I think a main bearing took a shit. Dammit.

I hope not.

Oh no.....


Unmistakable sound Larwrence.

What are the symptoms, Toodlum's?

I thought it sounded like a valve issue, but I checked them, and drained the oil.

Definitely a main or rod bearing. Metal in the drain pan.

Bummer. So, do I build another /4 2.2 or my 2.3 /6?

My budget dictates that I do the /4 for now with the /6 in the pipeline, I suppose.

Pulling the motor Wednesday. Crap.

Sorry to hear..... I guess now is the time to pull that 3.8 I hear you have stashed away.
Good luck with your diagnoses.

Awww, crap, sorry to hear that, Lawrence.

Now that would piss me off. I guess the bright side is other then throwing $$$ at a unexpected repair you will have a stronger motor behind you.

This must have just happened?
I saw your car yesterday at Cars and Coffee?

What a bummer... sorry to hear...

Ouch, it's what we all fear with an old car.

Time to change your avatar?

I don't have any complete motors laying around to send you. But you can swap the main bearings in about 10 hours.

Much faster if it's a rod bearing.

That is an idea worth doing. I will donate time in your garage to that effort prior to my Seattle trip on Thursday if you can get the parts defined in time.

I have been through a lot since this occurrence, but a rebuilt 2.7 is on the way. This will be my install thread. (I guess)

Way to steer into the skid !
You know sometime things happen for a reason, now you have the excuse to do the 2.7.
Can't wait to see you at WCR with it!

oof!

Sorry the engine wore out on you. Sounds like you have your plan set for the new power plant, good luck with the new install!!

Hope you can get back on the road soon, I will be watching your thread and cheering from the sidelines!

-- Whit

Well, with selling off all the great raffle prizes he took home from the 2015 WCR, is it any surprise that he could afford to purchase a freshly built 2.7L motor?

Your not alone. All 914 owners will be "put to the test" at one time or another. Some walk away while others put there best foot forward. This is congruent with your signature. "S" cams?

I don't understand why this would piss anyone off. Its a mechanical device. It will wear out. It will break. Not if, but when. Its part of owning and driving a car. If I blew up an engine cause I did something stupid like ignoring low oil on the dipstick, or exceeding 7000 rpm, now that would piss me off. Losing a bearing on a worn out engine is to be expected

I think Lawrence is referring to a combination of events, including a shop that gained his confidence and then massively disappointed. I can sure empathize

Statement was not directed at lawrence or anyone in particular. He seems to be taking it in stride. Just a general statement

don't mention low oil.......

The oil in my now defunct 2.0 /4 was NOT LOW.

I'm moving on and learning from my experience with the asshole in Oceanside.

The 2.7 is en route, it shipped and I'm thinking it gets here Friday.

As my boss Marvin Foster at Continental Cars in Austin back in the 70's would say.... "Press On"

Here's to old Marvin

Motors just don't trash a bearing randomly, They do when they have no oil though.

Welcome to the 2.7 club

When you drain four quarts out of an engine, it seems that it wasn't low on oil.

I still have the oil from that engine, and I am pressing on. It will work out fine.

Stay tuned.

This arrived safe and sound today. Now, all I have to do is everything else to get it installed and running.

This should be challenging and fun.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

That's weird, your headers are pointing the wrong way. Looking forward to you getting speedy back on the road. Looking forward to watching your build.

GLWSB

Lawrence, that is going to be a blast! Enjoy the sweet sounds.

It's not necessarily a lack of oil in the crank case, but starvation to a particular component due to a blockage in an oiling port ... and typical when it's only one rod bearing.

"oil starvation". Not your fault. New engine looks way more better .

I sold the white car this morning and now I am concentrating on the /6 conversion at hand. Two nice little packages arrived today from Phoenix.


Click to view attachment

Too pretty to be hidden up inside a dirty fender…


Click to view attachment

Motor mount…..

Click to view attachment

Lawrence, did you get close to what you were asking for the white car?
I saw it posted on CL. Congrats!

I loved my 2.7, but it did run hotter than my 3.2 and needed an external oil cooler.
2.7 with webers sound was amazing. It was like your own personal lemans movie with Steve McQueen. I still remember driving back and forth through the alameda tunnel just to listen to the motor.

Going with the front oil cooler for sure……

It's on my list, as are PMO carbs, Clewett ignition system, and the chain oiling system.

This stuff is expensive.

Following this closely as I am considering this conversion as well.

Only thing stopping me is time, money, and a long list of other things that have to be done.

sound like you are getting all the upgrades that I would
I have a new unused set of PMO 40mm on the shelf if you are interested, just would want what I paid for them.

I figure, if I do at least a little every day, I might reach my goal.

I did start today cleaning up the engine bay.
I tore out all of the old dried up rubber engine tin seals.
Black is a good color to work with here.
I drilled a single big hole in each of the Patrick mounts, I'm going to bolt it into the firewall first with steel backing plates, then weld it.

"Suspenders and a belt"

I remember seeing those on your shelf.. They are very nice..

Click to view attachment

Yup for sure expensive.. But it's all about the sounds and smells and the whuuur sound of the fan and valve train.

Nice progress Lawrence! Down to one car, just a few more wallet-fulls away from a kick ass 6 conversion.

Ben those heat exchanger pipes are a work of art man. Almost hate to see that covered up!

I have a question about extracting the front engine mount studs out of my mag case. I notice Ben's doesn't have anything there.

I'm buying the extraction kit, but do I just crank them out, or use heat? I'd rather go with bolts right into the case. (I think?)

Not sure why you want to change from studs to bolts, but make sure you get the correct length bolts, so you don't bottom-out.

The studs should unscrew fairly easy - I typically just double-nut to remove them. You can spray a penetrating agent on them a day or two ahead of time too.

I'd definitely shy away from torching a magnesium case

Not sure about the P6. It is advised on Subaru's head gasket repairs as you can increase the torque #'s considerably. I'm sure that theory carries across the board but I'd get an opinion from someone that knows P6's.

No heat required, they just spin right out with the right collet tool. You would NOT replace these with bolts, use bolts only for affixing the case to the yoke, then toss them and put the studs back.

Studs are ALWAYS stronger than bolts in this application which is why Porsche made it like that.