Kinda O/T: Sometimes you just can't win...

[blykins]

I suppose I'm venting a little. Been a long day and sometimes things just get to me. I'm kind of a one man show and I have nobody to kick or punch.

A guy brought me a 482ci BBC drag race motor Saturday evening to inspect. He had checked the oil and noticed copper on the dipstick. Never good.

We get it off the truck and on an engine stand. Off comes the oil pan and I start with the rod bearings. Front two (cylinders 1 & 2) are spun. One is bad, the other one was real bad. He wants to repair the damage and do a refresh so he can get back to racing.

I start to inspect everything to see what caused the bearing failures. First thing that jumps out at me is the oil pump pickup (stock pickup on an aftermarket pan) isn't level in any direction. And it was tacked on that way, so it was done on purpose. It was so out of level that it had 3/8" of pickup/pan clearance in the front and 1-1/4" (yes, 1-1/4") in the rear....you know....the area where all the oil goes on a hard launch....you know....like what happens when people drag race.

So I'm pretty sure that's what caused the failure. I continue to disassemble this "750 hp" (the customer was given that rating by the engine builder) engine....complete with stock Procomp heads, a GM 454 crankshaft, a set of factory rods, forged Venolia pistons with press fit pins, and a massive solid roller bumpstick.

I make a good list of what all would have to be replaced, starting with the crankshaft. It was already .030"/.030" and the scarred rod journal wouldn't clean up that easy. Rods would need to be reconditioned and by the time you do that, you might as well buy a set of new Scat forged rods with ARP bolts. Of course the oil pump and pickup would have to replaced, as will all the bearings, gaskets, etc. The block is a factory 454 block that has been bored .125" over, then hard blocked. The cylinders are well worn on the thrust side so I add in a new set of low tension Mahle rings and a hone with torque plates.

I total everything up, knock a pretty nice little wad off my labor charge because I have a couple of other engines/sponsored cars that race at the local track and it would be really sweet to have another engine in there. Comes to about $2800 with everything.

I shoot the customer an email, outlining everything I found (including the "new" timing set that the previous builder had wallered a chunk out of the cam pin hole, then pressed in an offset bushing and continued to stake it to the point where it looked like it had been shot with a shotgun -- parts of the cast iron gear had broken off, so he had to stake it REAL GOOD) along with my price.

I get a call from him today saying that he just can't afford to put that much into it right now and he was going to come by Saturday and pick everything up.

I get another call from a guy who runs one of my engines who is buddies with this new prospective customer. Apparently, the new guy has decided that my prices were way too high and that he was going to buy a new "forged" crank off of Ebay for $238, replace the bearings, and put it back together as is. Sigh. Of course he didn't tell me that part.

I understand that this stuff costs money. I even tried to call a few engine builder buddies to see if they had any good used steel cranks laying around. From an engine builder's standpoint, this is a nightmare engine. It has puked two sets of rod bearings, contaminated the whole oiling system with metal, and then has a plethora of mistakes from the previous builder. It's a huge liability on my part as it would then go to the race track with my name on it. I don't know if the customer understood that or if he let it sink in.

I absolutely will not skimp on anything, especially the bottom end of a drag race motor. The Procomp heads were making my head hurt looking at them, but I was going to let that part slide.

I guess it cost me a sale and some more advertising...but what do you do? It's definitely not worth my reputation.

Like I said....kind of a petty story, but sometimes you just gotta vent.