Thanks for all the info. I hate it that the car turned out to be toast as the guy dropped a ton of money in the engine and this would have been a sleeper. Well at least I still have my other 996. Here’s a pic of it. I need to swap out the suspension as it was lowered and it rubs the inner wheel wells. I’ll start looking at coil overs and other possible options. Here’s the new toy and the 944 I just sold.


ions

 

Looks like part of your problem is running 19" wheels. What are the widths? I'd try 18" wheels instead.

 

I have seen transmission housings blown apart like that before. It's why NHRA IHRA and most sanctioning bodys for drag racing require "scatter shields' to be installed on all race cars other than Pure Stock.

The scatter shields are a blow proof bellhousing made from 1/4 inch steel, or a 1/4 steel shield placed above and around the side to keep the explosion of clutch or flywheel from entering the drivers compartment.

Back in the early 80's I had built a 1970 Mercury Capri (the west German model), was a street car with a Turbo 4 cylinder @ 325hp/1900lbs 5.8 lbs per HP. It was crazy fast, would still be fast by todays standards, just look at lbs per horsepower of todays cars !!

Anyways while driving the car I was about a mile from being back to my house and let it rip one more time, and on the shift to 3rd the clutch stuck to the floor ( happens on diaphram clutches if the pressure plate goes over-center at high rpm) the RPM's skyrocket (rev limiters not popular back then), pressure plate explodes, destroyed bell housing like what is pictured here, half pound piece came through the floorboard missimg my right foot my 2 inches. It cut the brake lines, so I had lost brakes in the process, and was a terrible vibration that blurred my vision. Luckily the engine withstood the over-rev and all I had to do was replace clutch and transmission, plus repair brake lines and a hole in the floorboard.

I have no idea if this engine withstood the over-rev or not. but . measuring the runout of the crank flange, and just installing a flywheel, the engine could be cranked to see if any noise or vibration is present. Of course the engine could not be cleared of suspicion until 50 hours run time is accrued..

 

That would have been a very very poor decision to purchase that car! Why did they cut off the transmission rather than just removing it?

 

I have no idea why unless the engine sits in there better when there’s no transmission. The car is on Chicago Craigslist and located in Addison. The last owner said they put in a transmission afterwards but I doubt it since you would have to undo that remaining part of the bellhousing and it does not look like it was removed. Who knows maybe the engine was okay and the mechanic was feeding the owner crap. If anyone has a flywheel, go try to see if it will start. If it’s messed up I guess you can’t screw it up anymore than it is.

 

As others have said they didnt cut anything off. The bellhousing snapped in half due to violent torque.

 

I skim read the thread - must have missed that detail!

Wow must have been some force to have done that!

 

Maybe that's the second transmission and it grenaded?

 

It was, however, being driven to church on a Sunday when it happened

 

Did you talk to the previous owner or second hand information?

 

I remember the first time my transmission fell out. Weird thing is no one cared to know any details about it because, you know, it happens all the time.

 

I tracked down the previous owner and he told me what happened and gave me the email of the mechanic. I have tried to reach the mechanic and he has not contacted me back. The current owner has a diesel repair business and bought this at an auction and then decided it would be too much workforce him. I don’t think he knows how bad it is as he did not have the history I gathered on the car from the last owner. Rennolgy was the shop that did the work and they are now closed. He said they used all high end parts and he dropped in a bunch of money as this was a toy for the track. After the trans broke, he was tired of dealing with the car.

 

There is no way in hell that a professional mechanic, regardless of his/her specialty, doesn't know exactly how bad the car is. They know and that's why they are trying to unload it.

 

+1. Absolutely. Everyone in the string of individuals associated with this car is being vague, at best. That way, they can claim ignorance and the buyer of this project will have no recourse when they uncover the actual problems.

I've paid for this education in the past. You are getting it for free on this forum. This is personal OE. If the deal seems too good, it is. At $8600, or whatever the current asking price is, they are trying to squeeze every dollar out if it they can. If the 3.8 in this car really was good, they would be asking far more. They probably would have put a gear box in it and either kept it, or sell it at that point. They realize this car is a money pit to rebuild it back to what it was, so they are cutting their losses and moving on.

I personally would not have a problem with buying this car if it is what you are looking for. I would do the math associated with replacing the engine and gearbox. You will find that they will have to give it to you, or pay you to take it, for the numbers to work. Still, it's probably worth something, just not $8600.

 

Yep, took the words right out of my mouth!! Money Shift is bad! mmmkay!?