s14kev

Good to hear.

It's an NA. Since they don't make any power anyway, it would probably run fine even if you did have a bent rod..

Grandpa#3

I am happy to hear you dodged a bullet this time around. Always remember Murphey's Law.

Cheers,
Larry

xsboost90

im still unsure why you would drive it or start it when you knew there was coolant in the cylinder- coolant on the rings = no oil on the rings. Alot of cars i have seen blow head gaskets and are not fixed at the first signs spin rod bearings afterwards because of the cooland flowing through the oil passages instead of oil. Make sure you flush the engine very well.

Mike C.

The starter has a huge mechanical advantage- how many pinion teeth vs. flywheel teeth? If you plan to do all that work, I would have the rods checked by a good shop.

FRporscheman

Dan, I did not think of that. I didn't "continue to drive it", I immediately grounded it. I just had to bring it from down the street into my driveway, that's all. How can I flush the oil system? I will oil the cylinders before putting the head back on.

Mike, are you saying I should still take out the rod and have it checked? For the cost of checking the (worthless) rod, I would just as soon simply replace it and move on.

Mike C.

It would no doubt be easy to find a good used one. When you get the head off take a close look at the bores, rotate the crank and see if number 1 and number 4 piston are both at TDC (use a straight edge and feeler gage to measure clearance to top of block). If everything looks normal then cross your fingers..

FRporscheman

^ I think I'm going to just conclude that I dodged a bullet and leave the rod alone. Also, considering I need to get this car done so I can fix my ski car in time for some skiing, I'm going to postpone the engine rebuild until the summer, and I'll probably just rebuild a spare motor and swap it.

Thanks for the input everyone.

Mike C.

It sounds like you're good for a head gasket and go. Good luck.