Damnit Damnit
06-04-2003, 04:52 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 101
Damnit Damnit
Today i have officially blown a fuse...
I went to my mechanic shop to have a talk with him.. aparently what happend is one of my push rods snapped in half because the crappy GM setup for push rods guidance is the head gasket.. anyways... with my crane gold 1.6 rr's they move around a bit.. well i guess the push rod slid over to the side of the rocker and stuck and therfore snapped... NOW..... they can only find one half of the broken push rod.. the other half is nowhere to be found... so here are my options... 1.disasemble the friggin motor again to locate the push rod.... or pray to god the push rod is laying in the bottom somewhere and just build around it and leave it in there... i know thats a bad idea but its either that or pay money i dont have to take it all apart... i went today and got some push rod guide plates and new push rods from mallory... he is charging me 200 bucks to put in the guide plates and push rods.. so i said FINE and walked out. My question to you guys.... I am broke and cant afford for him to take it all aprart to find that broken section of push rod thats about 4 inches long... he seems to think that its probably laying flat in the push rod galley.. and if so it wont bother anything... if it is in fact laying down and not touchin anything should it be ok??? any other ideas of what to do??? this farkin blows big time but i dont have much of a choice.. 
I went to my mechanic shop to have a talk with him.. aparently what happend is one of my push rods snapped in half because the crappy GM setup for push rods guidance is the head gasket.. anyways... with my crane gold 1.6 rr's they move around a bit.. well i guess the push rod slid over to the side of the rocker and stuck and therfore snapped... NOW..... they can only find one half of the broken push rod.. the other half is nowhere to be found... so here are my options... 1.disasemble the friggin motor again to locate the push rod.... or pray to god the push rod is laying in the bottom somewhere and just build around it and leave it in there... i know thats a bad idea but its either that or pay money i dont have to take it all apart... i went today and got some push rod guide plates and new push rods from mallory... he is charging me 200 bucks to put in the guide plates and push rods.. so i said FINE and walked out. My question to you guys.... I am broke and cant afford for him to take it all aprart to find that broken section of push rod thats about 4 inches long... he seems to think that its probably laying flat in the push rod galley.. and if so it wont bother anything... if it is in fact laying down and not touchin anything should it be ok??? any other ideas of what to do??? this farkin blows big time but i dont have much of a choice..
06-04-2003, 05:14 PM
#4
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,516
i bet youd find it if you pull your intake off. what i am wondering is why a guy with a 383 needs to take his car to a mechanic to pull out a busted pushrod? youd save $200 for something thats really quite simple to do yourself.
06-04-2003, 05:28 PM
#5
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Join Date: Dec 1969
Location: Little Rock, AR
Posts: 27,714
I can see you are in a bad way, but you don't want to do (or not do) things that will make it worse.
I would not recommend leaving broken parts in the engine, no matter where they were.
If you have self aligning rockers, you don't need and should not put guideplates in. Your mechanic should know this (though, I think he does not know much from what I have read). He is killing you on the $200 install as well for a very simple job you could easily do yourself.
Another thing is, that if the problem is the valve springs that was suggested in another thread, all this work is going to do nothing and you are going to keep breaking pushrods and maybe worse. The source of the problem needs to be found and corrected.
Any board members near you that could help you out?
I would not recommend leaving broken parts in the engine, no matter where they were.
If you have self aligning rockers, you don't need and should not put guideplates in. Your mechanic should know this (though, I think he does not know much from what I have read). He is killing you on the $200 install as well for a very simple job you could easily do yourself.
Another thing is, that if the problem is the valve springs that was suggested in another thread, all this work is going to do nothing and you are going to keep breaking pushrods and maybe worse. The source of the problem needs to be found and corrected.
Any board members near you that could help you out?
06-04-2003, 08:50 PM
#8
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 101
1. yes i have a 383... i bought it this way and dont know much about it..
2. i have very limited knowledge on fixing cars.
3.i dont have the tools to do it myself...
4.its at his shop already and the work is half done..
5. i think im just going to get it running and get rid of it.. i dont need to have a car that i know nothing about.. ya its nice and it is fast " when its running right" but it is very aggrivating to have to pay someone ridiculous amounts of money to fix what you guys see as a easy fix...
On another note.. he showed me where the rockers were moving around and aparently the push rods where moving side to side out of the groove in the rr's and rubbing on the sides of them... almost all of them have some kind of wear on them <the bottom side towards the sides> from where the push rods have been rubbing. i am very upset at this because i have no idea what the **** im doin under the hood so i need to rely on someone else to do it... one thing i dont understand is... i have been driving it fairly hard for 9 months or so with no problems..then all the sudden within 40 miles i have broken 2 push rods.. one on each side of the motor?!?! well today i bought all new malory hardend push rods and comp cam push rod guides... hopefully then will help me in some sort of way.. he said in order to take the intake off to find the 4 inch piece of push rod thats in there somewhere it was going to cost me a few hundred bucks... then like i said before... if its in the oil pan " highly unlikley" or in the push rod galley and its laying down it should be ok... i know. not the right way to do this.. but im backed into a corner.. i guess ill let him put it back together then immediatly go trade it in
2. i have very limited knowledge on fixing cars.
3.i dont have the tools to do it myself...
4.its at his shop already and the work is half done..
5. i think im just going to get it running and get rid of it.. i dont need to have a car that i know nothing about.. ya its nice and it is fast " when its running right" but it is very aggrivating to have to pay someone ridiculous amounts of money to fix what you guys see as a easy fix...
On another note.. he showed me where the rockers were moving around and aparently the push rods where moving side to side out of the groove in the rr's and rubbing on the sides of them... almost all of them have some kind of wear on them <the bottom side towards the sides> from where the push rods have been rubbing. i am very upset at this because i have no idea what the **** im doin under the hood so i need to rely on someone else to do it... one thing i dont understand is... i have been driving it fairly hard for 9 months or so with no problems..then all the sudden within 40 miles i have broken 2 push rods.. one on each side of the motor?!?! well today i bought all new malory hardend push rods and comp cam push rod guides... hopefully then will help me in some sort of way.. he said in order to take the intake off to find the 4 inch piece of push rod thats in there somewhere it was going to cost me a few hundred bucks... then like i said before... if its in the oil pan " highly unlikley" or in the push rod galley and its laying down it should be ok... i know. not the right way to do this.. but im backed into a corner.. i guess ill let him put it back together then immediatly go trade it in
06-04-2003, 09:09 PM
#11
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Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Bloomfield Hills MI
Posts: 1,842
Try and have somone in your regional section do it for you at a smaller fee. If you really want to try and get it out without removing the intake manifold buy one of those flexi magnet grabber things. just stick the end of the magnet through the push rod hole and hope it connects after a while.
06-04-2003, 09:20 PM
#13
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Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Bloomfield Hills MI
Posts: 1,842
Maybe its time to learn something about your engine instead of giving up. Take $100, buy a tool set, another $75 and get a torque wrench, $5 for RTV sealer, $20 for instake gaskets. Even though it will cost you aprox the same, youll be ready to work on your engine in the future. I have no sympathy for a quitter, I can't believe you would want to sell your over this. I am 17 and thought taking a goped apart was an accomplishment about a year ago, now I did a cam and heads install in my own garage.
06-04-2003, 09:22 PM
#14
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: AACO, MD
Posts: 2,168
You gotta be kiddin, $500 or so to remove your intake? I'd have told that mechanic to **** OFF a LONG time ago!!! Screw that!
Man you should be able to get your intake off EASILY!
You say you don't have any tools...well, $200 will get you a NICE Craftsman tool set. If you're going to have any car you might as well invest now in a basic tool set. You can buy special tools as the time comes.
Like mentioned there's gotta be some people local that would probably do it for Pizza and beer or a small fee man.
Don't spend no $500 to pull your intake, and don't leave it in there either.
If I can pull my engine out thru the top, the FIRST time ever pulling an engine, you can surely pull an intake off!!!
Good luck!
Man you should be able to get your intake off EASILY!
You say you don't have any tools...well, $200 will get you a NICE Craftsman tool set. If you're going to have any car you might as well invest now in a basic tool set. You can buy special tools as the time comes.
Like mentioned there's gotta be some people local that would probably do it for Pizza and beer or a small fee man.
Don't spend no $500 to pull your intake, and don't leave it in there either.
If I can pull my engine out thru the top, the FIRST time ever pulling an engine, you can surely pull an intake off!!!
Good luck!
06-04-2003, 09:24 PM
#15
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 101
if someone can give me a step-by-step on how the hell to do this i will try it... but if i mess somethin up im gonna track you down and hang you by your nuts from a tree 
jk... but if someone can give me some direction i will try and get that thing out myself tomorrow when i get the car back
jk... but if someone can give me some direction i will try and get that thing out myself tomorrow when i get the car back