So about 5 years ago I bought my 428 motor. I was dealing with a guy called Jack Hall of Halls Restorations at the time for some other items.(I warn you to stay away from this guy)
I mentioned I was looking for an FE motor. He had bare rebuilt 428 sitting there from another customer that decided "to go in a different direction with his car project" The engine was supposedly rebuilt by a local machine shop that rebuilt all Halls engines. At the time Jack seemed like a decent guy so I bought the motor. I struggled to get any documentation about the motor but finally got a bullet point list of the spec. Bored 0.30 over, new valve seats, new cam, etc etc. I called the shop that rebuilt the motor but they told me that they do not track individual rebuilds for a specific motor so they do not have any records for my actual motor(surprise, surprise) And since buying the motor Jack Hall turned out to be a very dishonest person that tried to rip me off on several other things but thats a whole different story.
I added an Edelbrock RPM preformer intake, Comcept one pulley kit, 750cfm 4bbl Holley Car, new fly wheel, pressure plate, kevlar/kevlar clutch, Modern Drivelines hydraulic clutch setup, Lakewood bell housing, Custom ceramic coated full length headers, MSD Ignition system, Canton high volume pan to suit the R&C Cross member, Tremec 5spd gear box.
So my car build is at the stage where it was time to start the motor and I got a mechanic friend to help me out with the start up.
We went through the motor from top to bottom checking all connections, hoses, bolts etc. Added oil, fuel and all other fuilds, Checked if we were getting a spark, etc
So we started to add water to the rad to fill the cooling system. Shortly afterwards we noticed that oil was pouring out onto the floor. It was coming from the old oil dip stick hole in the block. (when you change to a Canton pan the dip stick tube goes directly into the pan and i was supposed to blank the port in the block, opps). We thought this was a little odd but put it down to overfilling it with oil..
We took the spark plugs out and started turning it over on the start motor to try and build oil oil pressure but it would not build. We then checked the dip stick and noticed water in the oil. We stopped everything.
We stripped the intake off but no major signs of loose bolts, leaks, etc
I drained the oil pan and there was about 2 gallons of water in it. The bellhousing was also full of water and overflowing out onto the ground.
I thought that it may be one of frost expansion plugs that came loose/leaked which would explain the water in the bell housing but that would not explain the water in the oil pan. And the rate at which it was leaking looks more like an open hole rather than a weeping/leaking. I spoke to an engine builder here in Ireland and he mentioned that there may be a plug on the front and back of the block that the original engine builder might've forgotten to put in during the build. I have drained and flushed the motor with diesel to get the water out of it. We plan to check the motor then blank all the ports on the water system and pressure test it, then do the same with the intake. I read online that getting a good seal between the heads/intake can be a challenge with these motors. Any tips on this?
With the cross member I have to remove the bell housing and gearbox to pull the motor which is a PITA without a car lift but it looks like i have no option to see how the water is getting into the bell housing.
So if there are any FE/engine gurus out there that might be able please feel free to chime in. Here in Ireland there are very few people that know the FE motors in detail. I would be happy to call anyone to save time writing a response and it may not be as simple as a one liner. Drop me a PM if you would prefer that.
All and any help will be greatly appreciated.
Needless to say i was hoping to have my engine running by now but instead I am stripping it down. :bomb
Thanks,
Johnny
I mentioned I was looking for an FE motor. He had bare rebuilt 428 sitting there from another customer that decided "to go in a different direction with his car project" The engine was supposedly rebuilt by a local machine shop that rebuilt all Halls engines. At the time Jack seemed like a decent guy so I bought the motor. I struggled to get any documentation about the motor but finally got a bullet point list of the spec. Bored 0.30 over, new valve seats, new cam, etc etc. I called the shop that rebuilt the motor but they told me that they do not track individual rebuilds for a specific motor so they do not have any records for my actual motor(surprise, surprise) And since buying the motor Jack Hall turned out to be a very dishonest person that tried to rip me off on several other things but thats a whole different story.
I added an Edelbrock RPM preformer intake, Comcept one pulley kit, 750cfm 4bbl Holley Car, new fly wheel, pressure plate, kevlar/kevlar clutch, Modern Drivelines hydraulic clutch setup, Lakewood bell housing, Custom ceramic coated full length headers, MSD Ignition system, Canton high volume pan to suit the R&C Cross member, Tremec 5spd gear box.
So my car build is at the stage where it was time to start the motor and I got a mechanic friend to help me out with the start up.
We went through the motor from top to bottom checking all connections, hoses, bolts etc. Added oil, fuel and all other fuilds, Checked if we were getting a spark, etc
So we started to add water to the rad to fill the cooling system. Shortly afterwards we noticed that oil was pouring out onto the floor. It was coming from the old oil dip stick hole in the block. (when you change to a Canton pan the dip stick tube goes directly into the pan and i was supposed to blank the port in the block, opps). We thought this was a little odd but put it down to overfilling it with oil..
We took the spark plugs out and started turning it over on the start motor to try and build oil oil pressure but it would not build. We then checked the dip stick and noticed water in the oil. We stopped everything.
We stripped the intake off but no major signs of loose bolts, leaks, etc
I drained the oil pan and there was about 2 gallons of water in it. The bellhousing was also full of water and overflowing out onto the ground.
I thought that it may be one of frost expansion plugs that came loose/leaked which would explain the water in the bell housing but that would not explain the water in the oil pan. And the rate at which it was leaking looks more like an open hole rather than a weeping/leaking. I spoke to an engine builder here in Ireland and he mentioned that there may be a plug on the front and back of the block that the original engine builder might've forgotten to put in during the build. I have drained and flushed the motor with diesel to get the water out of it. We plan to check the motor then blank all the ports on the water system and pressure test it, then do the same with the intake. I read online that getting a good seal between the heads/intake can be a challenge with these motors. Any tips on this?
With the cross member I have to remove the bell housing and gearbox to pull the motor which is a PITA without a car lift but it looks like i have no option to see how the water is getting into the bell housing.
So if there are any FE/engine gurus out there that might be able please feel free to chime in. Here in Ireland there are very few people that know the FE motors in detail. I would be happy to call anyone to save time writing a response and it may not be as simple as a one liner. Drop me a PM if you would prefer that.
All and any help will be greatly appreciated.
Needless to say i was hoping to have my engine running by now but instead I am stripping it down. :bomb
Thanks,
Johnny
