engine is stripped down

[Al Bass]

hear are some pictures of my bearings. the engine is going back on monday to the guy that poured the babbitt to let him see the damage and to give me an explanation of what could have happened. I cant see how my driving habbits could have done this, I drove 55mph tops for about a mile once to see what speed was like, but on longer cruises 40 to 48mph but most of the time was in town or cruising around the county at 35mph or less. I've tried to take it easy on the car because it was my daily driver and wanted it to last for the long run. If it is my fault I do not want this to happen again

 

[Paul from Maine]

How many miles did you put on the motor. Boy it must have been Knocking!

 

[Al Bass]

rod bearings

 

[bucket t]

rod bearings

Looks to have been poured too cold.

 

[Al Bass]

I have 4500 miles on the engine. and maybe 15 miles when it started to knock bad and drove it home almost fully retarded to slow down the knock

 

[d.j. moordigian]

This engine wasn't clean when assembled. What's with the grove in the rear cap?

 

[Milton]

This engine wasn't clean when assembled. What's with the grove in the rear cap?

I think this is the modification referred to in a January thread about rear main modifications in an attempt to prevent oil leaks at the rear main.

 

[Art Bjornestad]

I see no sign of tinning on the rods.

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

I don't pour babbit, but it looks like it wasn't tinned, was poured at the wrong temperature and may be the wrong type of babbit. And it looks like it was assembled dirty.

Also, I don't like to drive that fast (55 MPH) until the engine is well broken in, and then only if it has a counterweighted crankshaft.

 

[John S]

Running the car 55 for a short time should not cause any damage, much less a meltdown like that. I run my old churn at 55+ on the hiway for long streches and have been doing so for over 10,000 miles. No counter weights on the crank and no knocks so far.

 

[PC/SR]

No parting line relief on the rods. They should be releived all the way across, and across the ends too. The sharp edge acts as a scraper. The rear main drain groove may reduce leakage (unnecessary if it was assembled right) but reduces lubrication too.

 

[Purdy Swoft]

There doesn't appear to be any relief at the bolt side of the caps for the oil to collect at the ends of the oil grooves.This alone would probably cause failure of the babbit in a short time. It would be best to have another engine builder redo the babbit. very unprofessional job if I've ever seen one!!

 

[Purdy Swoft]

Sorry about that PC/SR we must have been typing at the same time and you beat me to the draw.

 

[PC/SR]

No problem Purdy. Great minds think alike, and apparently at the same speed.

 

[Al Bass]

I'm heading to Bill Barlow's in the morning for new babbitt. 7 1/2 hr drive.
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction guys. Maybe "Bessy" will be on the road soon

 

[PC/SR]

Al: Bill will do the job right. He did mine which I have used for touring and some speed stuff. No problems. There is a decent hotel with a restaurant next door that serves a good steak a couple of miles from Bill's place. Cant remember the name, but it is on the only hill in Bend. Bessy will be fine.