Well it blew-up again. Had a well known engine builder build it for me. Got 4 passes on it and broke a rod bolt. He said not my fault!! The whole short block it trashed. I'm not a happy camper.
Ouch that hurts 4 passes isnt very many for a newly rebuilt motor, I am just guessing that those are the original rod bolts and not some ARPs, makes you wonder if they were tight in the first place
Robbie, Couple guys out here, Pittsburgh Pa, been having problems on rod bolts. Not sure if a bad batch got out or what is going on. I'm thinking they're arp, but will have to check and which grade. Sorry on the bummer and good luck
I spin mine regularly to 6500, several times to 7000. Stock rods, crank, etc. But on a fresh rebuild and .040 over pistons.
Yep, well over 1000 runs on a stock crank, rods, and rod bolts. It sees 6700 every pass. I let someone else do it and boom. He did put in ARP rod bolts. He said there has been a problem with them.
I don't mean to fan the flames but, if this builder knew there has been problems with ARP rod bolts, then what was he thinking when he put them in?
Fanning flames here too... 6700 is relatively low rpms for a sbf. If it tossed a rod after 4 passes, I would be looking for some sort of warranty or restitution. I paid $200 for my O'REILLY rebuilt short-block, and beat the snot out of it EVERY time I drive it. So if it blows, MY fault. Sounds like you paid pretty good money for yours, and it should have lasted WAY longer at 6700 shifts. It isn't YOUR fault that your builder used a bad batch of bolts. Let him fight with ARP, but he should stand behind HIS engine 100%. Now, if it tossed a rod because you accidentally went to neutral and spun it to 8000 a couple times, then I wouldn't hold him liable.
I'd pull it apart, and see what failed. I'd be surprised if ARP was having issues. My engine guy always insists stock rod bolts are good up until 6500 rpm, so I've always changed mine out. Installation can play a big part in longevity.
my engine builder told me after i picked up my motor to not go over 6000 rpm because of the stock rods. he also is the one that said that the rods are 289 hi po rods when i first took it to him. i asked another race engine builder and he agreed with my builder that he wouldnt spin the motor past 6000 rpm. i all ways felt that they were being on the safe side. i dont over rev the motor. i have ran across plenty of people who say i spin my stock rod motor to 7000 rpm a million time and never broke one, then you ocasionaly find this situation. this sucks man. but i have never seen a race motor with a warentee. and i doubt you will get any help from the builder. the only hope you have is to show the arp rod bolt it self failed then deal with arp. they will want to know how it was torqued. they recomend a method that involves measureing the streach of the bolt, not to a torque spec. so if your builder didnt measure the streach of the bolts and you can measure the rest of the rods to see what they are streached to to see if they were over tightened.
Robbie, I really feel your pain and anger..................only 4 passes is just beyond break-in. I am having a "well known" engine/head guy do all the machine work on my old 408 motor as I type this (but I am going to build the motor myself and check all of the clearances myself...............then if something goes wrong I have knowone except myself to blame...............and if I find some clearances that are not right, I will take it back and have the machinest make them right). I sat down with my machinest and discussed the pro's and con's to rebuilding this motor as appossed to building a new motor from scratch.....................and although the new motor was/is going to be over twice as expensive to build there are always ways to make sure the work gets done right and cut some costs, but "blue printing" is not one of them. As part of the blue printing process anytime new rod rod bolts go in they should be checked several times (more than once) for stretch.............if you have one that changes..................then that one is a candidate for replacement......even new ones, (and this goes for every part of a build with new or used parts), resizing the big end/and or checking the big end of a rod (even on brand new rods) is pretty much manditory these days since so much stuff is made outside the USofA.........you need to know if it really meets spec's. I have been putting motors together myself for over 30+ years..........(and having a good quality machine shop do all of the important work and having excellent communication between you and the guy doing the work goes without saying)..................and knock on wood.......I've never grenade'd one yet, maybe luck?, I don't think so, as they say "The devil is in the details" was true 30+ years ago and still holds true today. I wish you all the luck trying to get the shop to help replace the motor, but unless you had some type of warrantee in righting with this shop, I doubt you will get any resolution..................and I'm sorry for you and the hard money you spent to only get down the strip 4 times. If you were just a little closer I'd be glad to help in any way I could................but 11 hours in the truck...................it a long ways. Let us know what you decide to do and if we can be of any help. John
I took the short block to him with the pan still on it and we tore it down togeather. Sure enough there was a broken rod bolt in the pan with the nut still on it....... Now for the weird part. There was 2 rod bolts in the pan with NO nuts on them!...... Both number 4 and 7 were off the crank. Number 4 took out the cam and block and number 7 as you can see is suck in the side of the pan. I told him he must have forgot to torque 4 and 7. He said 2 guys build his motors and double check each other. And there is no warrenty on the motor. He said he would help me out but would not comit to anything. Oh welll, live and learn. I built the last one and ran the snot out of it for 4 years. I may be down but i'm sure as hell not done.
Me personally, I would avoid the first choice. I would care about my rep as a engine builder.[/QUOTE] I sure as hell wont help out his Rep..LOL
