ROG100

The block and girdle from Richard's engine were sold.

jleidel

I believe it would.... as long as its not a good block! :-)

Sterling, I agree it would be difficult to keep the shavings out of the lower end. However, if we could... my thought is a larger piece of aluminum JB welded in place would function as a better patch than simply patching with JB Weld [or devcon].

Thoughts?

jcorenman

That's the original "Plan D" which is certainly a good fix, just a lot more work.

I think Brad W's suggestion is a good one and certainly worth a try. By fitting a piece of matching aluminum you would minimize the amount of "goop" required and any attendant problems with different expansion coefficients, etc.

The damage on the pass-side from the A/C bracket looks like it has a perfect plug already-- remove the A/C bracket, finish breaking out the chunk if it is not already loose, clean it thoroughly and bond it back in place. The rough edges from the original break are perfect to help lock it in place.

For the other one, on the alternator side, cut up a scrap girdle as suggested, and grind that and the block to add some groves or other keying features to help hold it in place.

Keeping the engine clean should be no problem-- clean the pan-pasket surface and inside lower-edge of the girdle and then use plastic and duct take to seal up the bottom of the engine, working around the two broken areas. The only exposed part of the girdle interior would be right around the broken pits. And then use a shop-vac (not compressed air) to suck up the swarf.

There's lots of other options, but that's what I would do.

mickster

Just a thought, with so many of the oil rig welders grounded for a bit, you might look for one out there. L-rd knows these guys deal with every extreme and all sorts of alloys, no? In situ is their middle name and you can be sure they know how to clean and prep a surface.

Go with more JB Weld but remove as much of the old JB Weld so you can do it all fresh.

If not: http://meadville.craigslist.org/pts/1812413481.html


Good luck!!!!

Michael

ROG100

DriftKing just picked up the girdle and is taking it over to Brad's for assessment.

puyi

There is some thing I don't understand. It seems That Porsche can deliver a block with pistons without the crank case. But, they don't sale the crank case lonely.
So I suppose that it is possible to take the crank case from a failed block and put it on the block from that "girl". Why should not that really a solution?

Stephane

jleidel

Stephane, this may be true for other Pcars, but not the 928s. Porsche line-bored the short block w/ the upper and lower [girdle] halves joined and torqued to spec. If one were to join two halves that were no bored as one piece, there is a significant chance that the halves will not fit correctly [within the spec of the cylinder bores].

James Bailey

There is also plan F ......glue it up and sell it to the next guy and he is F ed..

GregBBRD

I've fixed a bunch of these, over the years. The lower cradle is a different material that the upper block and they wled pretty nice, when they are perfectly clean. I would not attempt to weld that, in the car.

I have fixed them while still attached to the upper block, but only when they have a little bit of damage...this one is really bad.

Pretty easy to remove the engine, put the engine on a stand, turn it over, and remove the cradle. Clean the crap out of it and bolt it onto another block. to keep it from warping. Pre-heat the area and weld in little amount, at a time, to contol how much heat goes into the cradle. When you are done welding, put it on a mill and surface the pan area, rethread any pan holes tha need it.

Re-install it and it will be good forever.

mickster

Greg I assume all that JB Weld will have to be removed as part of the cleaning, correct?

Jim Morton

Unsolicited $0.02

Whether you weld or bond (JB Weld), the pieces need to be REALLY clean, like all oil leached from the casting clean. This is where the citrus cleaners and good detergents work better than petro solvents.

As far as welding goes, I have welded on these girdles as well as bonded fittings on. The cast aluminum welds easily as long as good prep was performed... 'ya gotta get all the oil out of the casting !

For this type of repair, I would sure like to weld the piece as it spans a bolted / gasketed connection. However, to weld this piece effectively, I think the person welding would require more access than what can be had with the engine installed. As GB mentions, the required pre-heat could be a huge challenge if in the car.

All in all, my vote would be to repair the girdle loose, some how clamped down / bolted to a block while it's heated / cooled.

Again.. my $0.02

Fogey1

I have not seen any discussion of whether the car runs well or if the damaged girdle - which only holds the crankshaft in place, after all - is rigid enough for every day use. Clearly this engine is not a candidate for the track or ORR, but it may be perfectly adequate for a DD - it's not like it was overstressed when new or is breathing heavily at 135mph.

If it's strong enough I like the idea below ...

... except you wouldn't need to bolt on the whole pan, just a strong, flat piece from one side of the break to the other (bar stock?). That will give you a flat surface AND access to work the epoxy after it's in place to cure.

Not perfect, not elegant, but it might be fine for years.

Take lotso pix and keep a good log - b/c you don't want to be _that_ PO who didn't disclose. Do you? And the log and pix will mean your disclosure won't hit the price that badly.

Landseer

Owner is a central part of the Texas crew.
Honor comes above the rest for them.

jleidel

Fogey, the car ran well before we found the issues. It needed a throttle position sensor, knock sensors and a few other typical small things [all typically done with an upcoming intake refresh]. It started on the first key turn every time, held oil pressure just as normal and always stayed within the operating temperature ranges. All in all, its still a great car if we can get the girdle sorted out.

We'll definitely take lots of pics throughout the process of fixing things. My original plan for this car was not a flip or a show-winning concours piece... but rather something that ran great and looked good. [and maybe a few performance mods such that I had a chance of keeping up with Jim M. at Third Coast ].

Ispeed

My vote is for pulling the motor and either some pro welding or a new block. This lets you get at everything else on a stand where it is much easier.
I would have said it's a winter project, but you have no winter in Texas.