If anyone is curious as to what ever became of this; We solved the starter problem by getting a summit mini starter. It cleared everything but the giant mounting block on the starter had on corner that hit in a new spot, so we cut it off, and also installed a heat cover. Problem solved. Problem 2 oiling!!!! So as the year went on, the oil pressure kept getting worse and worse, and it was aparent no quick fix was going to happen. We stuck some 15W50 in the thing so it wouldnt quit over the summer, and the pressure stayed at 10-15 during idle. And close to 30psi on light acceleration/regular driving. If you mashed the throttle, the pressure would DROP!!!! Yikes. So no drag runs or heavy racing type stuff was done for the rest of the year, and the car was driven very little. Forward to this past winter, we pulled the engine, and decided to inspect the bearings, and the oil pan gasket was leaking so it needed to come out anyway. The bearings told us we pulled the engine out just in time. The edges were starting to show copper. We stripped the block right down to short block, and sent it over to the machine shop to have some measurements taken. When the machinist pulled the aftermarket forged steel crank out, he didnt have to do any measurements. There was a 1/4" deep ring on the thrust surface of the crank (the one thats supposed to be flat). YIKES! It was evident that the engine was used as a marine motor (now more than ever) and when they rebuilt it, they obviously didnt know what they were doing to have reused that crank. It was difficult enough to find a regular crank let alone a forged one, so we sourced a stock crank, got it ground for factory clearances, replaced all the bearings and basically refreshed the motor. All new oil pump (just in case), and gaskets and seals. Theres no reason it shouldnt run right now. We'll find out in a couple weeks. In hindsight, my freind should have gone through the motor before. It would have saved him from building it twice. Live and learn.
Thanks for the update. Regarding the thrust surface of the crank: 1/ Was the corresponding bearing installed correctly? 2/ Make sure your converter isn't ballooning (ie, it's built to handle your Olds' torque) and that it is seated correctly on the trans snout (with adequate clearance to the flexplate before tightening). Either condition can take out a thrust bearing/crank.
The bearing was seated correctly. There wasnt any wierd wear on the thrust surface of the bearing, so the damage on the crank was there way before we had the engine. No converter, its a manual trans. My freind was worried that his high spring pressure clutch caused the situation, but infact the condition never really changed from when we installed the transmission until it was rebuilt. We were just paying alot more attention to the oil pressure once we established there was a problem. It did have excessive crank play. Its a wonder the engine had any oil pressure at all.
Ahhh.....that's just an extra oil relief!!!ou: Seriously, thanks very, very much for the update. So many of these mysteries get asked about on these sites and then the rest of the story (what was actually found or what caused the problem) disappears into cyberspace. Complete stories have the most value. Glad to hear you guys are getting it fixed and found the problem. Get the torque back in action and have some fun (if the snow ever melts there!....it was 80+ here today). Thanks again for the follow up Azeem.
