If it weren’t for bad luck
 

I’d have no luck at all!

Re: If it weren’t for bad luck
 

ok, what part is this?

Re: If it weren’t for bad luck
 

Not sure yet. Heard a clackity clack in the engine & it shut down. Lowered the oil pan a bit & fished these out. This thing has been fighting from the start. I’m done.

Re: If it weren’t for bad luck
 

dont give up. anything can be fixed or replaced. could it be part of a piston? Just thinking that the snap ring may be what holds the piston pin in.
Let us know what you find.

Re: If it weren’t for bad luck
 

OUch!! Sorry to hear!!

Re: If it weren’t for bad luck
 

That's what's left of one of the pistons that broke at the wrist pin. I had that happen in a 216 in a 50 Chevy hardtop 60 years ago when the piston broke at the oil ring and the rod and what was left of the piston was still going up and down beating on what was left of the top.

Re: If it weren’t for bad luck
 

here's what I posted in your projects thread, just to keep everybody on the same page. if it were me it would be sitting on the engine stand and there would be boxes of parts all over the place. maybe broken piston shards all around my anvil or as far away as I can throw it (thats not far after 4 rotator cuff surgeries, lol, but it sometimes makes a guy feel better just to either beat the livin crap outta something or throw that something as far away as you can, hopefully into deep grass across the road.....)

are you running floating piston pins? possibly a clip from the pin retainer is what we see there? that would mean the other chunks are piston parts?
what size of hole would that clip be from? piston pins are likely .945 or .927 diameter.
if you can get the pan out from under you could get a light and check it out from the underside. maybe jack up the engine a bit to facilitate that cuz it's likely gotta come out anyway (sorry, bandaid is off now). if thats the case, pray the cylinder walls are ok cuz usually the pin eats a groove into the cylinder. either way it looks like you will have some engine work in your future.
that sucks, sorry to hear it went sideways.
post up pics when you get back on it.

Re: If it weren’t for bad luck….
 

Yeah, the plan is to get it out & on a stand to see the extinct of the damage. Not sure what externals were used, it was built by the Hot Rod Company out of Washington. Fingers crossed that the damage isn’t to extensive.

Re: If it weren’t for bad luck
 

man thats just. man

Re: If it weren’t for bad luck
 

That there is a no fun situation. The top picture is definitely piston chunks along with the circlip pin retainer. I'm not sure I recognize the pieces in the bottom picture. Do any of those pieces besides the wire retainer stick to a magnet?

Damage like this can be caused by insufficient ring end gap. It looks like the pistons have dry film lubricant coating. They're likely not cheapies. Did the noise start just after a blast on the throttle or just after a coastdown?

Re: If it weren’t for bad luck
 

Dang, that's tough! Definitely a piston hand grenaded. I don't remember, was your engine a gen 3 or 4 Vortec? The AFM caused some real problems for some folks. I know you are not the original purchaser, but maybe you could reach out to the builder and see what they might do for you?
Tom