Mike;
I am sorry to hear about what happened to Silver, but don't throw in the
towel just yet. It sounds to me like an oil galley got plugged to one of the
cam bearings. You likely then had metal to metal contact eventually
resulting in seizure and then shearing off of the camshaft. It's not hard
for several hundred horsepower to do this, I have heard of crankshafts
breaking for similar reasons. The only way to know for sure is to drop the
oil pan and take a peak at it from underneath while turning the engine over.
I doubt whether you would have and piston or valve damage from this
incident as it is a wedge engine and not a dual overhead cam riceburner. You
would have know it then anyhow as valve collision has a nasty habit of
cracking cylinder heads and you didn't mention any large quantities of
steam. In any case I don't think that it would cost anywhere near $3000 to
repair the damage nor would a total rebuild be necessary. But before you do
anything rash like dumping the car, put it aside and deal with something
else for a couple of weeks. By then you might have a fresh perspective of
what to do with her and when. Silver's waited a long time for someone to
come around and fix her up, a little vacation time while doing so couldn't
hurt.
Good Luck
Arran Foster
1954 Imperial Newport
Needing A Left Side Taillight bezel and other trim parts.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Pittinaro" <mechimike@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2002 4:45 PM
Subject: IML: Silver meets her demise...?
> I can barely write this...I'm practically in tears,
> tugging woefully at a bottle of Corona. I decided to
> take my '67 on a drive from D.C. to Cape Cod,
> Massachusettes for a vacation. I left last friday,
> stopped in NJ to see my loving girlfriend, and then
> pressed onwards Saturday morning. After stopping to
> meet fellow '67 owner Tim Klein (which was going to be
> the focal point of my message, since we had a blast in
> little old Rye, NY) I gassed up and headed into
> Connecticut.
>
> Now, the Imp had been running a little warmer than
> usual during the trip, but the needle was still below
> the 1/2 way point and, obviously, in the normal
> operating range. Hey, it was 98 degrees and I had the
> A/C blasting! About 100 miles from the Cape, going up
> a hill about 70mph, the engine backfired through the
> carburetor 3 or 4 times, then proceded to lose a huge
> chunk of power. I could barely maintain 65 mph on the
> flat, and hills were a decidedly dicey proposition. I
> pulled off of 95, and searched for a small town with a
> parts store.
>
> When I checked under the hood, I noticed gasoline
> leaking from the carburetor...the backfire had
> obviously blown the accelerator pump gasket (and,
> probably, the power valve). After a parking lot
> rebuild, it started right up, but continued to run
> like crap. I nursed it to Cape Cod, parked it, and
> (as it was almost 10PM by now) went to sleep.
>
> Next morning I took off the driver's side valve cover,
> and cranked the engine by jumping the solonoid with a
> screwdriver. The rear 4 valves did nothing. No
> movement whatsoever. I did not try the passenger side
> cover, as it is significantly harder to remove, and my
> tools were limited. My gut tells me I wiped the cam-
> broke it in half, and only the front 4 cylinders are
> banging.
>
> I drove the car back to Rye (200 miles!!), where it
> currently awaits Tim's mechanic's engine guy's
> diagnosis. He seemed to think it was running on 6
> cylinders, because "there's no way that big old motor
> could run with just 4, let alone get you 200 miles
> back here".
>
> Either way, I'm feeling mighty blue. I'm already
> waist-deep in my 360 engine project for the Satellite,
> I have no time nor money for another one. If the cam
> broke, that's it- the engine needs new cam bearings,
> which means it needs to come out, and then the whole
> engine will need a (very expensive) rebuild. If it
> just wiped out some lobes, maybe a new cam and lifters
> will fix it, but it may also have burnt/stuck/bent
> valves which would require a whole head recon...and
> prolly a bottom end redo as well (new heads on an old
> bottom end=piston ring blowby). Again, mucho dinero.
>
> Unless I get very lucky, I have an ominous feeling
> that this may be the end for Silver. I've been quite
> patient with the car- poured money into it by the
> bagful, most of it for mechanical repairs. But I
> can't justify $3000 for a rebuild. No way.
>
> I'll keep you all posted as the mechanic lets me know
> what his prognosis is. If the engine has to be
> rebuilt, there will likely be a very lucky IMLer who
> can pick this '67 up for a song, if they're willing to
> go get it.
>
> I feel horrible typing this, but I have to be
> realistic. I love the old girl, but not $3000 worth
> of love.
>
> I took various local/regional trains back home, topped
> off by a taxi ride. At least I made it home OK. And,
> many thanks to Tim Klein for his help and hospitality.
> (and what a cool '67 he has!)
>
> =====
> --Mike Pittinaro
>
> "Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."
> --Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
>
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