Well, for the third time in three years I have another motor tha needs to be replaced. I think I have a curse. First motor had about 5000 miles on fresh rebuild, second motor was a low milage motor and this motor has a mere 3000 miles on it! Guess I need to get something different for it? Not sure what I'm doing but it's getting expensive. Anyone have any suggestions? I honestly don't want to get rid of her but she's being a bitch! Well, give me some words of wisdom and some encuragment! Thanks everyone!!!
Sorry to hear it, that's a real shot in the '****.
Why are they they failing ? It's hard to believe three of them have blown for the same reason. What happened to this one ? Spun bearing, overheated, threw a rod, broken crank, just plain seized ? Is the same guy rebuilding them ? Are *you* rebuilding them ? Were they all rebuilds or factory assembled ?
What are you doing when these things blow ? Most of us like to goof around w/these things and I've seen more than one or two guys have an engine head south in the middle of a mud hole or running down the highway @ 85 turning 38's. What are you running for gears ?
The bottom line is that it happens for a reason, either the engine is poorly build & has some sort of flaw or they're somehow being pushed beyond their mechanical limits (too hot, too many revs, cheap oil, etc)
I know it's the last thing you want to hear @ the moment but if you keep it I'd simply bite the bullet this time & shell out for a crate engine direct from Ford. Lord knows it's not the cheapest way to go but it doesn't have to be a full-blown SVO (or SVT these days I guess) engine, 300hp is plenty & all things being considered you may not *want* more than that. There are also a number of others out there building good crate motors (I lived in Memphis for a decade so RHS comes to mind) also but I wouldn't have whoever's been building them build me another. Besides the larger places take advantage of the economy of scale to offer a cheaper product as well as offereing a good guarantee with it as well. Junkyard motors are *always* a crapshoot, unless you personally know the history of the vehicle it's coming out of I just wouldn't throw the dice. Have you ever SEEN the guys at the boneyard pull a motor ? Not to cast aspersions upon anyone here but just about every yard monkey I've ever met has been someone who couldn't be a mechanic because he wouldn't put down the hammer and liked the torch a little too much. Boneyard engines are generally pulled using two tools, a torch & a forklift, and they're never treated with very much care (especially not the older V8's that we buy. A new BMW V12 gets pulled out in their garage by a guy who has a big SnapOn tool chest, shrink-wrapped and kept inside & the 1980 302 is pulled out in the yard by the guy who drives the forklift then thrown on a pallet in the mud). I know you'll have to spend some time thinking about it but you're going to have two choices, either walk away & sell it for parts or invest the time & money into putting a quality engine into it.
