[jbvcw71]

Happened to me a couple of times....
I blew up a built 307 once that broke the cam in 3 places,
punched several holes in the oil pan & the pan had enough granulated metal in it to fill 2 coffee cans....

In the engines defence it was "knocking" pretty loud.
When my buddy bought it he real quietly spapped me on the shoulder & whispered "Jimbo, blow it up."
Needless to say it was one of those that I shut down & had to get it pushed home... (Breathing the antifreeze vapor was just too much)


I'd like to hear anyone's stories about blowing up engines & the stories behind them...

[lanier ledford]

Been there, done that. 58 ford fairlane 312ci. I a rod bolt brake and bent the other, throwing the rod at the cam an broke it between to bearing before I could hit the clutch, blocked down. Was running threw town at 35 when it all happened. Just replaced he engine, back in 63, back when you could buy an engine cheaper than rebuilding 1.

[Jmark]

Haven't blown one myself but my machinist showed me this brand new engine he did the machine work on. Customer as a Cat mechanic and put this together bone dry, no oil, no assembly lube, nothing. got it done, poured on the oil, fired it up and proceeded to do 7 grand burnouts for his buddies. Lasted about 4 minutes! What an idiot!

[carsavvycook]

I have never blown one up, but I did hear one years ago.

It was a new Blown Nitro Donovan engine, in a drag boat. They lit it off at 11:30 PM on Friday night in the pits. They revved it up several times, then they really revved it up.

I went over to look the next morning, and saw holes through the hull of the boat, where portions of the cam and crank exited.

Too much "brew" I suspect.

[TorkMonster400]

Originally Posted by carsavvycook

Too much "brew" I suspect.

I would say a lot of bad days start like this

[Mike H]

I have never broken anything in the lower end on a race engine but I have broken a couple of intake valves on BBC's. The first was at about 1200 feet at around 7000 RPM it made a hell of a crash. The second was at the hit of the throttle on the starting line both hurt the head and a few pistons but nothing that could not be fixed.

Now we did have a V6 Buick that was knocking at the shop so we threw a brick on the throttle till it expired. It made a pretty big bang and parts went flying, that was pretty cool when it was not yours.

[dawg]

worse thing I did was melt holes in my pistons
AVGAS isnt made for use in cars.
lesson learned the hard way!

[lynx constructio]

had a 1980 toyota with a 20 motor in it. Had lots work done so run good, then guessing thermostat got stuck temp got high, tried to let it cool down but too late, started knocking, so friend followed me home, temp gage got hot as it would go, had it in low 4 wheel drive, and in first, until it just would keep going, no power. still full oil, but shavings about size of 50 cent pieces of metal in oil pan, and it still run with no oil some, but some reason just didnt blow up. Never did get to find the main parts that went out, but tried to keep driving it that day.

[carsavvycook]

Now we did have a V6 Buick that was knocking at the shop so we threw a brick on the throttle till it expired. It made a pretty big bang and parts went flying, that was pretty cool when it was not yours.

God knows I have felt like doing this to a few cars over the years.

[Mike H]

The Buick was a theft recovery from a used car lot, they left it there for about a year so we filed for a title and then came the jumper pack and a brick. When the rods came out a chunk of block and pan went out behind the left front tire and ended up two cars over on the ground. Again VERY COOL when it is a junker.

My brother had a rebuilt 283 in a 65 C10 that he could not get to idle as good as he thought it should so he put it on the wood till it came apart. He had a set of valve covers and an intake after it came apart. (he has anger issues if you can't tell)

[Mike H]

Check out this HEMI from the side of a dragstrip in the 60s or early 70s if the picture works.

[ScoTFrenzel]

Originally Posted by carsavvycook

I have never blown one up, but I did hear one years ago.

It was a new Blown Nitro Donovan engine, in a drag boat. They lit it off at 11:30 PM on Friday night in the pits. They revved it up several times, then they really revved it up.

I went over to look the next morning, and saw holes through the hull of the boat, where portions of the cam and crank exited.

Too much "brew" I suspect.

Would that be Jack Daniels or nitro? maybe both?

[eatonde]

I blew one a few years ago. I had a .060 over 350, 4 bolt, stock 461 heads, flat tops, comp 280 mag cam.

Overheated on me once, from a freeze plug rotting, it got to atleast 450*+ id say, so i figured i'd go ahead and go through the motor since it got so hot and make sure nothing got harmed. Put new rings in her, new bearings, and cleaned her up real good. Made a rookie mistake when i rebuilt it, i didn't get the heads checked to make sure the heat didn't cause any warpage to the heads. I just slapped them back on and fired her up. Motor broke in very nicely for about 30 mins of takin it easy, then i decided to put my foot in it, and at about 7500 r's it went bang!!!!
When i got out of the car Water/anti freeze was POURING from the exhaust. Only one side though, so i had a good idea where to look for trouble. when i pulled the head on the driver side i saw the #1 and #7 cylinders full of coolant and the pistons were SHATTERED to pieces. Only those 2 though. Best i can figure is i put an already warped head on it and it lifted at high rpm's, cuz the Headgasket wasn't broke anywhere and the walls were fine.

[carsavvycook]

Originally Posted by ScoTFrenzel

Would that be Jack Daniels or nitro? maybe both?

If I remember right, it was Coors Light at fault. LOL

[techron]

blowing up a 307 with a rod knock is just stupid lack of maintenance (no offence)

my story:
i used to race gassers in the early 70s, i built one to get max traction. it would not burn the slicks, it would just do wheelies until the back of the car would drag on the ground (it was an anglia). everything was cool as long as the front end came down under power, but if i had to lift off the gas it would =bent frame. i had to look out the DS window to make sure i was going straight. wheeley bars went on. the car had so much traction i would bypass the water box and not do any burnouts (impossible for me). just line up and race.

as for your question, i blew the highly modified 365 HP 327 engine at the top of second gear at somewhere around 8000 RPM. the interior was filled with oil smoke and i couldn't see where i was going. but wherever i was going, it was at 100 MPH. luckily i set up the car to go straight ahead.

there was nothing left of the engine, we towed it back to the shop and did an autopsy, one piston had seperated at the top ring land, slambed into the head, destroyed everything on top, then the rod broke and swung around and broke the block in half.
it was geat fun, but i was pretty expensive...