What went wrong ? imm stroker tear down

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Is that an MSD pro billet distributor? It probably has a black bushing on it if it is.

The initial should have been ~16-18 on that engine using the black bushing. If you did kickback method, it may have put the total way up and that's what likely pushed the head gasket.

I had a friend do exactly the same thing recently. The engine was re-primed and dist dropped back in. Car started easy where dist was set, so they drove it and beat on it. They had 50* total timing in it, never heard it ping. It was huffing like a locomotive out the breathers when I finally looked it over and put a timing light on it for the first time since it got restarted.
 
Im not sure why anyone who would sink the money into building any kind of motor would NOT put a timing light on it to set it the right way...setting with the kickback method? really? That right there would be the first thing I would look at, bet that thing is detonating and you don't even know it....just my two cents....not to sound rude, but timing lights really are a miniscule cost when it comes to building an engine...or atleast borrow one from someone if you don't want to buy your own
 
Has brian contated you? If not, wonder why he isn't responding to the thread. In any case...20k on a stroker? I think that's a damn good lifespan, if you REALLY RUN IT .
 
total timing with a light when I left Victoria was 34 degrees at 3400 rpm , initial was in between 17 and 18 , I have used this kick back method on the advice of my fellow FABO members many times and it has always tested to these numbers when I check it with the light , I had been running 16 degrees of initial 32 total during the winter but bumped it up when the warm weather hit because it has a tendency to diesel when I shut it off in hot weather ,and yes I am running the 1 inch spacer under the carb but it still does it when it's hot out . I am running less timing than the motor was delivered with and take a little out when I cross the border into the prairies where I can no longer get the pure 94 octane I run at home and have to switch to the Shell 91 VPower which is also ethanol free .
 
Ironmike said:
Has brian contated you? If not, wonder why he isn't responding to the thread. In any case...20k on a stroker? I think that's a damn good lifespan, if you REALLY RUN IT .
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You can't really point a finger at Brian about an engine that has been running for 20k and then pushed a head gasket...even if Brian assembled it, **** happens...Not saying the OP is accusing Brian, but not even sure why IMM is mentioned in the title if there is supposed to be no intentional finger pointing.
 
Ironmike said:
Has brian contated you? If not, wonder why he isn't responding to the thread. In any case...20k on a stroker? I think that's a damn good lifespan, if you REALLY RUN IT .
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I have been in contact with Brian outside of FABO and this thread is not to bash him it is to learn , as for the mileage well it sees a lot of street use but most of that less than 20 k has been highway hauling from BC to Ontario 3500 miles each way and it's been one way once , both ways once and a little under halfway this time so there's about 12,000 in open highway cruising at about 3,000 to 3,500 rpm which is nothing for any motor , the cylinders still show their cross hatch with almost no ridge , I will provide better pics when the car gets back home to me , there was a slight wear pattern on the outer side of the cylinder wall but not enough to erase the cross hatch .
 
Talkin about head gaskets......I've used the good old Fel Pro blues on everything from 8:1 stock builds to 13.5:1 race motors and never had a problem. I am sure the Cometic gaskets are good.
 
mshred said:
You can't really point a finger at Brian about an engine that has been running for 20k and then pushed a head gasket...even if Brian assembled it, **** happens...Not saying the OP is accusing Brian, but not even sure why IMM is mentioned in the title if there is supposed to be no intentional finger pointing.[/QUOT

I only mentioned it in the title to answer the inevitable question of who built it and avoid the appearance of hiding anything , most people here know I am running one of his engines and if you check the threads on this board where people ask where they should get heads or a motor built you will probably find a post from me recommending IMM and will continue to do so .
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Yes Crackedback it is the MSD pro billet supplied with the motor and locked out by Brian. I had put a new rotor on it and new plugs in the motor before the trip , the only thing I found in the ignition circuit was a crack in the MSD Blaster coil which started leaking oil but this was after we put it back together and could have been cause by us during the work , other wise the car was running great . There are some other curious unrelated things we found while tearing it down but I want to show these with pictures and definitely had no effect on the head gasket going south .
 
If you'd like another set of eyes inspecting, and some help dissmantling, PM me,, and I'll give you my ph #.. I'd be happy to give you a hand.. grant..
 
Just make sure you order the head gaskets that designed for aluminum heads. In fact it's the one I got on my 340.
 
I need to see clear, detailed pictures first. I'll say if it went 20K miles, highway or not, nothing Brian did will matter. If he messed it up you would have known within the first few thousand and some heat cycles.

You haven't used a timing light - and are basing your timing numbers on historical checks on other engines? Did I get that right?
Have you looked at the spark plugs with a magnifying glass under good light?
Can you post the specifics of the build? I know it's a stroker - but what heads, cam, valve springs, pushrods, rings, pcv system, etc?
Did you do a leak down on it before it was torn down?
 
cannucky said:
total timing with a light when I left Victoria was 34 degrees at 3400 rpm , initial was in between 17 and 18 , I have used this kick back method on the advice of my fellow FABO members many times and it has always tested to these numbers when I check it with the light , I had been running 16 degrees of initial 32 total during the winter but bumped it up when the warm weather hit because it has a tendency to diesel when I shut it off in hot weather ,and yes I am running the 1 inch spacer under the carb but it still does it when it's hot out . I am running less timing than the motor was delivered with and take a little out when I cross the border into the prairies where I can no longer get the pure 94 octane I run at home and have to switch to the Shell 91 VPower which is also ethanol free .
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By saying it "diesels" I'm assuming the run on that happens once you've turned the ignition off.
This suggests to me that the spark plugs are too hot. Are you using a cooler heat range plug?
Perhaps this has caused detonation.
 
Any time there is enough unburnt fuel present, and a hot enough spot to get it to light, you have an engine that is predisposed to detonate or ping. You cannot always hear it, or see it easilly. But there should be signs - hence the question about the spark plug inspections. The rings, ring lands, bearings will also have indicators if it's got a problem.
 
I check timing with a light after setting it with the kick back method , all my tests have been done with this motor not any other ,I agree anything Brian did wrong would have appeared a long time ago so lets get off the finger pointing and give the thread a rest until the car is back home and I start to get into it again , The felpro 1008 Performance head gaskets have arrived and I will be pulling the heads to do the swap after doing a compression check to see were the rings are at .
Thanks Inertia and Darwin I will definitely call you over when the time comes Thanks guys.
 
I don't understand something here.....why are folks making it sound like 20k on a stoker is a big deal? I understand that things have changed over what the factory did. But you built a known displacement, is not like you worked up some goofball combo that no one has ever heard of. Brian built it with good parts, and all the necessary machine work. So why do some folks feel that 20k miles on it is a big deal? Aint like you are out running it up to 9800 rpm every cold start. Or letting it run with vegetable oil in the crankcase. If building a stroker means that its life expectancy gets reduced to 100's of miles instead of thousands I doubt they would be as popular as they are. I could understand if your car was a drag car that you drove on the street every now & then. But it is not.
 
In order to prevent this from spinning sideways while I wait for the shipping company to show up with the car I have contacted a mod and requested the thread be locked temporarily , clearly I am a little premature starting this thread and apologizr to any who feel offended at this point .
 
You mentioned that you've had to change octane based on availability and have made several long road trips. Is it a possibility that you had to fill up at a higher altitude (where octane purchased is even lower) and ran that same fuel at lower altitude? I can't run regular pump gas in my truck at sea level because I'll detonate, but I built it to run at 6000+ ft. where pressure is less up here. Your engine already has a tendency of dieseling when hot. Something to think about.

And from my understanding, 20k on a stroker is a decent amount of mileage if you are using 6.123" rods. The piston skirts are shorter in a stroker, the piston pin is higher, piston speed is higher, and wear that creates piston rock is amplified. You said that you can see crosshatching so thats a good sign. Any evidence of oil consumption?
 
Kinda related issue with head gaskets.
I have been running a 340 in our racecar for the past season & a half.
During the last race out, it was holding cooling system pressure after it was cooled down between runs.
Noticed it was getting harder to cool off between rounds & the overflow bottle had water in it.
The coolant was bubbling when the engine was running. Ahah! blown head gasket.
Removed the heads, found it was blown thru on #1 & #5, also cylinders #3, #4, & #6 wasn't far behind.
I had used the thin MoPar head gaskets on this application, trying to get all the compression that I could.
When I assembled it, I noticed the fire-ring was almost the size of the bore. Great, I won't lose any compression. Yea right.
Well, Using these gaskets on a 4.100 bore is a no-no.
It is a .060 340 with angle cut cast heads & Mr. Gasket replacement head bolts.
Timing sets from 32 degrees to 35 degrees depending how hard the car needs to launch.
It also sees a 125HP NOS shot in hi-gear if it spins, thats not very often.
It has KB Hyper-flat top replacement pistons, nothing exotic.
It runs 11.30 in good air.
I think the fire rings in the gasket were too small for the bore, is what caused my problem.
Didn't take any chances, replaced them with Cometic gaskets & ARP bolts.
The good thing about the Cometics, is they are custom cut for the bore size.
I know it was long winded, just wanted to share that with others.
 
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