiling. 5 & 6 carry the brunt of the damage because they are last to get oiled.

Cody, what hours will you have the table set up for autographs and photos? I want to beat the crowds and get my February issue of Grassroots Motorsports magazine signed. :D

I just might make it...

Question for you guys - how do you break in a motor in a car that can't be driven on the street.

I picked up the block last night, assembled it, and got it in the car. Still a lot to do.

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Originally Posted by fulcrumaero

Question for you guys - how do you break in a motor in a car that can't be driven on the street.

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I idle it for a few minutes, check oil pressure and water temp, then I back it out of the trailer, put it in 1st, rev it up, sidestep the clutch and hope for the best.

Hope that helps.

I was hoping someone with a lot more engine knowledge than me would say that! lol Warm it up and put it on the pole.

I suppose you could chock the front wheels and put the rear end on jack stands and slowly go up thru the gears. I've done this on cold cold dyno days to warm up the trans and diff before going WOT. Maybe drag the brakes to put some load on the engine.

Might be overkill but here's what I would do:
1. Start engine and check for leaks, good oil pressure, etc.
2. Bring it up to ~2000rpm and hold it there for a few minutes after the temp stabilizes. The idea is to heat cycle the valve springs before they see race conditions.
3. Change oil
4. In first practice session, repeatedly run it up to 5k or so, let off and coast down to 3k. The idea is to make sure the rings are fully seated....shouldn't take much with modern rings.
5. Go race and hope for the best.

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Originally Posted by fulcrumaero

I just might make it....

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Sweet! That would be 4. Any one else? DL, wanna switch to AI??