BBF compression numbers

[Crusader]

I did a compression check on my BBF yesterday and was hoping for some constructive advise. The following numbers were taken on a cold motor.

Cylinders.

1. 125
2. 125
3. 160
4. 130
5. 60
6. 175
7. 160
8. 150

As you can see, the numbers are all over the place and #5 is basically useless.

Aside from R&Ring with a Chevy, what are some things that might be wrong with it?? We are going to do a leak down on it this Sunday.

In advance, thanks.

 

[KONA77]

i think a leak down test is gonna give better info,  on what to suspect,  but if I had to make an internet guess,  I'd say rings :smile30:

 

[Last Mohecian]

You definitely have an issue.  Here are my thoughts on it.

1) That engine is supposedly a stroker.  That means there should be some good parts in it.  No one with any knowledge puts a stroker crank in with crap pistons etc...  That being said, I have my doubts it is a stroker.

2) After you lost the cooling line to it, you noticed more blow by than what you saw last year.  Who knows if that is a contributing factor or not.  Only way to find out is to tear into it and even then you may not know exactly what happened.

You can do a leak down and that will tell you where the compression is going.  If it is the head you could just do a valve job. I personally would not do this.  I have seen many motors lose the rings after a valve job due to the increased compression on the old rings.  If you run it like it is, and it turns out to actually be a good bottom end, you stand the chance to tear up some good parts.  If it is a valve issue, a dropped valve can do some serious damage, If it is a hole in a piston, you can tear the bottom end up real quick when the piston comes apart.  If it is a broken ring, same end result if it completely lets go.

The way it stands right now, you may have a good block, piston, cam, crank heads etc...  Keep running it the way it is and there is a good chance you will have $75 worth of scrap metal at the recycler.

If it was mine, I would get a wrecking yard 460 and put it in the boat one Saturday soon.  Your boat will only be down one day and it will give you the time to tear into yours to see what you actually have.  If yours turns out to be a stroker, build it as time and money allow.  If what you have is a stock 460, you didn't lose anything by putting the wrecking yard motor in.

Just my .02  Sorry to hear it for you Cliff.

Matt

 

[Crusader]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the input.

 

[duanehydro]

STROKER? when I had it here it was a stock 460, and it all looks the same, and it was well used at that time...... think.gif
I think it's time for a rebuild....and make sure all your hoses are in good shape.

 

[Last Mohecian]

STROKER? when I had it here it was a stock 460, and it all looks the same, and it was well used at that time...... think.gif
I think it's time for a rebuild....and make sure all your hoses are in good shape.

The guy Cliff bought it from told him it was a stroker and spouted off all kinds of parts he supposedly put in it.  He told Brent and I the same thing when we looked at it for Cliff the week before Cliff bought it.  Several things about it made me doubt it.  I know you looked at it for the PO not too long before Cliff bought it.

 

[jroberts88]

Not really to change the subject but I was told my engine was a cobra jet and it was just a plain BBF with dove heads.. so I think a rebuild is needed. And defently with odd numbers like that

 

[Michael Swindoll]

hurry.gif

You definitely have an issue.  Here are my thoughts on it.

1) That engine is supposedly a stroker.  That means there should be some good parts in it.  No one with any knowledge puts a stroker crank in with crap pistons etc...  That being said, I have my doubts it is a stroker.

2) After you lost the cooling line to it, you noticed more blow by than what you saw last year.  Who knows if that is a contributing factor or not.  Only way to find out is to tear into it and even then you may not know exactly what happened.

You can do a leak down and that will tell you where the compression is going.  If it is the head you could just do a valve job. I personally would not do this.  I have seen many motors lose the rings after a valve job due to the increased compression on the old rings.  If you run it like it is, and it turns out to actually be a good bottom end, you stand the chance to tear up some good parts.  If it is a valve issue, a dropped valve can do some serious damage, If it is a hole in a piston, you can tear the bottom end up real quick when the piston comes apart.  If it is a broken ring, same end result if it completely lets go.

The way it stands right now, you may have a good block, piston, cam, crank heads etc...  Keep running it the way it is and there is a good chance you will have $75 worth of scrap metal at the recycler.

If it was mine, I would get a wrecking yard 460 and put it in the boat one Saturday soon.  Your boat will only be down one day and it will give you the time to tear into yours to see what you actually have.  If yours turns out to be a stroker, build it as time and money allow.  If what you have is a stock 460, you didn't lose anything by putting the wrecking yard motor in.

Just my .02  Sorry to hear it for you Cliff.

Matt

I could not of said it better! In my book #5, 1,& 2,are bad & 4 aint far! I agree with this! If it does have good part there expensive to replace!

 

[Crusader]

STROKER? when I had it here it was a stock 460, and it all looks the same, and it was well used at that time...... think.gif
I think it's time for a rebuild....and make sure all your hoses are in good shape.

Yep, that's what the guy told me. I asked him for a build sheet for the motor as he claimed it was a fairly fresh motor. In fact the guy promised me a build sheet and the balance of what I owe him was on the line until I received a build sheet from him. After literally dozens of emails to him, THB PMs, phone calls and text messages I was never able to get a hold of him after we exchanged $$. This is yet another reason as to why I don't believe a word the PO told me about the boat.

The only part of the boat I didn't go through yet is the motor. Everything else is good to go and all the blunders the PO did on the boat has been fixed.

Duane went through the pump in June 2010.

I think I'll take James up on his off and drop his 460 in there and rebuild mine correctly so I can have a strong reliable motor for a few years. 

 

[73 Sanger Flat]

That is  best thing to do Cliff , drop another engine in  it, so you do  not loose all the summer boating , then get your engine  rebuilt and then you will know for sure what is in your engine .. It will last a long time doing it that way .. No not go over kill on the high performance stuff so it will be less maintenance for you ..

Hope you get it removed and replace quickly

Looks like the rings went bad or you have some burn / bent valves .. Might even have a couple blown head gaskets and be causing that .. Leak down and then pull the heads ..

 

[Patchman]

That sucks, but never believe what someone tells you about a motor they want to sell, unless it's in pieces and you can verify! Time for a rebuild, but let us know what you find wrong with it. :smile25:

 

[Crusader]

That sucks, but never believe what someone tells you about a motor they want to sell, unless it's in pieces and you can verify! Time for a rebuild, but let us know what you find wrong with it. :smile25:

Yep.....I hear ya bro. This guy was desperate to sell at the time and is also a member here on THB.....who I see logged on once in a while...not going to call him out even though I REALLY want too..... but that's not the right thing to do..... as I bought the boat "As is".

As with anything you purchase, "Caveat Emptor".

That's all water under the bridge.....the boat has, and seems to now, run fine and we've had a wonderful time on it. One thing that has always bothered me about the boat is that I didn't know the history of the motor.... and since I regularly run the Crusader at night (Special Operations, SEAL team six type stuff...lol), I want a reliable motor that won't leave me stranded on the lake at 0100 in the morning while performing covert ops.....lol.

I'll certainly start a new thread on the engine build and I'm sure when everything is done and the motor is back in the boat, y'all will be tired of reading about it. Lol.

 

[KONA77]

it's a FORD  i'll run all season with compression on one cylinder  :smile28:

 

[Devilman]

That dude may have passed that info on to you because it was passed on to him. He may have not had a clue what was really in it, only what he was told. I ran into that on a BBC I bought awhile back, guy went on about it having this & that, etc. He even recommended that I open it up to swap cams as he was sayin the cam in it was too radical for what I would be doin with it. We opened it up & that thing was like a mixed up Rubiks cube. When I confronted him about it, he was blown away & offered to make it good. Turns out he had had the engine built by a friend & all the empty hi-perf. parts boxes he saw sittin around never actually made it into his engine.

Just throwin it out there as a possible scenario.... :wink:

As far as what to do now, I agree with the others, pull it, swap it, & get back on the water. Give you time to open yours up & then end the mystery once & for all. Look at it this way, due to some shoddy plumbing on my boat done by the previous owner, I burned down a real nice 429... Pulled the 460 out of my 4x4 to use for the remainder of the season & was running in a weekend. That was in August I believe of 2005. That engine is still in there & I haven't done a damn thing to it other than change the oil every now & then... Oh yeah, I did put a set of spark plugs in it season before last. :grin:

 

[Crusader]

Thanks guys.

Well as far as knowing what was in the motor build, the PO stated that he and his father in law built the motor.....he said he was actually a part of the build and his FiL was a race engine builder in the Sequin area (I don't know the FiL's name). But when I questioned him more about the engine....he didn't come up with plausable answers....and seemed to beat around the bush when I asked specifics. In my experience, even the most lay person would know something about a motor if they were as involved with building it as he stated he was. The PO is also a Ford mechanic at a dealership in that area too....

This is all why I'm curious why the PO didn't provide me the specs of the motor.....and at least a hand written notebook papaer note of the parts inside the motor....and compression numbers after their build. As Matts states above.....his story just didn't add up.

James graciously offered to let me use his motor while I build mine. I don't give my motors hell on the water......just like to cruise and enjoy the boat.....so he has no reason to believe I'd tear up his powerplant.

 

[Patchman]

Well what ever it takes to keep you going! :smile16:

 

[Devilman]

Thanks guys.

Well as far as knowing what was in the motor build, the PO stated that he and his father in law built the motor.....he said he was actually a part of the build and his FiL was a race engine builder in the Sequin area (I don't know the FiL's name). But when I questioned him more about the engine....he didn't come up with plausable answers....and seemed to beat around the bush when I asked specifics. In my experience, even the most lay person would know something about a motor if they were as involved with building it as he stated he was. The PO is also a Ford mechanic at a dealership in that area too....

This is all why I'm curious why the PO didn't provide me the specs of the motor.....and at least a hand written notebook papaer note of the parts inside the motor....and compression numbers after their build. As Matts states above.....his story just didn't add up.

James graciously offered to let me use his motor while I build mine. I don't give my motors hell on the water......just like to cruise and enjoy the boat.....so he has no reason to believe I'd tear up his powerplant.

well alrighty then, puts that baby to bed, lol... time to go kick his dogs, sugar his gas tanks & burn down his house!

Just kidding about kickin the dogs, poor dogs didn't do nothin.... :grin:

 

[Last Mohecian]

Thanks guys.

Well as far as knowing what was in the motor build, the PO stated that he and his father in law built the motor.....he said he was actually a part of the build and his FiL was a race engine builder in the Sequin area (I don't know the FiL's name). But when I questioned him more about the engine....he didn't come up with plausable answers....and seemed to beat around the bush when I asked specifics. In my experience, even the most lay person would know something about a motor if they were as involved with building it as he stated he was. The PO is also a Ford mechanic at a dealership in that area too....

This is all why I'm curious why the PO didn't provide me the specs of the motor.....and at least a hand written notebook papaer note of the parts inside the motor....and compression numbers after their build. As Matts states above.....his story just didn't add up.

James graciously offered to let me use his motor while I build mine. I don't give my motors hell on the water......just like to cruise and enjoy the boat.....so he has no reason to believe I'd tear up his powerplant.

Uhm....  Care to restate that.  LOL.

 

[Crusader]

Thanks guys.

Well as far as knowing what was in the motor build, the PO stated that he and his father in law built the motor.....he said he was actually a part of the build and his FiL was a race engine builder in the Sequin area (I don't know the FiL's name). But when I questioned him more about the engine....he didn't come up with plausable answers....and seemed to beat around the bush when I asked specifics. In my experience, even the most lay person would know something about a motor if they were as involved with building it as he stated he was. The PO is also a Ford mechanic at a dealership in that area too....

This is all why I'm curious why the PO didn't provide me the specs of the motor.....and at least a hand written notebook papaer note of the parts inside the motor....and compression numbers after their build. As Matts states above.....his story just didn't add up.

James graciously offered to let me use his motor while I build mine. I don't give my motors hell on the water......just like to cruise and enjoy the boat.....so he has no reason to believe I'd tear up his powerplant.

Uhm....  Care to restate that.  LOL.

Only when cooling lines come off...lol.  crazy.gif

Oh, and while conducting covert ops on lake Tawakoni.......after pounding tons of drinks all day long....lol.

 

[Last Mohecian]

Only when cooling lines come off...lol.  crazy.gif

Oh, and while conducting covert ops on lake Tawakoni.......after pounding tons of drinks all day long....lol.

Those of us that have been to the lake with you know the truth.  We are all better in our minds than we are in reality.  LOL.