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I bought my 928 this past Feb. and then life started happening in earnest to the point that all I have been able to do is look at it as I go by. After 10 months of that kind of torture, I have finally been able to spend some time collecting information and parts. This is what greeted me when I opened the hood.
After considering many options, I decided to buy a used, running engine and swap it in and take the time to rebuild my original engine completely later. After it sitting with an open crankcase for several years, I didn't want to trust just resealing it.
With that in mind, I found a 83 US 4.7 at a decent price. The engine was removed after a collision and the car was scrapped. I didn't find out it was a front-end collision until the guy showed up. The broken timing cover was hiding a nice surprise.
The only option I have been able to come up with so far is to take a measurement from the undamaged side of the hole rearward and cut back until the cracked metal is gone, remeasure and build a shim. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The engine # is M28/20 81E05553 if anyone can give me some more info in it.
I've managed to find a nice condition exhaust system and a few other pieces and met someone else locally who has gotten "Shark bit".
I would like to give a sincere thank you to all that make this forum what it is . I've infuriated the wife more times than I can count reading threads on here, especially enjoying Rob's #107 build.
I feel your pain on the used engine. Seems like it was a bit misrepresented if the seller 'neglected' to share that there was a collision that ripped off the alternator console. Maybe I'm too picky.
dr's advice:
Rather than looking for another engine to put in your car, find a running car to buy instead. A running car lets you know immediately the condition of every driveline and suspension component, at least as far as getting the car down the road. There may be interior or cosmetic things on the new car that could be swapped from the one you have, or the driveline and other bits from the new one will fit into yours. Best of the two to ultimately make one decent car.
Buying used parts to complete an incomplete project will almost certainly cause you to spend a lot more money and time and aggravation and family points than will just buying a running car. Most used 928's come with enough hidden costs and unforseen time-eating issues, without adding all the variables that play into assembling a puzzle car with used and disparate pieces.
...This is what greeted me when I opened the hood.
Yikes!! Don't you wish you could find the guy that broke in and stole your intake ??!
Originally Posted by Eyegore
...The broken timing cover was hiding a nice surprise.
What surprise? I don't see anything
Seriously, that's a mount for a casting that supports the power-steering pump and alternator, bolted on with that one big machine screw and two smaller ones (below the oil pump).
The threads don't start until a ways into the hole, maybe 1/2 to 3/4". Even if 1/3 is cracked, the remaining portion should function fine as a spacer, assuming the cracks don't extend farther than shown in the pic.
It looks like there might be a broken-off end of a machine screw in there. If so, get some left-handed drill bits and drill it out with progressively larger drill bits. Make sure the bits stay centered, and start by grinding out a small, centered dimple with a Dremel tool and a small ball-end carbide bit. The purpose of the left-handed bits is that as they grab (as drill bits always like to), it will tend to unscrew the broken part rather than driving it deeper.
You may need to finish up with an extractor, but more likely the whole thing will come out on the end of a left-handed bit.
Grab the casting off your motor and check the fit, my guess is that this is a non-issue.
Last edited by jcorenman; 12-13-2015 at 10:09 PM.
Reason: speling
Clean and inspect the outer surface of the girdle behind there too - I've seen it cracked from the same type of hit on the AC compressor side of the motor (if it is cracked, it's still repairable - IIRC one of the Texas guys had his girdle welded up with the engine still in the car).
Dr Bob, I love working on cars in general and have done so most of my adult life so the work involved in a project car is more of a help than a hindrance which is why I went the project route. I was thinking I could work the bugs out of the rest of the car with the newer engine and build the original one next year sometime. My thought processes being what they are, there's probably a flaw or two in there somewhere.
Glen, I mounted the alt to it and the damaged are is 2-3mm from making contact-I anticipate some vibration issues. I may be wrong but...
Jim, The rest of the engine was in the hatch area and after a careful inventory, the only things missing were 2 air cleaner straps. The hole is the alt. pivot point and it has clear, clean heli-coil threads in it so it has been visited before.
Hilton, I'm in luck-the other side looks fine. I think the donor cars' accident was on the L/F.
12-13-2015, 05:18 PM
Used Parts Blues
