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cant get trans off motor

It would be great to know, when you get it completely apart, where the problem was. Kinda scares me 'cause I've been installing my own cam bearings.

Was your build done by a reputable builder? 1,000 miles is just a shame.
 


i had about 10k on the motor. i had my bearings pressed in by a decent shop. however the oil passages did not line up 100%. i asked them about it and they said it will be fine due to the groove in the bearing will still allow oil to flow no problem. i believed them because they build dragsters and are very knowledgeable. ive had machine work done by them before and it was good, solid work. i cant say for sure if it was a cam bearing though because all the bearings are fried at this point. the rods, pistons and everything else seems fine. only the bearings are bad off. i could probably reuse all the other internals even. so im 95% sure it was the cam bearings not being perfectly aligned that caused this.

if you can get the oil passages to line up perfectly i would say go for it. i was not personally confident enough in myself to do it but im also an amateur mechanic haha.
 
me and my dad actually assembled the motor itself. the machining on the heads, block and cam bearings were the only things we did not do ourselves. my dad has built motors before. this was my first.
 
It's really hard to missalign the hole in the bearing with the hole that comes up from the galley. The the hole from the galley is elongated from about 1 o'clock all the way down to about the 4 o'clock position. This is with the motor upside down of course. GM gave a huge window for error here. I guess it speeds up the production rate?

Did you use a mirror or something to notice the problem? Could you see the edge of the galley hole through the bearing hole?...and how many of them looked like that? I wouldn't have taken a chance 'cause it only takes about 3 minutes to remove and reinstall the bearing. Contrary to popular belief, the bearing may be reused. The edges of the bearings are chamfered so any deformation during install doesn't compromise the bearings friction or slippery surfaces. One could probably install and remove a bearing 5 or 6 times before it is unusable.
 
2 out of the 4 were only halfway over the oil gallery. i didnt need to use a mirror to see them since they were on the outside. the other 2 were fine. the crank bearings were still in proper position. same with the rod bearings. i see where a couple cam bearings are out of alignment.
 


ya this really blows because i was expecting to get 50k+ out of this motor minimum. now im stuck throwing another 3000 bucks at it for a new motor :/
 
At least now you know for future engine assemblies. It would have been a lot cheaper to have the ability to install them yourself. I learned a long time ago how to do it but just recently took the plunge of doing it myself. The first time I did it only took about 20 minutes. It's nice to tell the machine shop "no, I'll install them". I think it kind of offends them. LOL

I have a cam bearing install tool from O'reilly's Auto, $230. This might seem expensive but you'll have peice of mind kowing that it has been done correctly and if something does happen you can blame yourself instead of the shop. What I don't like is a feeling that someone else jacked my motor.

Good luck with the new build.
 
shet happens i guess. its done and over with. like you said, ill know for future builds. ya and i need more than luck right now. im bumming rides off people til this is finished
 


considered the junkyard motor but decided to get a reman'ed motor instead. ive gone through too much with this car to even risk a junkyard motor. probably a little over 10k invested into a car ive only driven 10kish miles so far
 
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