BAD ENGINE REBUILDING !!!

[THE ZUKE]

Hi guys,

Realizing some works on my Cuda  , I discovered that the crankshaft was tinkered  . Nasty welds for balancing and a split hammer.

The engine was completely rebuilt in the States at the end of 2016.

Unfortunately for me apparently not in the best way.

Not wanting to break the engine  , I prefer changing all the linkage (Crankshaft, pistons, rods, etc.).

I would like to install forged products, what do you think about 440 SOURCE stroker kits.

Link :http://store.440source.com/Stroker-Kits/products/3/

If it will be possible after complete disassembly of the engine, I would like to go from 440 to 500 CI.

What do you think of this improvement?

The engine won't become too fragile?

Has anyone already installed this kit?

What advice could you give me?

[7212Mopar]

  unbelievable. Now you wonder what else is bad inside the engine.

[blown motor]

Wow! That's nasty!

[THE ZUKE]

unbelievable. Now you wonder what else is bad inside the engine.

Absolutely !!! Yet it turns great and does not vibrate ...

I don't know how it's possible ???

That's why I'm going to dismount it to control everything.

And then change what will be needed.

Really I am very angry !!! Buy a fully restored car by the end of 2016 and find this is just unprofessional

[RUNCHARGER]

What's a split hammer? Welding mallory in for balancing is normal. Before proceeding you should find out how oversize the bores are and chances are if you're .030 already with some cylinder taper it would not be a good idea to re-use that block (certainly only after checking for cylinder bore thickness on all cylinders).

[Chryco Psycho]

440 source stuff is great , I have built a lot of the 440/512 engines using 440 source kits
I agree with Sheldon , adding mallory like that is normal just not sur why they had to add so much weight to balance it , kind of weird as it has a forged steel crank which is already heavier than the cast crank

[RUNCHARGER]

How's the power? Does it have any bearing knocks or use oil? I'm not so sure throwing money at it is necessary. 

[THE ZUKE]

What's a split hammer? Welding mallory in for balancing is normal. Before proceeding you should find out how oversize the bores are and chances are if you're .030 already with some cylinder taper it would not be a good idea to re-use that block (certainly only after checking for cylinder bore thickness on all cylinders).

RUNCHARGER look at my picture about the "split hammer".    It's the french name may be not in american. 

Yes, before having the engine rebuilt, we will dismantle and control everything and then we will think of rebuilding it.

For me, the crankshaft was recovered and then tinkered to rebuild the engine and sell the car.

I start thinking about the quality parts I want to put in my car.

That's why I'm asking for your opinions and advices

[JS29]

How's the power? Does it have any bearing knocks or use oil? I'm not so sure throwing money at it is necessary.

And if that checks out, do A compression test and hook up A real oil pressure gauge and see what it Tell's you.    

[THE ZUKE]

440 source stuff is great , I have built a lot of the 440/512 engines using 440 source kits
I agree with Sheldon , adding mallory like that is normal just not sur why they had to add so much weight to balance it , kind of weird as it has a forged steel crank which is already heavier than the cast crank

Thank you Chryco Psycho for the info about 440 SOURCE and their stroker kit.

I suspected you had assembled several stroker engines.

I read everything about the 440 stroker SOURCE and I was pretty sure the material was good quality.

How do the 440/500 or 440/512 engines react in time?

I also find very strange welding around the crankshaft. I do not really understand how it can be balanced. And that finally everything is coherent.

In France, rather than adding a lot of material, we remove by making small holes

[THE ZUKE]

How's the power? Does it have any bearing knocks or use oil? I'm not so sure throwing money at it is necessary.

For me the power was good.

For the consumption of engine oil, I do not know because there was a leak.

The leak came from the rear main seal.

[RUNCHARGER]

I've spent lots of $$$ over the years on engines (I really enjoy it anyway as most of us do). Having said that, I would bolt on a nitrous kit and test that engine every time you drive it!
Then as you are enjoying running that one into the ground you could build a new shortblock. You aren't likely to use anything from the old engine anyway so leave it in the car and drive it and get some enjoyment from it. Acquire a different block (try to find one standard bore) and build a new engine with all new parts would be my suggestion.
Otherwise you are going to pull the engine, take months to build a new one that isn't going to perform all that much better anyway and you are going to lose months of enjoying your car.

[RUNCHARGER]

It would appear your engine is using stock weight pieces. I agree that if they used quality lightweight pistons that generally you drill weight out of a crankshaft usually.
The good news is that you could re-use that crankshaft to build a 451 or 470 inch low deck stroker using a 400 block. Common practice is to lathe .1 off the counterweights in that application to lighten the crankshaft and clear the block. This is a combination you may want to try as they work really, really well.

[THE ZUKE]

How's the power? Does it have any bearing knocks or use oil? I'm not so sure throwing money at it is necessary.

And if that checks out, do A compression test and hook up A real oil pressure gauge and see what it Tell's you.   

These tests will be performed.

Since rebuilding the engine, the car has only rolled 2 or 3,000 miles.

It's hard to know how the engine will react after 10,000 miles without controlling everything because after seeing this, I no longer trust.

I'm really scared to explode the engine if the crankshaft breaks. 

[THE ZUKE]

I've spent lots of $$$ over the years on engines (I really enjoy it anyway as most of us do). Having said that, I would bolt on a nitrous kit and test that engine every time you drive it!
Then as you are enjoying running that one into the ground you could build a new shortblock. You aren't likely to use anything from the old engine anyway so leave it in the car and drive it and get some enjoyment from it. Acquire a different block (try to find one standard bore) and build a new engine with all new parts would be my suggestion.
Otherwise you are going to pull the engine, take months to build a new one that isn't going to perform all that much better anyway and you are going to lose months of enjoying your car.

I understand your point of view now it is not as easy in France to find a block naked (standart coast) and it is very expensive to put together a complete block.

For us, transportation and taxes are very expensive. Because of this the basic price is almost doubled.

I do dragster but I would like to win horses without weakening the engine. That's why if I have to rebuild the engine I thought about the stroker kit.