[camaro_town]

Hey guys, I'm not sure if this is the right section but I'll let you guys take a shot at this. I have a '67 with a 350 with a Muncie 4-spd. Ok, last night I was riding on the expressway, and I think I might have pushed it too hard. Right when I got off the expressway it started knocking, and it got worse and worse just before I made it home. I noticed the oil light came on, so this morning I got a bunch of oil and did an oil change with fresh oil, and made sure it had enough. I started it up, and even though the knocking sounded a little better it was still there. Now I'm stumped. Could it be a gasket? One of the cylinders? Piston? Any suggestions or ideas? Thanks guys! -Mike

[kausboy]

knocking AND loss of oil pressure-that can't be good. Just guessing but I would say you spun a rod bearing.

[camaro_town]

Yep, you're right on that one. I have NO oil pressure. My gauge is reading zero, and I know that's not right, lol! Spun a rod bearing? How do I check/fix that?? Anything else it could be? Thanks. -Mike

[Blue69]

What did the oil look like when you drained it? If it was full of metal flakes and copper bits then you spun a bearing, time to pull it out. If you still have the old oil filter you can pull it apart and look for bits of metal in it also. By your description it sounds like a classic spun rod bearing. Bummer. Only right way to fix is to yank it, tear it down and rebuild. Look on the bright side, gives you an opportunity to make it even better than before.

Blue69

[camaro_town]

Hmmm... I'm gonna check the oil later to see if I can see any of that. But from the looks of it, it sounds like you guys are right. I'm now to the old muscle car scene, so I don't know exact what's involved in fixing a spun rod bearing. If that is what happened, would it be possible for me to fix it myself? If not(most likely), how much am I looking at here if I take it somewhere? Is it a complex fix that takes awhile? Another thing, is it okay to drive if I really need to? Or am I going to do major damage to the engine? Is there any thing I can do temporarly to make it drivable? -Mike

[BPOS]

Originally posted by camaro_town:
[QB] Hmmm... I'm gonna check the oil later to see if I can see any of that. But from the looks of it, it sounds like you guys are right. I'm now to the old muscle car scene, so I don't know exact what's involved in fixing a spun rod bearing. If that is what happened, would it be possible for me to fix it myself?

Probably not. It requires esentially taking the whole motor apart since the metal has most likely worked its way throughout.

If not(most likely), how much am I looking at here if I take it somewhere?

Hard to say exactly, but to have the motor rebuilt or even just the damage repaired requires pulling it out and diassembling it. If you could get away for $1,000 you'd be doing well, in my humble opinion.

Is it a complex fix that takes awhile?

YES, it is complex.

Another thing, is it okay to drive if I really need to? Or am I going to do major damage to the engine? Is there any thing I can do temporarly to make it drivable? -Mike

No, Yes, and No.

Good luck!!

QB]

[travis]

Have you ever seen a block with a big hole in the side of it? Thats what happens when you drive around with a rod knocking. BTDT...and it wasn't pretty. Right now it is fixable...throw a rod and you'll be looking for a replacement block, crank, and rods.
If you are just wanting a dependable driver, check out a gm goodwrench crate motor. I think they run about $1400 and have a factory warranty, and they are strong enough for more bolt ons later when the budget allows it. Its really easy to sink $1000 in even a basic rebuild...it makes the crate motors pretty attractive especially if you don't have the tools, experience, or time to build one yourself.

[camaro_town]

Awh...screw it! I've been wanting to swap the engine for something with more power anyways...lol. Now it's just a question of which crate engine to buy (and where the hell I'm gonna get the money). No, I don't want a reliable long-term engine, I want power. If I'm gonna throw a bunch of money in this thing (plus the money I've already put into it) I'm gonna make it the monster I've always wanted it to be. Any suggestions for where to buy crate motors and which one??? On the new engine I'd want to put a blower on at some point, so I'd prefer to get a crate that has a nice selection of blowers to choose from. Thanks for all the help guys, guess I'm gonna be riding my R6 alot in the meantime! -Mike

[camaroman7d]

If you are serious about running blower you need to build/select the engine with that in mind. You don't want to buy an engine that is not designed for a blower and then just bolt it on.

I think you need to do some reading/research and learn a little about engines, performance, etc.. Seems to me you like speed and if that is the case, you will be money ahead to know what does what and how to make power (you don't have to be an expert but, you should know what a rod bearing is and things like that). If you don't want to learn about it, I hope you have a good job or rich parents. If you go to a shop and ask the type of questions you asked here you run a high risk of being robbed blind.

Don't take this the wrong way, you just can't expect to ask a few questions on here and learn about how to build an engine. Pick up a book and some tools and go for it if you are mechanically inclined. If you are not mechanically inclined then save up some money and pay to have it done. You should still know something about cars/engines though, so you can ask the right questions and know what they are talking about when they tell or ask you something.

[travis]

To add to what Royce said, I would suggest NOT starting with a blower motor as a learning experience. Blower motors can be VERY unforgiving when it comes to tuning and such. You can buy a blower crate motor from several sources but they are big $$$'s. And theres a lot more to building a "monster" than just bolting in a powerful engine. You'll need a strong tranny and rear end, good fuel supply, most likely better brakes, and probably suspension work of some sort. You'll definately want to do some research...there are a million options for crate motors out there. Or, learn all you can, and work with a reputable engine builder to build exactly what you want. There more knowledge you go into this with, the better. For starters, I would recommend some of the excellent books written by David Vizard.

[Blue69]

Just wanted to say that I agree with Travis and the others. Building, buying ,owning a high performance engine/car is not really something to just jump into. There really is a learning curve involved. Unless you have loads of money to spend to get an expert to tune and maintain, you could be in for trouble. Just look at the problems of some of the others on this forum and ask yourself if you are ready for this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to discourage you, just my advise to start out conservative, buy a good crate motor, or work with a local machine shop/engine builder with a good reputation, ask around and find someone that you trust that has had good luck with someone and go there. It's easy to get caught up in having the stuff like you see in the magazines, but most of those guys have been doing this for years. Start slow, ask lots of questions and read everthing you can.

OK I'll stop now, just needed to throw out my 2 cents. Have seen to many guys get in way over their heads.

Blue69

[kausboy]

If there is one thing I have learned when building engines it is that speed is expensive! Not to say that you can't build a good budget engine and get SOME performance out of it. You can always slap on some "NAWS" and get some performance BUT for how long? I am betting for the cost of the blower alone you can have your block bored, flat tops, balance, mild -mid range cam, carb and a good set of headers. It should be above average and be dependable!! You also have to remember that no matter how fast you build it someone somewhere will have one faster!! Once you get bit by the need for speed you will want to upgrade other things as well such as the trans, rear end and suspension -Welcome to our obsession!!!! Have fun with it!!!

[Dutch69Camar]

I would suggest that, besides all the great info on this site, you also could check out the forum on www.pro-touring.com ,a lot of fast cars there.

Even the magazines like Chevy High Performance, Super Chevy, etc offer some great reading.

[Steve W]

May I suggest the 385 Fastburn with the H.O.T. cam and 1.6:1 roller rockers? Plenty of power and torque, and a good, durable GM crate engine with warranty. Maybe not the fastest for the drags, but great power-on-demand for most street applications! I have it in my 68, and couldn't be happier. JMHO. [img]smile.gif[/img]
From re-reading your posts, if you're gonna be using the R6 until you get your car fixed, is this your only car? If so, you might want to re-think the whole "monster/blower" motor thing. Just a thought...

[pdq67]

He, He!! I've told this one before but will tell it again..

My Buddy in Highschool that graduated with my older sister had a '55 Plymoth Savoy, 6-auto that got ta knocking!!

He had a hot date Sat. night so he just crawled under her and put a couple of thin pieces of pants belt leather in as bearing halves!!

Ran her all Sat. night and through til next Tues. when he pulled the pan off and did it again!! It was a $250 car and he was making like $65 a week when he went to work back in '63/'64 or so...

He finally junked the old POS anyway....

As for holes in blocks, that's another story I've also told here a time or two!!

Yes, you can still drive them with a hole in the block, A FAST SHORT DISTANCE!! But that will be the last time you drive THAT motor!!

My sisters husbands second brother did that......

And he later told me about the hole in the block, '56, 265 Chevy...

Sucker let go at about 80 or so mph!! He said he just pulled over, looked under her and saw the hole... Crawled back in her and fired her up and drove about 7 or 8 miles running about 70 or so.....

Parked her out beside the old house AND that was the last time I ever saw the car..

pdq67