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Correct, Woodburn. It was our annual carne Asada test and tune track rental. 7th annual this year. Always a great time. 40 cars, full track prep.
Temp was mid 60’s, sun, DA was around sea level.
Well, finally pulled the engine to assess the pan damage. Can’t remove the pan with the engine in the car.
The pan rail on the pass side was bent about 1/4 “. No damage to the sump. Pan is quite stout actually.
Sadly, I discovered this:
This is the upper left bellhousing bolt location.
So basically it hit so hard, the upward motion of the rear of the engine tried to tear the trans off the engine.
TH400 with an ultrablell. If you’ve seen those, the flange is 1” thick, it wasn’t going to break so the block took the brunt.
Fortunately I purchased an LC9 block to have as a spare, so my internals will go into that.
Sigh….RIP L33
Ron
Last edited by RonSSNova; Mar 7, 2022 at 12:50 PM.
Well crap. Cracks go deep? Fairly shallow flange depth back there Ron, so not a lot of force (leverage) on that part of the casting. Might be easily repairable?
A little hard to see in the photo, it’s about 4” long and all the way through. One part back there is 1” thick.
My welder guy (Truckdoug) says maybe if you heat the whole block etc etc.
There may be internal cracks I can’t see. Oil was oozing out of it as well.
This is the one instance where only having 5 instead of 6 bolts for the trans is an issue.
My Ultrabell has the boss for that top bolt. It’s not drilled now but will be. 😊
I will say that the main bearings look excellent. No more edge riding on 2&4, no wear on the thrust either. So maybe my larger clearances and a butt load of oil pressure are working.
I didn't even think it would be possible for that to happen.
I would have guessed the oil pan and trans pan would have taken all the brunt until some part of the chassis hit the ground.
Hopefully the LC9 treats you well.
On a positive note, my whole entire C5 drivetrain less the engine is laying the floor in the garage for the Monster twin disc install. I'm trying not to get overwhelmed lol.
I didn't even think it would be possible for that to happen.
I would have guessed the oil pan and trans pan would have taken all the brunt until some part of the chassis hit the ground.
Hopefully the LC9 treats you well.
On a positive note, my whole entire C5 drivetrain less the engine is laying the floor in the garage for the Monster twin disc install. I'm trying not to get overwhelmed lol.
It hit the frame too......
Got ya on the drivetrain. Been there done that! Lying on my back on the garage floor. I get to do it again as my torque tube needs bushings.
Yeah, finally got some hits at my local track PIR.
There we’re 3 of us small tire turbo cars so I asked the track manager if he could spray a little later in the evening. Which he did!
Nothing earth shattering, 9.17@150 was my best. 16 psi in low and 21-22 psi 2nd and 3rd.
Was good to make some runs. It’s been awhile.
Ron we had the same problem with our car wheelieing. We had our shocks set full tight. Still couldn't keep it on the ground. We run spray. We now run Menscers all the way around. Our fronts are only on 3 clicks now. The car hooks incredibly good all the way down the track now. We did nothing else. We now crank the spray way up and leave a 1000rpm higher and it never leaves the ground. Menscers are worth every penny. The support you will get from them is priceless.
Ron we had the same problem with our car wheelieing. We had our shocks set full tight. Still couldn't keep it on the ground. We run spray. We now run Menscers all the way around. Our fronts are only on 3 clicks now. The car hooks incredibly good all the way down the track now. We did nothing else. We now crank the spray way up and leave a 1000rpm higher and it never leaves the ground. Menscers are worth every penny. The support you will get from them is priceless.
I have Viking Crusader fronts. Not the high hp version. I didn't have them quite full stiff, 3 clicks shy. Full stiff was the next test. As usual, the wheelstand was unexpected.
I guess they make a stiffer high hp version now.
Are the Menscers going to be a coilover setup?
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