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5-09-05
I finally got access to an engine hoist and pulled the block out of the beast. It was and interesting experience... The actual block pulling wasn't bad at all. I took some time to label and prepare things, and then unbolted everything and hoisted it out. The transmission was a bit more of a headache... just in terms of trying to pull it out of the tight space between the crossmember and the firewall since we couldn't really drop it through the bottom of the car while it was on relatively short jackstands. In the end all of it came out, and i got a great night's rest starting at about 5:00 am :-/.
With the engine gone and on the stand, it was time to dig in and see what i could find. I didn't have to look too hard to find answers. The piston from cylinder #1 (the cylinder that originally showed lost compression) had cracked between the compression rings. The crack led to a siezed second ring. Cylinder #3 also had a cracked piston. The crack in cylinder 3 didn't sieze up the rings.
So 2 pistons are cracked. This doesn't really change the plans much. I'm going to have to get some honing done to the cylinders, source a few pistons, and rering.
I seems to be a good idea to double check the screen on the oil pump intake tract. Some scary things tend to end up there. You can see the buildup on the picture below. There's also a picture of a set of the rod bearings and an upside down N9t.
Sadly, many of the N9t parts are becoming scarce. Finding a set of rod bearings is extremely difficult, and if they are found, they will cost a hefty 30 dollars per HALF. Yea there goes quite a bit of cash right there. Add on the main bearings for another pretty penny. Compare the costs to a more "normal" situation and you'll find that you're spending about 3x as much to rebuild the good old N9t. Now on to the parts you simply can NOT find anymore... like the recently illusive intake manifold and exhaust manifold gaskets, the oil pan gasket, and some other seals. How about timing chain guides? Well, It would be nice to do a perfect rebuild, but in my current state of economic health (and the fact that some of these parts just don't exist anymore) that just won't happen. It looks as if i might be able to get away with a hone/re-ring and that's about it. I don't really know how much longer i'm going to be beating up on my 505turbo, especially with parts getting to be so rare these days.
However, these sad facts didn't stop me from paying some attention to some particular areas of interest ;-) [Intake Manifold Porting].
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