You may remember my sad story. I bought this 20,000 mile 57 truck a few years ago. It ran great until I wore it out driving 80 mph on the highway. She was actually running ok when I took her apart but I wanted a hot rod and I wanted to get rid of those solid lifters.
I bought a 62 235 that had a powerglide tranny attached. I was told that it ran when removed but it smoked. I've had a few of those before. I took the engine to a professional (debatable) engine builder who replaced everything in the motor. He was suppose to have replaced the valve guides and hardened the valve seats too.
I had nothing but trouble with that engine. I could never get it tuned right and it had a violent vibration at take-off. I assumed there was oil on the clutch. Within a 100 miles or so, the mains and rod bearings were shot and I had no oil pressure.
I pulled the engine again, but the builder wouldn't honor his work because it had been over a year since he built it. (I took my time detailing the engine compartment and then it took a little time to blow.) I finally convinced them they should repair the engine.
I got the new build back (they weren't happy) a few weeks later and installed the engine. Since I wasn't sure what was up with the clutch, I installed a NOS flywheel and another clutch and pressure plate. I went from 9" to 11" (at least I think that's what it was). I had both flywheels turned before they were installed.
In less than another 100 miles the engine blew again. Again, I had vibration issues.
I took the truck and all to a different shop where it's been for nearly 3 months. I decided to have them diagnose/fix the engine and add a Tremec 5-speed tranny. Since they've had it, I've gotten 3 different stories about what happened to the motor. The first story was that the thrust bearings were wrong and that tore up the bearings. The second story was that the crank was warped. This week's story is that the engine is internally balanced and the flywheel is also balanced. The flywheel has to be fixed to make it neutral. The reason he claims the flywheel is wrong is that when the put the engine back in the truck, they had a bad vibration too.
Here's where you folks come in. What's up? What are your ideas about what's going on here? This guy builds pretty strong high-horse motors so we know he knows something about what he's doing.
Thanks for your help. I sure long for those days when I could jump in the ole girl and just cruise across town. It's been over 2 years since I could do that. Bummer!
