What to do.......

[Alpine TSi]

If you need it I will have a rebuildable 6 bolt block available in the next week or so, I could let it go for pretty cheap as it would just be a paper weight sitting in my garage.

[JET]

Was there a bearing in for the balance shaft? I could see someone forgetting to put a bearing in there as you can't really see in there.

[plymouthPSi]

bearing was in, as for people offering me blocks let me know for sure and I will gladly take one off your hands for some cash. thanks again

Alex

[Raptor]

Well, I know from talking to them before that the block did have new BS bearings in, the machine work was done by Napa. I just got off the phone with Alex, it was assembled without threadlock and at the wrong torque spec which is what I had suspected. The turned down ones are somewhat difficult to get correct torque to anyway, there is no surface to clamp the shaft to that isn't round so a few tricks get employed to get it tight without flexing it etc. Sounds like they were close, took most of the right precautions, soft jaws etc. The lack of locktight is likely the major issue. This is one of those things that you hate to see, could have been avoided, but ends up being another one of those expensive learning experiences. Which brings up my old thought of having a engine building basics area or thread that goes through step by step on a normal rebuild. A good place to get answers for people with the ambition to do it themselves without finding out by accident all the places that have bad info, like the many places in the manuals.
That and the simple tricks that make all of it easier.

[Raptor]

I should say Alex deserves credit for doing it himself, big thing to tackle if you havn't done it before. And actually, I am sure there is a failure of some sort on just about every first motor build.

[FORSFED]

I should say Alex deserves credit for doing it himself, big thing to tackle if you havn't done it before. And actually, I am sure there is a failure of some sort on just about every first motor build.


I can vouch for that...my first motor let go in 500 miles. On the bright side, my new motor is stronger and running better than ever :)

[santa]

I should say Alex deserves credit for doing it himself, big thing to tackle if you havn't done it before. And actually, I am sure there is a failure of some sort on just about every first motor build.

Well my first rebuild is still in my car and has over 10,000 miles on it now. Its still going strong. I hope you decide to build it up again alex!

Kevin

[dumb_ricer]

Heres my input on this.

I helped with the motor up to the front cover installation. Everything on the base short block went well. Clearances were all great and right on spec and all caps were torqued properly. We used the moly lube on the rods which came with it and used standard motor oil for the main cap bolts as that is what we used when we torqued it before machining. Beyond this point I have no idea what went on with the front cover install. BUT if I remember correctly the turned down balance shaft belt for the oil pump is run off of the oil pump sprocket, is this correct? And if that is correct, it would run off the timing belt. The problem I see is that after whatever happened to the Balance shaft happened, the timing belt was still perfectly tensioned from what I could feel, and the car still started right up the 2nd time for all the 2 seconds it was running.

As far as keeping it or selling it, it is not my descision, but I say if you feel it will be reliable through UTI, then go for it.

[Raptor]

The balance shaft has the smaller oil pump gear on it's end bolted down while the other gear has the timing belt driven sprocket on it. They both require locktight and have different torque specs for each.
The balance shaft can come out with the timing belt gear still attatched and proper tension still being maintained. That is a good thing to hear anyway, at least there is no top end issues to worry about.

[Goat Blower]

Not the same reason I passed on putting in a turned down balance shaft for the last motor I built and the one I'm building for myself, but one less thing to worry about.

Good luck on whatever you do with it.