[Tim Corcoran]

This will be very expensive to put this motor back together. It appears the failure was due to the axle pin coming out of the roller on two lifters and was almost out on a third lifter. One of the axle pins hit the piston hard enough to make it unusable. Two cam lobes damaged and with all the metal going through the engine from the needle bearings the crank will need to be turned .010 and new bearings plus new lifters new cam, gaskets etc... The piston is not an off the shelf piston so I will need to have one custom piston made.

[65 Lamnas]

Originally Posted by Tim Corcoran

This will be very expensive to put this motor back together. It appears the failure was due to the axle pin coming out of the roller on two lifters and was almost out on a third lifter. One of the axle pins hit the piston hard enough to make it unusable. Two cam lobes damaged and with all the metal going through the engine from the needle bearings the crank will need to be turned .010 and new bearings plus new lifters new cam, gaskets etc... The piston is not an off the shelf piston so I will need to have one custom piston made.

Yikes!! Thanks for the update on root cause, Tim. It has to be a sickening feeling looking at all the carnage and seeing the $$$ as well as all the time involved. Would assume the guys at Johnson are still evaluating/investigating?

I'm not looking at a lifter right now, but how are the axle pins retained? Are they staked or swaged or interference fit to the body? Curious...but it would seem the axle pin "retention process" was missed, skipped, or otherwise not to spec. If I were at Johnson, I'd want to be getting all 8 sets back.

[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by Tim Corcoran

This will be very expensive to put this motor back together. It appears the failure was due to the axle pin coming out of the roller on two lifters and was almost out on a third lifter. One of the axle pins hit the piston hard enough to make it unusable. Two cam lobes damaged and with all the metal going through the engine from the needle bearings the crank will need to be turned .010 and new bearings plus new lifters new cam, gaskets etc... The piston is not an off the shelf piston so I will need to have one custom piston made.

Sorry to hear this Tim. I have a handful of misc Butler/Ross pistons. Let me know the bore and rod/stroke. If I have one that fits it's yours.... At least I think that's a Butler piston in the picture

[AG]

Originally Posted by Tim Corcoran

This will be very expensive to put this motor back together. It appears the failure was due to the axle pin coming out of the roller on two lifters and was almost out on a third lifter. One of the axle pins hit the piston hard enough to make it unusable. Two cam lobes damaged and with all the metal going through the engine from the needle bearings the crank will need to be turned .010 and new bearings plus new lifters new cam, gaskets etc... The piston is not an off the shelf piston so I will need to have one custom piston made.

You can't buy one piston, you'll have to buy a set of 4. Been through this before with Ross but all piston manufacturers are probably the same with custom pistons.

[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by AG

You can't buy one piston, you'll have to buy a set of 4. Been through this before with Ross but all piston manufacturers are probably the same with custom pistons.

You can if you buy from the right place. We've offered this service for years

[AG]

Originally Posted by PAUL K

You can if you buy from the right place. We've offered this service for years

When I needed one piston 8 years ago I called Ross directly and they would not make one piston and I had to buy a set of four. Maybe they have changed their policy since or have a different policy for distributors who sell a lot for them.

[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by AG

When I needed one piston 8 years ago I called Ross directly and they would not make one piston and I had to buy a set of four. Maybe they have changed their policy since or have a different policy for distributors who sell a lot for them.

Correct..... We generally don't sell Ross. I should've said if one buys their pistons from the right place. Although we did get a single replacement piston from Ross when we used to use them in the 90's.

There's really no reason today why any of them shouldn't make an individual piston without having to buy four. I'd think a shop with massive buying power could arrange that in the terms of their contract.... If they wanted to.