In 2001 I was driving into work on a Sat morning (very little traffic) when a BMW blew by me. Not to be outdone I hit the gas to catch up...hadn't gone very far (speed was under 80) when I heard a clattering noise and the engine just died. I thought I'd spun a bearing as I'd been haveing problems with low oil pressure (even after changing timing covers and putting in the heavy duty oil spring). I'd purchased the motor while up in VT (drove to MD, installed it and drove it back, then drove the car from VT to TX when I retired from the Navy). I was going to rebuild it so I started saving and purchasing parts (Indy heads, Air Gap, forged pistons, etc). Fast forward to Sat(16 Apr) and after our car club meeting I was psyched to pull the engine and get the rebuild started (finally have all of the parts and money for a professional rebuild). Got the engine out and was trying to remove the torque converter and the engine would only rotate about a half turn. I thought maybe there was just pressure building up in the pistons so I decided to remove the spark plugs...had a bad feeling when I removed #6 and the electrode was completely bent over. Engine still wouldn't turn over so I dropped the pan...and my heart sank when I saw the shrapnel in it. The connecting rod had completely pulled away from the bottom of #6 piston (and there are deep grooves in the piston wall from the pin). The top of the piston is broken into three pieces and is lodged at the top of the cylinder. I haven't proceeded any further. I figure a piece of shrapnel is lodged somewhere, preventing the crank from turning any further. Any ideas on what may have happened or caused this to happen. Is #6 piston vulnerable? The heads look fine although some of the rockers are loose. All of the pushrods were intact and still in their grooves. I was going to just put the pan back on and take it to my engine builder for evaluation...any suggestions from the list? I've heard members talk about sleeving a piston...what does this involve(how much $ do I need to set aside for this)? Will I need to purchase a new set of pistons (I have .030 over ones now)? Will the engine be any good if this is done (I'm not building it to race, just a strong street cruiser). Obviously not sure of any other internal damage...can the crank be blended if it has scoring or deep scratches from the shrapnel? Should I try to take the rest of the engine apart and see what I have before taking it in? Thanks for any suggestions. Marty __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail Mobile Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/learn/mail