Crusader Project

Crusader

Crusader

Moderator
Well....I will say that your thrust bearing and impeller play a huge role in the life of your motor. Lol. Last summer my thrust bearing went out.....and subsequently my motor severely overheated. Ever since then I've been having a ton of oil blow by from the valve covers. Three weeks ago myself and veestyle did a compression test and found that cylinders 1, 4, 5, and 8 were all about 80psi....while 2,3,6, and 7 were at 150psi..... (on a BBF 1,4,5 and 8 are on the four corners of the motor)

The general consensus was that the moly rings lost tension and that I should re-ring and call it good. So The past Saturday, Blazeracer, xlr8, and SecondAggie and I pulled the motor and tore it down. I had four cracked pistons. We think it's because of detonation when I overheated the motor last summer.

Today I'm taking the short block to Blaines and having them inspect the block, put new pistons on the rods and re-ring them. Also having them assemble the short block and prep it too.
 
Crusader

Crusader

Moderator
The thrust bearing is fine....I ran it on the lake two weeks ago...hit 50mph with four bad cylinders! Lol..

The cylinders are smooth....can't see or feel any marring at all. In fact, all the honing from the last build is still apparent.

All the rod bearings and crank bearings look good and aren't wiped. I've going to put new ones in anyway so I'll start fresh again.
 
J

jdeaton

New member
Man I'm sorry to hear that, Cliff.  I know you love Fords, BUT It seems to me they blow up a lot.  I guess that's the reason I'm going back to Bowtie.
Hope you have better luck with the rebuild.
 
Crusader

Crusader

Moderator
DiamondJim said:
Man I'm sorry to hear that, Cliff.  I know you love Fords, BUT It seems to me they blow up a lot.  I guess that's the reason I'm going back to Bowtie.
Hope you have better luck with the rebuild.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jim. At this point I've considered a conversion......
 
J

jdeaton

New member
I have to be very careful as to what I say about Fords, or Patch and Motorhead will start a Hate thread on me. :smile26:

I don't hate Fords, still have two in my boats, but I don't understand them.  As you saw on my build thread, I blew up 3, within the first 10 minutes of the build.  Granted some of it was my fault, but I never had this much bad luck with the Chevy. :smile13:
 
Knotty Girl

Knotty Girl

New member
I am not hate'n on Ford I have a little Southwind with a 557 that runs pretty darn good.  However I think it will be in someone else's stable after today.  :smile16:
 
J

jdeaton

New member
UH Yeah, just sayin,
Then there is Patch and the Sanger, Duane, Me, You, Cliff, Gashole.  Pretty good list and all with Fords as the common link.  And that's just this year.  Lot of people believe in Fords, I'm not bashin them or their owners, I have become discouraged and will try throwing my money else where.
 
Crusader

Crusader

Moderator
Thats Cool Jim...

Man, this block seems bullet proof.

The whole reason this motor failed was because I overheated it..... and when I shut it down, the motor kept running for a few seconds......detonation. At that point is where the motor died.......it was my fault, not Fords.

I'm so deep $$ into this motor that I am going to stick with it.
 
B

blazeracer

New member
I've never seen one go like this. The space between the top and second ring was GONE on one piston about 1/3 the way around. On two other that same space was broken but still in place. The crazy part is ZERO scratches or scarring on any of the cylinders.

I still say regardless of Ford or Chevy, jet boat motors are a different animal. I've blown up each and will keep trying till I get it right. Every failure I've had so far hasn't been the fault of Ford, Chevy, or the machinist. Been the knucklehead putting it together every time, with my latest Chevy running great so far and another Ford on the stand next.

And hey, if you've never blown one up, then you've never built your own motor.
 
Crusader

Crusader

Moderator
blazeracer said:
I've never seen one go like this. The space between the top and second ring was GONE on one piston about 1/3 the way around. On two other that same space was broken but still in place. The crazy part is ZERO scratches or scarring on any of the cylinders.

I still say regardless of Ford or Chevy, jet boat motors are a different animal. I've blown up each and will keep trying till I get it right. Every failure I've had so far hasn't been the fault of Ford, Chevy, or the machinist. Been the knucklehead putting it together every time, with my latest Chevy running great so far and another Ford on the stand next.

And hey, if you've never blown one up, then you've never built your own motor.
Click to expand...

I've heard that dozens of times.

This will be my first build.....with supervision of course. These things can't be that difficult to put together.
 
73 Sanger Flat

73 Sanger Flat

Active member
I had that problem on an Olds motor I built .. I built it too tight for the piston and it would break the whole side of the piston off and it would not damage the cylinder also .. Found out I did not give the piston enough clearance room for the heat expansion .. Leason  learned .

It will all work out . It does not matter what brand engine you run , they all will break ..
 
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blazeracer

New member
Well there you go!! Probably ought to get the bore mic'd out. That short block was built by a very reputable builder, would think it was right.
 
73 Sanger Flat

73 Sanger Flat

Active member
need a little more clerance for a boat engine also .. The block does not get as hot and the expansion is not there when the pistons are expanding . .
 
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blazeracer

New member
Crusader said:
This will be my first build.....with supervision of course. These things can't be that difficult to put together.
Click to expand...

At most, it the first time.... Dude, you've done all this stuff before on the basket case motor we tried to fix after someone else effed it up real good. Maybe didn't turn the torque wrench, but took part in every aspect.
 
Crusader

Crusader

Moderator
blazeracer said:
Crusader said:
This will be my first build.....with supervision of course. These things can't be that difficult to put together.
Click to expand...

At most, it the first time.... Dude, you've done all this stuff before on the basket case motor we tried to fix after someone else effed it up real good. Maybe didn't turn the torque wrench, but took part in every aspect.
Click to expand...

Yep, you're correct..."seen this movie before"...lol.

This time I plan on being more "hands on"....
 
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