Anyone heard from Chris?

[scwaters]

Chris who crashed his red 944 at last year's MAW and replaced it with a beautiful black 944 Turbo, had a bit of engine trouble at Shattenbaum's Summit event last month.  Has anyone heard from him?

[JoeP]

Yup.

[cjbcpa]

Thanks for asking, still breathing. Something went catastrophically wrong with my motor at Summit. Number two connecting rod was  torn in two and went right through the oil pan. I pulled the motor just this past weekend and the carnage is incredible.

Still not certain what caused the problem. I'll tear that block down for parts and hopefully learn the answer. Should have the motor from my MAW wreck installed by Watkins Glen. Since that one was out and on a stand, I decided to check rod bearings and fix a leaking rear main seal. Will also be swapping the light weight flywheel over to that motor as well. Trying to avoid too much of the WYIT syndrome and just get back on the track.

Someone asked me why I went and bought another 951 after my wreck and my response was "It's the devil I know." Boy, I know it well now! By the time I'm done, I should qualify for an ASE certification. Any more trouble and I'm doing an LSx swap. Already bought the manual.

CB

[Jimbeau]

I hear Joe Asher is selling his!

[AMoore]

cjbcpa wrote:

Any more trouble and I'm doing an LSx swap. Already bought the manual.

CB

It would be the perfect addition to the Riesentoter Porsche and Corvette Club

[Larry Herman]

Chris, the number 2 rod bearing is notorious for failing in 951s, especially those that have been chipped.

I pulled the bottom end of my son Dan's 951 last winter and the bearing was wiped, on the verge of damaging the crank journal.  The rest were fine.  Chances are that yours failed and broke the rod cap, and the crank came around and pounded everything into smithereens.

The top bearings are #2, the bottom is half of #1.

[cjbcpa]

I've heard the horror stories about number 2. Unfortunately for my wallet, I just had those replaced a week before the event. Not that it couldn't have failed, but it was likely something further upstream in the chain of events. Hopefully I'll know soon.

CB

[Larry Herman]

No, I agree.  Unless they were improperly installed it sounds like it was something else.

Just for fun, make sure that you check the torque on the other rod bolts when it comes apart.

[asher681]

Jimbeau wrote:

I hear Joe Asher is selling his!

Where did you hear that ??? I plan on attending the Glen , Pocono & Thunderbolt, You only live once !!!!!

[StoogeMoe203]

Oh no Chris!  I can't believe the bad luck you are having with your 951's.  And I never got to see your black beast in action.

Did the car have the Lindsey oil baffle installed?  This is supposed to prevent oil starvation under hard left handed turns.  It also contains a ring which gets welded around the oil pickup.   I have one in mine and am ok still.  (Hurry - find a piece of wood to knock on).  I think I have only heard of one failure occurring with that baffle.  Just curious, did the engine fail in a left hander?  There's only a couple at Summit.

Just take your time putting it all together.  It's not hard as you know, just time consuming.  I might be able to offer assistance, but things are busy for me right now.  Just ask, and I can see if I have the time.