Shadowman's "Deep Massage" Therapy
- Thread starter Shadowman
- Start date
- Aug 25, 2006
- 4,436
cobrar1339
GT Owner
Not your avg. 4.6 main caps, pretty stout.
Obvious detonation IMO. Ouch. Seen this too many times before. Always makes wonder the exact cause. Kinda hard to pin down. In the past I have found a bad injector, wastgate malfunction ( Turbo) and a tune that was too aggressive for the type of work or fuel we were using. In every case we had experienced some head gasket leakage. That is supposed to be the first thing to go, but that theory only seams to apply to NA motors from my experience lately.
We tried to put a crank back in a 4.6 alum block Cobra that met a simlar fate on big boost(20+psi). It would not drop in. It turned out the Alum main web on the block that the cap attaches to was bent a hair. The crank is so heavy I never noticed it was harder to pull out. We pulled another crank from the shelf and it would not slide in either. We measured every thing we could. We finally gave one web a love tap and it dropped right in. This happen more than once. The GT block however looks much stronger than what we were working with on the 96-97's. Might be worth checking if you had any resistance pulling the crank though.
Obvious detonation IMO. Ouch. Seen this too many times before. Always makes wonder the exact cause. Kinda hard to pin down. In the past I have found a bad injector, wastgate malfunction ( Turbo) and a tune that was too aggressive for the type of work or fuel we were using. In every case we had experienced some head gasket leakage. That is supposed to be the first thing to go, but that theory only seams to apply to NA motors from my experience lately.
We tried to put a crank back in a 4.6 alum block Cobra that met a simlar fate on big boost(20+psi). It would not drop in. It turned out the Alum main web on the block that the cap attaches to was bent a hair. The crank is so heavy I never noticed it was harder to pull out. We pulled another crank from the shelf and it would not slide in either. We measured every thing we could. We finally gave one web a love tap and it dropped right in. This happen more than once. The GT block however looks much stronger than what we were working with on the 96-97's. Might be worth checking if you had any resistance pulling the crank though.
- Aug 25, 2006
- 4,436
Thank you for the commments
I agree with the results however still move towards the "why" which I expect to realize soon
As for the block condition all appears fine and as for the crank all was fine and it was able to be removed with no issues. Now just to confirm your obversation; the lower main cap system is extreme. Four bolts down and 2 in from the side.
Thank you again
I will keep all updated
All the best
Shadowman
MAD IN NC
Proud Owner/ BOD blah bla
fjpikul
GT Owner
Yeh, but his pateints don't bleed blood. Old doctor saying - blood clots, feces don't (moral of story-don't knick the bowel if you're operating in the abdomen).
- Aug 25, 2006
- 4,436
**** UPDATE ****
Well it is time for yet another update as this project moves closer to the finish line
I had all 16 injectors tested looking for any anomaly however all were mechanically fine; both flow and spray pattern are as designed as such they were sonic cleaned and made ready to go back into service.
I also had the pistons with heavy emphasis on the 7 that visually appeared fine inspected looking for any signs of damage and there was absolutely none. The expectation was that signs of Moly lifting on the upper rings would be present and yet they spec'd as if new with no unusual wear patterns or issues. The block was also carefully inspected and tested and it too came back with a clean bill of health except that #8 had caused enough damage that we are going .020 over size with the new set of slugs/pistons. The pistons are being fabricated to my specification and at the same time we are going to be using a premium stainless steel top ring as the means to make her internals even more durable.
Now this brings us back to the heads; the only issue that we were able to find was the spark plug in number 8 cylinder was crooked as such a significant portion of the threads on one side were exposed to the combustion chamber and the other side buried deep within the head. It is based on all other components having been looked at and thoroughly inspected by several people that we suspect that this was the culprit that caused the detonation which lead to her untimely demise.
In any case; suspect remains the key word as sadly there was not a definitive answer found but rather deductive reasoning was used once everything was placed on the table.
FYI: the heads in OEM trim are wonderful and there IMO is no reason to consider removing them just for the sake of tweaking them however since they are off we have decided to install an upgraded set of valves; specifically stainless steel intakes and Inconel exhaust as well as a different set of springs once again as the means to create an even more bullet proof heart for this gal. We are also having some minor porting working completed and are presently considering a set of cams with a bit more lift.
Now while all of this has been going on several personal touch tweaks have been completed and her engine bay was cleaned and painted as needed so that once everything is put back into place she will be completely fresh and appear as new.
Takes care
Shadowman
Well it is time for yet another update as this project moves closer to the finish line
I had all 16 injectors tested looking for any anomaly however all were mechanically fine; both flow and spray pattern are as designed as such they were sonic cleaned and made ready to go back into service.
I also had the pistons with heavy emphasis on the 7 that visually appeared fine inspected looking for any signs of damage and there was absolutely none. The expectation was that signs of Moly lifting on the upper rings would be present and yet they spec'd as if new with no unusual wear patterns or issues. The block was also carefully inspected and tested and it too came back with a clean bill of health except that #8 had caused enough damage that we are going .020 over size with the new set of slugs/pistons. The pistons are being fabricated to my specification and at the same time we are going to be using a premium stainless steel top ring as the means to make her internals even more durable.
Now this brings us back to the heads; the only issue that we were able to find was the spark plug in number 8 cylinder was crooked as such a significant portion of the threads on one side were exposed to the combustion chamber and the other side buried deep within the head. It is based on all other components having been looked at and thoroughly inspected by several people that we suspect that this was the culprit that caused the detonation which lead to her untimely demise.
In any case; suspect remains the key word as sadly there was not a definitive answer found but rather deductive reasoning was used once everything was placed on the table.
FYI: the heads in OEM trim are wonderful and there IMO is no reason to consider removing them just for the sake of tweaking them however since they are off we have decided to install an upgraded set of valves; specifically stainless steel intakes and Inconel exhaust as well as a different set of springs once again as the means to create an even more bullet proof heart for this gal. We are also having some minor porting working completed and are presently considering a set of cams with a bit more lift.
Now while all of this has been going on several personal touch tweaks have been completed and her engine bay was cleaned and painted as needed so that once everything is put back into place she will be completely fresh and appear as new.
Takes care
Shadowman
Attachments
cobrar1339
GT Owner
STORMCAT
GT
Cool Bill !! I know you got a copy right release for that !! :biggrin:biggrin Just joking of course. I like the dual listing.. How's our friends car coming along.. ? I guess I need to head over to your website for the latest details.. Thanks for sharing as always.. Brian
PS: Are those Painted on or Stickers ??
Last edited:
- Aug 25, 2006
- 4,436
** UPDATE **
The time is here.
The machine work on the block has been completed, the custom CP pistons that were treated to Teflon coated skirts and ceramic coated faces and then wrapped with hand fit stainless steel rings are on site, the rotating assembly has been methodically balanced this after the crank was magna-fluxed and then the journal sizes verified and then it was micro-polished, the new Stillen clutch assembly was balanced during which time the flywheel was surfaced, the heads have been fully ported and polished to our specifications and then populated with custom Ferrea stainless steel intake valves and Ferrea Inconel exhaust valves suspended by Manley springs retained in position with Titanium retainers, the custom billet blower cams are on site, the 16 fuel injectors were all sonic cleaned and flow tested, and the gal's transaxle was treated to a set of Stillen's 3.90 gears as such it is now time to methodically reassemble this gal's heart and ancillary pieces thus making her ready to be exercised.
Takes care
Shadowman
The time is here.
The machine work on the block has been completed, the custom CP pistons that were treated to Teflon coated skirts and ceramic coated faces and then wrapped with hand fit stainless steel rings are on site, the rotating assembly has been methodically balanced this after the crank was magna-fluxed and then the journal sizes verified and then it was micro-polished, the new Stillen clutch assembly was balanced during which time the flywheel was surfaced, the heads have been fully ported and polished to our specifications and then populated with custom Ferrea stainless steel intake valves and Ferrea Inconel exhaust valves suspended by Manley springs retained in position with Titanium retainers, the custom billet blower cams are on site, the 16 fuel injectors were all sonic cleaned and flow tested, and the gal's transaxle was treated to a set of Stillen's 3.90 gears as such it is now time to methodically reassemble this gal's heart and ancillary pieces thus making her ready to be exercised.
Takes care
Shadowman
Last edited:
shesgotlegs
GT Owner
- Jul 20, 2006
- 1,183
Kingman
GT Owner
B O N Y
MODERATOR & FGT OWNER
mod note to bill
dbk has been advised about pic posting problem, i couldn't fix it either, sorry
dbk has been advised about pic posting problem, i couldn't fix it either, sorry
STORMCAT
GT
I know the owner is going to be real happy with the end result !! It sounds like no detail was left untouched.. Great job I can't wait to hear to hear how the beast runs !! :thumbsup
tpraceman
THEE GT OWNER
- Aug 25, 2006
- 4,436
