rmcdaniels

I wanted to get some different opinions, trying to decide what to do with my motor that I hydro-locked. Here are the specs:

Dart B20+ block
85mm -2cc JE pistons (around 12:1 CR with the head that's on it)
Eagle 95mm crank
Eagle 5.967" rods
GSR head (around 38cc, heavily milled)
Supercharged, 10 PSI, a little over 300 WHP

I sucked up some water in recent flooding; here's the damage:

Bent a rod:


The piston is FUBAR too, wrist pin had to be hammered out of it, and a new wrist pin won't go back in it. Other than that it looks fine, all the rings look fine. When the rod bent (you can see the discolored area near the big end) it put two little notches in the sleeve, about .25" from the bottom. It's well below the rings, but did slightly score the bottom edge of the skirt. Other than that the sleeves look good. I can easily grind the notches so the skirt will clear on a new piston, and I wouldn't be removing anywhere near as much material as people do when they notch a block for big rods. I'm assuming the sleeve is not distorted, but I'll have it measured. If it's distorted, then I'll get a new one (cheap and easy with a Dart block). The head looks fine, no warpage, same for the block.

All the bearings got a little mashed too, but only about .005-.015. The rest of the rods/pistons look fine. I have a new set of rods, and the pistons are currently in stock at Eagle.

I'm considering different options, including:

Ghetto Option:

This option assumes that the cylinders and 3 unbent rods measure up within specs (I'm not putting it back together with obviously FUBAR parts). Replace the FUBAR rod/piston, put the old rings on the new piston, new rod bearings, grind down the notches so the skirt clears, put it all back together. It's cheap, easy, and I don't have to pull the motor. It may be dicey on the rings sealing properly on the new piston, but I'm back on the road and only out a few hundred bucks. The motor ran fine after I pushed the water out of the cylinders, albeit with a bit of a rod knock from #2. I actually drove it a few miles to a shop after I cleared the water out of it. If it blows up, I can always do it right later.

Baller Option:

Pull the motor, get new sleeve/sleeves (depending on how they measure out, definitely at least replace the one with the notches). Put new rods in it, get new custom pistons made (The Eagle custom JE's they make for the stroker kit sit .026" down in the hole, not the best design.), get the crank checked out (replace if not perfectly straight), honed, new rings, all new bearings, hot tank everything, 24K gold plate the block, etc. This will cost a lot more and have me down for a couple of months, but I will know that everything is perfectly correct. I could also reserve this as Option B if the Ghetto option doesn't work out.


Some Other Option:

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DaveF

some other option......

Some Other Option::

Pull the motor, replace the f-d sleeve, get the crank magnaflux'd and balanced, if the crank is shot get a new one, get the one new rod to replace the bent one(make sure its weighed in with the other 3) ..get the one new piston(if its possible) clean the entire thing from top to bottom, inside and out. get the new bearings/rings...start assembly.

if your crank is shot, get a new stock crank(LS will be fine) get a set of aftermarket ls rods, and a set of aftermarket b series vtec pistons... no need for that stroker bs....


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Dc4turbo408

I got Stock LS Crank for sale.. 80 bucks shipped.. lol

rmcdaniels

It's a tall-deck block, I don't want to use a 89mm crank in it, the rods are already too long.

DaveF

ahh.... that sucks... but its good if you have the $ for it everytime something happsns. you are lucky it didnt blow right through the side of the block.

rmcdaniels

The situation changed. I just got a big insurance check today, apparently I'm covered for flood damage. My father-in-law also told me I could have his old Toyota Corolla that's been sitting dead in his garage for the past year if I could get it running. I had to fly to Wisconsin ($275 ticket) and it needed a distributor, alternator, struts and brakes (about $700 worth of parts) and it runs/drives perfectly now, so I've got some spare wheels and I'm not in a rush. I think I'm going for the mega-baller option, new shorter rods, custom pistons, new sleeve/s, new bearings, check crank (replace if damaged), the works.

DaveF

keep us posted on your new build

4rc-fed

mega-baller option sounds good to me

definitely keep us updated


Modified by 4rc-fed at 2:00 PM 7/1/2006