Oil Pan Off, Questions (pics)
 

Hey Guys,

Got the oil pan off and I think my motor has had a new block at some point. It looks much cleaner and newer and also the pistons are numbered. Is this usual?

Cheers
Scott

The cork gasket looks in way better condition than I'd expect. Alusil block always looks shiny, but yours also looks super clean, especially compared to the bottom end. I'd be asking the same question. Interesting.

looks normal to me. that under side of the block does not get dirty. at all. unless you have serious oil leaks. but the pen marks on the piston and counter weight make me wonder. i dont see the germans doing that.

how many miles did you put since ownership and what oil do you use ?

based on the numbers hand written on the pistons and the crank it looks like someone has had their hands inside this engine past initial assembly

I pulled off the cork gasket and it came off easily and left no residue at all behind. Some telltale writings on the block as well

I've only done like 100 miles in it and I could not tell you what oil was used as sadly all the history was lost by the previous owner after a house move.

Scott,

Minor detail but why is the pan off the car- leakage?

Remember- no guarantees but if it looks good chances are it is good relative to something that looks like a bag of crap!

Hey Fred,

It's a 'while you're in there thing'. Thought I might as well pull the pan and replace the gasket. Plus I wanted to get all the oil pan bolts re-plated anyway. Well....that's my excuse anyway

Well you are certainly in there big time. If you have not done them, the power steering lines are a must.

Do you intend to pull the engine wiring harness apart for some inspection? That thing looks like the original item and if so, it is probably toast to some extent or other.

One point you might note- one of our listers recently had a problem after plating his bolts in that upon reassembly he had problems with the bolts holding the camber and caster adjusters snapping. Not sure how that one ended as the gent had issues with new bolts as well. Initially I wondered if the plating process might have weakened the bolts due to hydrogen embrittlement- nothing was concluded though.

Thanks Fred, you've just added another thing for me to replace....lol. Ans I'm drowning, not waving, that's how deep it feels to me!
The guy who done my plating asked which bolts where for suspension parts as they would be plated differently.....who knew?

Scott,

Would be interested to know what the difference is. If the concern is hydrogen embrittlement they may well heat the bolts to around 250 centigrade to de-gas them.

They tell me drowning is quite a pleasant experience once you stop struggling- ha ha!

I certainly admire your commitment to this project. How were the upper A arm ball joints?

Upper A arms ball joints have a bit of play in them. There is a guy here that drills and taps a thread then inserts a nipple and injects some you beaut poly-resin. He claims it's not the metal that wears, it's the nylon cups. Charges $150 a pair. He also said if there is to much movement he will not do them, they will need replacement. Spoke to a few people that have it done and they reckon they're still fine after several years of service.

Interesting! I have the same problem in that on my arms I can sense something-nothing huge and nothing I could detect on the alignment rig. For sure the balls do not wear. I was thinking this issue out and wondered if it might be possible to inject something under pressure behind the nylon cups to take up the slack as it were. The real mystery being why they made the joint non serviceable in the first place. That someone [in Germany?] can rebuild them to presumably factory specs suggests they should have been configured to be re-buildable in the first damm place.

I think I know why the bottom end was rebuilt. I noticed on the oil pan a small dent. I thought to myself lucky that didn't crack. I have now cleaned up the pan and found an epoxy resin repair inside. I'm thinking someone in the past has hit something, cracked the pan and continued to drive losing all the oil. There was no oil stains or evidence of any leaking from the crack though so clearly the repair has worked.
Now I need to decided whether to continue using this pan or just get a good used one.