• 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

Bob K said:
You answered your own question. He was trying to stop the leak.
Click to expand...

Perhaps so, but once you reach the torque specifications of the bolts and the leak continues, shouldn't that be a CLUE that something isn't right? I think the specs call for only something like 18 ft/lbs of torque on those bolts. The oil filter itself is only 22 ft/lbs and that is HAND TIGHTENED.
 
IF I can make an uneducated guess, I would guess he might have used an impact gun to install the bolts as that is the "fastest" way... some of the bolts may be cross threaded.... I hope not........ but you know how well Chris properly installs things.....
 
One of the easiest ways to strip the allen head is to use a metric allen wrench in an american standard head or vice versa. Once that happens if you have used a thread locker like loctite it becomes very difficult to brake them loose. If as Aaron suspects the bolts are too long then that may have saved the holes from being stripped because the bolt bottomed out before the thread could be stripped.
 
Well, here's the latest...

Connie and I drove out to South Georgia Corvette Friday afternoon, just to get out of the house, really. I thought for certain that Aaron was going to tell me that the engine was going to have to be pulled out again to get to those oil pan bolts, so I wanted to get the bad news in person anyway.

But things didn't turn out as badly as I had expected. They took off the batwing and put some sealant on that gasket and it seems to be holding fine with no leaks. Aaron can't figure out why it was leaking in the first place, as everything looked fine with both mating surfaces and the gasket in place.

As for the bolts attaching the upper section of the oil pan to the block, none of those were apparently coming out without a lot of work. Every one got the allen head sockets rounded out so apparently they were tightened down WAY beyond torque specs. But the good news is that it only appears to be leaking at the front right corner, so Aaron feels that he can seal that up without pulling the pan down from the block. So he's going to give that a whirl on Monday and hope for the best. And here I was expecting to suffer blood spurting from every orifice on my body when he told me the engine had to come out and my blood pressure exploded.

Ah well, we'll see.

Oh yeah, another fly in the ointment. The shifter won't go into reverse for some reason. Not sure yet what is going on with that, so I'm hoping it's something REAL simple. The transmission and shifter are both new.

Aaron took the car out for a spin to check for the oil leaks and I rode shotgun. I had forgotten how LOUD that car is! Seemed to handle pretty well and had plenty of power, even with the rough tune done on it. Come to find out that the front sway bar isn't even hooked up and it still handled great.

Interestingly enough, when we were driving up to Thomasville, we saw a large area of smoke indicating a large fire somewhere near Thomasville. Both Connie and I commented that it looked like Aaron finally had had enough of that car and torched it. Honestly, at that point I wouldn't have been surprised. And I would likely have been throwing gasoline onto it as well.

So the saga continues...
 
Reverse lock-out solinoid. Check the connector and then test for current when trying to engage to make sure it is working.

:thumbsup:
 
RevXtreme 1 said:
Reverse lock-out solinoid. Check the connector and then test for current when trying to engage to make sure it is working.

:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Yeah, Aaron mentioned something about the solenoid. I think this is just one of the first of oodles of small problems that are going to crop up here and there.

He's going to be working on stuff Monday and Tuesday then has another job he has to work on beginning on Wednesday. I have no doubts that I will hit the 15 month mark before my car comes home. I don't even want to post any more pie in the sky estimates any longer... I've done so many of them it's an embarrassment to even read back over this thread.
 
Dammit............... Just dammit........... :mad:

Aaron can't get the oil leak to stop, so the oil pan HAS to come off.
 
Well, the engine has to come out to get those oil pan bolts off. :banghead:
 
I know it's tough to hear, but maybe you should be a little bit happy that he's finding all of these little picky problems, AND CORRECTING THEM, before he releases the car to you. It would be a bitch to have to flatbed that thing from St. Augustine back up to Aaron's place. I figure that it took 9 or 10 months to get it screwed up by Chris, so it's gonna take Aaron awhile to find all of the gremlins that Chris left in there.....
Hang in there pal........I've got a feeling that it's not much longer, and that the C5Z will be "RIGHT" when you get it back.
Andy Anderson :wavey:
 
Seriously, if I could go back into time, but only to mid September, I would just put a FOR SALE sign on my car when I pulled it around front of Harwood's shop to get it towed out of there.

Aaron told me that Jim Smith is in town to finish up the tuning on my car today and tomorrow. I'm not really sure I even want to go up there.

I may just stop posting on this thread anyway. Who the hell wants to read all of this doom and gloom crap anyway.
 
I'd certainly love to know when you finally get her home and how she felt on the drive home. Maybe stop here and just start a new thread (SHE'S FINALLY HOME). But, if you want to continue to let out any frustrations here, I'll keep reading as I certainly can't stop now. I'm subscribed to this thread and almost always check it immediately when I get a message about a new post from Rich Z!
 
We make a HELLUVA support group Rich!:thumbsup: If nothing else, the thread should remind us that it's possible to get into a clusterf%#( even when we thought we had everything covered. Keep posting, PLEASE! It lets all of us know what's currently happening, how much that other schmuck butchered the job, and might even be useful when the lawsuit comes around. PLUS........you can count on us ALL being really happy for you when Aaron get's it back to you.
Andy :wavey:
 
Yes I have been following both threads since the concrete slab for the garage floor was poured and can't stop now. We want to know what that kind of power is like when it is done NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES!!!!
 
I, personally, would like to see a video of the entire 6 seconds it will take to shred the tires.......:thumbsup:
Andy :wavey:
 
Well, I guess I should still keep up the documentation to this saga.

I just got off the phone with Aaron. They had to stop the tuning process because the MAF sensor died and so did the waste gate on the turbos. Harwood put on a new MAF/IAT sensor when my car was at the shop. Matter of fact I commented on it because it has the screen in place and the Z06 MAF/IAT for a 2002 supposedly doesn't have that screen. He said that boost went up to 13 lbs during tuning showing that the waste gate had failed. So who the heck knows what is going on at this point.

Why the heck the wastegate wants to get in on the action just beats the heck out of me. I think a list of what HASN'T gone wrong would be MUCH shorter than the list of things that HAVE gone wrong. :banghead:

I'm talking to Vernon Hills at STSturbo and he recommends that I put two wastegates on the car. Aaron agrees if I want to go to 10 lbs of boost instead of the stock 6 lbs For some reason the kit that I got way back when only came with one. He also recommended putting on two oil return pumps instead of the single one I now have, but I'm just going to have to hold off on that. This is all eating me alive right now so I'm just not willing to take a bigger bite than I am already chewing on.

So the car isn't getting the engine pulled till these other issues are resolved. I indicated to Aaron that if another brick wall shows up, then there will be no sense in pulling the engine anyway.

Anyway, I'm waiting for a call back from Vernon to see how much more money has to come out of my pockets.

Seriously guys, leave your cars STOCK and get an extended warranty. :yesnod: I wouldn't wish this nightmare on anyone.
 
Good god. Sad thing is, I've seen very reputable shops...with tons of show pieces for reference...just all of a sudden start putting out crap. So it's so hard to find a qualified shop these days. I'll hopefully do 95% of all the work I want done to my car myself.
 
I just asked Bryan at LME about the max boost that block could take without getting close to the ragged edge of tuning and he said it could take 25 lbs. Figure on a max of 1200 rwhp.

If the turbos will only put out around 13 lbs when the wastegate fails, then I'm thinking that perhaps I don't need the wastgates at all. I'm guessing they won't be cheap, and if I want to go with 13 lbs, then why bother with them?

Anyone able to poke some holes in my logic here?
 
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