well guys, as some of you already gathered from a few other posts, my masterpiece the aptly named "engine of doom" is on it's death bed.

last night it performed it's duty one final time and delivered me home safely, but it consumed 9 ( count 'em NINE ) quarts of oil in a matter of about 390 miles of driving from NY to VA.

I don't know what exactly went wrong yet. Sal noticed a slight hesitation on the dyno yesterday when running the truck up before some of the runs. on the drive home, the condition worsened. the engine doesn't make any abnormal noise, there is/was no detonation, the truck just started running rough at part throttle and sounded like it was backfiring through the exhaust, and then I noticed some smoking on acceleration. it was the middle of the night, and I was hours from home, so I had little choice but to continue driving.

the smoking got progressively worse. by the time I was around Baltimore I could do the "Spy Hunter" smoke screen trick to people who followed me to closely.

The truck put down nearly700 HORSEPOWER and well over 800 FT/LBS at the wheels yesterday repeatedly on the dyno.

well apparently, the motor didn't like working that hard.

I don't know if I have a part failure, or if I made a mistake during the buildup or if it's something else at this point. I just know it's not good.

in any event. I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do now, I don't have the time or money to build another motor, and I certainly can't warranty this one. The truck still runs, there has not yet been any CATASTROPHIC failure, it didn't blow up in the traditional Lightning motor sense, but it's certainly not in good health.

I'm seriously considering installing a new stock engine, removing and parting out all the mods, and selling the truck. I really love the truck, but I'm EXTREMELY discouraged right now.

oh well, you know what they say... ***** happens.

later,
chris

 

That bites . Good luck and I hope you keep the truck and build a new powerplant when you find out what went wrong.

 

Wow, sorry to hear that Chris. Don't get too discouraged, it can be fixed.

 

Super..... that F*CKING SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry about the motor man... I can't even start to think what you are feeling after spending all that time, effort and $$$$.....

Hope you can resolve or correct the situation


E

 

Sorry to hear about your engine Chris. That sucks. It's been a pleasure reading the buildup of the motor and it's obvious you've invested a lot of time and money on this project. Don't give up. Give it a couple days and you'll have a much clearer head to make the right decision. With your knowledge and ability to work on it yourself, hopefully it can be put back together and get you back to running again with a minimal cost. Good luck.

 

Im sorry to hear about that man. Hopfully its something simple and can be easily fixed.

Good Luck

 

HOLEY CRAP Chris! Dude, I know you are thinking and feeling the worst now, keep your chin up though.... You will wake up in a few days, decide hell with it, rip it apart, find the problem and feel much better about fixing the issue. Hotrods... its what they do... go fast(some times), and they break(most of the time)...

 

Hope that it is nothing major pal. Maybe a blown gasket or seal.

This is sad news when something like this happens to one of L brothers.

 

That indeed bites Chris.

Unfortunately there is nothing you can do at this point other then to forge ahead.Get the motor out of that beast and figure out what happened.It's not the end of the world,but unfortunately it is going to take a bunch more work.

Try looking at it this way....It could always be worse.Sometimes that helps when your frustrated(it does for me anyways).Just think of all those people in life that really have it bad.All of sudden (for me anyways) whatever I thought was monumental and really depressing is not near as bad as I made it out.

Okay ...enough of my buck up soldier speech.I hope all turns out well.If you haven't done anything by the VA race maybe I'll take an extended vacation and lend you a hand.

 

What rings are you running?

 

What Griffey said!!

Hopefully it might be repairable.

Lay off the big shot of juice in your daily driver. It looks like that probably caused the failure.

 

Alot of us have followed this project from the day you first took pics of your "purple" truck. It has been awesome seeing you get all those kickass parts over the weeks and finally doing the buildups and posting every single step online for us to enjoy.
We have seen all the time and money you have put into your baby. We have seen you overcome all the problems that you faced along the way. We have seen your truck go from running 13's to storming thru the 11's. Now you are trying to cross into the 10 second threshold. Now that is an accomplishment in it self. But here's the kicker...everything on that truck you put on yourself. You didn't send off a check and get a built engine in the mail. You paid for it in blood, sweat, and tears. You built your OWN 10 second machine! That you drive DAILY! Who on here can say they have done that!? (Tuners not applicable to answer)
Now go out there and help your beast get what she deserves...a 10 second time slip...YOU CAN DOIT! (as said in adam sandler movies)

 

Well.........at least it looks good. Just screw racing and start showing it at shows

Honestly, I know what you went through to build that monster and followed the threads as it came along. I understand your disappointment. Hell, put a stock or remanned block in it. Swap over your valve covers and polished parts. You still will have a FAST truck , but it will look even sweeter. I'm hoping you can score some sort of deal on an engine situation.

I say keep the truck, swap everything onto a stock shortblock, and tune it down. Hell, you can still go to the track and run 12's all day.......nothing wrong with that. Good luck with what ever you do. I'm sure you'll keep us posted

 

i think its time for a drink now

 

SUPERFORDS...........DO NOT make any decisions yet. I feel your pain. I've built a hot street machine before and have spent every last penny of mine doing it only to have it fail just after completion. You should calm down and just let the truck sit for a week and collect your thoughts so you'll be able to think clearly. I immediatley parted out and sold said car after it broke and regret it to this very day. You will too I am sure. It will eventually get back together. You already have all the expensive parts.....ya just need another short block. I know they aren't cheap but that's the only thing you need. All of your other high dollar parts will change over......you know this. Good luck on whatever you decide.