FE Fail

[blykins]

I can't remember exactly, but it was within 20hp of making 700 hp. 496 cubes, pump gas.

[cobrakiwi]

(Most of this saga has been chasing an oil usage issue. His intake was a Dove piece that had been heavily ported by Keith Craft (both the intake and cylinder heads were reused from a previous engine). It had porosity issues and in David's own words, he thought it was structurally flimsy. Most FE oil usage cases can be nailed down to intake manifold/gasket problems but most guys aren't mechanically inclined enough or willing enough to do the work themselves. In the matter of knocking out the easy explanations first, I sent David a replacement set of valve seals as well as some oil restricting pushrods just to try. It didn't solve the problem so instead of bringing the engine 12 hours back to me, we agreed that he would do an intake gasket swap. It was at the end of 2 gasket swaps that he made the above comments about his intake manifold and wanted to look for another. It had even showed some pin hole leaks when he pressure tested it.)

Brent questions if I may,

So who built this engine? You or Keith Craft? this part of your post makes it sound like you are distancing your self, Did the heads get rebuilt? by whom?
(You make it sound like they where the old heads just thrown on) did the heads get updated to handle the cam, springs rockers etc, valves, new, old? heads, crack tested? pressure tested?
Did you test intake fit? pressure test?, knowing it's a Dove part and had been heavily ported by Keith Craft.

I do think David should have sent the engine back to you, I also believe you would have stood behind your work, sorry to both parties, but please be clear for us that do find this interesting.

[1795]

Sometimes the issue with oil usage can be related to mis-manufactured parts and not mechanic issues. I and previous owners were chasing down oil usage issues on my FE that came down to a poorly manufactured intake manifold that was not square. When the intake manifold was replaced with a new one that was properly manufactured (same manufacturer for both) the oil consumption issue disappeared. It can be difficult to mix engine parts from different suppliers too.

I think that one issue that may not get adequately addressed here is the understanding that when you start to push horsepower into the 600+ range engine longevity suffers. Most racers rebuild their engines after a season of racing because the engines need it; excessive wear is common and internal parts receive a lot of abuse with that degree of power. For most of these engines we are talking about a season being typically less than 500 miles worth of use. In many instances less than 250 miles. I know of people who build high horsepower engines for their race cars with the understanding that the engine will be good for one race.

[Detroit Bill]

Originally Posted by 1795

Sometimes the issue with oil usage can be related to mis-manufactured parts and not mechanic issues. I and previous owners were chasing down oil usage issues on my FE that came down to a poorly manufactured intake manifold that was not square. When the intake manifold was replaced with a new one that was properly manufactured (same manufacturer for both) the oil consumption issue disappeared. It can be difficult to mix engine parts from different suppliers too.

I think that one issue that may not get adequately addressed here is the understanding that when you start to push horsepower into the 600+ range engine longevity suffers. Most racers rebuild their engines after a season of racing because the engines need it; excessive wear is common and internal parts receive a lot of abuse with that degree of power. For most of these engines we are talking about a season being typically less than 500 miles worth of use. In many instances less than 250 miles. I know of people who build high horsepower engines for their race cars with the understanding that the engine will be good for one race.

I agree that an engine close to 700 hp is not an engine I would expect to last in terms of street driving. That's not a street engine.

I still don't understand what value is to be gained as it has been presented.