So It has been a while since my last post. I've been super busy with work, working and working. I posted my previous build with a DEZOD Alpha Kit.

To sum things up my engine blew!!!

The engine didn't blow-up due to components, detonation, or improper tuning. My engine met its death on a windy canyon road with a brick sized rock.

It was the first day in the spring that the sun was shining and out. I hurried down to the garage and slapped the rest of the engine back together. My chain tensioner had just started to make noise so I replaced it. Car was running like a dream, my spool on that HTA gt2868 was a thing of legend. I ended up going with an APR X1 for management tuning is super easy and the power is unreal.

Anyway, as I turned the 4th bend in on my spirited drive I saw debris in the road. I slowed down and went into the other lane to avoid the debris, as I swerved a crotch rocket going pretty fast appeared around the far end of the corner... So I swerved back and tried to avoid my tires. The clearance on my ride isn't that much as I am dropped a few inches. But, alas my misfortune has it that I clipped this brick sized rock just right. I heard a loud thud then shortly after a oil pressure light came on and then I heard knocking. I shut her down then as I pushed the clutch in I heard another thud it tried locking on me... No Bueno... I drifted in neutral down the canyon road back to the garage and about a block before I hit the garage it came to a stop. Those of you who know that your engine is not only blown but finished could only begin to feel the feelings I had at this time. Yeah, I cried then I became angry then I panicked finally I rested on despair.

It took me an entire week to go back to the car and push it a block to the garage. Another week went by before I jacked the car up and put it on stands. Then last night I took a good look at what had happened to my baby. As I dropped exhaust I got a mouth full of rock chunks and metal. I have a hole the size of my fist through my crankcase stiffener. Another good look and I found I have a pretzeled rod and a bad crank. Rock had clipped my crossmember and flung itself through the crankcase stiffener and right between my crank and crankcase stiffener. As the crank followed through on its course the rod came down right on the rock and continued through on its journey. I figure I was around 5K on the rpms so I can only imagine how many times my rod meat ground that rock to make it into little chunks.

Now, I have come to grips with reality and have 3 months to build two different engines before I leave for my next base. DEZOD was there for me Paul gave me a pat on the back and offered up a new block and head. I had just bought a DEZOD block for my other build in progress. So I'm in deep.

This thread will be about both builds and a comeback all within 3 months timeframe. The big question is...will I make it in time??

Soon to follow pictures of the devastation and pictures of both builds. All parts are courtesy of DEZOD they love to give me excellent prices on everything and USPS shipping too! Let me all know if you can contribute your advise on a quick build. I'm not new to engine building been doing this since 14 years of age so about 15 years. I'm a schooled mechanic so I have all the tools of the trade. I'm looking for moral support and encouragement. I may need an odd part or two but we shall see how this goes soon enough!

 

Wow....that's a story right there! I'm glad you didn't just throw in the towel and abandon the scion game! I haven't had engine failure but I have been going through A LOT with my custom build on my tC as well. I brought my tC to a performance shop that said they could do the auto to 5 speed swap, put my built long block in and time it, install my lsd on the E351 tranny, install the dezod fuel return system plus wire up my 1200cc injectors, plus do the wiring for my gauges for $4k. To make a very long story short they went out of business and I had to get my car out of the shop before they closed down and my car was in pieces everywhere and I had given 90% of the price given to me expecting that my car would be finished because they were saying it was almost done but they were just lying to me (that was December 30th, 2012). I've spent the last 4 months going over everything that they've done to make sure it's in spec which really ____es me off because I could've done a lot of this myself or with the help of friends but opted to go the shop route since I'm married with 2 daughters (2 & 1 years old) and I didn't want to take time away from them. I only work on my car during the weekend and after a lot of long nights spent wrenching on my tC its finally coming all together and I've been blessed with having the finances to finish it by June or the latest early July. Some words of encouragement I would give you is your perseverance, time & effort does not go unseen and will pay off triple fold once you get it all back together again and running. Here's a couple pics of what my engine bay looks like now. Your story has definitely been inspirational for me, glad you shared!

 

Dan, it still pains me to hear this story. GL man!

 

UPDATE!

Last month has been hectic. Finishing my first project car and gathering materials for my next car. As of today I have about 1 month left to finish off the second car. My first car the "Blue Demon" has finally been finished as of today. I put some copper plugs in for break-in and once I broke the engine in under load for 500mi. I changed the fluids and slapped the rest of the turbo system on that baby.

Lessons learned
1. Riding everywhere on a lowered car can be very costly.
2. King's bearings rule!
3. DEZOD rules!
4. Sleep is overrated

So first off the lowered car can be very costly. As I took apart my last build with less than 2k mi. on the motor it was like getting punched in the teeth. "If only" goes through your mind a lot. Once I took the engine out I washed out what was left of the stupid shale rock that punched through my engine and my heart. Sad place for those that can relate no engine in your ride and its a sunny day perfect for a spirited drive. Sigh...

So on to the second. King's bearings rule! I took apart the engine to find the #4 rod in pieces... surprisingly enough that was all that was in pieces all the other rod and main bearings were still intact regardless of being ran without oil. I took pictures of the whole ordeal and will leave a link at the end for those of you who like to look. I figured I ran the car without oil for a good 5 miles down the hill before that loud thunk I heard earlier registered a low oil pressure light. I hit the rock the oil leaked out and once the oil was out I got a low oil pressure light then a knock before I shut it down. Once shut down I heard a following thump then a crash then metal sounds. Anyway I found out that was the rod slamming and smashing the shale rock that went through my engine, it jammed against the block and crank. (if only I had stopped when I thought I hit that rock). It happens so fast when it happens then it takes forever in slow motion in the play back. Never second guess your first idea because when you do you always tell yourself I told you so. So the kings bearings were a very good choice. The block itself is still good as the crank and rod is all that was damaged. slap a new crank and bearings in after a hone or bore the block is still 100 percent. The head on the other hand had two bent valves after they tapped into the piston. However the head is still good and will be fine with a 1mm oversized valves. Turbo system and exhaust all in top shape. Nothing came through the exhaust. All in all I came out very lucky.

DEZOD rules! This is a very true personal opinion. There are alternatives that work however, since I bought all my parts via the DEZOD train. I prefer the DEZOD brand even though it may have sony guts. The block was perfect and the head is a sight to marvel even the Ferrari guys were in awe. (I rented a garage from a local specialized mechanic) One guy kept asking me what kind of car it was over and over again. I kept explaining to him that the evil looking horns on that HTA gt2868r turbo was in fact an after market part. (Some technology is still very new to the italians as well) language barrier was another problem I had with them. I said stainless steel valves they kept saying "titanio" I finally gave up and just nodded and said yes (sometimes dumb American works just fine) Needless to say all my DEZOD stuff look something out of a popular mechanics magazine. So yeah DEZOD rules they got just what you need and they also have made sure I get all my stuff overseas shipped and fast! I know what my next Tattoo is going to be...

Finally sleep...what else can I say who needs sleep when you got extra strength monster "unicorn blood" to keep you company and really loud hate music blaring to speed the heart and mind. I got it all out and back in the car in two whole work days. Its all the little stuff that took forever. wideband 02, Boost controller, 4 egt's, 2 12" 2500 watt speakers and a 6000 watt amp and a 220AMP alternator, zero gauge wiring, 20 farad cap, and an extra battery to keep the voltage stable. The latter part took longer than the engine install. If its in the car then I don't have to ship it on my own dime.

So... now just to figure out how to upload all this crap to my photo-bucket... I guess stand-by uploads are still going to my account.

Next up is the scion sitting in my driveway with a spun bearing...

 

Ok...Well not what I was looking for but there you go a few pictures to start off with. I don't do forums very often so I apologize to everyone for the poster sized pictures. Maybe this works better? http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/browniemxn/library/
Yeah maybe that does work better. Library is still uploading so... enjoy I guess. Oh and I already know my car is dirty. I will also take pix of the engine bay once I dress it up a bit. It is also very dirty.

 

There was some carnage there Dan. Wow. It's worse than it sounded.