A guy I work with shared this post from a Ford Mustang board: http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?s=3c7d617b79d626a6c487761db4a67c1f&threadid=387871&highlight=split+block I am including the first photo, the post/thread goes into greater detail, but the guy says that he took all the guts from this motor and built up another using a new block and all the old components from this engine. Wow...
The last time I saw an engine block break in half was 1964. A car full of high school kids deadcentered the only tree in the field at 100 mph. The tach stuck at 4700. The driveshaft twisted several times.
The post on the other board is rather long, but the gist of the story is that this guy didn't know that the engine block had split until he was checking why the coolent was spewing out of the engine. The intake manifold, oil pan, timing cover, and bellhousing were all that was holding the two cylinder banks together....
That's what 480 Rear wheel HP will do to a Ford Block? Wow I'll stick with my little 283 and its huge casting! He said he knew it was going to happen just didn't know when. He also said it's kinda cool that he made enough power to split the block. I must admit it is kinda cool but I'd hang on to the pieces 'cuz no one would beleive me!
I do not claim to be a SBF type of rodder....... Never owned one........ BUT.......... I worked at a junk yard (part-time) for many years. The record for 'bricking' was a 289 67 4 door Fairlane. To 'Brick one' ..........you drain the oil and water. Remove the oil filter. Run it up on the lift about 2 feet...so you can still crank it.......Crank it up and place a brick on the gas pedal. That wore out old 289 ran for like 9 or 10 minutes......clocked.....not a estimate. Smoking, rattling and sticking........but it kept on running. It did throw a rod, at last. Slant 6 Valiant was second........
thats what I always want to see from an engine blow, most often they burn through leads or fuel lines !!!!
A old race car guy in the area, once had a 60s Chrysler of somesort given to him with a slant six that he did not want. So for fun they drained all the fluids and "bricked" it. Damned thing ran out of gas almost a half hour later! Another good story is during a demo derby with some '70s Impala with the whole front sheet metal and radiator ripped of, the guy finished the derby in first place by hitting other cars with the front of the 350 block! The next spring the guy went out to his junkyard where the car was retired and the damned thing fired up! Unreal.
Wow, Deuce... You just shattered my thoughts on the Slant 6 as the all-time most durable engine (without oil)...ask RocketJ2 for the details...
Thats crazy. i have never seen anything like that. actually didn't think it could happen unless it was a real bad crack from a freeze in the water.
That's actually pretty common with the late model mustang crowed. Anything above 450HP on those late model 5.0L blocks and they crack. I ate one in my old mustang and went to a 351 Windsor after that.
I would try to get Ford to give me a new block in exchange for the old one... Just think of all the bad publicity Ford will get from this after it goes all over the internet... Just another reason to build a SBC..
I had a roommate years ago with a "fast" mustang and he'd do that fairly regularly. We worked at a tire store for $4.25/hr, so an aftermarket block was out of the question. We'd find another, throw it together and have it back on the street before most folks had heard it was broken. We found that they make great bachelor pad furniture! We drilled and countersunk some holes in a thick sheet of plexi we got somewhere and made a coffee table with the two block halves as legs on either end. 2-3 months later, we got matching end-tables. It was pretty freaky! It happened at the track both times. The first time, he thought he'd popped a radiator hose... coolant just sprayed up through the hole in his hood. The car was still running when he drove into the pits! We pulled it out and had it sitting on our high-tech engine stand (old tire) and I noticed the intake bolts were in a bind when I was trying to take it off! When I got most of em loose, we heard a big "pop" and the thing just opened up! He did have good luck on his last 302 (before he kinda lost interest in the car and parted it out) he ran hard-block, and switched back to rubber motor mounts and a torque-strap instead of solid mounts. With solid mounts, that flexing K-member uses the block as a structural component... not good when it's already on the edge. I was sad to see that car retire. We drove to Little River in it one day (in its final incarnation), he hadn't planned on racing, but some locals that had heard of him were talking a lot of smack and wanted to run him. Our other roomate loaned him his extra N20 bottle and he took it out there. He was running on M+Hs, and the track was slick that day, so when he launched, the car lifted hard, yanking both tires. About a foot out, the left tire spun, dropping the nose and steering him towards the wall. He slammed on the brakes and skidded to within inches of the wall. He straightened it back out, got back in it, and ran an 11.02@138! Not bad for an aborted pass... He passed the smack-talker about 1000 feet out like he was on the brakes... hahaha helluva pass!
THat's not BROKEN...it's the prototype block for the fizzled Ford/VW merger years ago. They secretly worked on a modern day Beetle with Mustang power out back. The three completed test cars were totally light in the front end and scary to handle through the turns...but they DID perform inpressive wheelies at will. Shame the deal never made it to production, as speculated liabilty issues stalled the joint venture in the early testing phases. It also marked the last time that Ford would consider using the two-piece block design pioneered by Volkswagen decades earlier. That block should bring a fair price on e-bay with the above story attatched to it!
If you ever happen to pick up a Mustang and Fast Fords magazine, (or any other similar title) you will get the SHIT scared out of you when you hear what they are doing with STOCK Ford blocks. I'm a die hard died in the wool carburated PONTIAC man, but even I can see that 1050 horse and 1080 ft lbs of torque from a 306 inch small block Ford with a SINGLE turbo is some serious shit. Check out any Ford magazine or even last months Hot Rod. There is a dude in Hot Rod who holds the 5 speed record for 5.0 cars with a 8.90 somthing. Might not sound that fast, but this fuckin guy has a 5 speed tranny and a TEN inch wide tire. Need I even remind you that this car looks like a stocker and gets DRIVEN to work twice a week. So...what have you got?
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