I'm sure Robert & the guy that owns this engine want to know the problem as soon as possible.
Sure, the rest of us want to know too, but the answer will come when time allows.

Hold on here guys. I'm the one who put the 😀 on the post. That's why I did it. I'm not being rude. I understand that guy is not like me. I would have ripped it apart the next day. But that's me. I can't leave something unresolved and still sleep at night. My brain works all night. I really like the fact that their are people with a lot of knowledge on this board and I glean from them as well. I have had to solve some complex problems for people and all that knowledge get filed in my memory banks. This mystery is just waiting and we all want to help 😀😀😀😀. See I'm still smiling.

Everyone on the forum knows RapidRobert is a very good guy. A little sarcasm/ribbing got taken wrong. PLEASE lets get back to the subject. LOTS of us are chomping at the bit to see what the cause of this catastrophe was...

thanks guys! Yeah I've only met the guy 3 times (fireup was #3) & he said he has been putting this together for 1&1/2 to 2 years (wife/kids/job are such a distraction!) and he was pretty bent out of shape when it locked up. That Challenger looks like the day it rolled off the showroom floor. before fireup I chided him that he looked more nervous than an expectant papa would be! & he did not think that was very funny (he was sweatin bullets which I don't blame him). I did not have the timing advanced as much as he thought it should be (he was right), probably coulda used another 10 deg & he was thinking that that was the cause but it did not get over 160 in a mech gauge plumbed to a bypass line at the WP and this was with 3 or 4 minutes of run time (thoughts on that?). when I posted this I expected to get a few replies especially since the eng ain't undone yet to find what did happen and I certainly did not expect it to morph into what it did. I will put another call into him tonight. we're all good here (for now!). RR

I just spoke with him & no (real) progress except he said a valve stem he observed, was blued. I went over prior stuff & he reinterated that the oil and the filter were clean and that he undid the rocker arms before he put the breaker bar on the crank & he got it to turn ~ 1/2 turn to get the other (2) TC bolts off & it was real hard to turn. His schedule has worsened & he wont be able to do anything (more) until Nov 17th at the earliest.

Well if you have only met the guy three times, then you are a good Sumaritan. Since your not close buds he may be embarrassed that his motor failed in front of you. That man pride thing. I had a bud who had a bad habit of letting his cars sit in the driveway at idle for 30 minutes to "circulated " the oil. One 55 Ford pickup he had seized up AFTER he put it back into the shop. It would not turn over the next time he started it. It stuck the valves. Even with manganese guides. I know the shop that built the heads and they were right. He used Av gas and it does not really lube as well and at idle, the motor would not get enough oil. Just a thought. Good luck. I'm thinking very serious about building a run stand for just such an occasion.

Yep, only met the guy 3 times. he had heard of me & had called several times for advice over a several year period & on the last call he said he was getting ready to fire it & I volunteered to be there to help if I could. I did not have the dist advanced enough & he is thinking that my mistake was what caused it to lockup. Agreed I did not have it advanced enough but there was a mech temp gauge plumbed into a pump bypass & it reached 160 & was at that point for awhile before it hiccuped & died & that was at ~3.5-4 minutes. I really don't consider myself a good samaritan as it took me years to get people on here to leave me be and I deliberately do things out here in this apt complex to make people fear me and leave me alone (I like my privacy), everybody wants mechanical help & I dont know anything about modern cars which non mechanic people have a hard time grasping. I'm on disability for mental health issues & I spend most of my time watching TV, jogging and of course Moparts (the worse one of all!). he caught me at a good time on a rare good day & since breakin is so critical I wanted him to be sucessful. when the time comes if it is bearing related then that would elim the timing/heat issue.

He undid the rockers and then he is trying to turn the engine over ??
And he is surprised the engine is hard to turn over ???

I doubt if your timing caused the problem

correct, I think I heard him correctly, he unbolted the rockers thinking that maybe there was a top end binding then he turned the crank to get to the other two TC mini bolts as he is going to pull the eng when he has time. that was about all he had to offer as far as new info & I just went over the prior stuff previously mentioned like the oil/filter etc so that maybe something he forgot to add would come to him during that conversation last night so I would have something new/relevant to post. Oh I think he also said the pushrods were not bent or if he did not then he would have mentioned that for sure if they were bent but I think I did ask him. EDIT & he did mention that a valve stem looked blued MORE EDIT that is a relief that I am off the hook for the timing (I think I had it at ~25 & it was ~2200 RPM). MORE EDIT John Oh OK now I grasp what you are saying as keeping (all of the valves closedtrapping the compression in all cyls would for sure make it way harder to turn! Now that I think about it I ain't sure if he did that before the turning but I think maybe he turned the crank later on that same day then his next day off he undid the rockers & pulled the manifolds as it was last night when he mentioned the blued stem.

I know of a BBC that didn't get any prelube on the pin to pistons. Seized up tight as a drum on the dyno. May have been mentioned above, but I skipped over most of it.

I think he means...... If you unbolt the rockers...... And don't remove the spark plugs......they turn over pretty hard.

Hopefully the guy was smart enough to pull the plugs.

This thread has been one long, drawn out, speculation fest ... there could be a number of reason it locked up ....

(1) I originally thought he tried to turn it later on that evening & I was long gone or maybe he said the next day (I've kinda got lost in the details myself). (2) yes it has drawn out & I have felt the love & you have even contributed to that (2 posts!), much appreciated! (2B) on the cause, I'm thinking pistons/rings or bearings but that is an edumacated guess & there are several more potentials for sure & all have been mentioned!. when I know I will post the same day & it will be anticlimactic for sure. Likely I wont be there when he discovers it but I'm sure I will be involved in the fixing

It's like an accident on the highway, on the other side of the median, one can't help but look ...

But it is increasing my post count blathering on about nothing ...

After posting this morning I went & ran some errands & on the way there I was thinking that absolutely there was no love coming from you (your reasons for posting) but it was adding to your post count (I had a good laugh to myself on that!) and you are (mainly) looking for an opening to jab. for example, You said "blathering on about nothing" well yes your post is a prime example of that. One thing that you are good for double R is that you teach a person tolerance. Maybe one of these days I will meet you at the Nationals and & I will introduce myself & thank you for the edumacation. I have yet to fully grasp why me and you got off on the wrong foot way way back & have stayed that way in spite of my occaisional efforts to be nice (most of the time!). I guess that is life. To your credit your tech is pretty knowledgeable & I respect that. Have a good day brother. RR

Here we go !!

Agreed, I shoulda known better than to take the bait. Wont happen again (cross my heart & hope to die)

Oh RR, = Relax Robert :-} I'm sure the other RR means no harm, just stating things are dragging..


The latest update I saw, is the engine is no longer Siezed up. It actually turns. That opens the possibilities of the cause even Further. Greattttt....

I guess I'm no Longerr locked on my Main bearing siezed up blathering. :-)

Do look forward to the actual cause as do many of us. I know the balls not in your court. Like your posts as well, especially that distributer phase thread. I learned from it, so did others and some did not. Keep us posted.

(1) best advice I've heard all month (not the first time tho!) (2) yeah his schedule sounds demanding, I barely know the guy but he said they flew him out of state for a work seminar then switched his shifts & did some changing to his vacation schedule (way more than I could deal with). (3) Oh the second I get some (relevant) news I will for sure post it!