Oil was definitely at the full mark. I check it every time I drive it.

 

If you plan on junking the entire longblock then I guess there's not much point. But at the very minimum you could get some insight on what could have led up to this and what else could be damaged (heads, ect). There's a good chance you've lost everything (top, bottom, turbos, anything in the oil path). The report could confirm or deny this.

Remember that the engine failed quickly... the large particles are going to be sitting at the bottom of the pan or floating at the top. blackstone only measures what's actually suspended in the oil, in other words fine particles already there since before the rod exited the block.

You want a 3oz or so sample from the middle of the draining, not the start or end or what's in the filter which is obviously far more contaminated.

 

I might have missed the opportunity when they drained it!

 

hate to hear about this..that really sux! I have been very fortunate in that I bought my Z already boosted for 6-7k miles..I have put another 22K on it since then and it has lasted through Hallet track day, TWS DE event and FOUR Big bend 118 mile races...It is a built motor built by no name machine shop in Maryland where the original owner lives...It puts 550 at the tire and here's the craziest part of it all.....It runs on the Greddy Emanage BLUE! Which everyone seems to think is junk! Mine is a DE btw..not an HR..
Good luck in whatever you decide..I am certainly NOT made of money, but my preference is going to be an LS motor when the time comes...My Z is a third car and not driven daily..

 

If you could find the name of said shop that would be cool (I live in MD)

 

I think I have an idea for a new thread. A thread that illustrates the number of success stories such as the one above from RED RIDER. I wish we could turn the publicity around and here about the successes more.

 

agreed!

 

well, it actually IS junk.....but that has nothing to do with how it tunes. It just lacks a considerable amount of nice features to make it stand out. As long as a tuning solution has fuel and timing it can make a decent tune that runs well. I used SS box for the longest time and it worked great but it was difficult to tune on (and log with) along with missing a lot of cool features that made my life easy. timing and fuel were tuned perfectly and it was safe though.

 

That's a bummer to hear. I pulled 2 head studs out of my last built block (when i was reassembling it after a simple bearing refresh) so i had to scrap my beautiful pauter rods for a simple stage one dynosty block with eagle rods. so far 652hp and they haven't broke. Rich's lasted until 900hp.

 

^^ Why did you have to lose the rods? because dynosty block was already built?

 

I do want to mention some stuff. I'm at a point deciding my next move. I stopped by the shop yesterday after work. The technician drained the oil through a shop rag and there was not one piece of anything visible in the rag (I misunderstood the guy yesterday on the phone). The turbo drain lines were clean as well.

There were no real signs of detonation heavy detonation. There was one spark plug that looked like there could have been slight detonation but all spark plugs were in fairly great shape.

So I have ruled out LS. That is the biggest, longest, most financially impactful project and I believe the least amount of residual value with the car if I ever go a different direction.

I don't feel like, after driving around at 530+ that I would be happy with another stock engine. And I would be afraid to run that level now, even though many have done it with success. A stock motor seems to be going for at least 2k-2500+shipping if there is not one locally.

For an incremental increase over stock, I believe a successful build can occur and does on a regular basis. I'm leaning toward a basic short block with a pump gas goal of <=600whp. I mean, what else am I going to do? There are no time constraints for my build so I will take my time do this and complete extensive research on the shop I choose to supply the built motor.

The motor is out of the car and the manifolds, etc. are off. Here are pictures of the holy block:

 

yes. I could have had the block drilled for 1/2" studs since the oem size pulled out but then there is a possibility there was a metal defect in the block seeing how they pulled out at 75ftlbs (way lower than they should have). The other option would be to get another block and have it built with my stuff. That would have put me close to the out of pocket cost I had with selling the good parts and buying a prebuilt package. The time constraints was another factor. The car was down for 8 months and with me being a grad student I just wanted it back together so I could finally enjoy it. I got this current block from jason (blkbrd) on here with only break in miles on it for dirt cheap.

I didn't think detonation was the factor. You'll see once the heads come off but it sounds just like a metal defect causing a rod, rod bolt, or rod cap to fail. The rod bolts on these things are junk so i wouldn't be surprised if one of those snapped.

If that's the cost of a stock block I would just spend the extra to get a built low end. I know ppl say the HR is good for mid 500hp stock but i wouldn't be confident in it. I think 600hp on a built block pump gas is a good safe goal.

 

holy sht you have alot of rtv on that upper oil pan...

 

Lol I noticed that too. My guess is a rod bolt failed and chucked itself out the wall like the koolaid man. Oh Yeah!

I would go with a simple build. Nice to hear theres no shavings.

My guess is you just got unlucky

 

that sux man. i have an HR and will be going to F.I in a 1-2months.

 

thats cool man, i leave in brewster. im getting a stage 1 GTM TT in 1-2 months. can this shop build the engine and install it, just wondering in case mine decides to go kaboom

 

Meh...starting to think this was an isolated, freak incident. I did have an overboost situation when I got the car back that occurred just once. Perhaps it weakened a rod or rod bolt.

I wouldn't worry to much about it Jason. I'm sure you will be fine. My friend's car that was tuned the same day made 20 more whp and has over 15,000 miles on it with the GTM Stage 2 Kit.

But once you bust one, you will be gun shy

 

My plan is to build the engine before it blows. But idnk cause there are a lot of posts about built engines that have blown. I think the cost of building an engine before it blows is much less. I know the road I'm about to take but after driving a 500whp z, I don't think I can go back to na. It so much fun.

 

They can certainly build the engine if you need them too, but they do not do installs. PM me and we can talk about options in our area. Don't want to messy up the thread.

 

Like that one corner I always took at 60mph until.... Let's just say I go 40 tops now haha.