Just as a post script to this one - We opened up the valve covers today &
it was just dismal. One rod was completely sheared off - I'd say 5 others were a mess with large chunks gouged out of them. Out of 8 cylinders 2 were good - the others not so much. I'm told whoever rebuilt the engine tightened the valves down too tight & the rods.... Who knows.

I'll tow it back to Austin this week but I think this engine is toast.
I'm going to let it relax for a while...

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Bummer!

never seen a pushrod 'break'.. seen many bent..

large chunks.. do you mean the rocker arms broke?

Sam

 

Sorry to hear the bad news . I think you are right to sit back and think about it for a while before making any decisions on how to proceed . These old trucks are a joy , but also a sourse of tremendous frustration . When you hire someone who is supposed to be reputable and their work is sub par , it can drive you up a wall . Hang in there and good luck !

 

Ben
Does the engine have aluminum roller rocker arms or are they stamped steel . Towing it home is a good call . Don't despair it takes a lot to write off an engine , sounds like you have a few bucks into this one allready . I am starting to think that engine may have an unhealthy combination of 400 HP unmatched and possibly lower quality valve train componants . Maybe high lift/duration cam , high ratio rocker arms , not stiff enough valve springs and high RPM (20 year old driver) take no offence I to have kids and we were all young once . I blew up more than one engine myself .

 

Hey Sam & John,
Thanks for the thoughts - frustrated at the moment.

Sam - maybe I'm using the wrong terms. You open up the valve
covers & there are banks of rods being pushed down into the engine
on each cylinder. Those slender rods are what are a mess for the most part - I haven't looked under the Heads to see what the cylinders & pistons look like - didn't feel like doing that at this point. What's destroyed under there? I don't know but those rods are pretty chewed up & one was completely sheared off - several others most of the way.

I'll post some pics.

Ben in Austin

 

Hey OldMerc,
Definitely had something go wrong. Normally I'd agree with you about the 20 year old kid thing but Zack drove it carefully. His mistake was it was his daily driver up at college & when things started to go wrong or sound funny he still drove it to get around & that wasn't helpful. He limped around for a while...

The actual Top End Kit is from Edelbrock so if those parts are inferior I have no solution that would work. This will give me a chance to go with something with less horse power which is more what I wanted in the first place. I think the guys who put it together made mistakes & that's where it went wrong - but who knows.

Edelbrock.com - Power Package - Top End Kits - Ford

Ben in Austin

 

Here is a picture of some of the broken "rods" from
our 351W - Note that one is completely sheared off -
kind of hard to see.

Ben in Austin

 

Ah crap...Ben I wish I was close by to lend a hand buddy.

Hey guys? This isn't necessarily trashed right? I mean if all the pieces went to the pan, it's possible that you won't have to start entirely from scratch.
If it were mine, I would pull the engine, remove the oil pan. see where the pieces are. take the oil pump out and apart. see if there are any signs of metal going through the pump.
I will stop there, til someone else throws in their 2 cents..

Ben...Sorry Buddy...I asked earlier to tell me I'm right...now I REALLY wish I had been..

 

Ben
As I said no offense intended . Kind of sounds like the valves were hitting the pistons to cause damage of that nature . I'd be real curious to see the inside of that engine , piston tops in particular . timing chain may have slipped or broke but seems real unlikely on a fresh rebuild . When you open that engine up please send pictures .

 

Yeah good point about the valves hitting the pistons....because of the snapped pushrod....I wish I would think before I type sometimes....why else would it snap...It ran good when Ben got it going..

 

Would be a good idea to look at the cam too while its apart.

 

Oldmerc,
No problem here - It seems odd to me that all the push rods
would be in a similar state at once. A timing chain failure would explain
quite a lot but Zack is the kind of kid to let's say be over confident.
He was messing with the plug wires trying to fix an exhaust leak - wonder what would happen if he got the wires mixed up... Hmmmm..

Can't get upset - just wish this mess was more of a gasket failure.
Just for my curiosity I'll try to determine what went wrong. There's a lot of metal dust & particles floating around in there - I doubt there is much useful..

Ben in Austin

 

Isn't there a warranty? Didn't you have a shop rebuild it?

I've never heard of a pushrod shearing like that.

 

Hey Ross,
I had it at a shop out in the deep sticks do the work.
Like the guy on here from Thailand who keeps going on about Bob's F100 Shop - I think it will be just total aggravation & no actual cash.

The actual top end was from Summit/Edelbrock - the short block from a machine shop in San Antonio - the engine assembled by a shop out of Seguin, TX with lot's of experience. He had at least 4 other cars in there at the same time as mine with engines being built. What to learn from
this? Not sure at this point... I tried hard to buy the best & get experienced help where I needed it..

Ben in Austin

 

This is a good lesson in diagnostics. Trying to deduce what is wrong with a motor by going on a written description. Not that we all had a definative answer but the input led to getting what was really wrong even though what caused it is not readily apparent.

I would not write that motor off just yet, if the bottom end is still in good shape, the top end can be redone. I would be trying to get the buider to come up with compensation. Sounds like a shoddy builder, or else, someone that didn't do their homework. I don't want to hurt anyones feelings though.