What happened to my engine???

[Cecil/WV]

Originally Posted by Old Henry

Way to go Cecil - a man after my own heart. So, there is at least one other barner out there for whom the benefits of a grand road trip far outweigh the cost and inconvenience of even the worst case scenario. So, we go. The rest? Well, . . . they stay home.

I must add that my wife goes on all these trips! I drove it 325 miles on Sunday to the swap meet in Leesport, Pa. Did I say that already??

[Old Henry]

Update on Old Henry's engine that several have inquired about.

Doc Roger took the pan off last night and found that the piston pin was broken and the connecting rod was bent in addition to the piston being broken into pieces as shown in my picture. He didn't see any sign of something coming into the cylinder through the intake that would have jammed the piston to break it. The connecting rod was still connected to the crank shaft just fine. My guess had been that it had come off and caused the problem but not so. He couldn't think of anything that would have caused the piston or piston pin to break as it did (not knowing which went first). There is damage to the cylinder wall that will need a sleeve to repair. He's going to check out all of the other cylinders and pistons to see if anything else needs work and let me know. His preliminary examination of the other cylinders from underneath didn't reveal any wear on them at all. I was glad to hear that after just 30,000 miles.

This may be just a fluke problem that we'll never know the cause of and not be able to do anything more than I already did to prevent it from happening again.

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

Henry,

Better send me that distributor and i can freshen it up a bit , set up on a machine and get er back to ya.
Just my contribution for your headaches .........

Bubba

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by BUBBAS IGNITION

Henry,

Better send me that distributor and i can freshen it up a bit , set up on a machine and get er back to ya.
Just my contribution for your headaches .........

Bubba

WOW! What an offer!

I just got my distributor from you November 8th. Do you think it needs work already?

[mfagan]

That Bubba is quite a guy!!

[BUBBAS IGNITION]

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Originally Posted by Old Henry

WOW! What an offer!

I just got my distributor from you November 8th. Do you think it needs work already?

Probably not....

[Old Henry]

Bubba, just to have you offer it made me feel as good as if you'd actually done it if I'd really needed it.

We attorneys don't get a lot of kindness coming our way. In fact, it's very rare. Mostly sarcasm, cynicism, criticism and belittling.

Thanks so much again.

[bobH]

Originally Posted by Old Henry

Update on Old Henry's engine that several have inquired about.

Doc Roger took the pan off last night and found that the piston pin was broken and the connecting rod was bent in addition to the piston being broken into pieces as shown in my picture. He didn't see any sign of something coming into the cylinder through the intake that would have jammed the piston to break it. The connecting rod was still connected to the crank shaft just fine. My guess had been that it had come off and caused the problem but not so. He couldn't think of anything that would have caused the piston or piston pin to break as it did (not knowing which went first). There is damage to the cylinder wall that will need a sleeve to repair. He's going to check out all of the other cylinders and pistons to see if anything else needs work and let me know. His preliminary examination of the other cylinders from underneath didn't reveal any wear on them at all. I was glad to hear that after just 30,000 miles.

This may be just a fluke problem that we'll never know the cause of and not be able to do anything more than I already did to prevent it from happening again.

I'd be awfully nervous, not knowing more. I guess it's because (over many years) I've seen similar situations - repaired - only to have the same thing happen again, to another cylinder. I hope your 'guy' does some close inspecting, and I hope you all question the source and reputation of the piston source (assuming the piston broke first, and the rest followed). (For the record, pistons & pins generally come together - so one source for both.) I'd be thinking of penetrant or mag inspection of ALL rods & pistons. And, maybe a balance job, if you conclude that unbalance contributed. I know, not inexpensive. But, not knowing scares me, and I'm thinking back to two similar cases in my own past, where customer engines did similar things.
Marv, below, offers good advice regarding changing ALL pistons.
JMO

[Marv]

I would definetly go with new pistons and i do not mean NOS. I mean new Ross or whatever brand you prefer. A good block is hard to find. I ruined a good engine in a 56 Mercury just like your engine i was winding up in high gear and the piston came in pieces, the rod wrapped around the crank and wiped the oil pan and bottom of the block out. Marv

[David J]

If you run the crap out of " Old Henry " you should consider using FORGED pistons . Yes they rattle a little when cold and are not going to be cheap . BUT they don't fall apart like yours did . Back in the early 80's I had quite a few Mopars with 426 HEMIS in them and the cheapest route to get pistons made special order was ARIAS . No clue if they are still around but you should be able to find someone to do this . At that time the only pistons available were 12.5 CR and street hemis were only 10.25 CR . Some folks cut race pistons down but that wasn't the hot ticket . At that time a set of .030 pistons with pins-locks were $550 . Those were a LOT bigger than a flathead piston and were much beefier . Your call but durability wise forged is LOTS better .

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by David J

If you run the crap out of " Old Henry " you should consider using FORGED pistons .

I will add this to my discussion with Doc Roger.
He's been rebuilding flatheads for over 40 years so has a lot of his own preferences of what he thinks is best but I will certainly discuss with him all of the ideas I've received here.