Bearing failed...

[Jazz]

As most of you know I did some mods to the Firebird a while back and shortly after had the throttle stick wide open which resulted in a rod bearing knock. The bearing didn't fail completely but certainly wasn't happy about the situation.

So, now I'm replacing both rod and main bearings. Here's the one that was making the noise (I haven't replaced the others yet). Since I had to drop the craddle to get the oil pain off I decided to also install my BMR K-member also. Nothing like looking on the bright side.

New bearings and K-member should be in by Sunday. :yep:

(more pics to follow)

[socalmach]

1st carnage pics of '08:cheers:

Might as well put a 383 stroker kit in while the motor is out

[novajoe]

After the recent car problems should we start a death pool for who is next?

[grn95t/a]

hate to see what the crankshaft looks like! r u going to use plastigauge to check the clearances or just slap it back together and hope its ok?

[Jazz]

Crank is in good shape actually. Going to gage it an then reassemble. Probably looks worse in the picture than it really is. The dark spot is heated and blue but not deeply worn. The knock wasn't even noticeable at idle.

[Jazz]

After some research I've also decide to replace my oil pump with a Melling HV-55. Totaly cost is only about $45 so it's a good idea right now. The bearing got wiped because I overreved it and it got starved for oil. Likely with better oil and a better oil pump this may not have happened. I'll definitely be going fully synthetic Royal Purple in the future :)

[socalmach]

Amsoil is the ONLY FULL synthetic oil out there.:thumbsup:

[grn95t/a]

make sure you by the right pump shaft. the stocker one with the plastic coupler wont work with the hv pump.

[novajoe]

Amsoil is the ONLY FULL synthetic oil out there.:thumbsup:

+1 for Amsoil

200,000 miles and counting!!!! and no noticeable wear

[Jazz]

Yeah, the steel guide shaft is the right number. I'm flying to Indianapolis in the morning to everything is on hold until the weekend. I'll check in with you guys online of course.

[Firesilverlullaby]

**** did you have the stock throttle?

+1 for Amsoil

200,000 miles and counting!!!! and no noticeable wear


Do you all think it would be better yo use mobil 1 and change oil every 3000 miles or amsoil and change it every 5000?
Dont think i could afford to do amsoil every 3

[Lucy Lu Who]

Honestly all of our cars run off amsoil. It is a really good product and most of the time we change the oil at 8000 miles and the oil still looks really good. I swear by it.

[Jazz]

I use chicken grease and change mine every 6 months or whenever things start to smell funny.

I also swear by that.:rolling:

The throttle stuck because the clamp for the rubber connector on the front of the TB was in the wrong place. It was in just a horrible spot and let the throttle slide past but stuck so it wouldn't return. Didn't see it reving in the driveway and didn't catch it until I was actually driving the car. Stupid I know but it happens.

[novajoe]

Amsoil is the only real synthetic oil. There is no organic base to break down and leave deposits in your motor.

[Jazz]

The saga continues. Last night I found that my rod bearing on cylinder 8 had spun. I've checked the crank and it appears to have some grooves of about .0005 which isn't perfect but liveable. I've checked clearance and its about .002 so I have a little material for polishing. I'm planning to wet sand a bit with 1200 grit paper to smooth it out a bit and then polish with emery cloth and then hope for the best. I think the HV oil pump will also help since the bearing is the one closest to the pump. Should have it running again by the weekend.

Unfortunately I also found that my suspension wasn't in great shape so I'm replacing the lower control arm bushings as well. If anyone is interested I'll be installing those on Saturday of this week.

Wish me luck!

[socalmach]

It's gonna be a brand new car here shortly.

[grn95t/a]

The saga continues. Last night I found that my rod bearing on cylinder 8 had spun. I've checked the crank and it appears to have some grooves of about .0005 which isn't perfect but liveable. I've checked clearance and its about .002 so I have a little material for polishing. I'm planning to wet sand a bit with 1200 grit paper to smooth it out a bit and then polish with emery cloth and then hope for the best. I think the HV oil pump will also help since the bearing is the one closest to the pump. Should have it running again by the weekend.

Unfortunately I also found that my suspension wasn't in great shape so I'm replacing the lower control arm bushings as well. If anyone is interested I'll be installing those on Saturday of this week.

Wish me luck!

urathane bushings?

[Jazz]

yes, poly bushing for the lower control arms. I bought the complete kit but won't be doing the uppers right now.

Worst part is that cylinder #8 bearing surface is pretty rough. I'm not sure how long its gonna last, maybe 4 or 5 thousand miles maybe more. That's enough time to put together another motor though and probably more than a year of driving for me. So, once its back together I think I'll still put it on the dyno but I'm pretty sure its going to spin again eventually. Its just a matter of time.

Picked up 3 x .001undersize and 1 x .002 undersize from Summit. I might do a bit more polishing on the crank and use the .002 but I doubt it will make much difference. I do think the Clevite-77 tri-metal is less likely to spin however so at least that's a bit of added insurance. I guess the last question is .001 over or .002 over.

I might go to Church this Sunday and ask them to pray for it, kinda like a sick person in the hospital. Want to go?

Good news is I've got a good reason to start building another motor this summer. That's going to be fun! Finally, a 400hp 383 stroker motor. That's the next step!

[socalmach]

Your luck continues.

You should be pushing well over 400 if you do it right.

[grn95t/a]

make sure you do the uppers to, when i did my kmemeber the upper bushings were shot. the lowers were wore pretty good but the uppers were worse. make sure u have a torch to burn out the old rubber.

[Jazz]

I've always used a small propane torch for that. Should work okay I think.

[novajoe]

Chris don't mix rubber uppers with poly lower bushings. This will cause a very bad suspension twist and a unpredictable rebound while driving.

[Jazz]

I'm replacing both upper and lower now. As far as I'm into it now no need to skip something that will only ad another hours or so to the job. I should be working on this either Saturday or Sunday if anyone's interested. I should have the motor back together before the weekend and will be forcusing only on the suspension this weekend.

[socalmach]

I can probably make one of those days.

[novajoe]

I have company this weekend, but I maybe able to sneak out for a few.

[Jazz]

Okay, new bearings are in. NO idea how long the repair will last though. The HV oil pump SHOULD help, so I suppose we'll see. One good season (about 5000 miles of driving) would be spectacular! Putting in the bushings saturday morning and should be driving by Saturday afternoon! If anyone wants to hang out Saturday AM you know where I'll be!...

[novajoe]

:PiCS:

Need to see the K member too!

[Jazz]

Pictures will be posted Friday or Saturday at latest. Stop busting my chops :)

[novajoe]

Someone has to do it!!! LOL