Okay guys, the little 300 buick V8 in my vega finally gave up as I mortally wounded it yesterday doing a 90 MPH blast down the highway!! She went in a ball of smoke. I was haulin' butt down the highway in 5th gear getting onto an interchange, shifted down into 4th and dumped the clutch when I felt a funny bump and then a cloud of smoke barrels out of the right exaust pipe. I was 17 miles from home so I had to drive it all the way just smokin' like a bomb. Pulled the plugs an found # 7 plug was oil fouled. Ran compression and guess what? NO COMPRESSION!!
For a junkyard engine I put into the car seven years ago with only a cam and a gasket re-seal it sure has been good. Just wanted to share my little bit of fun this weekend. You guys have any engine grenading stories? Love to hear them.  

Well, i had an 81 elcamino when i was 17 that had a 350/muncie 4-spd in it. One day after work i cashed my paycheck and headed down to the parts store. On the way, a guy pulls out in front of me and promptly pisses me off by doing 10 under the speed limit. The first chance i got i pulled out in the left lane and dropped it in 2nd gear to wail on it. As soon as i was next to the guy, i heard a BANG and my car started to shake like crazy. I gently made it to the store with the temp guage pegged and a cool cloud of steam/smoke trailing behind. As soon as i got there i shut'er down and flung the door open to look beneath only to watch my harmonic balancer bounce off my sway bar and onto the ground. Apparently whoever built the engine didn't install it correctly and it took the keyway out of the crank. That paycheck i just cashed wasn't nearly enough.  

My 305 harmonic balancer has rubber outer ring separation.Since it is internally balanced. will it make motor unbalanced and shake,rattle or cause damage? it is not  completely apart.  

It will shake, rattle and make it run funny but if you cought it in time no damage will have occured. Change it and it should be just fine.  

To vega_racer73   Up on further inspection,my harmonic balancer outer ring has slipped  back 1/16 to 1/18 in. But it is still tight,however my motor has 58ccheads .shaved .010 off bottom,flat top pistons,standard bore. It has 394/414 lift 260/270 duration cam. Motor has  slight rattle ,but when i back  off timing ,it quits. Is it possible it is compression rattle?or could balancer be cause of rattle?  

It is possible that you are hearing preignition or "spark knock". Replace the balancer with a known good one or new one and re time it. Start out at 7 degress advance and go from there. Keep me posted.  

To vega_racer73  Thanks for your help. I wont get a  chance to replace the balancer till next weekend. I rebuilt motor in 2001 by myself. I spent 1,300 and 3 days putting motor together.MY FIRST AND ONLY REBUILD. It has run this way for 75,000 miles and still runs good with 40 pound oil pressure. I recently(this week)discovered balancer,but as noted above,it is not as bad as i thought it was,however, it needs replacing,so i am going to. ps i feel if there was a  bearing issue,it would have failed a long time ago. thanks again for your advice. I dont have experience with performance specs.and set ups,just basic performance  

TO crustyz11;  I know how you feel. Ive had people do careless work for me. It is what inspired me to work on my own cars. I got lucky by moving near, and making friends with a neighbor that worked on cars all the time. I got lucky,  good luck.  

vega_racer73 I had 79 chevy pick up with 350 go sour,no warning. it got tight,would not run right. Then it locked up. When i pulled it home(i was lucky,just 2 miles from home). I pulled motor immediately. When i removed oil pan,connecting rod had stretched from excess heat and locked against bottom of;i think #7 cylinder.15 years ago. Have you ever heard of this happening?,It was a first time for me.  supprising.  

Well guy, I am an ASE certified technition and work on these things all the time. I have seen just about every failure known. I have even seen torque converters push the crank forward and ruin the thrust bearing and block in the engine. I believe in anther post you were asking if a dist from a 305 would fit in your 350. The answer is yes.