Engine failure looking for rebuild advice.
 

I recently went through every S2K owners Nightmare of engine mechanical damage. I was leaving work and the engine just quit, there was no wierd noises the engine just said no and died. The next day I towed my S to the shop I worked at and started diag. Found codes for the CKP tested the sensor and just couldn't get a good reading. During cranking I noticed the engine just didn't sound right and decided to remove the oil cap and wacth the cams while cranking. My heart sank, intake cam didn't budge. Removed valve cover and found the cam gear nut loose and woodruff key sheared off. Removed cam brigdes and found number 2 welded to the intake cam, heart sank further. I want to keep my S and find a complete head with cams or cams and bridges, I cannot find just the bridges and saw another S owner that has gone through a similar situation and replaced individual bridges. I need help finding parts or possibly an upgraded complete head assembly. Any input would be greatly appreciated thank you for your time.

What is the root cause you think?

may have damaged pistons also !! I would remove head also

Lost lubrication. Sorry OP. I'd just start off new with a good used set of heads. If metal was circulating through the system definitely have the whole thing hot washed to get everything out and get a new oil pump. If I were you it might just be easier to find a used longblock in known good working condition OR build your current block with a new set of heads.

Not sure of the cause, when I removed the cams I noticed not much if any oil at all came out of them I removed the oil filter and checked for any blockages and even removed the vtec solenoid to look behind the screen and found nothing. I was hoping someone knew where to find just the cam bridges.

How many "heads" does this engine need?

That's a good sign. I would drop the pan and check/clean out any metal particles that may have dropped. Inspect the cylinder bores from the spark plug holes to check for any other particles or possible damage (A camera probe would be good) and if all looks good, then id source out another complete good/lower mileage used head - Just one lol) and put the engine back together, but be sure to inspect the timing chain assy along the way to insure guides and everything look good and probably a good idea to replace the oil pump wile in there. Good complete used heads can be found for around $400-500. New oil pumps are $300-$350.

I have purchased 5 used engines, and 3 of them have had scored cam journals. Scored/chewed-up enough making the cam and bridge unusable. One of these had a seized (won't turn by hand) oil pump. The latest head from one of these was supposedly from a good running engine. The oil pump from that engine has some deep grooves, but still turns. Seems to be a pattern that 60% of the bones have damaged cam bridges.

Don't just replace the head. There is likely damage (or debris) in the short block (did you cut the oil filter open?). Tear the engine down completely and rebuild it or find good running engine (check the cam bridges) to replace your original engine. If cylinder bores are good, you can maybe get away with reusing the piston assemblies. Give it all a good cleaning and since it is apart, replace the rod and main bearings. Replace the oil pump and depending on how many miles replace the oil pump and timing chains. That's my 2 cents.

If someone is considering going to that length, then just find a used long block and bolt it in. It will be cheaper, and some would argue for piece of mind being an uncracked factory engine. Ive spent over 3k having a well known tuning shop build me an F22 in the past and it drank an excessive amount of oil from the start and was unusable after just 20k miles. A lot of things have to go right tearing and re assembling an engine for it to be factory reliable. Too risky for me, as well as costly. If you are your own engine builder and confident in the task, thats entirely a different matter. But regardless this isn't the most friendly engine to rebuild, its very limited in tolerances before you are having to sleeve it, and that opens up a new compromise in piston longevity due to the looser spec required. You pay someone $2500+ to yank and tear down an engine, only to find out the bore measurements wont take FRM pistons anymore, now your half invested deciding if you should spend another $3000 sleeving and re assembling/installing, or just buying a used 50k mile F2x for $3000 from the start and another $1000 in labor for removal/install. Or as i previously suggested, removing oil pan/inspection and then buying a used head, inspect/replaced timing components/oil pump and hope the roughly $2000 your out here did the trick. None of these 3 options are great, I hate situations like this, been in many myself, but the OP has to look at risk vs cost/reward and decide which makes the most sense for him.

I have a co worker that found me a complete used head with upgraded springs and retainers. Once I get that I'm gonna remove the head and oil pan, then start alot of inspecting/cleaning. And most likely gonna take apart the oil pump and see if that was the cause of damage. This is what scares me most I don't want to put everything back together and not know why it happened.