Yeah, no worries. My "knowledge" is being tested all of the time...
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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
- Thread starter Rich Z
- Start date
Yeah, no worries. My "knowledge" is being tested all of the time...
RevXtreme 1
www.revxtreme.com
The blow off valve is what relieves or "bolws-off" pressure when the throttle blade is shut to avoid the pressure damaging it is intake components.
Thw wastegates regulate the exhaust gasses that spin the turbos. The wastegate does two things, one is the most obvious in controlling the amount of boost by bleeding off exhaust gasses as the pressure meets a pre-set level, but it is doing so not by relieving boost, but by bypassing the exhaust that spins the turbo.
Thw wastegates regulate the exhaust gasses that spin the turbos. The wastegate does two things, one is the most obvious in controlling the amount of boost by bleeding off exhaust gasses as the pressure meets a pre-set level, but it is doing so not by relieving boost, but by bypassing the exhaust that spins the turbo.
And to be certain I understand the mechanics of this, the wastegate does absolutely nothing until the boost has exceeded the rating of the spring. Up to that point, all exhaust is routed through the turbos. Is that correct?
Well, I honestly would like to think that no news is good news, but somehow I just don't think that will be the case here.... 
My luck just hasn't been flowing in that direction.
The last I heard from Aaron was that he was going to try a new wastegate that he has in the shop. :shrug01:
My luck just hasn't been flowing in that direction.The last I heard from Aaron was that he was going to try a new wastegate that he has in the shop. :shrug01:
Well Aaron called me today with good news and the usual bad news.
The incorrect MAF that Chris Harwood put in my car was affecting the tune, so he had to get the correct Z06 version.
Aaron straightened up a lot of the plumbing on top of the engine so it should look a lot neater now.
He found that the wastegate problem was caused by a vacuum hose melted through that was laying against a header.
The turbos themselves now appear to be leaking oil. He checked the scavenge pump and it appears to be working properly. So no telling what happened now....
The oil pan leak still needs to be addressed (which means pulling the engine) and he's going to look into the reverse problem with the transmission.
I swear, I feel like I'm at the 2 yard line and I'd be a fool to just give up being this close. But then when I cross those two yards, there is ANOTHER two yards to go. Then another. And another.... Yet suppose I am REALLY REALLY at the two yard line and I give up then?
I swear, if I retain my sanity after all this, it will be a bonafide miracle. Or maybe I have already lost it? How will I know? Maybe continually thinking I am at that two yard line is a sign? :shrug01:
The incorrect MAF that Chris Harwood put in my car was affecting the tune, so he had to get the correct Z06 version.
Aaron straightened up a lot of the plumbing on top of the engine so it should look a lot neater now.
He found that the wastegate problem was caused by a vacuum hose melted through that was laying against a header.
The turbos themselves now appear to be leaking oil. He checked the scavenge pump and it appears to be working properly. So no telling what happened now....
The oil pan leak still needs to be addressed (which means pulling the engine) and he's going to look into the reverse problem with the transmission.
I swear, I feel like I'm at the 2 yard line and I'd be a fool to just give up being this close. But then when I cross those two yards, there is ANOTHER two yards to go. Then another. And another.... Yet suppose I am REALLY REALLY at the two yard line and I give up then?
I swear, if I retain my sanity after all this, it will be a bonafide miracle. Or maybe I have already lost it? How will I know? Maybe continually thinking I am at that two yard line is a sign? :shrug01:
navy2kcoupe
!ereH nI depparT m'I pleH
Rich, the more I read this thread, the more that I think that ALL of the problems you're seeing are as a direct result of Mr. Harwood. Don't beat yourself up over a past decision, and be EXTREMELY grateful that Aaron is diligent enough to find and fix all of them. The only really "bad" news is that you wind up paying twice. This thread is more of a damnation of Mr. Harwood than anything else, and eventually you WILL have a beast that's worth having.
Andy Anderson :wavey:
Andy Anderson :wavey:
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CorvetteJohn
Deceased
Pan oil leak. You mentioned that the pan bolts were stainless and that the allen heads were rounded out.. I am wondering if it would be possible to drill the heads out enough to silver solder or braze a short bolt onto them and then turn them out without removing the engine. Only you know if there is enough clearance to do this.
It looks pretty tight in there with the engine sitting on that cradle. I'm sure you would have to drill through the cradle to get to some of the bolts. With the block being aluminum, I'm guessing that aaron doesn't want to risk stripping out the threads. If I remember correctly, Harwood had to cut slots in the bolts holding the timing chain cover in place as those bolts were rounded out as well.
But even after the bolts are out, I'm not sure how easy it would be to get to the oil pan gasket. Aaron wants to put a sealant on both sides of them (like in the old days when we used to use Permatex on all of the gaskets. If this had been done originally, quite likely I wouldn't have an oil leak there right now.
85vette
Active member
Back in the 80's when I worked for the Chevy dealer there was a guy in Tallahassee that specialized in removing broken, stripped, or cross threaded bolts. He had all the special equipment to reach any bolts on an engine. He charged around $150.00 per trip IIRC, but he always got it done. MicRight was the name of the company.
I'm guessing he isn't around any longer. Too bad because I'd be willing to give him a shot. I really hate the thought of having that engine pulled out again. No telling what new problems that might cause afterwards. :banghead:
Well, it gets even better. :banghead:
Evidently my turbos are shot. Leaking oil around the seals and the shafts have excessive play in them. Probably they over revved with the amount of exhaust the new engine puts out. They have smaller optional housings on them that I asked Greg at Antivenom to put on them when I got the turbos installed so they would spool up faster. Put evidently their HP limit is something like 550 HP, which the new engine is exceeding by a good bit. So not only do the turbos need to be rebuilt, but the housings have to be replaced as well. When I looked at what they would cost, it's not that much more to just get completely new turbos. Might be even less than a rebuild if the seller of the new turbos takes the old ones for a core charge.
Aaron is going to check around for pricing, as I believe STS is a little high on the stuff they sell. They are quoting something like $800 for each new turbo. The rebuild was going to be $650 per turbo. Plus Aaron wants to have dual wastegates on the car, and thinks he can save me some money by just buying the flange needed and weld that onto the pipe himself.
Seriously, am I just being a damn fool to keep at this? At times I have felt that I am only 2 yards away from the goal line, only to find out that no, it's really 200 yards away. This has happened time and time again.
Do I need to have the car struck by a lightning bolt as a sure sign that I'm just not destined to drive that car again?
Evidently my turbos are shot. Leaking oil around the seals and the shafts have excessive play in them. Probably they over revved with the amount of exhaust the new engine puts out. They have smaller optional housings on them that I asked Greg at Antivenom to put on them when I got the turbos installed so they would spool up faster. Put evidently their HP limit is something like 550 HP, which the new engine is exceeding by a good bit. So not only do the turbos need to be rebuilt, but the housings have to be replaced as well. When I looked at what they would cost, it's not that much more to just get completely new turbos. Might be even less than a rebuild if the seller of the new turbos takes the old ones for a core charge.
Aaron is going to check around for pricing, as I believe STS is a little high on the stuff they sell. They are quoting something like $800 for each new turbo. The rebuild was going to be $650 per turbo. Plus Aaron wants to have dual wastegates on the car, and thinks he can save me some money by just buying the flange needed and weld that onto the pipe himself.
Seriously, am I just being a damn fool to keep at this? At times I have felt that I am only 2 yards away from the goal line, only to find out that no, it's really 200 yards away. This has happened time and time again.
Do I need to have the car struck by a lightning bolt as a sure sign that I'm just not destined to drive that car again?
shakedown067
Sinister C4
I'm speechless...
gmjunkie
Corvette,GM Classic Freak
I don't buy it,unless the turbos had been starved of lubricant!~!!You sure Deadwood didn't do a swap on you?~??:banghead::banghead::banghead:
As far as being Lightning Struck,Your in luck I'm purdy well versed in Lightning Struck Corvettes!~!!:thumbsup:
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/c4-general-discussion/116719-vette-struck-lightning.html
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I kind of agree with you Junk but for a different reason. I know nothing about turbos but the car has been there about 5 months, it's been driven and tested but still these obvious problems keep popping up.
It appears to me that it has been scheduled as a side job up there and after this amount of time I would give them a little more time, maybe 2 weeks and then I would find someone that will get it done.
I kind of doubt it. The turbos I have on the car are not the standard ones that come with STS's kit. Mine have smaller hotside housings to make the turbos spool up faster. So it would be pretty obvious if a swap had been done. I think the problem is that those turbos are really only rated for a max of 550 hp. The new engine certainly pushed them WAY beyond that limit and that is probably what did the damage. They probably over revved several times on the dyno. Not only can excessive exhaust push the turbos into an over-rev condition, even the cold side could cause self inflicted damage to the turbo if it could not provide enough air to the engine upon demand. But I think that would be obvious as the turbos could never push the system into a boost condition and would always show a vacuum on the meter if the turbos were unable to supply enough air to the intake. Boost pretty much proves that the turbos were able to provide plenty of air to the engine.
As for an oil starvation problem, well heck who knows what might have happened while it was at Harwood's shop? But I doubt the damage would have happened there since he never really got the engine running enough to be in a position to put it on the dyno and push the revs up. At least not as far as I am aware. But could even low speed operation of the turbos cause damage if the oil line wasn't even hooked up? Beats me. Since the oil is fed to the turbos via a gravity feed, any sort of pump failure causes the turbos to flood with oil, not get starved for oil. So if the oil line was hooked up to the turbos, then they would have gotten lubrication. Quite frankly, I just don't know if it was hooked up or not. But I have to assume that Aaron would have checked on that. He seems to know turbo systems quite well.
I'm still waiting to hear back from Aaron to see what he found out about getting me replacement turbos. I wish the ball bearing models weren't so expensive, as that would be the better route to take instead of the journal bearing models.
What difference is another couple of months going to make at this point? It's already been nearly 16 months since I drove the car into Harwood's shop originally. Getting close to 5 months alone since it was towed to Aaron's shop. Thankfully Connie talked me into getting the C6 Z06 or I just might be a raving lunatic right now because of this. Heck, I just might be loony but am holding it all in and hiding all the cracks in the dam. How would I know? Generally speaking, if you are insane, you not only don't recognize it yourself, but you certainly wouldn't believe anyone telling you that was the case.
In any event, I just hope Aaron isn't charging me a flat hourly rate on this or he is going to wind up owning that car, as I am sure that I am at least sane (or would that actually BE insane?) enough to just walk away from it if the bill gets too high.
I don't think you're insane and I know it's close to 16 months. If I were you I would be going nuts but I just don't understand why they don't have your car done for you. If this is typical maybe I need to sell my Vette cause I have had issues that seemed to take a lot longer to resolve than I thought they should have.