have you pulled the #8 piston out yet? im wondering if the wrist pin may have come out. im just guessing in the dark. this is a crazy engine failure and we may never know the reason. shadowmaster seems to be one of the engine masters on this board. he rarely speaks up but he really seems to know engine building and may have some answers on this.
My opinion it wasn't the start up that caused the problem, was the gagging it wide open just after it started... Sumpthin broke, too beat up now to tell what started it... Still sometimes I think it's luck... I had my engine guy freshen a '86 Lincoln 5.0, with just rings, bearings and ARP rod bolts, I then stuck a moderate cam in and a set of Trick Flow heads... Had over 30K mi and 700 drag strip passes a few with nitrous when it succumb to a blown head gasket... In fact it still ran, no coolant loss was blown between #3 & #4 cylinder, I drove it home 45mi from track... EVERY ONE of those strip passes began with a burnout...
I could be wrong but I don't think the roller 351w blocks hold anywhere near 600hp. I don't think that's an issue for the early blocks but I've heard of several roller 351w blocks giving way with 500+ HP
Yes seems you are right, I have been studying on this just now, the early blocks yes, later models nope
OK Son of a Beeotch, I am fairly certain what happened.......................while I did torque and loc-tite the cam bolt upon assemble I removed timing cover at one point due to the mechanical fuel pump not working and I wanted to check the eccentric just to cover everything, some of you may remember my thread asking about the fuel pump issues, anyways I removed the cam bolt and the eccentric for visual inspection even though I didn't need to, I was just at a loss on that problem AND I vividly remember now putting it back together and tightening it with a 3/4 ratchet drive and not a torque wrench (my ADD and not thinking things through, see I was focused on finding another problem at that moment and well enough said, SOB I'm off to bury my head in the sand for about a week
So.. What I am to understand, which I really don't, is that at a precise moment, the piston came up to TDC and struck a valve that was open to it's fullest and that broke a rod? I personally can see bent valve, bent push rod bigger gouge in piston, but not a broken rod happening. It is baffling and a mystery as to what did actually happen to me. In theory, if all the valves are bent, why are the other rods not broken or bent? On another note. I never knew our engines to be interference engines.
And you can read any where you want to of the F4TE roller blocks holding up to 700 HP, some say with a girdle some say not, there is no actual number, same as with the 302/5.0, people talk of splitting 302's at 500 HP a LOT more than 351W's at 500 HP, but it's not unheard of for someone to run a 302 block past 500 HP and have no problems, just like the F4TE roller 351W's going up in HP numbers, too many factors come into play at high HP numbers on any motor.
Oh Oh I agree man 100%. Just saying after what reading up on it I have done and talking to the guys at the local track that the late 351w blocks were just as weak as the 302. The early 351w blocks are known to be a great block. Not by any means saying a roller 351w won't hold that but more an FYI to samsdad since he was looking for a high HP block that he might focus his search for a early block.....especially since he just had a failure and lost his 302.
This is my main concern on my current block, first thing I will look for when I pull it down before the machine shop gets it....... http://forums.corral.net/forums/5-0...-must-read-psa-windsor-roller-block-guys.html
i felt the same way a little while ago when i first got my motor fired up, took me about 3 days to remember my cam was standard 302 firing order not HO, lol. even said the same thing "oh son of a b***h" haha
thats rough though... such a small thing coming back and nipping you like that... its the car fairies. the car fairys protect people who don't know about cars from breaking there cars. thats why you see people like the guy you talk about with the 250 shot on his stock motor not breaking, and people towing there boat with a civic up a steep pass not blowing a transmission, there protected by the car fairies. but once you know something about cars your car fairy leaves and your no longer protected. also on another note those Mazda Miatas are fun little cars. not nearly as fast as the Mav, but man are they fun to drive. 'out the box track cars' a lot of people call them.
I agree completely. I've had a 302 that broke a valve at 7K. It beat the crap out of the piston and the head putting deep gouges in both. It also ended up folding the valve head until it fit into the valve seat/port sideways, jamming it in there. I drove the car home from the track like that! The rod was never harmed. And the 302/351 has always been an interference engine as far as I know.
Well Blugene and John, I honestly don't know, I have shared everything I know of and again that it shouldn't have broke a rod but something did and the fact it was a twisting break tells us that it was grinding against the open valve, maybe it was the first piston to hit hence it took the most force, I really don't know....................and what's an interference engine?
