GT500 Crisis: Bent Valves or Worse? Full Diagnosis! 

Doing this in a one car garage at an apartment complex is wild. I can only imagine the work you'll put in when you have some breathing room in your own garage

It's not even my car, and I mentally felt the uneasiness and unbalance while watching this video because i have been through it twice. Tuition like this is worse than paying taxes. On the bright side... your platform brings awareness, making your viewers think about vendor choices, which saves them money in the end. The sad thing is... the heads will have to be reconditioned, new valves, springs, valve guides, valve seals, valve lapping, and at worst resurfacing. Side note... having a friend like Jake is a blessing.

Dammit man. It’s not surprising at all that you had valve to piston contact with those weak springs. Service the heads, new valves and springs and you’re on your way! 💪🏽

This is why I build my own engines. All I need is the right tools and a spec sheet with ring gap and torque specs. Saves tons of money to do it yourself. I also just got done putting Boss 302R springs in my Gen 1 heads. That was a chore... luckily the engine isn't in the car yet... so I just sat at the table and did the springs and valve seals.

Shipping the engine is a pain. Hopefully the locals do you right. Good luck, and Merry Christmas.

We had a wonderbuilt engine and it came with a used oil pump that had material go through it ( paid for new), piston rings filed with a wood chipper and no keys in the cams

This GT500 is going to be the reason Alex starts drinking

Alex, all I can say is you are very impressive with what you can do in that one car garage!!

Damn. I feel your pain. Thanks for staying true and reporting the good, the bad, and the ugly, so that perhaps we can learn from your misfortunes. I appreciate you and what you do.

I wonder if with the higher compression it had a piston to valve clearance issue and that then caused everything else. Sucks either way it'll be interesting to find out more. Hopefully every one has happy safe holidays.

Glad you put this out, just looking at your engine solved one of my problems with my swap...We're also both battling the same issue, moving these massive 4v engines around in a single stall garage, frustrating as hell😆 hoping for a smooth road getting yours back together. Merry Christmas!

Jordan at Modular Head Shop is the only place you need to go to ! Especially for head work. his head work & quality is not comparable to anyone else !!!

Yea that sucks. Piston to valve contact definitely happened. Unfortunately for peace of mind, you’ll probably want to pull the piston and inspect the wrist pin, ring lands, and rod bearing for any damage from the PTV contact.

You are a badass working in that confined space man, can't wait to see you get a lift and shop.

The $120 Pittsburgh engine stand at Harbor Freight would be a good investment. I have one and I'm glad I bought it.

Alex, you are handling this very professionally and doing extremely well biting your tongue. I can imagine your blood is boiling over some of the corners that were cut, but I will always remember how you handled this situation with class, took it to the chin, and moved forward. We assume a certain level of risk and uncertainty when choosing or "trusting" an engine builder. Buyer beware. Sometimes you get burned, and you handled this like a champ. Instead of running your mouth, or using your influence to dog the shop, you got straight to work with basic hand tools and a tight working environment. Hats off to you, sir! Good luck getting this situated, and I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

Damn that sucks... Well I suppose that the good news is you found the problem, hopefully there wasnt major contact on the pistons. best of luck!

You must have loaded the cylinder 8 delete tune

Sad you have to go through this especially after such a long wait for that motor to even get finished, hope you come back stronger than ever with section h8

Good luck on getting the engine repaired sir, have a great Christmas

Dang... that sucks man. Great content Alex. Love these despite it being at your expense in this situation.

Definitely paying your way. But also you are teaching some of us that are looking at doing a motor build to check, check, and check again to save in the end.

Was considering using wonder racing for a future build, you saved me a ton of money. Sorry for the tuition Alex.

Love the content and honesty. Very educational and interesting. My build is similar to yours, but I feel lucky to not have these issues. Would drive me batshit.

It will be interesting to see what the tops of the pistons look like when the heads are taken off. Should be witness marks on all of the pistons if the valves did get bent from the chain failure.

If you don't mind I must argue against yr choice to let the original engine builder off the hook. It is now confirmed with the valve leaks that he f'ed up as it was his responsibility to check the springs, valve seating, and valves/valvetrain for defects and one of those was defective. Zero doubts. More if you have leaky valves - by definition - they made contact with the pistons and that means - at minimum - possible guide damage but more importantly piston nicks or deeper damage that must be smoothed (if minor damage and no coatings on the pistons) or pistons replaced (any coatings or deeper damage) or you risk detonation - worse if there is substantial piston damage. That brings you into short block work which then means yr entire engine build was a total waste. I would never accept that loss, especially so soon after a $$$ build, no mileage and that he is offering to redo the engine. You have nothing to loose at this point. Fact is, most likely, weak springs escaped his detection and caused the bent valves. Another opinion you wont like: It's a mistake but not necessarily proof he is an untrustworthy incompetent tard. People make errors - let him pay for his - not you. Spray some brake cleaner in each plug hole and peek in there with a scope for nicks in the pistons/valves or damage to piston coating if you got those type. If so tell him you will pay for new springs and valves - he pays for guides to be checked/replaced, pistons and all assembly expenses at his cost. That is effectively a new build by a guy that knows he is already on blast - confirmed in the wrong - and so unless he is just a total retard (didn't seem like it) he will be careful as f to make sure it is all correct this time. I get yr desire to dump him but it is a rash expensive choice unless the vids revenue offset it. Side step yr emotions and ask yrself: If you had a son, and he was in this mess, what would you tell him? I bet it's respect yr $$$ & bring it back. Good luck and Happy Holidays Sir.

Trust Me. Do all new valves and springs. An it will be good to go. Already been down this road before.

Should have sent it to Jordan from Modular Head Shop

Valves might have bent when the timing chain busted.

stay strong. shitty work was completed on the engine. but you're getting it done and doing it right ! good ☘️ and have a better start to the new year!

That really sucks man. So much time you cant get back. Hopefully it will all work out soon!

It’s hard for me to trust anyone as well after a 9 month turbo kit install 🙄 I might as well do it all myself too

Best to send it out, new valves, valve job, springs etc.

You got this man. Hats off to tackling this yourself. Maybe there is opportunity to get the motor on an engine Dyno before it goes back in the car to verify everything?

That sucks. Hopefully everything goes smoothly from here on our

Not related but I remember you mentioning you like watching engineering videos if you have a chance check out No production value garage he just made a awd s550.

I thought leak down and compression test was completed and looked good? Must’ve tagged a valve later on diagnosing.. either way sucks!

man that sucks i bet this job would be alot easier if you only had one cam to worry about #chevypower

Wise decision Alex there someone locally , hopefully it will be fix once. Your are like me who to trust with your performance parts or your mustang good luck 😊

Damn! I feel your pain. Thank you for making content out of it!

Replace the valves yourself, then do another air test. If they don't leak, put it back together and drive it. If the new valves leak, then send the heads out.

I'm conflicted on what to blame here. 1. There is a chance that maybe the valve spring keepers fell out of place slightly on those cylinders and the it's causing the springs to not apply the correct tension. 2. The valve springs are clapped like you've thought for a while now (which could also be in addition to problem 1 as well). 3. (very unlikely but still not impossible) Nothing was wrong with the valves or springs until the cam gear broke initially. Once it was reassembled by the builder, the valves were not inspected properly and were bent from the cam gear damage but still were re used. Who knew a "built motor" meant new pistons and everything else re used for 11k

Hope you get it sorted out!! Merry Christmas Alex!!

Unfortunate situation. I wondered when you mentioned locking the cams; any chance the cams weren't degreed correctly & contact? GLWB

I have the same cams you got, and left the stock springs because "NSR". I'm now sweating the choice I made at the time to not upgrade them. So far so good though.... thanks for all the content, been watching a few years now and learned a lot. Keep on keeping on boss

an Aluminator is king daddy built motor. and as far as I know, Ford doesn’t reuse old parts to build them 😂

Dang it man. I'm sorry. I just hope you find the right path the get this fixed

Sorry for this. I bet the valves hit the piston bending valves, and ruining the guides also. Seen it, been there. Before tearing it down. Check the piston to valve clearance on both banks. Maybe it was degreed wrong causing this. That will at least give you piece of mind that it’s fixed when you degree the cams.

Turvi would have diagnosed it faster.😮

Bent valves from the timing chain issue... dang... It will work out better in some way and watch that car go 7.99 with the head work that gets done instead of 8.1

Bigger problems than valve springs either valves are messed up or seats.

Wow this really bites Alex., hate to see you have to go through this. Even worse getting hosed by someone you trusted. The aftermarket industry is such a shit show. Best of luck on the "engine build" this time. With Jake's help you'll get this. Jake sounds like a real class act and true friend, just wish he didn't mind the camera so much. Merry Christmas.

Appreciate the content bro…..But hate the situation honestly! Sucks

That sucks, to have it done by a engine builder ,paid good money and then have to go behind and fix issues that should have been caught. Its a pain now, but once you have it running good its going to be all worth it. Been there on my own car. Thanks for the content. Have a great Christmas.

I learn something new with every video!

I recommend David at head games. Go over the heads fully.

I can’t imagine I am pissed and it’s not even mine.I would be making a road trip to get a refund one way or another. Best of luck Merry Christmas Alex.

This is why I am afraid to buy a built GT500 motor. Paying thousands of dollars only to end up doing all the work yourself. As I've gotten older, I've found out the hard way a lot of people/businesses aren't worth it the end of the day and you end doing double the work because things aren't completed correctly the first time.

I showed this video to my kid and he making a diss track right now.

Hang in there man.

Sorry about your luck man that sucks. shit like this makes me scared to get anything worked on.

This might be too late, but before you buy new valves and springs. Maybe have a machine shop check the valve seats. Idk what you did to that engine as I been busy and unable to follow it close, but it could be poor machine work and your valves and seats just need to be cut right.

WomanDriven would not have sacrificed that pigtail when pulling the motor 🤣 💅🏼 🔧

On the bright side, you could of had a catastrophic failure, but was able to avoid it. There's always a positive to take from it no matter how much it sucks now. At least the content is good, learning from other peoples problems lol good luck man.

I'm so far behind on content about what I can see from the thumbnail I like better just stick to fishing and not worry about an LS swap S10 or c6 Z06. Good luck Alex.

Damn that sucks hope it all works out.

Hey Alex I know I said before kris Starnes power is one the best in your Area I have all new valves and spring and new stock cams if you need anything

See Alex can say that about his alter ego. I say it and everyone freaks out. 🙃

modular head shop ftw

Damn. I’m sorry to hear that. Absolute crap you got sent back a $1x,xxx paper weight

Great job getting that out. When the timing chain broke did you check the valves? I can't remember. Enjoy your week off, and Merry Christmas Alex!

So disappointing spending all that money and instantly having problems.

Thanks for the update Alex Are you going to have a blue check done on the valve to seat contact as-found? Or wait for the local guy's advice? I would suggest you check the guide clearance too, if you could move the valve with the spring still on you could assume it's not binding up, but still with a check

What if the valve stem height is too tall and when the lifters pump up with oil at higher rpm it hangs the valves open from lash being too tight. I had this happen on me already. Machine shop cut valve face and seat face and didn't bother noticing the new stem height was a lot higher. I was literally shooting flames out of my exhaust on acceleration and cherry red hot glowing headers. checked everything and tuning etc turns out it was machine shop error that they said it was my fault I didn't check the lash pointed the finger at me. Took to another machine shop and he cut the top of the stems to be in spec and he took my over head cams and full rocker assembly to do it right. First machine shop didn't ask for any of those parts. I knew the 2nd guy definitely knew more because he made me bring him the full valvetrain assembly roller rockers cam caps all camshafts and hydraulic lash adjusters to measure each valve as he cut to make sure he didn't cut off too much or too little on each stem end. Please have this checked don't go thru the same thing I went through

Go brother lot of money already and a lot of time effort and more money to go damn 🎉

I wonder how many others had engine or mechanical failures and just suffered in silence.🔥 💸🔥 Because it would be embarrassing to broadcast that info.

Wow, blown away. Hopefully the builder refunds your money. Their's a expectation when a race engine builder builds your motor. Wish the best in this situation.

I hate it man, this happened to me once and done….. I build all my own now but anyways sorry man its fuked up man….. that builder is sorry af too

If you don’t remove the cam gear from the cam you won’t lose your cam timing.

Crazy it was like that!

Golly it so easy working on a LT motor over a 5.8 /5.4 lol 😂

Just bought a 14 gt500 today !! It’s my 3rd gt500 as I sold my cars because of life … this time I’m not letting it go ,,, been following this dude for years , it’s funny how I own a z06 and a Shelby and this guy has the sickest cars as well !! Feels good to be back in the ford family I have 2 of the best cars you can have … Yes c6 owners might disagree but I love my c7z but the c6 zr1 is definitely king 👑!!!

Have FFRE do the heads

Boy, somebody would be giving me at least a partial refund.

I might as well be an "engine builder"

Best get schooling, get tools and do it yourselves these days like Truviati Racing 😂

Man I kno it sucks but with the way things have gone so far. I’d tear it apart and have the entire thing checked. It’s a bitch and shouldn’t have to be done considering it was just rebuilt but I’d feel a lot better just going thru it. Better safe than sorry.

I guess I must have missed some episodes...what happened to the engine?

My friend you should of just sent the engine back to the guy who built it. That way he would of done it right. Expenses payed by him ofcourse. And if another issue was to come up. Its no one elses fault but the only person who touched the engine.

I'd say bent valves. I find it hard to believe that a chain will break and not touch a valve with a piston. I feel your pain man, definitely worked with some shitty local builders.

Merry Christmas

Awesome content boss!

Jeez all that time waiting for it to come back now this BS . Lesson learned.

Holy shit batman 😲

Who built the motor the time you sent it out . Because I watch three channel. That I think used the same place and the same shit happend it’s just a six and the other guy I forget his name but his gt500 is called the hulk

Was piston to valve clearance checked from the original builder with the taller pistons?

What an absolute disaster! Sorry Bicho I feel for you.

Motor builder should absolutely fix his fuck up. Personally I would go thru the entire motor. Would rather be safe than sorry. Shit was obviously just thrown back together. I doubt they were even checked tbh

Put a coyote in it haha!

Wonder if the cams werent degreed properly causing PTV in conjunction with weak springs causing delayed valve closing at higher rpms. Or if the valves were not checked either and possibly bent to begin with. In any case, 10k for pistons and secondary timing chains and a rushed 26 minute teardown video is wild to me. Homeboy played you and needs to give you a solid refund to make ish right. Like you said when Midnight was having issues with Fueltech, sometimes you need to talk your shit because negative publicity is the quickest way to have things made right $$$. You’re handling this a lot better than me. But sometimes when you’re too nice people will walk all over you. Staying tuned.