[flash]

shipping is only goitng to be about 10 bucks each way on the cross member - that makes it barely over 300, not nearly 400



i challenge you to find a 4 wheel alignment, with rear ride height set, at anything less than $140 - $140 is the best we have ever heard of - that budget place around the corner from you could not do the job - they, like many shops, do not have the ecentric tool, or the thin wrenches required, let alone a tech up to the task



so far, we have only found ONE shop that can do a proper alignment within a 50 mile radius



it still does not address the TIME involved - i'm not inclined to spend another large chunk of of my time (which is REAL MONEY) running the car back and forth to the alignment shop for the day if i don't have to



i think we've beaten this one to death - do what you want - spend however much you want, every time you have to get in there, now that you have 100k on your car, and leaks are immenent, as well as eventual lower end work



if they had designed this right in the first place, we would be complimenting them on their foresight and ingenuity, rather than criticizing the mere correction of a bad design



this one goes on the long list of things they should have done right the first time, but thankfully, can easily be corrected



now if i could just figure out a better top design

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[Greimann]

Once again we have strayed somewhat from the original intent of this thread and for that I spank us all.



This is not about me, Ron, Flash or how much we charge ourselves for our time to work on our own vehicles. This is about giving good advice to Mr. Cloud9....68 and how his situation can be maximized for vehicle reliablility and financial benefit, and we all have had our say about that.

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[Eric_K]

To the original question, the additional things I would consider if the crossmember is off are changing the oil pan gasket and rod bearings, plus fixing any issues with the steering rack. If the gasket isn't leaking, I wouldn't touch it. The gasket and bearing job is not hard but it is tedious. You have to be very careful around the rod journals. The gasket is a PITA because it was obviously designed to be installed with the engine upside down on a stand.



I just don't see the huge time savings with the 3 piece crossmember. It would save me an hour or so. Remember, it won't help you in motor mount changes. It would save the undoing of 6 bolts (4 motor mount, 2 front control arm bolts) and wrestling with supporting the engine, which is not that big a deal. I don't know why Flash is messing with the castor blocks.



Eric

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[orphanowner]

[quote name='Eric_K' date='Dec 27 2005, 09:09 AM']To the original question, the additional things I would consider if the crossmember is off are changing the oil pan gasket and rod bearings, plus fixing any issues with the steering rack. If the gasket isn't leaking, I wouldn't touch it. The gasket and bearing job is not hard but it is tedious. You have to be very careful around the rod journals. The gasket is a PITA because it was obviously designed to be installed with the engine upside down on a stand.



I just don't see the huge time savings with the 3 piece crossmember. It would save me an hour or so. Remember, it won't help you in motor mount changes.  It would save the undoing of 6 bolts (4 motor mount, 2 front control arm bolts) and wrestling with supporting the engine, which is not that big a deal. I don't know why Flash is messing with the castor blocks.



Eric

[right][post="13762"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



A few tips on the oil pan gasket and rod bearing replacement. If I was pulling the pan, I absolutely would replace the oil pan gasket, even more so than the rod bearings. The gasket is now at least 11 years old and on it's way to failure due to heat. The oil pan gasket, like Eric says, is designed to be installed with the engine flipped over, that is, with the crank up and the head down. I've had a lot of success by cleaning the gasket surface with brake clean, and using silicone gasket sealer on the front and rear pan grooves located in the main bearing saddle (make sure to hit the corners where the saddle joins the block) and then using 3M weather stripping adhesive along the pan rails and using the pan bolts to hold the gasket in place while the weather-stripping adhesive dries. This works excellent to hold the gasket in place and will not compromise the repair.



As for rod bearings, unless the car has been raced with a low oil level or there is some reason to suspect rod bearing damage (coolant in the crankcase from a head gasket failure), I would leave this alone. I know a lot of people will differ on this, but I'm talking from extensive experience. A first timer has a better chance nicking the rod journal with the rod bolts or damaging a new bearing than actually repairing a problem here. If the rod bearings are worn, you have bigger issues than a pan gasket or motor mount replacement.



In any event, be sure to replace the rod nuts with new if you do replace the rod bearings.



One more thing to check when you have the motor mounts and cross member out would be the cap seal on the rear of the lower balance shaft housing. The O ring on my engine was so deteriorated that the cap was actually rattling when the car was idling and of course was leaking pretty good. I choose an alternative repair consisting of what I call the “Gorilla snot” treatment. This worked great and required nothing more than some brake clean and high temp Ultra silicone and the car is now leak free.

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[Cloud9...68]

Thanks again to everybody for all the advice. I hope it will prove helpful to anybody needing to replace their mounts in the near future, which probably includes quite a few people, given the age of our cars. Here's how I would summarize the situation:



- No question, go with OEM mounts, not aftermarket. Paragon has them for $103 ea.

- The power steering fluid line sounds like it's best left alone. There's no sign of a leak on mine.

- Ditto for the steering rack. Mine is bone dry on the outside.

- The oil pan gasket is borderline, as mine doesn't seem to have any drips, but given that my pan is fairly damp, I think I'll go ahead and replace the gasket, following all the excellent advice given by several people on this and the other board.

- I'll check the oil pickup tube(s?) for cracks. Not sure if I could see a hairline crack, but I'll take a close look. I'll look in the manual, of course, but if anyone has any good pictures of the oil pickup tube or tubes, I would really appreciate it if you could post them.

- Several of you mentioned the rod bearings. According to the records provided by the PO, my car got an oil change about every 4000 miles. The engine has 89,000 miles, and here are the oil pressure gauge readings, taken on an unseasonably warm day here in Austin (mid 70's, 76 deg on the interior temp gauge), fully warmed up after about 30 minutes of running:



rpm Gauge Reading



idle ~2.2

1200 3.0

2000 ~4.1

3000 ~4.2

6000 ~4.8 (just under the last bar)



The car, especially since the airbox mod, and with the RacerX chip, runs VERY strong. So, my feeling is that the reward associated with replacing the rod bearings at this time probably doesn't outweigh the risk.

- Orphanowner, great input on the cap seal on the rear of the lower balance shaft housing. What exactly is the "gorilla snot" treatment? The seal on the front of the lower balance shaft housing definitely has a small leak, so I'd like to know if this could help here.

- As for the controversial 3-piece crossmember, sorry, Flash, but given that removal of the oil pan is such a rare occurrence under normal circumstances, especially once I get the new gasket in, I just don't can't justify it. My car also has new castor blocks, sway bar & bushings, shocks, etc., and I only put 2-3K miles on it a year, so the front end is unlikely to need any work in the near future. Anybody else out their who has put in the Lindsey Racing unit, and would be willing to join Flash in recommending it? Looks very cool, but I think I'm going to pass.

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[Eric_K]

If the car is not tracked regularly you could probably get away with not doing the rod bearings until the gasket was due again.



This is what the bottom end of my engine looked like.

   

Here is the engine support I ebay'd. It worked really well.

   



Eric

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[Cloud9...68]

Eric,



Thanks for the pictures. Is cracking of the oil pick up lines a common occurrence? They look pretty robust from the picture.

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[orphanowner]

[quote name='Cloud9...68' date='Dec 27 2005, 05:21 PM']- Orphanowner, great input on the cap seal on the rear of the lower balance shaft housing.  What exactly is the "gorilla snot" treatment?  The seal on the front of the lower balance shaft housing definitely has a small leak, so I'd like to know if this could help here.

[right][post="13788"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]





The world famous "Gorilla Snot" treatment is as follows: clean affected area with brake clean and dry with compressed air. Make certain that no oil residue remains. To be sure, wait 24 hours before treatment and perform cleaning exercise more than once. Apply copious quantities of high quality Ultra Blue Permatex silicone to seam at housing and end plug. making certain to fill seam area with silicone in a uninterrupted bead. Wait 24 hours before running engine and you should have fixed a seam leak short of component disassembly.



There are only a few areas on the 968 engine that this type of "repair" would work and be considered an acceptable repair. I can only think of the balance shaft end cap seals, however there may be other places this approach would work. Unfortunately, a balance shaft front housing leak is not an area I'd try this type of repair. I don't think you have the access necessary to give it the "treatment" properly, and doing the repair correctly is pretty simple during a belt replacement and not the same extensive disassembly required to replace the balance shaft end plug O ring.



I was given some sheit over this repair, but I simply didn't have the time or motivation to do it "by the book". The G/S treatment worked flawless in this case, but YMMV.

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[Eric_K]

Is cracking of the oil pick up lines a common occurrence?

I'm not sure, but it certainly isn't unheard of. Charles Geer has posted that it has happened to several track cars including his. I think there is a also a correlation to having mistimed balance shafts or running without balance shaft belt. Vibration induced fatigue.



Eric

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