joey bagadonuts

One other (unrelated) performance mod you may want to consider while performing surgery on your baby is weight reduction. In PCA racing, you can run an RSA in stock D class at ~2,760 lbs without a/c. If you run with a/c in E stock, the minimum weight is ~3,031 lbs or a difference of 271 lbs. I use approx values because in 2007, the minimum weight changed to include the previous stock weights (noted above) plus 150 lbs. Therefore, if a driver weighs more than 150 lbs, you can lighten the car by that amount and still attain the minimum and vice versa.

So you may want to consider removing all a/c components and plumbing while it's in for repairs. And getting rid of that sunroof might be a nice upgrade to consider, as well. A non-sunroof, no a/c RSA is truly the Holy Grail of stock D cars. And did I mention that these cars kick ***?

Rennen

The A/C is definitely coming out. It doesn't work anyway so I see no need to keep it since I will likely have a great opportunity to get rid of the guts. I don't see me getting rid of the sunroof, though, just because I screwed up the motor. That goes a bit too far. Hmm....I wonder what it would take to add the limited slip differential....

race911

Did they change the rules (I last raced PCA in '03) to allow A/C removal? I know the RSA's are this gray area since it is basically the only late model Porsche which had a snowball's chance in coming delivered without it......

Kinda why I keep the RSA "cadaver" around, a no AC/sunroof car (what idiot originally ordered THAT?). Mr. Scrutineer, check the VIN!

But to the point, unless you KNOW you're at/near the track record why would you remove it? The .05 seconds I'll be quicker at Buttonwillow this Monday will be totally offset by 250 miles of I-5 @ 90+ degrees.........

Rennen

Can someone tell me what I need to perform a leakdown test myself? I have a compressor but I obviously need a gauge and then a way to get air into the sealed system. Are there parts I can buy or can I fabricate something?

dfinnegan

Here are a few notes that I've saved on leak down testing. A couple of the links have information on building your own DIY testers


Leak Down Testing

Leakdown test explained (92964cab pulled this from an NHRA site):
Before you can truly begin any serious tuning and testing at the track,
you have to be sure that the engine is in solid condition. It doesn't
matter if the engine is a week old or has 20,000 miles on it. There is
only one way to accomplish this correctly and that's with a leakdown
test. Compression tests might work for a mom and pop sedan, but
remember, we're talking about performance cars. Leaking the engine
pumps a given amount of air into a cylinder, allowing you to measure
how much air escapes past the rings and valves. You might be surprised
when you hear the excess compressed air blowing past a weak exhaust
valve or perhaps an equally pathetic intake valve. Similarly, air can
rush past the rings and enter the oil pan. While performing this test,
keep in mind that a healthy engine will leak less than 5 percent, and a
chronic leaker will exhibit numbers near 50 percent. Some of the best
sealed engines in drag racing are found under the hoods of Stockers,
where the leakdown numbers are far less than 3 percent. Use your own
judgment when it comes to a leakdown test, but if your car is leaking
more than 10 percent, it's begging for a teardown.

http://www.vclassics.com/archive/leakdown.htm
http://www.xs11.com/tips/misc/misc3.shtml
http://www.650motorcycles.com/LeakDownTester.html
http://www.type2.com/library/engineg/leaktst.htm

Rennen

Thanks very much!

boze_man

Dave...sorry to hear bout your bad news...i am def bummed for ya...good luck

take care
bill

being the selfish bastard that i am i also have to say i am def freaked out...first TR6 and now REDRS...one RSA after another is taking the fall...am i next? and i just finished the valves and fired it up getting ready for this weekends DE at TWS...as shaggy would say.."zoinks, scooby"...hopefully bad things happen don't happen in 3's??? pls pray for me...

J richard

Dave,

Given what you're trying to determine, I would simply go down and get myself a compression tester, and give a standard compression test a go. To keep things simple you can just pop out the lower plugs and run the test from below. All you're trying to do is identify how bad off the valves are, I wouldn't expect you holed a piston, there pretty tough, so the worst thing I'd expect is a bent valve/broken rocker or both. A bent valve will show low compression in the cylinder, funny thing is a broken rocker with a good valve will show good compression because the valve will close and seal just fine but the busted rocker will keep it from running right. So if you run a compression check and get good compression but it still runs like crap, you bent/broke a rocker. If you get low compression you bent a valve, either way you'll have to drop the covers to check.

A leakdown is the right way to check a motor, but for you're purposes you're trying to get a coarse guage of damage. A simple test is to use a compressor with a air fitting and a compression tester spark plug adapter. Move the cylinder in question to tdc on the compression stroke, and pressurize the cylinder, listen for hissing air, if you hear it in the exhaust, exhaust valve, through the intake runners, intake, the oil tank, rings or holed piston. There is a chance you jumped a chain but everything you said sounds like the classic over rev valve/piston dance...just hope for broken rockers...

good luck...

race911

I think it's easier to go for the intake side, since we are talking RSA (no power steering to interfere w/ #6). You don't even have to take the covers off, anyway. And depending on how recently the exhaust has been removed, that can sure get ugly.

Now there's a very valid point that broken rockers will likely be on the exhaust side, so you probably want to take those covers off anyway.

And to get to the real quick and dirty assessment, just pull the coil wires and crank. If there are a truly dead hole or two.........well, there's no mistaking that out-of-rhythm "lump, lump, lump, etc."

race911

Hey, I'll protect yours by being #3 a couple of weeks ago. Brake failure though, Turn 14 at Thunderhill. Had to pitch it in at about 60 and ride off backward, rather wildly. No damage, lots of runoff there. Which I have certainly used before, just not quite like that.

joey bagadonuts

You mean the sunroof, right? Removing it will not just save weight but lower the center of gravity of your car. Both should improve cornering speed and guarantee that track record ... okay, help get you around the track just a bit quicker.

It's also a mod which most racers would appreciate and might make the car more marketable should the owner ever want to pass it on.

As for the PCA Rules change, the separate a/c and non-a/c weights classifications for the RSA were introduced only a couple of years ago.

TR6

Bill, Don't worry man. Its kinda like worrying about when you'll get struck by lightning. RedRS's deal is completely different than mine (I think). He did the money shift (3rd to 2nd instead of 3rd to 4th) which as others pointed out usually just damages the valve train. Still ain't cheap, but its nothing compared to lower end problems like I have. My problem isn't related to a bad shift or overrev (again, we think). Mine is likely related to a rod bearing delaminating, which could be a result of an inferior quality set of rod bearings being used when it was rebuilt by the Porsche dealer back in the mid 90's (ironically, the rebuilt engine was a major selling point when I bought the car...). Its all guesswork. My engine still hasn't been torn down, which is why mine is still conjecture. When we finally get in there, we may find a different cause.

But my incident has taught me one lesson... Don't play with these cars if you aren't prepared to take the full hit on a potential engine rebuild. No $1600 crate engines here. It hurts. Figure an average $12K for a full rebuild if you shell the lower end. More, if you want some "upgrades"...

boze_man

wow...glad to hear no damage, what happened to brakes?

boze_man

not really worried...just more of a karma thing...

Rennen

Can someone tell me the splug thread diameter so I get the right parts with the leakdown tester I'm about to buy? Most seem to come with a 14mm adapter.