Arran, I thought of this as a possibility too as to why this happened. That car sat for a long time, and sludge may have formed. I think you are right on the money on your sugestions for Mike... D^2 Quoting "A. Foster" <monkeypuzzle1@xxxxxxx>: > 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 ----- >