Yup, the AMX (401) swallowed a valve at about 4,500 RPMs. The engine then proceeded to cease to exist. In other words she froze up and I lost all power. The starter cant turn it over.
What`s the worse thing that can happen in such a situation?
I`m referring to the damage to the engine and such.
Damage to head.
Damage to main bearings.
Hole in piston.
Broken connecting rod.
What else?
Hole in the cylinder wall.
that sucks. Sounds like you got a valve wedged between the head, piston and cylinder wall. If you are lucky maybe just a sleeve in the cylinder, new piston and rod. Since you dropped a valve I think you gotta rebuild the head anyways, and while the bottom is open why not all new rod and main bearings.
Boat anchor. You are looking at a complete rebuild at minimum. I would not use that block or crank again though. Till the engine is taken apart, there is no real way to determine the damage. I have killed a couple dozen engines while racing, none of them that froze up were worth fixing. I would start searching wrecking yards for a rebuildable engine. And I notice you are in Wisconsin, that should make finding AMC parts easier. I visited Kenosha back in 1975 and it blew me away all the AMC products in that town. Then I was told that is where they are built.
Lucky me, I`ve got a spare 360 with heads just in case.