Ok guys, I have a serious problem. The engine slipped right off the pallet while I was pushing it into the garage. It hit the grout and slipped right off the pallet say about 3 inches off the ground with 600LBS of weight the inertia was so great on impact taht it took out a small chunk of concrete. There was oil, and greese all over the place. We put it up ont he hoist and bolted on the flywheel, and turned it (by hand several times). So far we think it's ok because with every turn we heard the compression. But were not sure because it fell on the side where the flywheel bolts on I dont know if I broke the bearing, or bent the crankshaft. My 60day parts/labor is over. Do you guys think I should jsut continue building and if it leaks on start-up to just take it over to the engine builder?

Thanks,
(from a complete idiot. I should have never got involved with cars, I should have just stuck with computers.)

|UPDATED|1/9/2005 3:06:01 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

I feel your pain, I was thinking the same thing today while going through the piles of parts I need to still take of and then try to put back together...well I had my enging built in texas and now I am in Arizona. I dont know squat about what I doing just learning by trial and error, error, error...so what I am going to do is I found a guy here that will put enging on an engine dyno...this way I wont go through all the pain of getting it into car and then find out I screwed something up..it going to cost some bucks but at least I will know that when I turn the key (if I can put it in right), that the enging will be perfectly tuned ..

Well louis, that is a scary thing to happen to you, do you see if any cast iron was chipped off the block or heads? what part of the engine do you think impacted the concrete first? any visual damage? any cracks visible? its a tough call to judge if the motor is ok, sitting in front of a computer screen, I think chances are it will be ok, but make sure, since it is a hunk of iron.

But cars are so much more fun than computers!

Don't worry Louis. That is one tough piece of metal. You may have bent the flywheel. You stand a fair chance for a stick shift flywheel damage, and a good chance for an automatic flywheel. But the chances of having damaged the crank shaft or block are very slim. Chances of damaging the bearings are also very slim.

Take the spark plugs out. Then turn the engine by hand. If it turns with even effort all the way around without hanging up or getting tight in one spot, it will be fine. Keep in mind that every time a pair of pistions hits top dead center there will be some change in effort. This will happen every 90 degrees of crank rotation. If all 4 spots (every 90 degrees) are even, no problem. Watch for the flywheel wobbling while turning. If there is any doubt, replace the flywheel.

If the engine is very tight in one spot, you may want to go to a machine shop and have the crank and bearing checked. Any block damage you will be able to see just by looking.

Think about the force that 400 HP can generate. Remember your engine can handle that on a regular basis, even if it does not actually produce that much, the strength is there.

I have seen more than one engine hit the floor. I have never seen them damaged as a result. To damage a cast iron engine it would have to be several feet, or a fluke.

Check it out, put it together, and DRIVE THAT THING!

Thanks guys. I still feel as if mabey: I should have just stuck with computers and get a used grand am instead. I shouldn't be touching this car stuff I'm retarted.

|UPDATED|1/9/2005 11:01:45 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Oh dont worry about it louis, You will feel alot differently once you get that puppy in and fired up and go for your first drive and see all the looks you get in your C-3. Ken is right about the durability of the motor. Even if it fell on its rear bearing/seal the worst that can happen is the seal is distured and not devastating damage to the motor. Just dont make it a habit to drop it any more. (LOL) I say, if there is no visible damage to the motor and is spins ok, proceed as if nothing had happend. The concrete will give out sooner than the cast iron and steel will.

Don't beat yourself up! You don't have an exclusive on mistakes. Follow Ken's advice, check the motor out and move on. If I listed all the mistakes I made, it would fill this forum.
I'm of the opinion that they are the best teacher!

If it is of any consolation to you, when I was taking mine out I got it out and I was lowering it down to the ground and one of the bolts broke that was holding the motor up. Mine fell about a foot or so to the balancer. Destroyed the balancer and made a hell of a dent in the oil pan. I sent the motor and the crank to the machine shop and they checked out and said all was well with it. I was totally amazed by that fact. So far I have racked up around 3000 to 4000 miles with no problems. I think you will be ok also.

Louis, working in the shops over the years I have seen engines fall off of pickup trucks, have engine hoists cylinders blow and fall, seen a chain snap and drop one about 4 feet. All damaged concrete. None of the engines were hurt. I only dropped one in all my engine jobs, but I have seen several.

If any thing I would say you diagram indicates less chance of damage than more. You put more stress on it running in the car and dropping the clutch. Everyone makes mistakes. If you never make a mistake, you are not doing anything. I still make a few goofs on cars now and then. How can you expect to be perfect?

Check it out as discribed above, put it in the car, and DRIVE THAT THING! Once you do, you'll forget all about that drop.

You're young, you have a VETTE! ENJOY!

Louis, if you make no mistakes, you never learn anything new. You have a tremendous support group here, Do not give up. The reward is incredible when you put those first two black stripes in the driveway. I can not tell you how many errors were made both financially and physically when doing my resto.....still have along way to go, paint and interior need to be done yet.

I do not want to see your project at Carlise.