Engine hoist borrowed from Trevor
Engine hoist borrowed from Trevor
I don't need no stickin' LSx, I gots Chad Power!
Once out, the engine came apart quickly. Removing the heads revealed the first of the carnage:
Several valves in both heads are bent...bad sign. Cylinder #4 is crazy: the piston is turned and crooked in the bore. How the hell does that happen?!? #5 is also truned slightly in the bore, and there appears to be a crack in the piston. Looking at #6 and #8, they are both at TDC. I don't think that is supposed to happen. Spinning the motor over sounds like a money bag, with loose pieces of metal bouncing around. An even worse sign...
Wow, what a complete disaster. There were 3 wrist pins just sitting loose. That shouldn't happen... The #5 and #6 rods are gone. GONE. Pieces here and there, but nothing more than 1 inch long and nothing on the crank. Both caps were MIA. The rod for #4 has an intact bearing cap, but it is broken clean in half. It appears as though the failure started with the #5 and #6 rod bearings, and the pieces went off to do more damage. Closer inspection of the oil pan reveals 11 holes and too many dents to count. I had to beat it back in to remove some of the bolts because the damage was that extensive.
The entire bottom is toast. The block has severe damage to the bottom of several bores, and obviously the crank and rotating assembly are not going to be re-used. The cam also appears to be dead, but it hasn't been removed yet. Now the big question is what to do next. Used LT1's are cheap, and running engines can be fround for $500. Do I throw a stock LT1 and lose power, build an LTx motor with my heads (or new heads?), or is an LS1 swap the way to go? One thing is for sure, there are many ways to go from here. Chapter 21 will start with an analysis of all my options, and hopefully a decision on where to go with this project. Perhaps it is time to stop spending time and money on the car, and start saving money for a new toy after graduation. I guess the big question is do I want to keep messing with this car, or cut my loses and move it. Certainly the C4 chassis has shown potential to go fast, but at what point does the project progress from budget minded build to all out money pit.