Hilton

Well, IMHO its either pull the engine to pieces, clamp the girdle onto a junk block (someone in the DFW area must have one of them) for welding, and then mill and re-line bore it with the original block so it all fits..

or..

Plan F: Part the car and buy a better replacement.

I recall jleidel is a techno nerd (think he's the one with the irix-related sig? - nothing against techno nerds, I cut my teeth on SunOS 4.2 way back when I was programming in C)

In which case blitz the stuff up on ebay as fast as it can be pulled off the car, for 99c auctions. Or do what Giovanni did and make a good quality "parts car" thread here on rennlist for the bigger stuff (brakes, suspension, LSD if it has one, etc.), then ebay the remainder.

Its a generic auto S4, nothing too hard to find a good replacement for.

RKD in OKC

Stroker stroker stroker.

That's what I did to my 944 Turbo when it had a slight knock. On disassembly found 2 worn to the brass bearings, stretched girdle, bent wrist pins, nikasil flaking from top of bores. Motor had 20K on it a rebuild. Replaced crank with stroker, pistons sized to use stock length rods. Had girdle milled and line bored and block Nikasil honed off to first piston oversize. Since it was a turbo I went up one size on the turbo and put headers on. Also had the heads redone with multi grind seats and bigger valve springs to run 18psi of boost. Total cost after selling the old crank and turbo was $13K.

slate blue

From somebody who has welded the girdle it isn't as straight forward as a new piece of allumium. I suspect it is a little porous and perhaps oil contaminated. When you weld aluminium it has to be super clean, the lower section is not the same as the block. The block welds well the lower section has also had its alloy changed during its life span.

I quickly read the comments so if I missed this solution my apologies. I think it will be your best solution both short and long term. If you clean up the edges so that there is some area to put the epoxy. As you know the piece wont fit flush anymore so take away just enough and then bolt the sump up with no gasket. This will lock it into the correct position. When it cures unbolt the sump and add any extra reinforcing material that you think might be required.

This should last a very long time but if you ever rebuild the engine the epoxy can be removed by heating and the piece welded in permanently.

Greg

S4ordie

A then D when either the temp fix fails, you can't stand the oil leak any more or you can replace the long block.

Nothing is easy with something like this. To weld it properly means pulling the engine to make sure the cracks are completely free of oil. That is a lot of work for a temp fix.

For me personally it would make me crazy knowing the cracks were there and the cause of my oil leak.

Daniel Dudley

If you weld it, do NOT clean it with chlorinated brake cleaner. The gasses can kill you or permanently damage your lungs. It permeates the metal, and remains after everything is dry.

A well executed JB Weld repair would solve the problem, but I would try to have it welded. The right person will know what to do. Resolve to solve is the first step, and it looks like you have taken that. Know that JB weld would have to resemble a blob that sandwiches the casting on the inside and outside. It can then be ground, drilled, tapped, whatever, but you need a solid chunk. Making a form or a tape dam to allow the JB to puddle like a casting is probably required. A 1 inch square chunk of JB Weld is pretty tough stuff.

Keep us posted. I know I wouldn't rest until I was driving again.

jleidel

Thanks everyone for your comments so far.

Hilton, indeed, I'm the super nerd with the Irix background. I would really hate to part this one out. Outside of the block being hosed into oblivion, the car is in darn good shape.

So far, I'm probably leaning toward the Devcon/patch fix or the welding route. I just bought the car a few weeks ago, so my wife would kill me if I dropped another $3k+ on a new donor motor. Calling a local welder to at least give an assessment is free or really cheap. There is a fairly large commercial airport 15 miles down the road, so there has to be some good aircraft certified welders near.

I'm always open to other suggestions, so please keep the comments coming.

dr bob

The girdle is sealed to the block with anaerobic sealer, so the heat from welding will likely ruin that if the welder is any less than perfect. No way that a full-penetration weld in place will leave the upped seal intact. So much depends on how good your welder is, how clean it is, etc. Any leftover JBWeld or oil in the area will cook up through the weld puddles, leaving voids that will leak, at best. My vote would be a combination of things. First is to thoroughly clean and dress the area so you have a better look at what's really damaged. You can then see if a repair with Devcon (or more JBWeld) is possible. You really nned something with the consistency of putty so you can do a little rough sculpting before it sets up. Then, you'll need a way to get the oil sump mointing surface restored so it will hold the sump and gasket well enough to seal. It may be possible to do this with the engine still in the car, but... It would be a lot easier to do the work and manage the dirt/dust/debris if the engine is in a stand.

Next option, and maybe better described as the "next step", is to locate a good short block and a gasket kit. Mark at 928 Int'l may have just what you need waiting to go on a truck to you. He's had a pretty generous Christmas discount in place the last couple years. Call him Monday and explore the options he might have available now. Then move all the good components from your engine to the short block, do all the cosmetic and other maintenance-refurb stuff if needed, and have a nice clean tight engine in the car.


You have the luxury of sitting with some of the best owner-support team members in the world. Enjoy that luxury!

dr bob

You might want to talk to Brad W and see if he would recommend someone from that little airplane parts place he spends his weekday hours at. My guess is that there are one or two folks there that know aluminum welding pretty well.

Brad W

After sleeping on it last night, No I slept in my bed not on the car.
1. get a old girdle and cut off the piece you need.
2. trim off the one in the car to match
3. bond in the new corner piece
4. fab a doubler to help hold in place

Brad W

I will talk to our welder monday about coming out and look at it. If that was a airplane part we would fab a patch. I am going to show the engineers at work and get their thoughts on the fix.

jleidel

That sounds like an interesting option. More pure aluminum and less bonding agent. What about the crack on the passenger side? Bond it from the exterior?

Brad W

I would put a doubler over it if anything.

jleidel

I wonder if anyone local has the girdle from a blown motor?

Jim M.

What about the girdle from Richard's 1st engine, the one that got scored cylinders from the blasting media? It's local and most likely free.

ROG100

I have a block and girdle from an 86.5. Will the girdle from that work as a donor for the add in part?