quote:Originally posted by SEL:
... hmmm - sounds kind of grim ....
Stephen
The modern breed of motor builders and I do not see eye to eye. Guys in tune with the Windsor V8 scene are seldom in tune with the 351 Cleveland scene. A drag race engine only sees 250 miles in a year's use. Drag racing is actually easier on a motor than road racing, endurance racing, even easier than hard driving on a mountain road. Drag racers don't have a concept for what a soundly built, durable engine is. Please don't take my comments about your motor wrong, they are not meant to criticize, there's nothing constructive about criticism. That was this old coots tough, honest, evaluation based on the information you presented. AND ... since this motor is installed in a sports car I always expect it to be capable of enduring hard driving on a twisty mountain road without leaving the driver stranded; cruising the malt shop is for rat rods and hot rods. I do have your best interest at heart, and I do have a plan B for you; here's the game plan to avoid that future full of trouble I predicted:
(1) Get the sonic check from the builder if you can, so you'll know how much cylinder wall remains. If the thrust walls are no thinner than 0.120" anywhere, then you can work with this motor. If the walls are too thin, then you can adopt the attitude of PLT-1, just drive it till it breaks.
(2) I don't know how many miles are already on the motor since the rebuild, but if its not too many, and the cylinder walls aren't too thin ... I'd sell the TCI Rattler to some poor chap on eBay and buy an ATI damper. Hopefully this will save the crankshaft and/or cylinder block.
(3) One other question to ask the builder ... did he do anything to strengthen the pin that fastens the distributor gear to the distributor shaft, to prevent it from shearing? That ARP oil pump drive shaft will shear the stock Ford roll pins every time ... the MSD distributors use a coiled roll pin, which may be a little tougher, but forum members have claimed the coiled roll pins have sheared too. If he installed a beefier pin, or double pinned the gear, then cool you're OK. If not, that pin will most likely shear and leave you stranded sometime in the future, to avoid that you can pull the distributor and beef up the pin. If it were me I would prefer to replace the ARP shaft with a standard shaft designed to twist, but that involves dropping the oil pan, it will most likely be easier to pull the distributor.
With those issues resolved you can drive your car and enjoy it until a motor problem crops up. The thin rings are not designed for high mileage, they are racing rings, so they'll wear more quickly than street rings. Your motor may also tend to burn some oil, time will tell. And I would expect the Pro Comp heads to eventually develop a problem, but until then there's no reason to not enjoy the motor. As problems crop up you can develop a strategy for resolving them; one at a time or all at once.
That's not so grim, is it?
You and every forum member always have my committment to do whatever is within my capability to help and/or advise.
-G