Lost another oil pump
 

It's been a while, but I'm still alive. THe 306 we built over the summer went kaput at about 3000 miles. My youngest son said it lost oil pressure at idle while turning a corner so I figured it was wound tighter than a 6 day clock when it let go. He promised he shut it down just as it lost pressure. . . .but. . . Anyway, I opened it up yesterday and lo and behold, another oil pump driveshaft that looks like a curley fry. I found a tiny piece of metal that broke off of the oil pump impeller that had wedged itself between the pump housing and same-said impeller. This twisted the oil pump driveshaft until it broke in two. The good news is the boy was telling the truth. The crank and is fine, There was still oil on all of the bearings and outside of a new pump, some gaskets, and a set of bearings, the engine is fine. The bearings got a light polishing in the process but they're getting changed out just to be sure. Oh, and a new ARP oil pump drive is already in place with a thoroughly blueprinted oil pump. The other pump was a new Melling too, but I still have to deal with them. It's amazing how a 30 dollar part can screw up thousands of bucks worth of engine work. Now if I can get another day free this week to help the boy get it back in the car.
I'm gettin too old for this schtuff!

Thank god the kid shut her down...I had a similiar problem with mine but it happened as I was going through the traps at the end of the 1/4 mile. Crank was junk and bearings were trashed. You should of heard the noise that thing made. I hated to start it to drive it back on the trailer, made the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

Anyway, looks like an opportunity to just supervise this one and let the boy turn the wrenches, it will give him a new appreciation when he pushes that throttle to the floor boards http://www.mustangworks.com/msgboard/smile.gif

Good Luck!

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fordgasm
CLICK HERE to see my 87 GT

I had a Melling pump in my 351 that locked down and ruined the dist. drive gear, cam, timing chain, luckily it stoped the dist. from turning when it broke and shut the motor down. A week, and a few hundred dollars later I was back on the road.