CrazyDavey Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 it's all Breese's fault...all that talk about 574 hp!!! Now Al's gotta have it too.... ....it's soft metal Al, I'd be kind of surprised if it did anything to the block, maybe a little head work but it probably needed a valve job anyway...right??? I go through this a lot at the track...I have a standing rule...if I can't find something the car doesn't move until I do...so far I've always found it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7tonemonte Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 Oh man Al that stinks. Sorry to hear of that,although while its out you could always go a little farther if youd like Hopefully there is no major damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Wolf Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 Probably did the most damage to the top of the piston, maybe broke a valve. Oh well, Summer's over now. May as well beef it up now and have it back in full force by spring... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allchevy Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 That just sucks, it could happen to anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 Been there, done that. I dropped one of the tiny carb screws down the throat when I was removing the top from my carb. In the process I changed carbs, so I kinda forgot about the screw. This was on a little chevy II motor..a 153 ci 4cyl I had in a jeep. It wasn't until I was out trying to climb a steep hill that the screw found its way into the #4 cyl and make a terrible racket...it only ran for an instant and I shut it off and had it towed home. Â When I tore it down to inspect, it had left indentations on the underside of the head, but they were minor. the cylinder was fine..the bulk of the damage was to the piston. The screw had laid flat on the top of the piston, and it got into the area of quench, and it obviously wasn't going to compress...so the piston did. The piston top stopped, but the wrist pin had continued to go up as the crank came around, and it broke the piston and crushed all the ring lands tight against the rings. That piston was toast. Really it didn't look that bad when I first looked down at the piston top. The screw was gone, and aside from the series of minor dents in the piston and head, it looked as if it could be put back together as-is. Boy was I glad I decided to pull the piston out for inspection! It was a broken/cracked mess with a decent-looking top. As I recall, it had swollen tight against the cylinder walls and it was a bugger to get out. Â There isn't much room for error in there. When things go bad they go bad fast. Â I remember a time at the dragstrip when I dropped a jesus clip down the carb. I had no tools and I could see it sitting in the manifold, but couldn't get to it. I used my dipstick and magnetized the end by placing it against the magnet of my rear shelf speaker in the trunk...It worked like a charm to lift that clip out. This time I wasn't so lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreese Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 Wow Al sorry to here about your misfortune. Don't feel bad as crazy stuff like that happens all the time. Hope that the damage is minimal and you get that engine back together soon and running great just like before!!! Â David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heff Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 About 10 years ago I bought my son a 72 chevelle when he was 15 1/2, it was a malibu dressed up like an ss car. it had a 350 with a 4 barrel intake and an adapter to a 2 barrel carb. as soon as we got home he wanted me to swap out the 2 brl for a 4 brl holly i had laying around, needless to say when i took off the adapter i unknowingly dropped a nut down the intake and..... well you know what happened next. I'm sure you will get rebuilt and running better than before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 That's terrible. Â You are not alone. Â My Dad had a similar issue a couple years ago. On the way home from a road trip he was pulling into a gas station when the engine made a noise and abruptly shut off. He did not know what it was until he pulled the head. Part of the aluminum head broke and allowed water to fill the cylinder. At this point, he still did not know what caused it. A close inspection of what was beleived to be a peice of the head was actually a squashed nut. He doesn't remember losing one but he must have accidently dropped one down the carb. Â The funny thing is that he had just put a ton of miles on the car without messing with the engine. He even did some slalom racing while at a Corvette convention 900 miles from home. It must have been sitting in the intake for some time then eventually made it in the cylinder. We thought that it was very lucky that it broke the head only 20 minutes from home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
502ci Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Bummer but the end result will be more hp., that's how I look at it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7tonemonte Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 I used my dipstick and magnetized the end by placing it against the magnet of my rear shelf speaker in the trunk...It worked like a charm to lift that clip out. Nice thinking Mcgyver!! Ive used some creative methods to get home or fix things on the road, but thats a great one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL M Posted September 23, 2010 Author Share Posted September 23, 2010 I tore it down today. pieces of the washer were sitting inside the intake. the bottom of the head and top of the piston have tons of scratches and nicks. The piston was all the way up in the hole and there was so much antifreeze on the floor I couldnt get under it to turn the flywheel, it was getting late as well. I cleaned everything up and i'll get under there tomorrow and give the wheel a turn and see if there is any damage in the hole....going canoeing this weekend so hopefully i can rally the troops and pull her the following weekend and drop it off.....i'll be back before you know it. thanks for your feedback and support fellas. Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim's 70 Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Where's the pics of the carnage?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MADMAC Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Oh man Al, that sucks... Â But hey , MORE POWER! (with an added Tim Allen grunt!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Where's the pics of the carnage?? Â he can't release them..CNN bought the rights..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Auto Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Dude, that sucks. Hopefully some of the engine is salvageable. But with enough money anything can be fixed. Â Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Al that really stinks. Had almost the same problem many years ago. I had a 68 Chevelle 396. Just sitting there one night as the car was running, i started to hear some really crazy noises from the engine. I drove it home (only about 5 blocks). Took a look, and it seams for no reason at all the stud that holds the air cleaner on broke in half, vibrated loose from the wing nut and got sucked down into the #8. Good news was after i tore it down, the stud was imbeded in the piston. No damage to the wall at all. So i had the heads done and a new piston, and i was on my way. Hope you have the same luck as i did. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 I feel your pain Al, hopefully you can repair it with out braking the bank I'm in the middle of a cam change in that mild 454 I bought   Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL M Posted September 24, 2010 Author Share Posted September 24, 2010 Well guys, it looks like the only damage is nicks and scratches to the #7 piston and under the head, the cyl wall looks like all the others. I really dont think it went past the piston. The top of the piston and the bottom side of the head have those nicks and scratches which tells me it was just bouncing around the combustion chamber. Weirdly enough the washer fragments worked their way back up, I found them sitting in the intake when i pulled it off. The fragments didnt go to other cyl's either. I think I could really get away w/ just putting her back together, but I'm so deep in disassembly and you guys know how it goes..... I'm getting excited to go faster. I'm gonna try to reuse as much as possible and go w/ a new block, go roller, more cubes and get into the 11's. W/that lil 355 i pulled a 3500lb monte into the 12's, so I can see reaching my goal this time around, I'll keep ya's posted. I got a throne to take back anyway!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Richey Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Good to hear it wasn't more damage than that. Still sucks. Good luck on getting into the 11s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Wolf Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 I'm gonna try to reuse as much as possible and go w/ a new block, go roller, more cubes and get into the 11's. W/that lil 355 i pulled a 3500lb monte into the 12's, so I can see reaching my goal this time around, I'll keep ya's posted. I got a throne to take back anyway!!!!!!!! Â Good luck, don't forget to bring your checkbook. Learn from my mistakes, I could have bought a whole other car for what I've spent the last 2 years.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monteman1971 Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Wednesday night we're having a "Pull the engine party" at Al's.... I've been so good not ribbing Al but I'm about to explode.....lol... Why am I laughing...I'm the guy who's got to help Al pull the engine  But bring it on Al!!!!! I need a little competition... (not including Scott... )  Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 I have no problem with pulling an engine...it's removing the hood that's the hard part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDavey Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 454 small block?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nygel Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Quote: I have no problem with pulling an engine...it's removing the hood that's the hard part. I haven't pulled a hood in years. It scares all my buddies but I swear by those plates you bolt to the intake. I'm slowly converting all my buddies one at a time. Just converted another one last month. I watch the Powerblock shows and they use them all the time, big blocks, aluminum intakes and all. Nygel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 My wife helped me remove and re-install the hood on my Monte Carlo. Ain't no big thing. (just 6 feet of steel) Big TO DO first is to mark where the hinges are, prior to removal, so you can line it up quickly when you re-install it. I've seen the use of two studs screwed into the hood so the hood didn't slip. Add the two bolts, tighten then remove the studs and add the last two bolts. Don't do it in the wind either! Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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