After five years of test runs with a 60 over 289 it went on it's first voyage to a local car show two weeks ago. Made it to the show, 22 miles from home running terrible. Stoped at a buddys garage to run the valves. Tick turned into a knocked turned into a slow drive home, coasted into the drive way and pushed it into the shop! Bad day!! Pulled out the broke 289 pulled the heads and took them to a local machine shop (only thing worth saving) 20 minutes later I noticed I had made a mistake. A friend told me about another guy he knew in Anderson Mo. So I went there. Instantly I realized this was the guy! His shop is old and smells just like it should, (you know what I'm talking about) There were parts hanging on every available space on the walls, a small block ford mounted on a home made run stand. A 66 comet with slicks and a small block stuffed back where the fire wall use to be, And a large gray haired smilling guy named Larry. Larry is a wealth of information. No bling no bull shit, just exactly what you would want in an engine builder. He is not advertised, doesn't have plate glass windows or name brands hanging everywhere, just busted knuckles and a priceless smile....Engine builders are NOT created equal!
Thats true, but even some of those guys who have a shop like that don't know shit and haven't kept up with the times. Believe me I know. In the end it's the vibe you get when you go to a shop. Mike
Ya know I woke up in a barn once and said to myself gee I must be a cow. So then I went outside and looking in the side mirror on my truck and damned if I wasn't a cow after all. Just because someone is in a garage or shop doesn't make them a mechanic. I see it all the time here on the HAMB. Some fella was a computer programmer or whatever and lost their job. So, they took that as a sign that they should open up a shop and be a builder. DOH
I have found that the guy that builds the front running local dirt track engines is usually the best engine builder in the area for the money. When I road raced the Mustang 2.3, I used such builder and he had us 150 HP on a chassis dyno with a stock 2.3 Ford. The engines never broke or gave us problems. The last year of our sponsorship the sponsor pickup the cost of a big name engine builder, our times were the same at the tracks we ran and the engine lasted 3 races, the engine costed three times as much.
Beaner, that happens all of the time in the construction business. They lost a office job doing what ever and next week they buy an old van or truck, some tools at Home Depot and they are off to make their fortune.
Did you say After five years of test runs with a 60 over 289 it went on it's first voyage to a local car show. Not sure I am following just what you mean. Did you just start the motor in the garage for the past five years and let it run for a while? or have you driven the car on these test runs. If I had been in your shoes I am not sure I would have driven the car once you knew something was not right with engine. Time to call a roll off or find another way home. Driving the car home may have really finished off the engine. 60 is on a 289 sounds like a bit to much. Was this an old block where you had no other choice then to go 60 over? Just wondering.
There is also a real good body man in Anderson...they are HAMB'ers too. Painted and pinstriped by bike really awesome and were going to do some striping on my truck until Shaun (hartmankustomz) moved to Cali and took his striping skills with him : (
Local Rod and custom shop, came well recomended they had some real nice cars there. So i had them do my floors. They fucked up so much shit its unbelievable, not mention broken parts and bent parts that were unrelated to the work. They welded in a brace that gave me a half inch of rear travel. they couldnt weld it all the way cause the overdrive was in the way. Tho they still didnt see it. So i guess its just trial and error with some luck involved, when you pay someone to work.
x2. what actually broke? If you've been dead revving a motor for 5 years it might not be the engine builders fault.
.060 over might have pretty thin cylinder walls. There are plenty of 289 blocks around to find a standard bore one to start with. Are you saying that you started it periodically but never really did a break in? What oil were you using? Dan
Maybe he went 60 over to get some more cubic inches?!? ;-) Based on old wives tales and reading chicken bones, I would have gotten a new block or re sleeved if I had to use this one. You can resleeve all cylinders, right? Seems like it'd work good. Ill go out to the kitchen and read those bones.
This is why they sell Crate Motors with warrantees. How many screwed up rebuilds have we read about on this site? Im sure its well into the hundreds.
302's have the same bore diameter as a 289 (4.0007" stock), correct??? Plenty of those around with good bores...
I am picking up a rebuilt 350 for my sons truck in the morning. Went to get it wednesday and the oil plug under the drivers side head was left out. I am curious as to why the guy wouldnt fix it with me standing there. Told me to come back later. For some reason he didnt want to pull the head. Ive been losing sleep over this as my son is paying for it and he is 20.
crate short block 5.0's (no cams, but setup for roller) start at $699.00, good deal in my not so humble opinion.
I'm a Chevy guy and am trying to figure out what oil plug there is and also how you would even know if the head is already on. There are oil plugs on the oil galley, front and rear of block.
Well just because you like him up front does not mean the final results are going to be good. It's a good start to be sure. You should hold that thought until AFTER the work is done and then report. He may be the greatest ever, or not. Con men make a living out of making you feel just like you feel right now, happy and comfortable. Good Luck!
Thanks Rick It is a TBI motor. The plug I mentioned is partially covered by the drivers side head. Without it, oil would spray everywhere. It might be a 3/8 or so. I am going to pick up the motor is a little while.
I hope it works out and I like dealing with those types too. Just the same I've seen the "best" do some of the worst work being wrapped up in thier own ego. Just as I've seen old guys fail to keep up or remember and punks to get lucky. I do warn anyone who thinks about checking out the front running roundy round builder(s) in my area for a deal, as your engine might not make it past the 60 foot mark at the drags regardless of what you spend.
The 60 over 289 was one I had in the shop, I put it together with spare parts I had laying around never ment it to be the real deal only a throw together to set up the rest of the car. However from the first time I fired it up it had that hard thump from a huge cam and small chamber heads. It made me smile. So the short runs it made were only for shake down. Even though it was a bad day it was a good excuse to build a new roller and make changes to the rest of the car that I wouldn't have done untill now. Thanks guys, I'll post up the results after completion.
By any chance, is the problem a flat cam? And it makes me curious, you said at first: "A friend told me about another guy he knew in Anderson Mo. So I went there. Instantly I realized this was the guy!"- which implies one guy built your engine, and now you've found "another guy"- but now you say: "I put it together with spare parts I had laying around never ment it to be the real deal only a throw together to set up the rest of the car"- which makes you the builder? If that was the case, I think I might have kept quiet about it
Even the "best" fail. I had my 351 rebuilt by a highly rated local engine builder. They build engines for a lot of fuelies and race trucks. 1) They installed the wrong camshaft 2) The rear main leaked immediately 3) The front seal on the balancer followed suit. They paid for rear main leak, but felt no obligation to "help me out" with my costs to fix their cam screw up ($800+). They even got pissy because I didnt call to thank them for paying for the rear main repair. Needless to say I will fix the front seal issue myself. Way to go Fowler.
I know a guy who specializes in Oldsmobiles, trouble is he is still in the 60's. He uses reground cams,Paints the inside,Hot Rod magazine trick stuff from 1965. His crap runs like 1965 too.I am not a famous engine builder but I can usually talk to someone for 10 minutes and tell if I want him to work on my junk. The idea of the old man in the 50's garage with the light filtering in thru the cracks, the token curr dog curled up beside the wood stove,him tamping his pipe and relighting it while he muses about the old days may sound great for a movie but I would probably move on. I'll take the guy with the new machine shop stuff and a shop full of late model stuff. Just my opinion,I could be wrong.
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