[firechickenman]

I saw Tim's post about his engine failure and thought I'd share mine too. I think it's odd how similar the builds and failures are. Mine was during Saturday's first round of eliminations (my 8th pass of the weekend) at about 1200 ft. The car had been very consistent and even on it's last pass the 1000 ft time was within a couple hundredths of the rest. The crank broke into 3 pieces with the 5-6 pin detached. 2 broken pistons and another damaged slightly, 2 bent rods, #5 bore is cracked, #3 main cap is broken and transmission bell housing broken. Luckily the Canton oil pan contained it all so no fluids got on the track or under my tires.

In car video: https://youtu.be/N3d1AGPM9Ko

[firechickenman]

More pics

[Gary H]

Sorry for the failure. Cast crank?

[firechickenman]

Last pics

[firechickenman]

Originally Posted by Gary H

Sorry for the failure. Cast crank?

Yes, I forgot to add that. Factory N crank that I have raced since 2013 and it was in a race build before that. I now know it should have been cycled out for a forged crank....

[Don 79 TA]

OUCH, my gawd at todays prices, even my wallet is saying ouch just by me seeing these photos
as long as you're safe, i guess all is good
if there is a plus side... now can build something better? at least that was my motto when i was into my jetskis
i'd love to do another engine for the car, but OMG prices and the time it now takes
i don't know how people can still do this with day to day living costs so high

best of luck and i feel your pain

[Half-Inch Stud]

Thin wall pins? What is the pin dia and wall thickness?

[72projectbird]

Jeez, time to jack up the carburetor and roll another engine under it. How are the heads? Did they take a total ass whooping, or are they salvageable?

I'm surprised that pan didn't puncture. It deserves a spot on the wall for its outstanding service

[firechickenman]

Originally Posted by Half-Inch Stud

Thin wall pins? What is the pin dia and wall thickness?

.980" dia. wall thickness is .150". They are the JE pins that came with my SRP pistons.

[mgarblik]

First, sorry for all that damage, hate to see that. Have you had a chance to look carefully from the #2 and #3 main oil feeds up to the cam bearings? Do you see a long crack in the block in either location?. That could be a clue as to what happened.

[firechickenman]

Originally Posted by Don 79 TA

OUCH, my gawd at todays prices, even my wallet is saying ouch just by me seeing these photos
as long as you're safe, i guess all is good
if there is a plus side... now can build something better? at least that was my motto when i was into my jetskis
i'd love to do another engine for the car, but OMG prices and the time it now takes
i don't know how people can still do this with day to day living costs so high

best of luck and i feel your pain

Thanks...it's going to sting a little but it will be back bigger, better, stronger, lighter and hopefully faster!

[Jay S]

Sorry Greg, that stinks, wow running at 1200 feet would probably test anything I have too., I have never came close to running in air like that. I’m impressed you even captured the crank breaking on that video. Looked to me like it all went at once the way it separated at the crank. I imagine that was partly do to the power and RPMs it was making. I don’t think there was any catching that on an inspection, kind of doubt it was showing any stress cracks, the photo’s appear it went in a big way!

[firechickenman]

Originally Posted by 72projectbird

Jeez, time to jack up the carburetor and roll another engine under it. How are the heads? Did they take a total ass whooping, or are they salvageable?

I'm surprised that pan didn't puncture. It deserves a spot on the wall for its outstanding service

Heads are good except for a few bent valves. It's past time to upgrade the valves anyway. I'm torn between trying to fix the pan or not...new one is $400 now!

[firechickenman]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

First, sorry for all that damage, hate to see that. Have you had a chance to look carefully from the #2 and #3 main oil feeds up to the cam bearings? Do you see a long crack in the block in either location?. That could be a clue as to what happened.

That was one of the first things I looked at. No cracks from the mains to cam tunnel. I have another 455 block that is cracked like that up 2 and 4.

[72projectbird]

Originally Posted by firechickenman

Heads are good except for a few bent valves. It's past time to upgrade the valves anyway. I'm torn between trying to fix the pan or not...new one is $400 now!

I'd personally hammer and dolly it back to shape and run it. Getting away with a few bent valves is the best case scenario. So basically all the damage was concentrated to the short block, which still sucks, but the top end survived which is good.

[steve25]

It's amazing how when at high rpm if the motor stops spinning in less then a blink of a the Bell housings Break like that.
I have seen it a few times before.

[firechickenman]

Originally Posted by Jay S

Sorry Greg, that stinks, wow running at 1200 feet would probably test anything I have too., I have never came close to running in air like that. I’m impressed you even captured the crank breaking on that video. Looked to me like it all went at once the way it separated at the crank. I imagine that was partly do to the power and RPMs it was making. I don’t think there was any catching that on an inspection, kind of doubt it was showing any stress cracks, the photo’s appear it went in a big way!

That 1200 ft was how far down the track I was when it happened, the DA was 2964 according to Norwalk's track App. I try to get all my runs on video. You never know what you might capture. I've gotten some really cool videos of other cars over the years.

[Tim Corcoran]

Firechicken

You know that transmission can be easily fixed and not expensive either. I broke one like that a while back and I'm no running that same trans. Interesting how similar our builds were mine had J&E pistons and a 1050 Dominator same as you. Except yours's was a few .10's faster.

[prostreet64]

Never a good thing when a crank lets go but you have put up some impressive #s with a crank that has been in service for over 10 years. At least that is some consolation amid the pain. Hope you can recover with an even better combo.

[johnta1]

You know that transmission can be easily fixed and not expensive either.

Best way (if internals are good) is put an Ultra-Bell bellhousing on it. SFI rated anyway and usually need one. The whole bellhousing area is cut off.