Metal pellet looking things an my oil pan!

[bigB98]

Hey guys, I blew my head gasket last week on my '66 Chevy C20 that has a '69 350 SBC in it and slowly been working on it. Today I decided to drop my oil pan because I wanted to make sure there wasn't any metal in it but sure enough, I have small pellet sized chunks sitting in there alone with a few larger pieces. Anyone know what this is from/caused by?

[bigB98]

Here's a pic. There's a lot more pellets in the pan.

[Gonepostal]

Big piece looks like a part of a piston and the smaller bits maybe burnt bearings

[hamjet]

Yep, the big ones a piston skirt...

[bigB98]

So what are my options? Never ran into this before!

[mr48chev]

First look up inside the cylinders from the bottom and see what piston has a broken skirt. That's the bottom inch or so of a broken piston.

Usually but not always they break like that because the piston is slapping in the worn out bore of the cylinder. That quite often happens on an engine that has received more than one rering job where the cylinders were honed and a new set of rings were put on the pistons and it was ready for another 70K if the bores weren't worn that bad.

There are other reasons such as detonation or foreign object damage but I would bet on piston slap. If it is from detonation you are going to see pits in the top of the piston.

One more thing that may be related to the blown head gasket and other metal fragments in the pan is that the engine may have hydrauliced with coolant in the cylinder and broke the piston and probably bent the rod.

[EARNHARDT#3]

That's a rare option. Is it listed on your SPID or did a PO install it?

[Xeen]

Originally Posted by EARNHARDT#3

That's a rare option. Is it listed on your SPID or did a PO install it?

LOL!

Yeah man it's not good when you find metal chunks of any kind in your oil pan. (Thank you captain obvious) but seriously it's likely that there is some nasty damage in there, you don't get chunks that big without tearing something up.

[Possmguts]

yep, you're gonna have to pull that motor and do a rebuild... sorry about that but you broke a piston and maybe bent a rod...

[NTIMID8R]

If coolant was on top of the piston(s), you probably have a bent valve or two also. You possibly have a good bit of cylinder block damage too.
That sucks!

[In The Ten Ring]

Don't listen to these naysayers! Some metal chunks in an oil pan just means you need a new oil filter.

I am sorry you have this.....I guess you need a new engine or face a rebuild. Unless you do it yourself, I think a new engine is the cheaper option.

[swamp rat]

Listen to Mr48, good advice!

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by bigB98

Here's a pic. There's a lot more pellets in the pan.

http://www.jegs.com/shop/en/jegsdire...809-10067353k1

[bigB98]

Saying screw it and motor shopping tomorrow. Buddy I know had about 8 small block sitting in his shop. All ran when removed. Thank you all for the help!

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by bigB98

Saying screw it and motor shopping tomorrow. Buddy I know had about 8 small block sitting in his shop. All ran when removed. Thank you all for the help!

During hard times, I rebuilt a 350 with parts from several donor engines selecting the best heads, crank, block, piston/rod assemblies, cam/lifters set. I did spring for a cheap timing set though. Chevy used a letter system to fit the pistons and you might mix/match and get a good fit on all like I did and just do a re-ring overhaul. As long as the pistons are the same casting numbers you can do that. Look out though for the dreaded "shallow oil rings" and get the right parts.

And some people just want a "new engine" when all they really needed was a set of valve seals or a new cam.

At the u-pull-it I've seen countless good 350 .030 flat top short blocks that already had the heads removed. If I needed an engine assembly I'd pull a head until I found a nice one then select the set of heads I wanted, snag a serpentine set-up with all the accessories, bolt it together and pay the just under $300 dollars then go home and re-gasket and maybe paint, maybe change cams on it. Actually a 1 pc seal 88-95 truck engine with serp would be nice just get good heads not the swirl port and a nice aluminum quadrajet intake and 80-89 quadrajet.

It's hard to snag the Vortec 350's with all the "parts hawks" floating around exploiting the yard for a profit. But, they have the right.

LT1 style roadmaster engines are easily obtained here.

This would make a nice build thread if I needed an engine, or a magazine article.

[EARNHARDT#3]

Good advice! Complete engines at my local you pull it are only $140....$30 extra and they'll burn it out for you and sit it in the bed of your truck.

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

During hard times, I rebuilt a 350 with parts from several donor engines selecting the best heads, crank, block, piston/rod assemblies, cam/lifters set. I did spring for a cheap timing set though. Chevy used a letter system to fit the pistons and you might mix/match and get a good fit on all like I did and just do a re-ring overhaul. As long as the pistons are the same casting numbers you can do that. Look out though for the dreaded "shallow oil rings" and get the right parts.

And some people just want a "new engine" when all they really needed was a set of valve seals or a new cam.

At the u-pull-it I've seen countless good 350 .030 flat top short blocks that already had the heads removed. If I needed an engine assembly I'd pull a head until I found a nice one then select the set of heads I wanted, snag a serpentine set-up with all the accessories, bolt it together and pay the just under $300 dollars then go home and re-gasket and maybe paint, maybe change cams on it. Actually a 1 pc seal 88-95 truck engine with serp would be nice just get good heads not the swirl port and a nice aluminum quadrajet intake and 80-89 quadrajet.

It's hard to snag the Vortec 350's with all the "parts hawks" floating around exploiting the yard for a profit. But, they have the right.

LT1 style roadmaster engines are easily obtained here.

This would make a nice build thread if I needed an engine, or a magazine article.

[GRX]

Blown head gasket ... cannot compress water. Likely you hydro-locked a cylinder or two which can cause all sorts of damage. Have seen pieces like that before. You piston/s probably look blasted like below.

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by EARNHARDT#3

Good advice! Complete engines at my local you pull it are only $140....$30 extra and they'll burn it out for you and sit it in the bed of your truck.

Where I go they have these big cranes with 4 of the donut spares welded on swivels they let you use just roll it over to the car you are working on and go for it. They don't look over your shoulder so you can mix/match whatever parts you want kinda like "build a bear"
http://www.buildabear.com/promise-pets/