SS down, possible engine damage
 

im writing this from my laptop in hawthorne nj, right outside hawthorne chevy. i was driving on 208 pulled off and going down the off ramp heard a big bang and parts let loose under the car. i limped the car here since everything appeared to still work, and then a horrible grinding noise and it wanted to stall.. i popped the hood to find out i had blown the SFI balncer to peices. chredded the one belt and the main belt is on the edge with 2 ribs holding. the pulley part went back into the front cover and thats what stalled the motor.

luckily i have AAA and my laptop with me, i happend to be lucky enough to be able to connect to some random unsecured network haha. so ill be here for up to 90 min waiting for a flatbed..... i hate this car...

oh man, sorry to hear paul, I'm about 10 minutes away from there if you need any help

ouchhhh

jeez paul, i guess your car likes your garage more than being outdoors

that sucks to hear.. hope you can get it fixed up again soon

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I hope it's nuttin' major. Just get her home and diagnose in good light, don't even fool with it in the dark.

i have a feeling the front cover is toast, i was just talking to a cop that drove by, he found it funny im online right now

DAAAAAAAAAMN!! Not good mang.
This just means one thing....El Es Seven.

at least its a nice night out, nice gentle breeze, temps around 70... perfect for standing in the road, with my laptop on the roof.....

That sucks man! Was there a warranty on the new motor?

yes and no, GM crate, i put on an aftermarket SFI balancer plus a camshaft so i wouldnt even try that. if any damage was done may just be the front cover, new sfi balancer, fluids and belts, not bad but still im not happy about it

just out of curiosity, whats a sfi balancer for?

sfi means its certfied for racing and shouldnt blow apart like it did


and in a text message, kasey just brought it to my attention that back when the original motor blew, the gas i had gotten here in hawthorne... i hate this town soooooo much right now

i wanna go home.... i called AAA at 10:45... its 12 now.... they said 90 min or less... they got 15 min. and some poor tow truck driver had to get out of bed for me hahahahahahaha..

...im really bored.... :-(

uh oh, laptop battery go bye bye... ill post up again one im home..... :-/

just gt a text... "Still waiting for the tow truck..."

Ouch. I bet Paul's piiiiissed. That tow truck driver better have a bullet proof vest when he shows up :lol:

ok, 2:30, i JUST got home.... WHAT A NIGHT!!!!!

Heres a lil picture of what happened...

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...S/balancer.jpg


Heres a pic of my car with my laptop on the roof, thats where i was typing from hahaha...

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5.../ssbroken2.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5.../ssbroken3.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5.../ssbroken1.jpg



The tow truck showed up like 15 min after i texted Kasey that message.
First thing the guy says when he gets out is "oh looky, stripes and all the bells and whistles..." he asks what broke so i tell him. he then says "lemme guess... not a GM part that broke... These car companies invest millions into their parts unlike those racing part companies..." That annoyed me right there on top of everything, mainly me sitting waiting for 2 hours. Anyways... he finally loads up the car after asking if its the same motor as a 96 impala SS, i had to explain lt1 vs ls1/ls6 only to be told ls6 was a vette motor in the early 70s, which i do know.

So by now the car is on the flatbed, and i get in the truck. He asks if i want coffee... 7-11 or dunkin... i said no thanks. He then asks if i'm a car buff. Of course i say yes, and he starts telling me about his project car, a 1968 Checker. Ok, to each their own i figure. He then says "oh, well go back to the yard, theres somethign i think youd like to see" OK, now im gettign kinda worried, lol. We start driving into haledon or paterson, i wasnt sure, back to the tow truck yard. I follow him in through the yard gates around to the back garage door and inside. I'm thinking im about the get jumped or something. I turn the corner to one side bay and my jaw dropped.. sitting in front of my was that corvette conversion "789" by N2A motors. holy crap... thats car is awesome in person, so low so sleek.. top down and all. Pictures do not do it justice. Before we left i asked if i could just take some pics with my cell phone, he said sure. It was dark so they didnt really come out, but you get the idea....





























http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...ingSS/789a.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...ingSS/789b.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...ingSS/789c.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...ingSS/789d.jpg



We then drove deeper into patterson by another yard so he could poitn out his Checker. After that we were finally on the way back to my house. We were flying through paterson and the whole truck was shaking. We finally got on Rt 4... doing 70mph... hes cracking all types of jokes, im just watching my car to make sure it stays on the flatbed lol...
When we finally got bakc to my house i had him just drop the car in the street and I was gonna leave it and call the police to let them know so i wouldnt get a ticket, but after he left i decided to push it into my garage myself. So now the car is tucked away and i'll get a better idea of damage tomorrow....

but all in all, it was a pretty decent night..... haha

damn...crappy night with at least a somewhat-decent ending

*howard dean-like scream* that sux assss. thats pretty much how my luck would be with cars man.. wish for the best of luck, hopefully nothing is too fragged

lol wierdd

WTH was that car doing in the middle of the 'hood???? Man, that's some crazy business right there!

So, are you up yet? Any autopsy results?

it was a very unique night. That car was so unexpected to see there. They just picked it up from another shipping company and have to bring it to some car show in the city or around here soon.


As for damage, i think i lucked out. This morning i pulled the belts and the balancer off. I believe those were the only things damaged. Besides that, theres just a ton of rubber dust on everything i gotta clean off, a few spots of burnt up powder coating on a bracket, and two shiny spots on the outermost edges of the front cover. The outer ring didnt hit the cover hard enough to do any damage it seems. As for the front part of the balancer.... thats somewhere on the RT 208 off ramp....

Now i get to make some calls to the balancers manufacturer, and have a few words...
Then summit racing(thats gonna hurt, lol)

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...ancer2part.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...nginenobal.jpg

Looks like you got away pretty clean Paul.

Are you gonna try to get the balancer replaced free?

- Justin

that would probably be the easiest, but now i will never trust this type again. For an SFI approved balancer, it should NOT have come apart like that, on the street, AND with only 1300 miles on it. I'm going to be getting an ATI harmonic balancer. I'm going to do everything in my power to get my money back.

Isn't this the balancer that you had trouble with when you originally ordered it?

What brand is this one?

- Justin