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That is what is left of what was my four inch long air cleaner stud. I did not have it held it place with Loctite or a double nut. I only had a pretty air cleaner nut on top of it and I thought, famous last words, nothing bad will happen. Well, engine vibrated the nut off and then vibrated the stud loose. I am sure it had been sitting on the secondaries for a little bit because this happened within a few miles of me giving enough throttle to open the secondaries.

Out of the blue the engine shut off. No noise or warning. Tried starting it and it started and sounded like severe knock and shut off after a second or two. After that the engine was "stuck." Soon as I opened the hood I knew what had transpired and I was proven right after removing the cylinder head.

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The pistons are forged so piston was still whole. As you can see it took some denting, luckily I was able to order a single of the exact piston.

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I also found part of the stud flattened and stuck in the intake valve. The intake and exhaust valves are bent. Yes they are AFR heads.

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Got out my porting supplies and with very minimal time and material removal the chamber looks pretty good and is definitely reusable. Unfortunately the cylinder wall was not reusable. The stud managed to put a hair line crack in the wall, so it now is off to the machine shop to have a liner installed. Engine had almost 2500 miles on it and I am doing all of this over again because I did not take precautions to ensure the stud would not go anywhere. If you read this, TAKE THIS AS YOUR WARNING!!

 

Spark plug damage too of course.
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But hey, while the engine is out I will take the opportunity to upgrade the oil pan, roller lifters and re-polish the intake.

 

Holy craaaaaap!!
That sucks!!

 

Wow! Definitely going to double check mine next time I pop the hood.

 

I just threw up my lunch.........

 

Hate to hear of your loss. Seen it happen several times never good. Tell everyone you know use a lock nut. Seems to me that Air Cleaners and new Carbs should come with a lock nut.

 

DAMN

When i get home I am installing a lock nut and loctite.

 

I am also going to anchor mine down. That sucks man. Good luck with the redo.