Hi folks -
Yep, Rick here. Car is down. Hard. I'm working on getting some photos off the camera for the whole story, but a version goes like this:
Cruising through Kansas on Tuesday, 60 miles from Hays, our first stop on the way. Gauges looking perfect - 40 psi oil, 175 degrees coolant. All day that way, 70 mph, 3000 RPM, all is well. Next moment rear view mirror is full of white smoke. Engine just stops. Nothing. Huh. Pull out the tool bag, pull #1 plug, looks okay. Pull #3, oh, no, the bottom of the plug is gone. :ugh No insulator, no ground, just the threads on the end. Put finger in the hole-no compression. Check oil-it's over full. Check coolant-it's down. I'm thinking blown head gasket. Tow truck driver arrives and brings me back to his shop. Wednesday morning, he can tell I have a clue, so he loans me a shop bay and I do a compression check all around. All good except #3. I pull it down-3 hours total-using only my tools except the head bolts-I used his 3/8" air impact to speed the job. Pull the head-BIG hole in the piston. Another hole in the head at the combustion chamber area. Valve stem separated from the seat-the locks, spring, retainer are all there-the bottom part of the exhaust valve beat up the engine. Closer inspection-cracked block on #3 wall. Aw, heck. My matching # block! :cry
Tow truck driver, GREAT guy, Jack Foster in Grainfield, KS, loans me his wife's Olds 88 aka "Deerslayer" as the front end is smashed and the windshield is all busted from a deer collision. We head back to Denver Wednesday afternoon, get in about 8 and head to the bar.:cry
Thursday, find a U-haul trailer, jump in my wife's Silverado Z-71, load the Deerslayer and back to Kansas. Pay Jack $150 for everything-tow from highway, car rental, shop use, inside storage, etc.. Tellin' ya, Jack is a GREAT fellow.
Get back to Denver later that night. Long day. :z
So, now I plan to take the 383 stroker from the '70 Chevelle wagon and drop it in the 'Vette And the original, matching # 350 from the wagon gets rebuilt and put back in the wagon. I'm told I can save the 'Vette motor with a bore and a liner, not sure about the head yet, though. That will wait for awhile. At least I can salvage some of the summer and will try to make "Vettes on the Rockies" late July. Tibby (Tiburon, Spanish for shark) will live again!
As a follow up to the story-here is a link to the photos I promised earlier:
http://photos.msn.com/Slideshow/Viewer.htm?locale=en-us&config=%2fSlideshow%2fConfig.aspx%3flocale%3den-us%26folder%3dnBuRgwTGIGjkVpLJ3Nc!FPV*4ecOHGzkEmGDMKqqDEU%24&data=%2fSlideshow%2fData.aspx%3ffolder%3dnBuRgwTGIGjkVpLJ3Nc!FPV*4ecOHGzkEmGDMKqqDEU%24%26index%3d6
When we stopped at a rest area outside Burlington, a little old lady spotted us in the Deerslayer in the parking lot. She ran up and said "Oh, my god! Are you allright?" I said, "oh, we're fine-this cars a loaner!"
She gave us this real puzzled look :confused turned around a walked away.
I took a photo of Jack's "service bus", cause it's pretty neat. It has a gas-powered air compressor (exhaust above left taillight) and a tire changing machine, along with spare tires, batteries and a roll around toolbox with the wheels off and bolted down. I thought it was pretty cool. The hotel was kind enough to give me old towels and a bedsheet (I gave them $5). You can see the valve next to the head. Locks, spring, stem and retainer are still in the head!
Sorry I missed you guys. Real bummer, huh?
My weekend is cut out for me. Just received a new Edelbrock 'Vette water pump to put on the 383 and 2 engine dollys in the mail from Summit. I hope to pull them both out this weekend, prep/clean during the week and replant the 383 next weekend. Hoping to turn the key on the 4th of July!
Rick
Yep, Rick here. Car is down. Hard. I'm working on getting some photos off the camera for the whole story, but a version goes like this:
Cruising through Kansas on Tuesday, 60 miles from Hays, our first stop on the way. Gauges looking perfect - 40 psi oil, 175 degrees coolant. All day that way, 70 mph, 3000 RPM, all is well. Next moment rear view mirror is full of white smoke. Engine just stops. Nothing. Huh. Pull out the tool bag, pull #1 plug, looks okay. Pull #3, oh, no, the bottom of the plug is gone. :ugh No insulator, no ground, just the threads on the end. Put finger in the hole-no compression. Check oil-it's over full. Check coolant-it's down. I'm thinking blown head gasket. Tow truck driver arrives and brings me back to his shop. Wednesday morning, he can tell I have a clue, so he loans me a shop bay and I do a compression check all around. All good except #3. I pull it down-3 hours total-using only my tools except the head bolts-I used his 3/8" air impact to speed the job. Pull the head-BIG hole in the piston. Another hole in the head at the combustion chamber area. Valve stem separated from the seat-the locks, spring, retainer are all there-the bottom part of the exhaust valve beat up the engine. Closer inspection-cracked block on #3 wall. Aw, heck. My matching # block! :cry
Tow truck driver, GREAT guy, Jack Foster in Grainfield, KS, loans me his wife's Olds 88 aka "Deerslayer" as the front end is smashed and the windshield is all busted from a deer collision. We head back to Denver Wednesday afternoon, get in about 8 and head to the bar.:cry
Thursday, find a U-haul trailer, jump in my wife's Silverado Z-71, load the Deerslayer and back to Kansas. Pay Jack $150 for everything-tow from highway, car rental, shop use, inside storage, etc.. Tellin' ya, Jack is a GREAT fellow.
Get back to Denver later that night. Long day. :zSo, now I plan to take the 383 stroker from the '70 Chevelle wagon and drop it in the 'Vette
And the original, matching # 350 from the wagon gets rebuilt and put back in the wagon. I'm told I can save the 'Vette motor with a bore and a liner, not sure about the head yet, though. That will wait for awhile. At least I can salvage some of the summer and will try to make "Vettes on the Rockies" late July. Tibby (Tiburon, Spanish for shark) will live again!As a follow up to the story-here is a link to the photos I promised earlier:
http://photos.msn.com/Slideshow/Viewer.htm?locale=en-us&config=%2fSlideshow%2fConfig.aspx%3flocale%3den-us%26folder%3dnBuRgwTGIGjkVpLJ3Nc!FPV*4ecOHGzkEmGDMKqqDEU%24&data=%2fSlideshow%2fData.aspx%3ffolder%3dnBuRgwTGIGjkVpLJ3Nc!FPV*4ecOHGzkEmGDMKqqDEU%24%26index%3d6
When we stopped at a rest area outside Burlington, a little old lady spotted us in the Deerslayer in the parking lot. She ran up and said "Oh, my god! Are you allright?" I said, "oh, we're fine-this cars a loaner!"
She gave us this real puzzled look :confused turned around a walked away.I took a photo of Jack's "service bus", cause it's pretty neat. It has a gas-powered air compressor (exhaust above left taillight) and a tire changing machine, along with spare tires, batteries and a roll around toolbox with the wheels off and bolted down. I thought it was pretty cool. The hotel was kind enough to give me old towels and a bedsheet (I gave them $5). You can see the valve next to the head. Locks, spring, stem and retainer are still in the head!
Sorry I missed you guys. Real bummer, huh?
My weekend is cut out for me. Just received a new Edelbrock 'Vette water pump to put on the 383 and 2 engine dollys in the mail from Summit. I hope to pull them both out this weekend, prep/clean during the week and replant the 383 next weekend. Hoping to turn the key on the 4th of July!
Rick
