GaryJ

Hi Iceman:

The more I think about it something must have let go earlier in the lap and I noticed the problem on the back straight so I probably never made it back to an area where they would have flagged me off. So there very well may have been a catastrophic failure, and since it was leaking a little oil from almost day one the bottom of the engine was always coated with oil.

Thanks,

Gary

GaryJ

Hi Adam:

As I mentioned to Mark

He said the cometics gasket was a slightly different shape and didn't seal one area that would allow some oil to splash in to a chamber that only had a paper gasket and would allow the oil to seep out, but he said it wouldn't have caused all the oil loss.

I am starting to think if the gasket didn't fit correctly from the beginning maybe the pressure of track time caused it to fail and allow the oil to flow out. It may have happened catastrophically and I never made it back to that part of the track again to be flagged off.

Is that possible?

Thanks,

Gary

Hilton

You've seriously spent almost 4 years and $20k on this car, and barely driven it?

Either the mechanic is feeding you BS or you've got the wrong end of the stick in a conversation.

Get the bits picked up with a trailer and get out. Cancel any kinds of payment that you can (i.e. warn credit card company, stop any blank checks etc.).

Your location shows as Portland, Oregon. Contact some local Rennlisters and ask who you can take the car to.. Porken is local and will likely know which workshops have good reputations.

GaryJ

Hi Hilton:

Thanks for the thoughts.

Unfortunately all payments have cleared a long time ago so I have no recourse in that direction.

I did check the mechanic out pretty well before I started and he had an excellent reputation a little slow some times but did great work.

I am formulating plans if I take everything back but I was just hoping he would act with integrity in this situation.

The mechanic says he has everything needed to finish the car and it would be ready by the end of the month but obviously he wants money now.

A disappointing situation and I guess I was just too understanding and easy going when he would just go out of touch for long stretches of time.

Thanks

Gary

Mrmerlin

sorry but i think your mechanic has lost all viability for your cause.
At this point i would get things picked up and do some more research, find a different mechanic or better yet figure things out yourself.
Repair the engine and get back to driving status.
I really cant believe that you have been taken for such a long ride to the land of the lost, sorry to hear of this.
After the engine is fixed i would consider legal action against the mechanic,
you might be able to recover some of the charges if it can be proved that his work was faulty.
Goodluck

Ahh might i suggest if you must have a mechanic to take the car to Greg in Anaheim CA its a bit of a trek but you will be able to drive the car home without any leaks or other concerns
he is on here as GregBBRD

GaryJ

Hi Mrmerlin:

I can't believe the ride I have been on as well.

I am not sure how I can prove it was poor work on his part at this point or if the parts I get back will really be mine.

Greg is fantastic and I have talked to him on a couple of occasions dating all the way back to 96 when I first conceived the project.

I can't help but wonder now if the cometics gasket was incorrect or faulty that may have caused the problem.

thanks for the thoughts.

Gary

Mrmerlin

I dont think the cometic gaskets are the problem, as previously stated they will usually leak coolant if they leak at all, but not oil, and if they were leaking you would have had plenty of smoke from the oil feed leaking down the engine and getting blown back onto your exhaust it would have been obvious.

danglerb

Out of curiosity, how much does he want to fix his mistake?

Until the parts are in the hands of a competent mechanic, there is no chance of knowing what the problem was, or how you should proceed.

Did you lose any coolant? Any temperature issues?

Hilton

Gary, you might also want to contact Louis Ott - rennlist username is Louie928.

He has plenty of stroker and engine rebuild experience, and I suspect will at the very least be able to recommend a shop.

GaryJ

Mrmerlin:

When I talked to the mechanic after he had a chance to look at the car he said that the small oil leak problem was the cometics gasket and the shape. So it wasn't that the gasket failed but that the shape of it didn't seal one section that allowed oil to splash down into a chamber that couldn't seal it. If the gasket was off that much I do wonder what else could have been off about the gasket, maybe it was just the wrong gasket all together. As I said the bottom of the engine was covered in oil but it wasn't pouring out of anywhere when I came to a stop but as I found out there wasn't much oil in there at that point.

Thanks,

Gary

GaryJ

Hi Danglerb:

He just gave me the parts price and told me he would work with me on the labor and give me the 20% off, no final figure was given.

The temperature was fine the whole time on the track and I didn't notice any oil pressure drop but if this happened suddenly I may not have noticed a oil pressure drop until I pulled the car off the track. I noticed the noise that caused me to pull of the track at the bottom complex of corners before the back straight which is just passed the halfway point of the track which is 2.25 miles long. I didn't notice any drop in power as I was able to pull past the Turbo with no problem but as I pulled into the pit runoff I then noticed the car started to run a little rough then when I came to a stop the oil pressure dropped and the warning light came on.

Thanks,

Gary

GaryJ

Hi Hilton:

I have talked to Louie previously and he said he doesn't really work with the 16 valve cars. Thanks for the idea though and we do have a pretty vibrant local 928 community so I should come up with some ideas however I did take advantage of this great group when checking on my current mechanic.

Thanks,

Gary

Tom. M

Hey Gary, is the attached picture your 928? If so, I do recall meeting you on the Oregon shoot and drive event that Louie set up. I also remember that your 928 ran well and had no issues keeping up with those crazy S4 drivers near Fossil.


sorry to hear of your situation, however, as others have mentioned, your mechanic had his chance. If you want your car to last longer than a few drives, I think you need to find someone else to put it back together....

GregBBRD

So, let's simplify this into basic details, so we can get our head around it:

Rebuilt engine with 1200 miles on it. Builder drove it 900, you drove it 300.

No issues, other than a small oil leakage around a head gasket, leaving small drips of oil in garage.

Full of oil. Confirmed by both owner and mechanic?

Runs for 20-30 minutes in a warm-up session with an instructor in the car.

No smoke/no black flag.

Engine fails.

Is this correct?

Couple more questions:

Had the oil/filter been changed in these 1200 miles?

Did anyone look under the car after parking it from the practice session and noting that there was no oil? You can't leak 5 quarts of oil out of a 928 engine and not have oil all over the underside of the car. Even a hole in the very bottom of the oil pan will fly back and completely cover the chassis, if the car is moving.

GaryJ

Hi Tom:

Yes that is me.

Thanks for your thoughts and I am in the process of making my plans now.

Thanks,

Gary