I decided to fire up the pirate ship today and got it started. I just let it idle for a few minutes and then noticed oil pooling up under the exhaust on the right side. Any ideas? Been sitting for awhile.

I found that my engine would drain all of the oil from the tank into the sump when sitting unused for extended periods. I would crank it over for 30-45 seconds before trying to start it to get oil back into the tank. Even them it would smoke excessively at start up.

The oil level in the sump will fill up over the bottoms of the cylinders and then leak by the rings. Apparently, how much leakage depended on how the ring gaps happened to be lined up on any cylinder. The exhaust valve being open are often blamed for contributing to the leakage under these circumstances......all the planets aligned against ya.....Never had any pooling of oil on the ground tho.

Flat motors have this problem apparently. Brit has had similar problems with over fill (an Accusump malfunction)of his Subie.

Thanks JP. I think I'll drain all the oil and start over see what happens. I cranked it for at least 30 seconds before it fired and I let it idle for a few minutes. Pulled it once got lots of smoke and then noticed a small about of oil leaking out the right side muffler... whether its fixable or not, I'm actually very happy to be focused on the race car now... is that sick or what?

I always tried to start The Beast at least every two weeks, but one time it went two months and I had the same issue.

JP's explaination is right, but I'm not sure whether just draining the oil and refilling will extract the oil that has gone places where it shouldn't.

These motors don't like sitting around.

Randal is right about oil being places it's not supposed to be.....like a muffler with 4 oz (or so) of oil in it. Clean that puppy out or you'll not be happy with any "fix".
You'll not get it all with cleaning with solvent (or some such) and it will still smoke for a while.

I love cleaning.... lesson learned.

I also have this problem with my race car. I can stop it from happening by elevating the rear of the car during storage (jackstands, or rolling the rear tires up on blocks of wood).

Now that you've got the problem, you can do like JP recommends and turn over the motor for 30-45 seconds to get the oil out of the sump. But you'll still have some oil in the cylinders. The only way to get rid of that at this point is start 'er up and let it blow out the exhaust. Good idea to clean the muffler. Maybe remove it while the oil is blowing out the exhaust (if you do this, do yourself a favor and put something you don't care about behind the car to catch all the oil coming out of the exhaust - you'd be surprised how far it goes).

Scott

Update: I haven't done anything.

I think its time to put the pirate ship up for sale. I'll take it in and get the pipes cleaned out and a compression test. Probably not the best time to sell a race car, but its time to raise kids for awhile...

Sounds like a slice of my life. My 58 Vette went the same way for the same reason. That was about a 20 year hiatus .........

To each his own, but I have found that sometimes my car is a welcome and necessary diversion from raising kids. I'd go nucking futs without some sort of hobbies.

+2

Even in a perfect life, one needs diversion.

Rob you have right priorities. Your family comes first and you have some great kids. Race cars are money pits. If I had kids I'd be spending ever last penny on them. They are at that age were they really should be the focus. Hey your old Boxster kicked butt this past week at nationals. If I was in position to buy the 914 back I'd do it in a heart beat. Someone will have fun with the 914 race car.

Thanks. My dream is to see both kids walk across a podium and get a college degree. Paid for.

I understand the diversion, but Dads car and the RV keep me active in parts.

The pirate racer is such a pure car at its base. During my Dad's rebuild I actually traded some parts off the racer! Like window fuzzys and rubber.

Are the trunks painted? I've been taking off the layers in the rear trunk and have found beautiful stock paint. Its actually shiny.... the goal is to clean it, inventory the components, get the compression, and list it.

I would be very happy to see it find a local home...

Thats a good goal! ANd thats the most important podium to focus on!

That 914 was a pristine 34,000 mile car that had been garaged its entire life. I garaged it in SO Cal and didnt even wash it the first year. When I brought it to John Williams, Ottos he hadnt seen such a clean 914 in over a decade. So yeah it was real shiny before I tore it apart and repainted it. I picked that car specifically for the clean chassis as I didnt want to do much reinforcement when I turned it into a race car.

However 5 years being in temp garge in Bonny Doon was wearing on that car. That was big reason for selling it. I knew Boxster would hold up better. I couldnt bear to see that 914 rust before my eyes and it was still solid when I sold it. So its still a very clean race car chassis.

I wish I had had the budget I have now as it would have gone much differnt direction with that car.

Thanks Grant. So far, everywhere I've been on the chassis shows well. I've cut the repaint off in some areas to get to the factory paint.

Do you remember what oil you used? Motor and transmission? I'd like to keep it the same.

It really is a shame I've only run it 3 times. My goal is to get the oil changed and start running it weekly. Get the psi numbers and list. Its just that every time I got out to do something on it, I come back wanting to keep it.

If you don't have a trailer Rob I'll come over and we can haul that machine down to the Marina some Sunday. Go to a UFO event and you can be home by 2:00PM.

I'll be glad to be your tire pressure checker.

Swepco 20-50 w for motor. Swepco tranny fluid. Those motors need to be run to be happy. Its probably very "cranky" now. They dont like sitting.

Your kids can learn and have fun racing with you. My son is 8 years old and knows about caster,camber ,toe perseverance,measuring etc,he has more race experience than most of us here. Racing is difficult and has lots of lessons to offer most of all fun times together.Click to view attachment

......How could they not like it!Click to view attachment

All fixed. Took about 30 minutes to cook it off. Great results on the leak down...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_OMo2QXpIg

Good deal (cheep too ). I've been known to fog up the neighboorhood worse than that.