So what do you think really happened?

[crazeetxn]

My son has a '69 w/a 327. Haven't ID'd the tranny yet.

He called Sat and said it made a loud banging noise and won't start. So we got it home and pulled the motor and found this in the oil pan.

Background: Tranny does have a vacuum modulator on it. It eventually makes it way to the carb via hose,metal tubing, hose, then smaller diameter hose to carb. 1/2 no problem shifting..2/3 will turn high RPMs and you have to feather the gas pedal a bit to get it to shift.

His story: Tranny wouldn't shift so he tapped the gas to make it shift.

[dubds10]

What's the history on the engine? Recent build? Just blame your son cause we all know it's never the engines fault haha

Nate

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by crazeetxn

His story: Tranny wouldn't shift so he tapped the gas to make it shift.

He may have 'tapped the gas' a bit too hard?


j/k, I won't blame your son -- there are too many ways that could have happened. Just thinking what I might have done (and did) when I was your son's age.

[cleszkie]

I don't think the tranny issues had anything to do with the engine failure. I see that the valves contacted the piston in at least a few cylinders which tells me that the crank and cam were way out of sync. My guess is either a broken timing chain, broken timing chain gear(s), or broken crank (or all now).

[crazeetxn]

Originally Posted by dubds10

What's the history on the engine? Recent build? Just blame your son cause we all know it's never the engines fault haha

Nate

PO wasn't sure of the history. He never really drove it much. I do know it's a '62 so there's no tellin when it got dropped in there.

Originally Posted by Stocker

He may have 'tapped the gas' a bit too hard?

j/k, I won't blame your son -- there are too many ways that could have happened. Just thinking what I might have done (and did) when I was your son's age.

17 seems like so long ago though

[Lee H]

Catastrophic failure, can't blame your son for this one. Even if he was beating it like a red headed step child in walmart it would not have done this.

[sharpie1972]

One time when I tapped the gas...... hehe! Sharpie

[LEEVON]

It happens, not the transmission's fault! I dropped a valve one time and the carnage looked similar.

[texnician01]

Without knowing more, I would suspect that the rod cap failed. Could be any number of reasons, bad bearing, too many RPM's, loss of oil pressure, poor rebuild.... I would not blame your son for this, these things happen. Broken timing gear, broken timing chain, or broken crank is not likely to be the failure. With the current pictures, I only see one cylinder that has damage and I see no others so I am not sure where someone sees other cylinders. Looks like the crank is likely junk, usually the block doesn't survive either as it beats the bottom of the cylinder to death. That will also be a small journal motor if it is indeed a 62. I have a forged small journal 327 crank that needs turned (surface rust) if you are looking pm me. Good luck.

[CC69Rat]

Originally Posted by sharpie1972

One time when I tapped the gas...... hehe! Sharpie

Yeah, .. been there too. At least you know he's not afraid of it!

IMO = typical teenager. Nothing you can do about it now. Find something good to pull out of it, and teach him to rebuild an engine . I wouldn't sweat it man. .. really. We all did it. I know I did.

[Fatkid1983]

I see lots of reusable parts there! Like that rod or piston will make killer christmas tree ornaments. Lol jk.
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[ulakovic22]

Spun bearing possibly. Something caused the bottom of the rod to pop and leave the piston in the cylinder, which then got hit by the valves and what was left of the rod as it came back around. Obviously a full rebuild, should be able to polish the crank .020 or so and run oversized bearings. RA looks factory so finding factory replacement style stuff should be easy.

[jhwkns]

kids <sigh>

I'd rather be repairing a SBC than just about anything else on the planet.

[crazeetxn]

Originally Posted by sharpie1972

One time when I tapped the gas...... hehe! Sharpie

I looked up and down the road for similar signs...didn't see anything

I asked him a few times while we were pulling it if he got on it, and he stuck to his story about having to give it gas to shift. I've driven it so I'm inclined to side with him. Plus, he knew he'd be on the bus to school and no seeing his girl friend if he messed up his truck.

As far as a rebuild, the block is toast. There's a nice U shaped piece missing from the cylinder wall. Once he gets back on a payroll system, he's looking at putting a 350 in there or so. Still gotta get the tranny checked out though or I'll be posting more pics in another 6 months

[hjewell2]

Reminds me of the time (16) I asked my dad why does the belt come off the alternator around 8000 RPM. Running a 276 SBC.

[jocko]

I tapped the gas once. In neutral at about 5 grand, then slammed it in drive. I left no black marks, just chunks of stuff laying around on the ground. Poor kid - my dad laughed at me, so hopefully you're laughing with him, no matter how it happened. Good on ya for helping him. I will add, what cured me from ever "tapping" the gas like that again was having to pay for it wtih burger flippin money. I flipped about 5 months of burgers to break even for that little would-be friday night parking lot show. Oh to be young again. (good on your son sticking to his story - I'm not implying that he was being neglectful, just pointing out that I was, with similar results - but if he were honkin around in it, he'd likely have broken trans or driveline parts - not disintegrated a piston - so probably some underlying problem here as was pointed out above) Looks like you two will have some garage bonding time in the near future, it's all good!

[Boog]

That looks a lot like an engine in a parts truck I bought a few years ago. It was a GM replacement engine someone had wound the snout out of. When a rod broke it spun around and broke the cam in 3 pieces, beat 3 of the lifter bores shut and broke the lower end of the cylinder. That was just on one cylinder. It also broke a 2nd rod and piston. Wierd thing is it didn't even poke a hole in the oil pan. I think I was able to save the stock 4 brl intake.

I'm curious about where that vacumn line from the modulator to carb is hooked to at the carb.
It is most normally connected to a fitting directly in the intake manifold between the carb and distributor for a full time vacumn source. If yours is hooked to the carb above the throttle plate it may not be providing a strong enough vacumn source for it to shift properly.

[sir_talk_alot]

ouch, i dread the day i see that. im not looking forward to poppin a motor, but i know i will. im 20. im suprised that i havent destroyed the dodge i have now, 318 5spd, but i also know that i have to pay for what i break, and i despise working on anything mopar, so im watchful of it, but the chevy, ive got a 305 sittin just in case. its always smart to have a backup motor for something like this, do i want a 305 in my truck-gawd no, but id rather have it for when i do hotrod and something goes wrong and still be able to drive her within a few hours of swapping. its machinery, it happens

[crazeetxn]

Originally Posted by Boog

I'm curious about where that vacumn line from the modulator to carb is hooked to at the carb.
It is most normally connected to a fitting directly in the intake manifold between the carb and distributor for a full time vacumn source. If yours is hooked to the carb above the throttle plate it may not be providing a strong enough vacumn source for it to shift properly.

That was my first inclination. I kept telling him to ditch the 4 piece hose setup he had, but me telling him is about as far as it got.

When another motor eventually gets back in there, I'm going to attempt a modulator change and proper setup. Hopefully that and a fluid change will prevent this from happening again.

[hotroddr]

When I was about your son's age, I figured out that valve float started at about 6800 RPMs on my bone stock (other than a cam) 307. But since I didnt have to "tap the gas" to make it shift, it all worked out alright

Blowing up engines is part of being young, you learn pretty quick that it is a good idea to go easy on the vehicles you rely on for transportation. That all said, it might have just been the engines time...

[Custom 68]

Humm mine was a 396 that did the same thing. Sounded like I dropped a tool box when I turned it upside down on the engine stand to start the tear down.
The hose on your tranny sounds like the one I had on my 400 turbo.

[MARKDTN]

Sounds like it had nothing to do with the tranny. Sounds to me like he blipped the throttle a bit too hard. SBCs are cheap, you could probably get the truck going with a junker 305 or 350 engine for a couple hundred bucks-way cheaper than a rebuild on a small-journal motor.

I can remember being young. Found out you can't "neutral slam" a Ford with C4 automatic-it just revs and revs. On my '74 F250 with 390/granny 4-sp I found out mud grips will spin. Found out if you push the clutch in, turn the engine off, pump the gas 4-5 times, key on, and let the clutch out that it is very possible to explode a muffler. I thought "no problem, now I can have dual exhaust" NO! My dad sent me down to Sears and had them put stock single exhaust back on. Come to think of it, I'm still mad about that one.

[100%Chevy]

Another engine is cheap experience!
I'm glad your son didn't get hurt.
I went thru a few when I was a teenager-mostly 283's though.
And,yes,get a good used motor,much cheaper than a rebuild,plus,stuff happens!
Mike.

[ole dollor]

crazeetxn: look at it this way, a real good father son project...quality time...something that you can talk about for years.....

[oklalawnboy]

Were the rod nuts still on the bolts or did one come off. Did you drain the oil or is that all that was left. The metal line for your turbo 350 trans is a good idea so it won't melt against the exhaust. Better look on you tube to get the rest of the story....... just kidding. Stuff happens. Rebuild with more power!