• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

427 engine (part 2) - RHS block

Man she sounds good. "I" couldn't hear any abnormal clatter. Could it just be typical valve clatter heard through the headers? My truck's are real loud through the headers and it's all stock.
 
Man she sounds good. "I" couldn't hear any abnormal clatter. Could it just be typical valve clatter heard through the headers? My truck's are real loud through the headers and it's all stock.

Well, it sounded abnormal to me, and Chris agreed with me. Now he says the noise is gone, so heck, who knows? :shrug01:
 
I need sunglasses on just to watch the video there is so much bling!:D

Where did you get that cool custom billet alt bracket?:thumbsup:

Here's a video I took of the engine running. I was handholding the camcorder, and as I moved it closer to the engine, you can definitely hear the clattering noise I mentioned earlier...



Chris called me this morning and said he pulled off the valve covers and checked everything out, but couldn't find anything wrong to pin on the noise. He said he went and put the valve covers back on and started it back up, and the noise is now gone. :thinkin: :shrug01:

He also said he found a water leak behind the passenger side head, that needs some sort of seal that he doesn't have. So he had to order it (them?) and will have that on Tuesday.

BTW, I guess all the smoke is just the oil and crap burning off of the headers from being manhandled into place. I didn't see any actual flames, so that is a good start.....
 
I did run out to the shop, briefly, today and listened to the engine, and sure enough, the clattering is gone. Just hoping for the best at this point...

The water leak, as Chris tells me, is where a tube runs from one head to the other on the back. He showed me where it is on my old engine, and it's just not visible under the hood. Hope it's not a pain in the ass to get to, but it looks like at the very least the intake manifold would have to come off to get to it.
 
WooHoo!

It lives, it breathes!!! :dancer01::dancer01::dancer01:

Clattering could have just been a lifter that didn't fill up first time.

Major congrats! :thumbsup:
 
WooHoo!

Clattering could have just been a lifter that didn't fill up first time.

Major congrats! :thumbsup:

I agree Rich. Hope you're on the road soon.:thumbsup:

I just watched the video and listened to that clatter. I've never heard anything like it. I dunno. :shrug01:
 
My first thought on the clatter was that it might be a high energy snap from a loose wire on one of the coils. But in any case gone is good and you don't need to send out a search party to find it.:lmao:
 
Yeah, there shouldn't be anything blocking the way to putting the car on the street this week. At least nothing that I can foresee. The turbos are supposed to be back this afternoon, along with the seals or gaskets (whichever..) that are to fix that coolant leak.

I will be running to the shop tomorrow. Wasn't any sense to going out there today, as Chris called me this morning and said he had some things to do in Tallahassee. Since he is supposed to be out of that building in Blountstown by the end of this month, I'm guessing he is trying to get things lined up to move to the building he is getting along the southeast corner of the Capitol Beltway in Tallahassee. Connie and I drove by there today, and obviously a LOT needs to be done before he can move in there.

I just hope my car doesn't slip down that priority list again.... :nonod:
 
My first thought on the clatter was that it might be a high energy snap from a loose wire on one of the coils. But in any case gone is good and you don't need to send out a search party to find it.:lmao:

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

That would be my guess!!:thumbsup:

Spark Plug not quite tight will sound that way too!:D
 
Yeah, I'm certainly expecting to go through a rash of minor things here and there with loose connections, or bolts, or whatever. It's going to be almost like a brand new car without going through a factory quality control regimen after coming off the assembly line.
 
Thursday - 09/09/10

Man, I REALLY thought today was going to be a GOOD day. Comparatively speaking, of course....

Justin replaced the seals or gaskets on that coolant leak behind the heads yesterday, and Chris told me this morning that the turbos (even though unfinished by Jet Hot) had come back. So everything engine wise through to the exhaust should have been good to go. The game plan was to let the car run for a while to let the break-in oil do it's thing, then pull the car onto the lift and change the oil. After that quite likely just put anything still not on the car back where it belongs and begin the street tuning process. Things were looking up to perhaps get my car back on the road maybe by Friday or Monday. I was feeling pretty good that all of the problems just with getting and keeping the engine running had been pretty much ironed out.

This feeling of euphoria lasted right up till the moment I walked into Chris's shop and saw my car sitting on the lift with some sort of fluid literally POURING out from the driver's side of the engine. Both Chris and Justin were underneath obviously trying to find where the leak was coming from, so obviously I just got there right after they put it on the lift to investigate.

Long story short is that it appears that the freeze plugs on that side of the motor are leaking coolant. I say "plugs" but it may just be one and the fluid is just flowing over the front cradle looking like more than one leak is involved. This apparently happened while the engine was cold, so it isn't a pressure leak. NO telling why it decided to show up just now, but at least it's not while Connie and I were on a trip with it in the middle of Death Valley at mid day.

I decided I just didn't want to hand around to watch parts come off that engine once again. Actually the thought on my mind was that I really just wanted to KILL something, so I figured maybe I would go home and just yank weeds out by the roots and fantasize about them screaming in mortal agony.

Of course, the question in my head is, WHY was a freeze plug leaking? They are a screw in type, not a pressed in plug, so I'm wondering if someone just forgot to tighten down this one that is leaking? Or were all of them supposed to be tightened and sealed when delivered to the customer? I sure do hope that it is the former, rather than the later, because if the later is the case, getting to those freeze plugs at the back of the engine won't be a picnic.

Anyway, when I left, they were taking the headers off of the engine to get at the freeze plugs on both sides of the block. I guess I'll hear later on today what is going on. If just one of them is loose and leaking and the others appear to be tight, MAYBE it's just that one that is a problem. But if they are ALL loose, well, then things get ugly.... I had chest pains on the way home, a sure sign that this car is going to be the death of me yet....

freeze%20plugs%2001.jpg
 
Why didn't it leak last week? You sure it was a freeze plug?

I'm not really sure of anything at this point. I'm hoping to hear more from Chris this evening. Sure would be nice to hear some GOOD news, though. I sent an email off to Bryan at LME and he said he has been talking with Chris via phone. Nothing of any substance was relayed to me about the situation in that email, however.

No telling why it decided to leak right now instead of during the initial start up tries. It's not like this would have not been noticed..... There was a FLOOD of coolant on the floor in front of the dyno.
 
That's why I'm wondering if it's a freeze plug that's leaking. The engine hasn't been run since the last start up so it doesn't make sense to me. But then I remember in Murphy's Law ........... I also don't see how coolant could pour out of a loose fitting. You're thinking it was like a gusher right?
 
A plug could have lossened from the intial start-ups & warm-up and when it cooled it allowed the leak. I like to remove all from a new block & add sealant and retighten just in case. Should be a simple fix other than moving the headers to access them.
 
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