Blwn_By_Twins

iTrader: (6)

Damn....

ToastZ

iTrader: (2)

Crap, this sucks. New motors just shouldn't come apart like this but murphy has followed many on this forum around for years so it happens to the best of us.

Hey Cass, everyone that's been reading this thread from the start is standing beside you right now. Sounds like you've got a good builder behind you (and wife for that matter), that's 99.9999999% of the struggle especially when things go wrong.

The hardest part on the car owner in times like this is having the patience to see it through. Just concentrate on being calm (scotch helps..., after lent for you however),...

Don't ever give up,... the car can never win without you now. Plus, if you did give up then 6 months later you'll start all over again anyway, lol. Once you've got the bug, you've got it forever.

superchargedg

iTrader: (4)

All i can say is damn Cass for bad luck.All i can hope full is some good luck now that spring is here.

Jay'Z

iTrader: (118)

Damn Cass, wish you the best and some GOOD luck to come your way really soon.. I know what it feels like to not touch your baby for 4months.. Sux.. We all have problems when we TT/Build like this.. Just working kinks on our setups..

Son of Mad Dog

iTrader: (1)

sorry man,

some humor to it all, just saw the tag warranty void on this thread.
sorry but it damn well seemed funny to me.

Glex25

iTrader: (11)

Sorry to hear Cass

I'm scared to build my motor cause of horror of stories like these.
At least you being taken care off.

alan21

iTrader: (1)

damn...that sucks. I new that oil pressure was low and the engine sounded a lilttle off...

djamps

iTrader: (1)

Man that really sucks.... I feel your pain. Keep us posted!

Sylvan Lake V35

iTrader: (23)

I hope it is nothing major and your back on the road in no time.

ibkarlito

iTrader: (15)

I don't want to be a downer and I understand that you purposely left your wastegate's open to not allow the car to boost but the motor is still being broke in, correct? For me, doing 100mph with the A/F all over the map would be against my better judgment

......You continued to drive the car with no base map & possible oil pressure issues? Again, for me - without taking it back to Frank to properly verify the oil pressure (even with a hint of doubt) I would NOT be driving.....no matter how much I missed driving the car

Dude....I don't want you to think I'm trying to be an assh@le here and by any means, don't take this personel but is it possible that you may have played a role in this as well? I just think with all the time and effort put into this project from ALL parties - looking back on it your patients may have been set aside prematurely

TRUST ME bro, we have all at one point felt your highs and lows! But in all fairness....after reading the last several pages, between the start ups troubles, high speeds, possible oil pressure issues, ViPec troubles, fluctuation in A/F, no base tune, continued driving - perhaps the car wasn't road worthy just yet?

Nevertheless - Frank is a nice guy and is always the professional, if in fact the ball bounces on his side of the court he'll be sure to score the winning point - as you stated before, your in good hands! Good luck bro!

Karl

alan21

iTrader: (1)

^^^ well put couldnt agree more.. just lack of proper judgment on the op's part...I also mentioned that the oil pressure looked really low, he should have had that checked ouy

Cass007

iTrader: (34)

Just to be perfectly clear here, the car runs in 6th gerar at 80mph at ~2900rpm, at no point did I put the pedal to the floor to get to 100mph and the tach never went over 4K when I had posession of the car. There was zero power to be had and the car was just too loud to be enjoyable under any throttle at all. Once I realized that the A/F would get rich under anything more than 1/2 pedal or so I made sure to monitor the A/F gauge while under ANY accelleration. I had the car in my possesion for appx 200 miles, 180 of which were spent driving from Hill's to my house and then back to Hill's and on to F:T.

I think its very unlikely that a car with a fully built motor that was made to handle high boost would be damaged by a single 100 mph roll on from an 80mph cruise, but maybe I am wrong. Also, I would guess that the risk of damage in that instance would be to the rings not being fully seated yet and the car would smoke if that were to be the case, but I am not a mechanic and am just guessing, the car showed zero symtoms of any issues while it was with me other than the lower oil pressure and low compression numbers. Frank did send me a cautionary text after my post and I explained to him the same details I just posted right now. The car ran EXACTLY the same when I brought it down to Frank for the oil change on Tuesday evening before going to F:T on Wednesday evening. The car ran fine on the trip to F:T as well.

Lastly, I took the car home to wash it and show it to a few of the guys that helped with the brakes and wanted to see the final result on the powder coating. There were no joy rides given and the only person to ride in the car with me was my son for the 1 mile trip to school and back for two days.

Did I want to bring the car home? - Yes
Was I reckless with the car? - No
Do I think I contributed to the failure of the motor? - No

With that being said, let me perfectly clear:

If it is found that I caused/contributed to the failure of this motor than the re-build is at my expense

I have already paid to build this motor...TWICE. I spared no expense to get the best possible parts and people involved to reach the goals I set for this build. I have been as honest and truthful about everything that has happened along the way (more than some posters can say), be it good or bad, so others considering a similar path can see everything involved in a build like this. Am I dissappointed right now - absolutely, but I am enough of an adult to say lets let the teardown tell us what the issue was that caused the failure instead of coming on here, throwing people under the bus or making accusations or innuendo about who or what is responsible and acting like a little b1tch .

edit: acting like a b1tch referring to myself, not Karl or Alan

Cass007

iTrader: (34)

The oil pressure issue was addressed with Frank prior to me picking up the car and addressed again before taking the car to F:T. We swapped the oil pressure sensor off my stock motor and switched to a 10w30 oil before the car went to F:T. Oil pressure increased to appx 15psi at warm idle and the needle showed pressure under pedal and at start-up. If Frank is not concerned, I am not concerned. I don't know what else to say .

To my understanding, the car was roadworthy under the re-flash. The start-up trouble was addressed with both Dave and an e-mail I sent to Up-Rev. The re-flash will help with start-up, but with 800cc injectors pedalling will be necessary. Dave was hoping to clean up the start issue with the ViPEC, but we didn't get that far.

The fluctuation in A/F is normal IMO, especially for anyone using an Innovate digital wideband. The guage seems to read twice a second or so and very rarely holds a static number in the display. When I realized the car would run rich, I adjusted my driving accordingly and never pedaled to get the A/F below 11:1, but it was still rich at start-up because of the pedalling required. To be fair, I started the car at my house the same number of times that Frank would have to move it in and out of his shop.

As far as ViPEC trouble, that was a non-factor. Dave did not have the EMS connected to my car before getting a base map set on his brother's car first. Dave had an issue with the drive-by-wire function, but it was not tested/tried on my car.

Lastly, it is on Frank/Dave to tell me if the car is not roadworthy - not the other way around. I was hoping to take the car home a week earlier when Dave came up to do the re-flash, but the car wasn't ready and Frank told me exactly that, so the car stayed with him another week while we finished all the small details.

Karl - I appreciate your input and your dedication to Frank. Frank and I spoke in person yesterday when I went down to pick up my stock motor as planned. We both agree that the motor will tell us what the cause of the failure was and any guessing or speculation prior to that will serve no purpose other than to cause tension and stress between all the parties involved.

alan21

iTrader: (1)

hey i just wanted you to know i was not trying to come off as a dick i was just concerned with the oil pressure. I never had oil pressure that low even with my break in oil. I really wish you the best of luck and hope that its an easy fix and your back on the road again soon . Im located in nj when that things up and running again i would love to check it out and you can check out my ride.

Cass007

iTrader: (34)

Thanks alan - I'm not trying to be a d1ck either, I just want the story/timeline to be straight. I am an enthusiast and try to educate myself as I have projects done, but I'm not a mechanic by any means.

In reality, the fix will not easy or fast, but such is life. It would be great to meet up sometime and compare rides. I appreciate your honest input on the oil pressure and it may turn out that you were 100% correct.

The teardown will tell the story and to his full credit, Frank said he has no problem posting pics and explanation of what or why the failure occurred and invited me to be present and involved in the teardown if I so choose.

35Z

Sorry to hear of your built Z's progress.

Without any idea where the noise is intimiating from; my thoughts are only a shot from the hip...

Where is the noise intimating from? If Hills Garage has to condult a tear-down anyways; why not check the location of the noise. Old school way to check the location of the noise...Hose to ear or stethoscope to ear. Yeah, I know their is test tools now to pin-point the location.

Was the oil pump replaced or was the stock one re-used? Was the turbo oil return lines correctly returning the oil back to the engine? Enough engine assebly lube used in the build-up? Was the block power-coated prior to the assembly or was the only timing cover & intake plenum powder-coated? I believe the temps in powder-coating is only 400 degrees; so its hard to beleive powder coating engine parts became an issue.

Presumaby, Hills Garage will pull plugs and look in the combustion chambers and look for any noticeable wear along the cylinder walls and will likely do all the necessary checks prior to the tear-down.

Was the crank and rods and all bearing presumably were in spec prior to the install values, right? Check your build sheet. If not the lower end; then, was the values spec correct for the cam (not sure if its stock or aftermarket)? Was the piston's ringlands, piston rings, oil squiters.etc. speced correctly?

Again, I look to see the progress on you Z. Your in this deep, so you why not complete the FI built motor IMHO. I will continue to look for your thread to hear how the VI-Pic functions. I think your wife needs a new engine in your Z... hehe!

Good luck.

Cass007

iTrader: (34)

.

Alberto

iTrader: (14)

Very sorry to read this.

Let this be a lesson to those that havent learned this yet--->even when using good parts, and good people/shops for projects things can and WILL go wrong. It's the nature of the game, but at the time it's hard to swallow, at least it was for me. In the end, the reward would have made the journey worthwhile my friend....

Good luck, and keep us updated.

Cass007

iTrader: (34)

Thanks brother... this really means a lot coming from someone that has been down this same road.

shadykilla717

iTrader: (2)

I'm gettin scared to boost. Atleast I know someone with tons of experience if godforbid something goes wrong.. But I guess you gotta pay to play.. Hope it gets fixed soon so your back on the road.. I remember my first car I boosted. I went 3 months of constant fixing before I can take it on the road and drive with no worries.. Then I snapped my axle lol.