97 (early) Sundancer 290DA 454ci L29 Bravo 3

HawkX66 · Jun 14, 2021

Paint finally showed up. I ran out of Phantom Black so I had to wait a bit. I might be imagining it, but it seems like pretty good paint. I like the sheen of black it is also.
Now to see how she runs after my rebuild, which of course is the only thing that really matters.

Little Ducky · Jun 15, 2021

Great resurrection thread.

A bunch of value when into your 5K purchase.

HawkX66 · Jun 15, 2021

Little Ducky said:
Great resurrection thread.

A bunch of value when into your 5K purchase.

Thanks. It's nice when something that usually isn't a wise "investment" is worth more than you have into it. Except when the tax man cometh of course... Fixing things is my version of working on puzzles or building models lol
Edit: I love upside down pics...

HawkX66 · Jul 2, 2021

Dang it! I've been hanging out with the Mama Sparrow all afternoon who decided in one day to build a nest in one of my cockpit side pockets and have her babies. As I was finishing up reinstalling my risers and elbows I tried to explain to her that the weather is perfect for the next week and I want to go boating. She didn't seem impressed... I might like to go hunting, but I'm still a tree hugger at heart and can't move her. Think she'll want to go boating? Hmmm...
I had a couple of long talks with Monitor last week to figure out my cooling issues and they're pretty stumped. He wanted me to replace the brass 90s on the bottom of my exhaust manifolds with their copper ones. He said they flow better. While I was doing that I think I figured out what my real problem might have been. The Monitor instructions"suggest" putting the coolant return in the riser if you have one, but didn't say that it was really necessary. I moved mine from the manifold to the riser. I bet that was creating an air pocket or something. We'll see once Momma bird has her babies.
I also did some work on my trailer to install a bow stop and I set up a load binder to hold her down just in case. Easy on and easy off.

HawkX66 · Jul 3, 2021

Ahhh... All better. I ran her on the hose this morning and all is fixed. 160*-165*. Before the thermostat opened and allowed the coolant to flow, the temp gauge got to 210*. My laser had everything down around 110*-130* so I think the sender might be bad now. At least I know it's operating at the right temps. Hopefully once everything cools off completely it will act normal again.
I also threw my silver emblems on in place of the gold.
Happy Independence Day everyone!

HawkX66 · Jul 10, 2021

Out on the water right now. Boat is running great with the exception of the upper rpms. It's like I'm hitting a wall. No power after 2,200 rpms and won't come up on plane. I messed with the trim and it didn't help. A little higher than all the way down seemed best.
We just putted up the river at 8.5 mph. 160* engine temp, 50 psi oil pressure. Even though I just rebuilt the carb, I feel like that's the issue. I might pick up a new Edelbrock 1410.

Dave - M · Jul 10, 2021

Congratulations! I'm sure it's discouraging with all the time you've spent but you're on the water. Still fun!

HawkX66 · Jul 23, 2021

While I'm pulling the motor to fix what seems to be a rod that let go, I decided it was time to put the name on the boat. I figured maybe it was bad karma that blew my rebuilt engine... I didn't think she'd been named before, but it turns out she'd had two names already. Owners one and two had her documented, but not three. I'm four. It was "Aqua Massage" Tarpon Springs, FL first and "Full Throttle" VA second. Cleaning the transom I saw the ghost marks of the previous lettering. It's funny, they didn't pull the transom light to remove the lettering so I could see what colors it was. Turned out to be the same colors I picked. I lightly sanded the transom and washed it with acetone to get all the stains off and get a clean surface before I attached the lettering. I plan on waxing it today.
Hopefully pulling the motor later today. I already pulled the outdrive.

HawkX66 · Jul 23, 2021

Here we go again... So it turns out a piston let go at the wrist pin and contacted the intake valve on #8. No damage other than the piston and valve that I can find so far. Fingers crossed. It didn't hit the pan like I thought it did.
But why...?

techmitch · Jul 23, 2021

HawkX66 said:
Here we go again... So it turns out a piston let go at the wrist pin and contacted the intake valve on #8. No damage other than the piston and valve that I can find so far. Fingers crossed. It didn't hit the pan like I thought it did.
But why...?

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Yep, you found the what, but what's the why? I've kept up on you entire thread/eng. build but don't remember reading about your machine shop block check (didn't go back and reread) or if you plasti gauged the crank and rod bearings when building. No disrespect to your abilities what so ever and if I haven't told you before thank you for your service.

HawkX66 · Jul 23, 2021

techmitch said:
Yep, you found the what, but what's the why? I've kept up on you entire thread/eng. build but don't remember reading about your machine shop block check (didn't go back and reread) or if you plasti gauged the crank and rod bearings when building. No disrespect to your abilities what so ever and if I haven't told you before thank you for your service.

Thanks and I appreciate the feedback. Nice to know you aren't always talking to yourself. No worries on the abilities questions! I'm a lifetime hobby mechanic/gear head. Not much more. I had a great shop do the machine work and I don't doubt what he did at all. He checked everything out, honed the block, line bored it, installed new cam bearings etc. I assembled it including setting up the heads. I don't use plastigauge. I mic everything.
Where I might have gone wrong was with reusing the non-adjustable rockers and the factory lifters. When I built the 454 for my 69 Camaro, I used all Lunati roller parts. Runs better than I could have hoped for... So basically I know enough to be dangerous.
Now for the autopsy to find out the why for this one. I'll pull the head and piston in the morning and go from there.

Thornton69 · Jul 23, 2021

Odd place for a piston to come apart. Bent rod and contacted a counterweight?

HawkX66 · Jul 23, 2021

Thornton69 said:
Odd place for a piston to come apart. Bent rod and contacted a counterweight?

Tough to say right now. Rod doesn't appear bent though. Hopefully I'll know more when I pull the piston and rod out in the morning.

Nater Potater · Jul 23, 2021

The only time I've seen a new piston (I assume you installed new pistons) break like that was from misalignment in the pin; a.k.a. a bent rod. That blown-apart spark plug; did you possibly have some detonation going on? I'd be very curious to see what the rod lower end clearance would measure now. Not trying to second guess you, just drawing on past experiences...

HawkX66 · Jul 24, 2021

Nater Potater said:
The only time I've seen a new piston (I assume you installed new pistons) break like that was from misalignment in the pin; a.k.a. a bent rod. That blown-apart spark plug; did you possibly have some detonation going on? I'd be very curious to see what the rod lower end clearance would measure now. Not trying to second guess you, just drawing on past experiences...

Feel free to second guess. That's why I'm posting. To get some other ideas. They were the original pistons. I didn't remove the wrist pins. The plug is crushed probably from the intake valve not blown apart. Detonation is possible, but I don't see any evidence of it in the other cylinders.
When I first started the motor I had between 4 and 10 psi oil pressure and I had temp issues from the get go. The oil pressure I straightened out immediately. It was three gallery plugs under the spider that I forgot to install. 65-70 psi after I fixed that. The motor got real hot a few times because of the new closed cooling hose routing. I straightened that out and was at 165*. Between those two things on a new rebuild I'd say anything is possible.

HawkX66 · Jul 24, 2021

Fargin non-adjustable rockers bit me. Had plenty of PTD clearance, but didn't check valve clearance because it was all stock parts. Live n learn... Never again will I use the non-adjustable set up.

Edit: I checked my notes and I did check PTV clearance. Should have been plenty. wtf?

Nater Potater · Jul 24, 2021

Oh, ouch! Valve retainer fail and drop valve?

HawkX66 · Jul 24, 2021

Nater Potater said:
Oh, ouch! Valve retainer fail and drop valve?

I wish. Cam phasing issue it looks like. I'm leaning towards a bad timing set, but I haven't looked at it yet.
Head is at the machine shop getting a new valve seat and two new valves. Now I just need to find a stock piston and rod.

HawkX66 · Aug 4, 2021

Bah. Bad lower cam gear install. It caused it to be way advanced. It's an adjustable gear that I had planned on installing at zero, but a few cervezas later and I put the zero mark on the woodruff key. That's what caused all my problems.
The first two are how I set it up wrong and the last one is the right way and how I did it on my 69.
Ended up just being a dumb mistake. Picking up my head from the shop tonight and should have her running pretty soon.

HawkX66 · Aug 16, 2021

A little update to where I am now. I reinstalled and degreed the cam. To get the correct install I had to advance the cam 2*. Thankfully I had installed an adjustable timing set.
The short block is complete and I'm just waiting on getting my head back from the machine shop. My guy ended up in the hospital for a while. Hopefully I'll get it back this week.
I also checked the intake PTV clearance last night with clay. .102" and .066" squish. Tons of room. All is right with the world of short blocks now...
I also installed a new lower shift cable to replace the one that rubbed the drive shaft. I'll pay more attention to it's routing this time when I put the motor back in...
If I had the head back it would take a day to have her back on the water.

Duration @ .050" 225/224 (2* crank advance)
EVO 49*
IVO -2*
EVC -5*
IVC 47*
Exhaust 49-5+180=224*
Int -2+47+180=225*
Valve lift .284"/.284"
Max Lift. 482.8
ECL (167+63)/2=115
ICL (63+167)/2=115
LSA 115*