Hi Pelican:
I recently (about a year ago) purchased a used 3.0 with a freshly rebuilt top end from a well known builder on this forum. I paid this builder 16K to rebuild my 901 transmission and install this 3.0 (with PMO carbs). The car was given back to me with a some slight hesitation, and I was told to install some different idle jets. That did not fix the hesitation, and it's the least of my problems right now.
A month later I noticed that oil was leaking out of the exhaust port from cylinder 3. When I called him and asked what was going on, he said there was no valve stem seals installed. This was an old "racers" trick to prevent sticking valves. I said ok.
Fast forward about a year and 1000 miles later. The car has started to burn more oil than normal, and the puff of smoke on start up has turned into a light consistent flow.
This past weekend, I decided to dump the oil and check all the valves. When I drained the tank, the plug had a mound of fine metal on it. I then proceeded to dump the sump.
This is where it gets interesting. In the sump was a rocker foot and a bunch of shredded metal. I immediately panicked and tore the valve covers off. I checked every rocker and to my surprise, none of them were missing feet. So this must have come from a previous "money shift" prior to my ownership.
Today I text the builder some photos and asked him to call me. He does, and explains the history. Sure enough, the motor had prior damage. The builder is upset with the situation, and asks if this is going to cost him money. I mention to him that I have yet to cut the filter open, and we agree that's the next move.
I cut the filter today (with a snips, not a saw) and discovered a few small ferrous fragments and about 100 shiny non ferrous fragments.
I text him these photos and he tells me "I don't see anything that concerns me here." I disagree.
My question is, am I being unreasonable to think that we should open this case up and check to make sure this motor doesn't have excessive wear on rings, walls and bearings? This builder is a friend of a friend, and we established a friendship after he rebuilt my 3.2 years ago. If this was your motor, what would you do? What would you demand?
Here are a few of the photos from what I found:
In the sump
About 50-60 of these shiny pieces in the filter.
