Author Topic: worst hackjob in a long time  (Read 2843 times)

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Heo

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worst hackjob in a long time
« on: August 12, 2020, 09:38:30 PM »
I fixed a crashed Rally Volvo a few months back. Saturday night
the friend that have PF Racing called. The Volvo had made a new
trip in to the forrest hit a ditch and cartwheeled in to some pine trees,
he wanted me to see if i could fix it. While there he showed me a
SBC out of a Camaro some kid had bought. He showed up at the
shop and wanted Peter to tune it beacuse it was running kind of
strange...... suposed to be a stout 383, block cracked at a main sadle,
welded,bored out and put two sets of bearing in that main, cracked again,
one rod was not a I beam but a J beam :D all 8 bent in some way
the ballance pads grinded away completly and then some. Nice Forged
pistons lightened by grinding away material under the piston pin :o
A welded on piece of angle iron as a balancepad on the flexplate :o
heads where junk.....Good thing for the kid the SBCs are everywhere
indestructibel, cheap and anyone can build one........ ;D ;D ;D
Why do you spend money on expensive pistons and build a pile of
junk like that and destroy the pistons on the way?



The defenition of a Gentleman, is a man that can play the accordion.But dont do it

WConley

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2020, 10:49:19 PM »
Even though it's a small block Chevy, I feel sorry for it.  Two bearing shells stacked together in a main??  That's about the worst thing I've heard of.  Even the old Pop's Performance wouldn't stoop that low  :(
A careful study of failure will yield the ingredients for success.

cammerfe

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2020, 12:12:11 PM »
Long ago I heard of a case where an Offy 4 from a track roadster holed a piston. The crew put a bolt, washer, and nut in the hole and went back to racing. Seems about the same level of inventiveness. :)

KS

Heo

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2020, 12:27:07 PM »
Even though it's a small block Chevy, I feel sorry for it.  Two bearing shells stacked together in a main??  That's about the worst thing I've heard of.  Even the old Pop's Performance wouldn't stoop that low  :(

And sorry for the kid. He payed around 20 000$ for that junkheap
i guess rest of the car is same kind of hackjob



The defenition of a Gentleman, is a man that can play the accordion.But dont do it

Falcon67

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2020, 05:04:13 PM »
And sorry for the kid. He payed around 20 000$ for that junkheap
i guess rest of the car is same kind of hackjob

Seen too much of that in my day - some folks are going to have some real explaining to do at a later time.  "Fresh motor" referring to a 511 in a nice tube chassis Mustang.  2nd pass put a rod out side of the block.  Examination showed it was pretty beat inside.  I personally had a "400" that turned out to be a 351M with bore sizes between .040 and .060.  "Ran when pulled" (4 years ago when I set it out behind the barn uncovered), etc.  I always wanted to fall into a pot of $$$$$$ and start my own shop updating older engines for people, having read about so many getting scammed over the years. 

gregaba

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #5 on: August 16, 2020, 10:58:47 AM »
Sometime in the 60's when I was just starting out at the local Chrysler garage as a mechanic a older farmer brought in a 53 plymouth he had just bought.
Said it sounded fine and drove good going home and then developed a light knock.Supposed to be a new rebuild motor.
I pulled the pan and found out that the previous owner had replaced the rod bearings with pieces of a cut up leather belt.
Everybody in the shop had to check this out and it cost the customer a rebuild.
Greg

FERoadster

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #6 on: August 16, 2020, 01:32:38 PM »
Greg: My uncle did that in an early GMC bus he used as a camper. Rod started knocking real bad and because the was broke and an "I can fix anything with what I have guy" made it home with the leather belt in place of a rod bearing. He is the one I got the 1959 Isetta from with only 5000 Miles and a block with one repaired hole from a rod and another fresh hole. It was last licensed in Michigan in 1959.  I've still got the car, barn kept since 1959.
Richard >>> FERoadster
« Last Edit: August 16, 2020, 01:35:11 PM by FERoadster »

TomP

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2020, 09:35:26 PM »
Woo, I like the Schmidt! Are you putting an FE in it?  YES!!

428 GALAXIE

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #8 on: August 16, 2020, 11:09:08 PM »
Woo, I like the Schmidt! Are you putting an FE in it?  YES!!

Isetta front engine dragster!!!!!
Mikko

gregaba

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2020, 09:54:38 AM »
Nice Isetta.
I would put a ecoboost 4 cylinder in it and go looking for Honda's.
I have seen 2 engines with cut up Prince Albert tobacco cans stacked together to make a rod bearing at the shop.
In the sixtys if you didn't work for the Rail Road or have a good oil field job it was really hard to make any money in Okla. so we saw a lot of make do engines for people to get around  in until they got some work.
You never knew what you would find when you pulled down an engine.
Greg


machoneman

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #10 on: August 17, 2020, 02:28:01 PM »
Heo: got a better story!  8)

Mike Sorokin of the legendary Surfer's nitro dragster fame.

"The biggest test of Sorokin's mettle transpired during the '65 UDRA meet at Fontana. During a semifinal heat, the boys had blown the side out of the block. It was the only bullet in their inventory, and until that moment, "it lived like Methuselah," according to Sorokin. But rather than pack it in, our heroes improvised. They turned the car on its side, jammed the piston all the way to the top of the bore, removed the connecting rod, taped the crank journal and wrapped it with a hose clamp, taped cardboard [!] over the gouge on the inside of the block to keep it from hemorrhaging oil, and threw the pan back on. For the half-dead 392's swan song, they dosed the remaining seven-cylinders on 99 percent, fired it up, and Sork staged the discordant, vibrating, wounded machine like nothing was out of the ordinary. Despite the frenzied thrash, Sorokin expertly cut a gatejob that was sharp as a switchblade, and he was scarfing up asphalt in a discombobulatory pell-mell fashion until the backfiring mill detonated and went kablooey at the top end. They lost the match, but won the respect of the entire drag racing community with that gonzo, anarchic attempt to win a $1,000 purse. Sorokin got more ink than the event winner..."

Taken from a long but very readable Hot Rod mag. article

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/nitro-ingenuity-and-tragedy-the-saga-of-the-surfers-part-2/
« Last Edit: August 17, 2020, 02:30:21 PM by machoneman »
Bob Maag

allrightmike

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #11 on: August 17, 2020, 04:43:05 PM »
On the subject of vintage dragster stories I watched Connie Colletta one day at Martin Dragway hammer apart a 6-71 blower taken from a road grader used in construction of the strip. He had exploded the blower on his dragster. Down in the dirt on his knees with a brass hammer he reassembled the blower and bolted it on the car, orange case and all!! Don't remember how well it ran but it did indeed run! Those were the days.

CV355

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #12 on: August 21, 2020, 10:44:22 AM »


gt350hr

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #13 on: August 21, 2020, 01:48:05 PM »
   A friend of mine at a car dealership took a late model car in on trade for a brand new one. It was in virtually perfect condition. He noted the rough running engine and had a tech run a scan ( wisely) . The scan popped up mis fire cylinder X. My friend cut the trade in amount in half and the buyer didn't object. Done deal. When the service dept investigated , they found ZERO compression in that hole and a bore-o-scope showed NO PISTON! A piece of beer can was hose clamped onto the crank so it had oil pressure. The dealership found a used engine , replaced it and made SERIOUS cash because they bought it SO cheap. New owner got a good car in the end. McGuyver was nowhere to be found LOL

Heo

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Re: worst hackjob in a long time
« Reply #14 on: August 22, 2020, 11:56:30 PM »
Was at friend splace yesterday to pic up some Cleveland parts we ordered.
Here is a rod and flywheel from that Stout 383 that just needed a tune up
the rest he had thrown in the dumpster

image album upload



The defenition of a Gentleman, is a man that can play the accordion.But dont do it