Dropped Engine

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womanator

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I was picking up my engine that I had taken in to have freshened up for this years racing season and when the shop was wheeling it out to my truck the front bolt broke off and the end result was the engine fell 4-5- feet to the ground and hit the head pan and harmonic balancer.

The shop will do what ever it takes to make it right.
My problem is I have seen what happens when parts break loose.

This is a broken crank at a Pinks event.
P7030783.jpg


If I keep the engine.
I want the shop to magna flux all the parts and the block and heads.
And reassemble the engine.
Is this asking to much?
I know there is a lot of shop that watch this board.
To me the engine is not reliable anymore.
Value of parts and machine work is about $9-10,000.

What I would like the shop to do is build and machine another engine and I would supply the parts.

Any idea's or comments are welcome.
 
Ya know, the part that sucks about this is that you have to trust them to do it. (whatever it is)
I personally would never accept an engine that was dropped due to the stress put on the bolts and gaskets alone, not to mention the balancer and crank getting slammed.
I think I would ask for a complete tear down, inspection/magged and reassemble with new gaskets.
Once the heads are torqued and it lands on the head you know it has to put a heck of a shock on the bolts and gaskets.
Now that being said, if I was a racer and my engine got dropped possibly ruining my season and also possibly doing some really expensive damage if it came apart on the track, I might even be more serious about it.
Thats a hard call.

It sucks, but they dropped it.
 
womanator said:
What I would like the shop to do is build and machine another engine and I would supply the parts.

Any idea's or comments are welcome.
Click to expand...

That's what I would insist on, and they buy the parts too. It was their mistake and in their hands when it happened. I wouldn't want to risk anything on someone elses mistake.

I'm sure they have some kind of insurance, or they should have.
 
bad sport said:
that's what i would insist on, and they buy the parts too. It was their mistake and in their hands when it happened. I wouldn't want to risk anything on someone elses mistake.

I'm sure they have some kind of insurance, or they should have.
Click to expand...

x2!!!!!!!!!
 
The engine spec's
Mopar steel crank.
Scat h-beam rods.
Ross forged pistons.
Hastings rings,file to fit.
Eldelbrock 84cc' heads.
$1000 port head work.
Not counting valves and guides.
New balancer.
$350 pan and pick-up
$200 hughs cam
Comp lifters.
Springs to go with cam
Better retainers and locks.

Thx for the reply's.
Budnicks have you spotted this yet?
Or MRL?
I want to be fair,but not screwed in the process.
 
take it to someone else . have them send the dropper the bill . Then you should have no worries of short cuts
 
if they said they will make it right let them. mag the crank and block. check crank for straightness also. they built you a good motor and they will do it again. if you're still leary use it as a back up motor or sell it and build another one but give them a chance to make it right.
 
thx Bob,
I don't think I would like to pass it on to someone else.
I know I wouldn't want to race it after this.
 
If it's a matter of faith in the engine - build another one. Mistakes happen - and I'd bet while they do have insurance for things, this would be paid for without the insurance. But it's a faith thing now with you. So I'd have them give you a credit for an agreed value and start from there. In terms of setting that value - it would be what you could get for it in freshened condition. Not all new. The value of parts and machining new is what you stated, but you had it in for freshening - so you have a used engine. I'm not trying to start a fight - but in my opinion that's the "what's it worth" truth. Assuming it's the typical 4" stroke, stage 3 ported RPMs, etc, I'd expect a long block to get in the $5-6K range depending on the original performance from it.
That is still more than the machine work on a different block - which is why I mention it.
 
Moper,
You are giving a fair price on the engine.
What I think I'll do is offer the engine for $4000-5000
The engine in my 67 dart went a best of 10.71 in the 1/4 mile.
I paid the bill of $1161 on Monday and went to pick it up on Friday.

2010-07-23_222628.jpg



What I'm going to offer the machine shop is to machine my other 440 block for the 543 Source stroker kit,assemble the short block and port my stage six heads.
And he will have to buy another oil pan.

I still like the machine shop and I know mistakes happen.
 
I think that's the best scenario. Years ago I was working weekends for a shop and dropped a fully machined block - it broke the ear off the trans mounting boss below the starter. Luckilly I happend to be into Mopar and could replace the block. The shop machined it and that was that. It's unfortunate but as long as you can make peace $$ wise with yourself and they provide the high level of service you've had things can move forward.
On the "too bad" note - it sounds like a good one. There's substantially good value for a guy willing to take it apart and check everything and you're leaving room for parts replacement if needed.
 
I would want a new crank and ballancer for the engine and I don't think that is a lot to ask of them. If they refuse I would buy the new parts if it was my motor.
 
You have to look at it from the shops view, the bolt broke and unless it you could see that it was in bad shape then it really is just bad luck, there is nothing they could have done to prevent it from happening but I do agree that since it happened under their care they should at LEAST check the parts and gaskets for free and offer a discount for the build. I would ask for them to pay for the parts as well though just because the worst they can do is say no.
 
I use to have 45 Semi's and 48 trailers.
When I hauled freight I was responsible for it from the time I had it in my trailer till it was on there dock.
Regardless if my equipment broke or it was broken in my care.
I don't buy that he couldn't know the bolt was bad,it's his job to make sure it was up to the task.
Part of his service was to load the engine in my truck.
I know this is harsh,but I paid good money for this engine work and it was 2 months late.
 
If they are going to foot the bill, I'd demand to be there when each and every part was magnafluxed including the block. There is no telling what all happened when the engine hit the deck. Torsional twist might even have loosened things in the cooling galley inside the block, you never know.
 
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