History of a Lola T492 Sports 2000 chassis?

[911thillclimber]

Thnaks for the kind words and the heads-up!
Those rods are fab at that price!
Pity my big-end is larger than those!

The 3.2 911 engine I have shares it's crank and rods with the 3.3 litre Turbo and has the larger big end diameter.
I called Tech 9 and they confirmed this to be so.

Odd that the modern high performance racing 911's have a smaller big end than the road going early cars.

I'm still waiting for a verdict on this engine of mine.

Mrs Hillclimber wants to see the back of the engine for another.

[Clive Brown]

Having said which, it looks like the explosion might well have been caused by a piston failure, so you need a full set of new pistons in any case. Can you confirm that the rod bolts on the failed #5 cylinder were intact?

[911thillclimber]

The failure was all in #4, but the rod bolts were fine on all the rods. The small rod bolts are a known failure point if you go over 6700 rpm as are the rockers.

I think the piston lost it's skirt right under the oil control ring grove and the loose crown went up into the head and stayed there.
Part of something punched a hole into the cylinder side wall and the barrel was split in one corner and a long crack was opposite ready to burst.

The engine is now all cleaned and washed and will be measured next wednesday.
If the block or crank is bent the engine is scrap.

I will ten either get another 911 engine (3.2 911/3.6 964/3.6 993 or change the motor over to something else. That is a £3500 trip

It is 'easy' to adapt a subaru turbo motor to the box, an easy 300 bhp with great reliability, but what a lot of work all over again.

[911thillclimber]

Subaru is out of the question now, a dry sump kit is a staggering £2600.
So, back to the 911 range.
993's are available, 310 ish bhp on carbs.
£3500 for a bare engine with twin plugs/head and other nice things.

Mrs Hillclimber is about 95% there...

[911thillclimber]

Subaru is out of the question now, a dry sump kit is a staggering £2600.
So, back to the 911 range.
993's are available, 310 ish bhp on carbs.
£3500 for a bare engine with twin plugs/head and other nice things.

Mrs Hillclimber is about 95% there...

[911thillclimber]

Decision time.
Found a complete 993 engine for very good money, can be 310 bhp on carbs and very strong innerds.

[911thillclimber]

After a bit of a scare, decided to stick with the old engine...

The crank is still straight, checking the block now to check #4 has not swollen the block.
Plan is to get the engine back together by end Aug (cost of parts is a bit....gulp) and might get the box CWP upgraded to 8:32 which will jack all the gears up and will give about a 110 mph top end @ 6500 and cut-out a gear change getting to many bends on my favorite hills.

Last climb at Loton Park in Sept is the target, may need a bit of a following wind to do that as I might have to pop over to China again for a week...

A solid weekend at Silverstone Classic this weekend will cheer me up no end. Going in the 911 by Mrs hillclimber's insistance, posing at it's best.

Least it's 3.2 engine works.

These two cars in my life sleep next to each other, the 911 I've owned and lived with for 24 years is a bit like the wife, dependable, robust, forgiving, delivers when asked.

The Lola is a like a mistress, sulky, iffy, not totally yours, all a bit 'on-loan'. i can imagine them telling stories to each other scoring points....

Oh dear, cracked-up.

If the 911 engine was cream-crackerd I had spotted a dry sumped Duratec @ a reputed 220 bhp and a wide gear Hewland Mk8 hillclimb box, 7K the pair.

I'm slightly dissapointed it has survived.

The mistress is getting a bit frustrating, expensive and a bit questionable.

[andy97]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

A bit like the wife, dependable, robust, forgiving, delivers when asked.

The Lola is a like a mistress, sulky, iffy, not totally yours, all a bit 'on-loan'. i can imagine them telling stories to each other scoring points....


The mistress is getting a bit frustrating, expensive and a bit questionable.

You sure that you've got this the right way round !!

[Clive Brown]

I do hope that apart from having the crank checked for truth, you have had it crack tested as well! Throwing a leg out of bed with the rod still attached must give the crank a fair old whack, and I'm sure you do not need me to tell you just what the consequences of your freshly rebuilt engine breaking its crank might be....

Just out of interest, what put you off the 993 motor? I guess the historically-authentic 420R/FT200 combination is not an option.

I have my doubts about 220bhp through a Mk.8, no matter what gears it has in it. It's the likely longevity of the CWP in hillclimb use that would worry me.

[911thillclimber]

Sounds like the engine might be from a scammer!
I'm not about to risk £3500 on that, so I'm spending the same on this engine, but it will be fresh inside.

Crank journals are on nominal, and now in the Engine m/c shop somewhere being check for straightness/cracks.

Block ok, all un-plugged and deeeeep cleaned along with media blasted parts and more oilway cleaning.
New cooler in place, dry sump tank had 3 small non ferrous particles in it, now cleaned with thinners (you can split the tank and get access.)

Heads being re-faced so will sit down tight and #4 head will be rescued.

Need to get rod bolts, the alleged weak link on these big 911 engines. Should fit ARP bolts at £220 a set...£100 more than Porsche bolts.

All other parts sourced to replace the dead #4 and then all the other parts.. never ending costs.

The Hewland in question has survived a good 2 litre in a single seater with 14" rims and A15 Avons. No reverse gear is the real problem.

On ebay there is a Pinto rough engine with an Audi gearbox on it for £100, then there was the Duratec for 5K...a Hart is rather out of my pockets!

Glorious Silverstone this weekend for some real motorsport; taking the beloved 911.(and Mrs hillclimber, who has given me £200 pocket money for the Autojumble)

Just got back from a short run, what a car.

http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listin...d_gearbox.html

[Clive Brown]

Money spent on quality rod bolts is never wasted....

[911thillclimber]

I'm sure you are correct Clive.
The fuss over the tightening spec/method is another jungle!

I first thought the motor had failed due to a rod bolt, but all were sound. Hot thinking is the skirt cracked away and got shredded by the crank.

[Clive Brown]

From the pictures, it certainly looks like a piston failure. In the absence of any other mitigating factor, this of course means that the remaining five pistons must also be suspect on a fatigue life basis, and therefore consigned to the scrap bin. But at least with everything measured , crack tested, and/or new, you should be able to have some confidence in the provenance and likely longevity of your motor.

[911thillclimber]

They were all from a 50k miles 911!
My yellow 911 has the same type of engine, thrashed for 12 years hillclimbing from 60k miles to today at 120K miles. Engine never been apart.

[911thillclimber]

Very very slow progress, but still progress.

Parts coming together, bills mounting (ie £1000)

This delay has allowed me to attend some historic meetings notably Silverstone and Donnington.

I've fallen in love.

With this fab Standard 8 racer.

What am I doing gents?

Standard 8 in good condition = £2500
Race prep = 2500

Engine rebuild of the Lola = £4K

Time for a thinking session once the car is working again.

[Clive Brown]

You should know that cheating on your mistress can only lead to disaster....

[sebring115]

Well, I dont think the std8 would be in the same league as the lola!!!! Stick with it its wonderful!!!. Ive just had the same problem with the Elden S2000s pinto engine, piston failed, engine destroyed!!!

Have you spoken to JP at Silverstone about the mk9 for sale, maybe he knows of a way of putting a reverse in and probably could give you more of an overview of a mk9s capabilities!

Cheers

Mark

[911thillclimber]

Clive:
You can have more than one mistress.....but not in the same garage.

Mrs Hillclimber happy to have the Standard (for hillclimbing) but the Lola must go first.

It is a tempting idea as the build would be very nostalgic for me and my hot rodding past in the early 70's.

One with full MX5 suspension and 1500 Spitfire drive train sounds good to me!
I would stay dry and could drive it there and back; no trailer, what bliss.

As to the Hewland;

I spoke to him some years ago and very helpful he was.

As far as I know you cannot run wide 1st with reverse. I think he agreed and said hillclimb starts were the worst task for a Mk9.

There are stacks of them on the hills, and FT 200's too.
None have reverse.

[911thillclimber]

After a huge 5 week gap, the bits of the engine are being collected on Sat next so the build can get done.

Crank is straight and crack-free
All heads refaced
New exhaust valves as everyone was bent
New exhaust rocker arms as every one was broken bar one
Block line bored and checked for truth
New cylinder studs as # 4's were stretched by the impact of the piston
Fresh rod little ends
3 days for everything in the acid washer all oilways flushed and re-plugged
Matching piston and cylinder found with matching rod

£1250 cost with a stack of discounts in there.

Need to order £1500 of rebuild bearings, gaskets etc etc etc etc.

A pro will take a good week to rebuild a 911 engine so i save 40 hours x £50 as a DIY exercise.
No need to rush as the chances of getting it ready for the last hillclimb in late Sept is a remote chance.

Bit of a roller coaster year this, Getting the Chassis number, getting the engine to run, getting used to the car, getting to rebuild it again.
What fun 'till the last bit.

The Standard 8 is getting to be a serious option.
The Lola could sell if the engine is all done and the car on the button.

Would be the Real Deal for the Super Saloon series with a nice pink Karmann body on top!

[911thillclimber]

After a very long wait have all the parts in the garage and no money left!
Familiar story I think...

Built the rods onto the crank and the crank into the one case half along with the oil pump (dry sump remember) and the cam timing gears and chains.

You need a good clear few hours to close the lower case with the upper, two torque wrenches and the clock. you have 40 mins to close the lot off before the case sealant goes off...
So, avoided that this weekend and did the heads.

all 6 of them.
Two heads needed 4 seats so 4 guided had to go in. The 'specialist' had done a good job.

One guide was not reamed to size so the new inlet valve in the dreaded # 4 would not fit the guide. A round trip of 4 hours later and the reaming was done. Why was the size not checked?

Anyway, lapped the valves into the heads and got to #4 and #5 which had the new guides fitted.

JUST got 3 guide seals onto the guides , but the 4th defeated me wrecking 2 seals in the process.

The new guide s are larger than the original porsche one in the other heads...
The seals fit easy on those, but not the new guides!

Is ANYONE good at what they specialise in nowadays?

So more argey-bargey to get the guide 'fixed' so the seal will fit....

I only paid £2078 for all this machining so I should not expect it to be right.
Silly me.

This engine just keeps on fighting back.

Went to Shelsley Walsh hillclimb today in the 911.
Good day out, great cars to say the least. Are Loti better than Lola's?

I have to say I have not really missed hillclimbing.

Oh dear....

Driving the old 911 was flippin' hard graft in the sunday traffic, not good!










Very special Lotus, know what it is?

[brookesy]

That looks like the 12 cylinder Ariel 23b Graham do you have any pictures of the engine?

[911thillclimber]

10/10 my friend!
No shots, but it went well up the hill and sounded surprisingly good!

Fab array of Loti at the meeting, some very very special.

Cylinder head now on its way back for fettling and the seal fitted....

Far too late to get the engine done now for this year, so the season is over.
Very bitter about this state of affairs, but have to move on.

I'm back to the Must Sell It mode, so ignore me...

That Standard looks good still.
Hoping to see it again at Mallory this coming weekend.

Gold Cup sunday to cheer a few mates on, Mallory Monday.

[MGDavid]

no wonder she's a bit capricious, what with you letting all these cowboy outfits loose on her bits
seriously though, what does one have to do to find a decent engineer that'll do a proper job - even for a king's ransom?

[brookesy]

There is a reason for my interest in the Lotus 23 Graham, as the Nike I have was designed to carry 23 bodywork, and after various channels I have followed to decide which bodywork to actually use I have finally made the decision to go the Lotus route, so expect to see a 23 bodied Nike Mk7 with Porsche flat six power at some time in the future.

[911thillclimber]

Good choice!
The 23 body has some nice details.
There was a 'kit-car' version with , I think, an Alfasud engine/box?
(a few other combo's too) but never a flat 6!

Sounds good.