Blown Up and Busted

The title pretty much says it all. We got the hot rod back in the shop this week and took the engine out an tore it the rest of the way down. Boy is it ever STANKY. What we thought was the coneecting rod that caused the issue, turned out was the wrist pin on number 2 cylinder. We sheared the thing. How do you break a wrist pin in half? Who knows, but then the rod turned the piston loose, and the carnage began. The largest piece of piston I found from number 2 cylinder was about the size of a quarter. Half the wristpin is gone. It must have went out the exhaust. The block is cracked, cam bent, head damaged, there is a piece of rod sticking up through the intake. It bent all the pushrods, broke two rockers, bent all 16 valves and took out the oil pan. The good news is that all the fuel injectors and the valve covers are in good shape. No reason to dwell on the past. The ole kawasaki motor was a good one while she lasted. May she rest in piece. Onward and upward to better things. Im still not sure what we are gonna do yet but Ill figure something out.

Bumpy Starts and Second Chances

What an amazing weekend. And a crappy weekend. And a blessed weekend. All in one. We arrived in Montgomery Alabama for the start of the ORSCA season. This was our debut race in outlaw 10.5 and boy were we excited. I have always wanted to race 10.5 every since there was a 10.5. We pulled into the track friday afternoon, unloaded quickly, and were in staging in a hour. We were so eager to make a hit on 10.5's that I couldnt stand it. We had a little tune up help from my friend Chris Tuten on the way and boy did it work. The car launched hard snapping me in the seat and didnt let up till the chutes were out. I would tell you what it ran, but there are a couple guys that need a good ole fashion ass whooping in the grudge world first, so you guys will have to wait till Atlanta to find out. We changed torque convertors after the first pass trying to pick up the mph a bit. I figured it was time to rock the box so i put a VERY aggressive tune up in it. When I turned that thing loose, it was like a class 5 acme rocket was strapped to my ass. Man it was moving. That lasted about 2 seconds, and then that class 5 rocket turned into a class 5 nuclear bomb under the hood. Parts were flying everywhere. Pistons and valves shooting out the exhaust. Smoke everywhere. Not good at all. I pulled the heads off and boy howdy was it ugly. One peek in the engine and we put the front end back on it and put it in the trailer. It broke a rod, which bushwhacked the block. one piston is completely missing. I have no clue where it is. It broke a head, broke the timing belt which bent 16 valves, 16 pushrods, one rocker arm and a spark plug. I think the intake is still good, so it wasnt a total loss. This was not the start to the season that I had in mind. Well it turns out that the good lord was also looking out for me. Sunday the skys opened and it rained the whole race out. I hate that for the organization and all the other racers, but it sure did help us out. So now I have one month till the next race to scrape up enough cheese to build a new engine. I may have to sell a kidney on the black market or pimp brian out at night. So if any of you are interested in a bald guy that only watches sports. give me a call. Brian may be for you. :) Ill let u guys know what we decide to do about a powerplant as soon as i know.