Originally Posted by Built LT1

I finally got the motor back in late April and I've been waiting for a friend of mine to go through and inspect everything before it goes back in the car.

Just for the record, I let this engine builder rebuild it because he incurred all costs and wanted a chance to make it right; and I admire and respect him for that. At the same time, I think it's more than fair considering the results and the amount of money paid for his "expertise."

I was told it had bent valves and pushrods upon disassembly. The engine builder had no explaination of how that happened.

When I picked up the completed long block and took it to the guy that's going to inspect the rebuild work, he alreadly noticed problems with the valvetrain!

Notably, the rockers are not aligned properly. Apparently, the rockers need adjustable guide plates? Some of the roller tips are not centered on top of the valvestems. When it was pointed out to me it was grossly apparent. They're cross eyed and only touch the outer most edge of the valvestem! Not all valves were like this as some were more centered than others. The guy inspecting this also suspects that there are other problems with the rebuild such as insufficient valve clearance for the pistons; hence the repeated failures of bent and broken rockers, bent pushrods, bent valves, and the thickest head gaskets I've EVER SEEN on an engine! BTW-the head gaskets now are even thicker than the last ones!

One of the heads will be pulled off in the next few days and checked to see if they have ample clearance. I was told before by the engine builder that the PTV clearance was "more than enough" when I asked him if that was a possible factor in bending push rods. If the clearance is off, the motor will have to be disassembled to have the pistons clearanced or replaced. These are "custom JE nitrous pistons" ordered by the engine builder himself! I did not order "any" of these parts myself. There should be no reason for the PTV clearance to be off, unless it was overlooked the first time. And if that's the case, they shouldn't be in there now!

I'll stop speculating and wait for the facts...

As soon as I know the results, or any other information on this train wreck I'll post it here. Hopefully this headache will be over soon, 'cause I'm all out of aspirin.

Originally Posted by Built LT1

I don't know why he put aluminum rockers on the engine to begin with. I'm actually hoping that someone on here could explain why someone would do that!