major issue with engine 351/tranny 1.23:1

Seems like a workable theory Joe, I'll defer to your expertise... perhaps i jumped to conclusions on the damper bein absolved of sin since it hadn't changed! Seems there should be obvious damage to the bellhousing ribs in this scenario, right?

JoeinNY wrote: It was the smoking gun...

WOW this is like a good old Hart to Hart mystery.
I think I have to go with Tim as Stephanie Powers, sorry Joe leaves you as Robert Wagner.

Since the commercial break isn't over yet, I'll just throw out there that there must have been one helluva noise from the self machining process and a lot of friction when starting the engine too if the bell housing was tightened down on the damper plate/flywheel

emccallum wrote: Not one noise until it went south. Ran perfect for about 5 hours. Right before it quit, my wife said "it sounded funny when you accelerated". I brushed it off and kept going. She was right, I never heard it from the driver seat.

Why are wives so good at hearing funny noises?

Did the thrust bearing disintegrate? Did the crank shift forward blocking the oil passages on the mains?

Damn cliffhangers.

Or worse- not picked up for next years season like Married with Children

The mechanic said the bearings failed due to too much forward thrust. Obviously he could see the wear on the front side of the bearing, but never said anything about wear on the opposite side. The back side of the thrust bearing would have to be shot to let the rotating assembly side that far back. I think he may be on to it with the washers being in the wrong spot.. Pictures of the bearings would be nice. I know it is the pits doing and engine twice,   Been there done that. I try to be very methodical and check everything 10 times trying not to make a mistake.
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I'm thinking an oil delivery issue is what started his problems, wiped out the bearings and then the "self machining" of the bellhousing happened.

Like I said earlier, strictly my guess from a long distance away and not seeing any of the parts

Keno I think you are reaching a bit, thrust bearings dont typically fail without a good reason, certainly not likely the first thing to fail due to oil starvation.   A little bit of pressure on a trust bearing though will fail the oil film and start the trouble, Once you wear through the fancy coating on the bearing things go down hill fast- then you cant maintain oil pressure then its over. I see no reason to doubt the machinist based on the info at hand. Party on, youll be skiing soon.

todays episode:



Everything back together. We removed the damper washers and some metal on the ribs of the bell housing. Put it together and verified the proper end play for the crank. (.005). Right in spec. We took an old dizzy, removed the gear and chucked it up to a drill and primed the oil pump and made sure it had oil up into the rockers.

I finished putting everything back on the motor and got it into the boat tonight. This was the first time I used a carb mounted lifting ring. It is the way to go.

The next episode will be hooking some odds and ends up, alignment, and a test start. Should be ready to hit the water by the weekend. Fingers crossed.

Fingers are still crossed but it seems to be running very well.

Not so funny story.....I ran it for an hour or two on the hose. Everything was fine. I put it in the water, fired right up and temperature went straight past 160. Shut it down, Thank goodness I was watching the temp. Busted elbow on the raw water filter. Luckily I had an extra. Back in the water and I left it connected to the trailer just in case something went wrong. My son, who was driving the truck didnt really understand what I was doing, since I didnt tell him, and backed me in pretty deep. After i unhooked the bow he pulled out and the guide pole scratched the new paint on the port side!! I didnt have the covers on because I leave the trailer out in the weather in the summer and I take them off so they dont bake in the sun. Arrghhh. My own stupidity.

On the bright side. We ran the boat another hour or two with no issues. Good temps and oil pressure. Just easy cruising, trying to vary the rpms. I am going to run it another hour or two, change the oil, then its game on. Time to ski and enjoy my labor.

Next season's episode will include touch up painting!!

What oil are you running? Are you running a Zinc break in additive?

well let's hope for some boring episodes coming up with only oil changes etc. and some skiing