Hi all...I've been pretty silent because all has been well until recently.
The year before last I upgraded to the Blueprint small block engine Model MBP3550CT which is basically a 350 .040 over with some fancy sounding parts. For exhaust i went with the Stainless Marine manifolds with the pretty stainless elbows. I don't have straight throughs though I have the rare S tubes that moves exhaust discharge to the water line.
First year no problems ran really good...no serious issues.
Second year (after warranty experatation) I started to experience a gradual decrease in WOT RPM's...Then it started to run like I dropped a cylinder. Diagnosis proved that I had wiped a couple of lobes on the relatively mild cam.
Replaced the cam and lifters (flat tappet hydraulic) and it seemed to run OK but I couldn't keep water out of my crankcase...Not a lot...Just enough to milk up the oil. Reset the intake manifold...Still H2O in oil...Pulled off the heads and saw that both gaskets had issues and there was evidence of water in the back four cylinders, And it gets worse...Two broken pistons have pieces broken off between the outer top edge and the first set of rings. Numbers 5 and 6 are the damaged cans...Is this a classic reversion issue? The cam is not really radical and I checked with a couple of guys on the board and they assured me that I'd be OK. Are these Keith Black Hyperuetectic (?) pistons available with the apparently pedigreed rings available. This really sucks...I've been battling with this thing since August and I'm just about out of money and patience...Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,Mike