I wonder what it smells like?

 

If they still have your car, I doubt that they will let it go until you pay up.
Pehaps they will give you a break.

Rather than a rebuild of your block, I suggest looking for a good clean 4-bolt short block (or long block if that's what you can find).

Remove all of your usable components, including heads, cam (have the cam checked and polished). Before installing your heads, make sure every thing is up to snuff and make sure you measure the piston to valve clearances.

I was lucky, I guess, when I was able to find a new replacememt 4-bolt for around 1700 including shipping.

I'd go for the 4-bolt as long as you have those mods and maybe some more to come.

Sorry to say, but these things just happen and you have to make the best of a bad situation by going the extra mile to make sure things are put together right while you have the block out: installing a cam the correct way with the least amount of risk is doing it while the block is on a stand and you know it was done right without damaging the bearings or getting dirt in there.

Although there is a good chance that your current block may very well be in good shape, you'd be advised to go with a short block that you are more sure that it is in good condition.

You might even wind up buying a whole car, if the engine happens to be sitting in one that got totaled, but it would, in my opinion, be worth it.
Meanwhile, I'd contact every chevy dealer in the world to see if they have a replacement block in the back room since the replacement blocks are most likely 4-bolts and you might get a really good deal. JMHO

 

Oh: and I won't repeat my sad story since most have heard it before, but in short, my engine went to hell with less than 7 grand on the clock (7000 easy miles) It didn't go to hell right after the cam install, but not to long after I had the heads ported with larger valves. So it makes it even more difficult to say what happened, especially when the mechanic didn't explain it and I just took their word for it that I needed a short block.

I did actully see some metal shavings in my oil cooler which, btw, I deleted when I had the new shortblock installed, just in case the damn cooler might have clogged first and starved the engine (I doubt that they bothered to clean the cooler when they did the cam or the heads).

My car went to hell when I was driving it very slowly one morning. The oil pressure just dropped and it started knocking..and that was it.

So the upshot of my story is I have a 97 SS with less than 10 grand on the car and less than 2 grand on the motor. Add the cost of the car, around 32000 + cam and heads, headers, 410s etc. (around 6000.00) plus around 3000 for the short block and installation PLUS another 3000 for having the valve train redone, since that was the next thing to go to hell shortly after the short block was installed and what you wind up with is a 97SS that cost between 43 and 45 thousand which I might be able to sell for 15 grand tops, if I found someone willing to buy it. BTW, after the valve train went to hell one morning, I had it towed to another mechanic to have it rebuilt rather than let my mechanic tough it again. And when I told my mechanic what happened, he didn't even say he was sorry. He just said I might as well have the mechanic that I had it towed to, fix it. Never heard from him again.

 

eh kinda worded that wrong, its just the smell from high temp metal on metal contact due to no oil/pressure.. when you spin a bearing and no oil pressure. onyl dealt with it once personally and it had a distinct smell IMO, sound was mistakeable though, ive heard busted flexplates sound like spun bearings before..

 

[QUOTE= ive heard busted flexplates sound like spun bearings before..[/QUOTE]

Same here, Ive hears loose flexplate bolts make you swear the motor was toast !!

 

I would have another mechanic take a look at it and find out what is wrong. Take lots of pictures. If it was something he worked on then there is nothing he can say about it, demand a refund or reimbursement for repairs. Not sure about your state but in CT the DMV had a dealer and repair division you can file a complaint with. Worked with me on one vehicle i bought that supposedly had a fresh rebuilt motor. Spun a bearing in the first 25 miles. Mechanic where i bought the car said $1000 to fix. Told him i was going to file a complaint at Dealer and Repair division, the car was fixed and i walked out the door no charge.

 

Sorry, but the reality of the situation is (unless your mechanic has a change of heart) that threatening the mechanic with action and then letting him work on it is, in my opinon, a recipe for disaster, since you may not want to know what he does to it when he has completed the work, e.g. setting you up for future disaster just to get even. And forget about small claims court: since even if you get a favorable outcome, they can't force the mechanic to abide by the ruling without further action which will cost you.

Beg, pray, plead, cry, anything, but don't threaten. JMHO

 

alright, Im throwing my two cents in here.
I installed heads/cam/tchain/headers/...all at once over the winter last year. only to have it last me 400 miles. I was VERY clean about it, covered it up all the time when not working on it, cleaned everything perfectly, flushed it a couple times while reassembling, changed the oil 3 times total after initially starting the car before the 400 miles, and was very easy on the engine for most of the time. I did accelerate the car to 6000 rpm (thats the rev chip in had in my msd 6al) a few times right after the 400miles was up and I believe the orig. main bearings just couldnt hold up anymore. on tear down I found only the far back main bearing badly worn (def. the source of the knock) and the crank was gouged. the only thing I found in the eng. was the metal shavings from the main bearing. the cam bearings looked fine, and the rest of the bearings looked normal. the screen wasnt clogged AT ALL. I am a mechanic by trade for 9 years now, and lots of high performance eng. work. if this happened to me, it can happen to anyone for no apparent reason.
however, I do not subscribe to his theory of letting the eng. parts get dirty cause Im gonna "blow them off anyways". that is very hack.
good luck though. tough break , but keep rollin.
chris

 

WELL....talked to this guy i SHOULD have brought it in the first place. Gave him a list of the parts that were installed. He said I had waaay too much top end and not enought bottom basically. He commented that the valves were huge I 2.02 Ex 1.600 and the lift was too big for the valves .544/.544 wouldnt p/v present itself alot earlier if that was the case? it was running for a while before it was driven.

So he said hell have all options on the table for me if i decide to bring him the car. he said to bring my checkbook i DO believe this guy will stand behind his work. maybe a little pricey but i trust he knows what hes doing.

Now just as iv'e been writing this. My friends father said the original mechanic made a proposal, hell fix my car for 500$ labor, if i pay for a bottom end or rebuild. BTW theres a hole in the oil pan so he says i definately threw a rod. Of course I wouldn't even THINK about having him do anything w/o a written guarentee or warrenty. which one should i go to?????????

 

Now just as iv'e been writing this. My friends father said the original mechanic made a proposal, hell fix my car for 500$ labor, if i pay for a bottom end or rebuild. BTW theres a hole in the oil pan so he says i definately threw a rod. Of course I wouldn't even THINK about having him do anything w/o a written guarentee or warrenty. which one should i go to???????


Fool me once... shame on me.... fool me twice shame on you...... fool me another time... and well... you end up with George W. Bush as your mechanic...

 

uhhhh ya he might break it again and then say 500$ labor if u buy all the parts i just broke again.

 

P/V clearance dont have anything to do with main bearings. my cam has .580 lift, and it wasnt even close to being needed to be checked. I cant remember what the clearance act. was when I checked it, but it wasnt even close to spec at all. I do have stock valves, but that shouldnt be too much diff. with your valve and a much shorter lift.

Id say go to the new guy. but make sure you get a written warranty if he builds the eng.. and make sure it has the right parts to do what you want it to do. i.e. forged parts if you can afford them, lighter is better. but it all starts adding up quick. figure atleast a couple grand just in parts alone.

 

Ok car is at the new mech....please help me with my rebuild here
http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=391529

 

People run higher lift cams with those valves on stock bottom ends with no problems. My cam has more Lift and duration than your CC305 and i have 2.00 intakes and i 1.56 intake valves. No problems here.