Hey all!

A friend asked if I would do a several odd jobs on his '70 Cuda that has had a 426 Hemi swapped in. The motor is fresh, less than 100 miles I would say, maybe even less than 50. I noticed a slight but concerning tick/knock that prompted me to cut open the oil filter. I found whats pictured, lots of filings. First pic is the oil I got out of the filter, second is the bottom of the filter and probably best shows the flakes and filings (there's a few flakes nearly 1/8in diameter), last is what I captured washing the pleats in some gas then straining and letting dry. What I captured is very magnetic (some of the bigger chunks are silicone). He didn't seem interested in dealing with the shop that did the engine and asked if I could diagnose. My initial thought was it wiped the cam or something. I pulled the valve covers, intake, and oil pan and found nothing out of line. I discovered it has a hydraulic roller cam, it and the lifters all look good, valve train looks good, cylinder walls look new from the bottom, nothing obvious in the bottom end. Rod side clearance seems normal on all, none are tight on the journals, and nothing wobbly loose. I guess I will start pulling caps tomorrow but just looking for some ideas! Oil pump? Or?

Engine needs to come out & taken apart & repair it.

Pull the oil pump off and have a look/disassemble. That looks like bearing material, so not good. I suspect it needs pulled and inspected.
Todd

If you are hearing a knock it sounds like a bearing coming apart. Look at the #3 bearing when you take it apart, if the crankshaft didn't have enough end play it can tear up the sides of the #3 bearing.

Is this the first oil draining since the rebuild?

Just to be clear, you pulled the cam and removed lifters to inspect them? Otherwise how do you know they are good?

WOW! That's a bunch of metal, especially for that short a run time. No matter the source, it's been all through the engine. The thing HAS to come out and apart. First to find the original problem, second to fix the collateral damage the metal may have done, and third to inspect the entire build for any other problems. No way would I continue to run that engine after seeing that. What a shame.

Poor guy. I had metal in motor and everything cam apart. Turns out the needle bearings in just my exhaust T&D rockers were blown out due to incorrect spring pressure allowing valve train harmonics to destroy them.

With only 100 miles, you guys are lucky to have found this early, but that's why we cut open oil filters etc after initial run in. Be sure to use Jomar 100% bypass oil filters in the future. It saved my bottom end, which reduced the refresh/repair cost from my event.

The only other things I might want to have a look at before pulling it out of the car for teardown, is the intermediate shaft, timing cover and cam thrust /retention/button setup.

You say it has a hydraulic roller.

If a person were to install a cam button and force fit the timing cover on without creating thrust clearance, in other words if they bind up the cam between the block and the timing cover,
the timing gear-to-block interface could be eating each other up and could potentially make that much metal.

If it has a billet steel camshaft and gear with a stock intermediate shaft, those could be eating each other up as well.

It has to come out and be torn down regardless....... as that metal has been circulating and has probably done some damage....but it might provide worthwhile info to have a look at those areas.

I agree it needs to come out and blown apart, unfortunately. I'm just not sure he's gonna want to invest that in it right at the moment and I would like to find out what's happening and why in the meantime. I will look at the oil pump and take a peek at some bearings, number 3 main is a good idea. This is the first oil drain since new engine (unless the place that put it together did once, but I doubt it). I did not pull the cam and lifters, so I can't say with absolute certainty there's no issue there, just a preliminary close inspection shows all the lobes look great as do the rollers. The cam thrust setup and intermediate gear is very good information, I will look at that too. I've done a lot of low buck messing around with 440's, but a roller cam Hemi is a bit out of my wheelhouse. Thanks a ton for the thoughts everyone!

How much will a magnet pick up.
If it isn't magnetic then it's bearing material. If it is then it is probably some kinda metal chewed up in the pump, chain, rockers, etc.

I would still pull it and go through it but at least you know here to start.

If it's bearing material and the mains & rods look good, the shop probably didn't put the cam bearings in correctly.

I would explain to the owner that the engine needs to come out and taken apart. Show him the metal. That is a lot of metal in the pics I'm sure if the owner will understand the importance of why it needs to be done.

Why did he put a hemi in it if he can't work on it and can't afford a repair? Put a 440 in it and except the hemi in trade. It has to come out, has to be disassembled and fully cleaned, and reassembled after determining what caused the metal to fill the filter. No way around that. Unless he wants to just put a new filter on and run it until a hard failure.

Why do you run a filter, to trap those pieces BEFORE it goes through the oiling system. Other question, why do you need a can trust bearing? The cam is forced into the engine by the force from the oil pump. Dirt form whatever the reason for this ‘rebuild’

I think I would stop messing with it and take it to the shop that put it together. If they messed something up, they should have to fix it. I also wouldn't wait too long as I am sure they will want to deny it and won't want to fix it on their dime.

While I see your point, I am not sure that I would want the shop that screwed it up in the first place, taking a second shot at it. What confidence do you have that they wouldn't screw it up.........again?

It is tough situation either way. Perhaps you could have a reputable shop fix it, then take that bill over to the first one? I hate to see the owner get shafted like this then not be able to even enjoy the car.

Even if it was a junkyard 318 it needs to be torn down, cleaned up and put together right.

Well, I looked at what I could with the engine in the car, no smoking gun, everything I can see looks great. Has a bronze intermediate gear that is new (he brought over the old parts leftover from the rebuild), has a cam thrust button and no issues there, took every rod cap off and the mains that were accessible, bearings look new, journals look great, and the oil pump is new though it has had some of the trash I found through it.

He had bought the car at auction, got it home, and it started hammering HARD shortly after unloading. He took it somewhere and they found a spun rod bearing, they went through it all and took care of it. Near as I can tell what I found (magnetic filings and bearing material) is from the spun rod that must not have gotten cleaned out during the rebuild, or it could be one of the mains or a cam bearing, but I sure don't see evidence. It will come out and taken apart to at very least be thoroughly cleaned and checked over at some point. Don't mistake that as it will be ran and used until then, it won't.

Did the shop change the filter after the spun bearing ?
I had a local machine shop that built a motor and it ate the camshaft on the dyno. They went back through the motor but did not change the filter. I know this as i cut the filter on the motor open and it was full of metal, NICE!!!!