Dodged (pun intended) a huge bullet!

[Mopardik]

So like it says, I dodged a huge bullet thanks to my bud's keen eye. We were cruising around a few weeks ago in my '77 Charger on an unseasonably warm day, and he said he just happened to see the oil pressure gauge needle kind of jiggle a bit. At first I didn't know what he meant, so I kept an eagle eye on it from there on out. Sure enough, the pressure would occasionally drop a bit and come right back while steady state cruising. At first I thought it might be the gauge, but that's not likely as it's mechanical. I checked and found no leaks, so then I thought it might be the oil pump giving up. It's about a 12 year old build (Procharged 469" stroker), and although it doesn't have a ton of miles, they have definitely not been easy ones. So since it was still winter, and I had plans to eventually go with and external oil system anyway, I decided I would dive in. Boy, was I glad I did! When I got the pan off, I did a little snooping around and I did not like what I found! I had HUGE end play on the crank! Sure enough, a lunched thrust bearing. After pulling the caps I found lots of scoring and such from oil starvation. This thing still ran perfect and as hard as ever, but was literally a ticking time bomb! Anyway, sorry for the long post but I just had to share. I certainly thank my lucky stars (and my new best buddy!) that this thing didn't let go at the big end of the track!

 

[Tonner-Toni]

That's the kind of luck guys like us need! Gotta be worth at least a case of beer for your buddy! Thx for sharing, Greetz from a German Mopar-Nut

 

[Mopardik]

Guten tag und danke shoen, herr Tonner! Greetings from a fellow Mopar nut from this side of the pond! You are right on about my debt to my buddy, although I think I owe him more like a lifetime supply of suds! I just can't let him know that part, he would never leave!

 

[WP29440SE]

lets see some pics of the car and the engine bay

 

[satman72]

Wow! Good thing your buddy caught that little burp!

 

[383man]

Glad to hear you found it before it did any real damage. Ron

 

[rrowdy]

Damn you got lucky,

If I were you, I'd be going to the corner mini mart and buying a lottery ticket.
Is your car a stick or 727.
Just wondering what could be so catastrophic to a thrust bearing other than insufficient converter clearance and a ballooning converter?


Good luck!

 

[Mopardik]

Yeah guys, I could not agree more with you about how lucky I got on this one! Must be all this clean living I've been doing! LOL, yeah right!

Rowdy, that was something I was discussing with my buddy (same one) at his shop. We were both also wondering about what could have caused the thrust bearing to go. It's kind of a chicken and the egg thing. Did a failing pump allow continued oil starvation to destroy it, or did other forces destroy it, then allowing so much clearance and end play to account for the pressure dropoffs? It is a blower car, which would put some more endplay stress there, but I use a ribbed setup not a cog, so I wouldn't think it would walk around that much. The trans is a 727 auto, and we did replace the converter about a year ago. I know it had proper clearance then, a bit less than 1/8" or so. It seemed to have around the same when we pulled the engine a few weeks ago. It's a Dynamic 10" Extreme Duty converter which is a bulletproof piece by all accounts. Not saying that it couldn't have ballooned, but I know these are definitely being used at power levels well beyond mine, albeit in lighter cars. Anyone who has any input here would be useful and much appreciated, so we can figure this out before it all goes back together.

So currently the engine is at the machine shop. The block is getting a BCR girdle and cap kit installed. The pistons had some very minor skirt scuffing, but I had planned on getting them coated anyway. And I finally had an excuse to get a proper 4340 stroker crank and ditch that old offset ground factory one. As I mentioned, I also will be converting it over to an external oil system with a billet pump. All of this is in preparation for ditching my old Procharger D1X blower, and using a modded F1A or F1C unit to really turn the wick up on this thing! I mean, putting it back together the same as before would be kinda like looking a gift horse in the mouth, right? :icon_thumright:

- - - Updated - - -

Here are some pics of it, guys. Super 77, you will probably remember them from another thread a while back in the '75-'79 section, but here they are again. Enjoy!

 

[WP29440SE]

Here are some pics of it, guys. Super 77, you will probably remember them from another thread a while back in the '75-'79 section, but here they are again. Enjoy!

oh yah , i didnt recognized your user name. i love that car. i just put a 440 in mine, im glad you "dodged" a bullet lol.

 

[tallhair]

Here are some pics of it, guys. Super 77, you will probably remember them from another thread a while back in the '75-'79 section, but here they are again. Enjoy!

that is a cool car

 

[rrowdy]

I remember that beautiful car now, a while back I bought some parts from
you for a low deck stroker I was building.

Sounds like another Mopar Mystery. You might check the input shaft end play
and drop the pan looking for metal. I just can't think of anything else that would wipe a thrust like that. I'm sure someone else will have some ideas.

Good luck! and keep us posted

 

[Mopardik]

Thanks again, guys! Yeah Rowdy, I think I sold you some rockers way back when. I hope they worked out well for you. Thanks for the suggestion, I will definitely be checking any and everything before we get it back together. I know there is no way I will get this lucky again, so I don't want to take any chances!

 

[Mopardik]

Wow, it's been forever since I've been on here! I just wanted to post an update on this thread. So after many delays and far too much back burner time, the car is back together! I have driven it a little bit when the weather allowed over the last month or so, and although I haven't completely let 'er rip, I can tell you that the new combo with the F1C blower is MUCH stronger! And with the fresh rebuild with the beefed bottom end, I know it IS much stronger where it counts. Gonna try to get some more miles on her in the next few months, and then head to the dyno for some fine tuning.

Anyway, I posted a few updated pics to show a few things I added over the last 10 months or so since I've been on here last. (Man, where did the time go?)

 

[WAYNES WORLD]

Good looking car, sure glad you caught it early.
Wayne

 

[Mopardik]

Thanks Wayne, you and me both! She feels much stronger now, and I've got a lot more peace of mind on the bottom end. Now if Spring would just get here already I could actually drive her some! Ugh!