OH THE DRAMA!

The fact of the matter is I have one sitting here in front of me on my desk. It is depressing, as it is a sign that Daisy is gutted in run4cvr's backyard (his name is John BTW). A painful reminder that, for the first time in 8 years, Daisy has left me SOL.



I'm fairly certain my dilemma was caused by three factors:


1. Oil Starvation - a contributing factor caused, in my opinion, by my lack of experience and being half-assed by eyeballing piston ring gaps, which allowed oil to be broken down by blow by and oil to be lost by burn off. Oil level was maintained regularly, albeit she was always at the "add" line on the dipstick. She lost a quart every tank of gas (400 miles).

2. General Ineptitude - This was the first rebuild any of us attempted here in Arizona. A true learning experience. After 25k miles, it was apparent, even to me, that the crank and mains should have been machined up, as the rod bearings showed severe uneven wear across the board.

3. Weaker Pistons - Although the marshmallows, er, Wisecos are a decent piston (at least I would agree they are unless you're building a severe duty engine), when faced with my half-assed building skills and lack of tunability, they met their match.

4. Machine Shop - The machine shop that assembled the pistons/rods seemed to be staffed by complete morons. Not only did they tell me to install the pistons backwards (which may be a "trick" for dinosaur owners), they were about as confidence inspiring to talk to about the rebuild as gilee_8.

5. My inability to count properly.


So I think both camps are right here. I'd say that there was nothing wrong with the Wisecos while there was nothing wrong with my engine. Once the tolerances got sloppy, their days were numbered. I'm sure this would be the case for any quality pistons as well, but I'm thinking a more solid piston would grant more slack in the battle against failure. As a small piece of mind for the future of Daisy's powerplant, I will not be returning to the Wiseco catalog for my slugs. I will be using the custom pistons ERT has recommended for me. I'd go with JEs, but it seems they don't make a 10.5:1 CR 2.4L piston yet.



Oh yeah, and I think I like the term fucksmack. Where do you guys come up with these wonderful new words?

"By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
Second, by imitation, which is easiest;
and third by experience, which is the bitterest." - Confucius