Chairpilot is god...and the GT4 engine is out! | FerrariChat
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Chairpilot is god...and the GT4 engine is out!

Discussion in '308/328' started by sammyb, Jul 14, 2011.

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  1. sammyb

    sammyb Formula 3

    Jun 23, 2006
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    #1 sammyb, Jul 14, 2011
    So Bob R. (Chairpilot) was in town visiting his sons, and just for fun he came over (with Ryan and Tim) to help me pull the engine on the GT4. Bob was instrumental in getting that thing out. Not the easiest thing in the world to do -- mostly because it's a tight fit and the things one must remove mid-lift are not easy to reach in a mid-engine car with a high back. He's a limber guy!

    It was one of those frustrating but really fun jobs. I couldn't ask for better cohorts for the job.

    Now the cleaning begins in preparation for Bill B. rebuilding it.
     
  2. Ferraripilot

    Ferraripilot F1 World Champ
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    #2 Ferraripilot, Jul 14, 2011
    glad it's out! you need victory pics, and something to show how horrid your engine currently looks! they are usually quite filthy by now
     
  3. sammyb

    sammyb Formula 3

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    #3 sammyb, Jul 14, 2011
    Oh John, it's DISGUSTING how oily and greasy the engine is! Now there's tons of coolant on it, as well. The first job is to simply clean up the tools and make sure all the parts are in bags with tags indicating where they go!

    I'd post pix, but I used up my space allocation last year.
     
  4. miketuason

    miketuason F1 World Champ
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    #4 miketuason, Jul 14, 2011
    Bob's a great guy, now I know who to call in case I need to pull my motor out.:)
     
  5. chairpilot

    chairpilot Formula 3

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    #5 chairpilot, Jul 14, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  6. Ferraripilot

    Ferraripilot F1 World Champ
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    #6 Ferraripilot, Jul 15, 2011
    Jeez you guys make it sound difficult. So what's the plan with the motor?
     
  7. chairpilot

    chairpilot Formula 3

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    #7 chairpilot, Jul 15, 2011
    This 308 engine pull out was a first for all of us. Sam had all the basic stuff already detached when we arrived: Fuel & coolant lines, engine mounts (from frame), clutch linkage, muffler, half shafts, etc.

    What we thought may not be necessary turned out to be mandatory, at least for Sam's GT4:
    1. Remove rear engine mounts FROM THE BLOCK
    2. Remove the exhaust manifolds

    Sam's new Harbor Freight hoist worked great. One of those screw-rack type hoist bar brackets that allow you to shift the engine's center of gravity relative to the hoist's lift point would have been a (safer) help (maybe next time Sammy - to reinstall it!). We improvised by using two ratchet straps as a substitute to literally rotate the engine block almost 45 degrees to afford the clearance needed at the firewall and rear frame rail. We dodged one other bullet with Sam's ceiling height being about 1" higher than what we needed for the engine and lifting boom to clear the GT4's rear deck upon extraction - thank goodness for that!! Of course we probably could have deflated the tires to get a few more inches if needed.

    All in all - what took us 3 hours probably could have been cut by half if we had initially removed the exhaust manifolds and rear engine mounts before attempting the extraction.

    Sam - email me some more pictures of the continuing process and I'll post them for you here or on a new thread if you like.

    Thanks for letting me "learn" on your car Sam!
    Bob
     
  8. Ferraripilot

    Ferraripilot F1 World Champ
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    #8 Ferraripilot, Jul 15, 2011
    Good stuff! 3 hours isn't bad if you had to go through all that. Now the fun begins
     
  9. chairpilot

    chairpilot Formula 3

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    #9 chairpilot, Jul 15, 2011
    That's 3 hours after we arrived. I assume Sam spent a few hours ahead of that doing the preliminaries - right Sam?
     
  10. sammyb

    sammyb Formula 3

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    #10 sammyb, Jul 15, 2011
    I had probably another two hours into removing/disconnecting other parts. Bob is right -- had I simply removed the rear header (which takes twenty minutes), we simply could have rotated the engine, removed the front header quickly (since it's pointing nearly straight up) and pulled the thing out very quickly.

    You live and learn...or you die trying with your friends cursing you!!! (Luckily Bob is too nice to curse me in public!!!) ;)

    The engine is going to Bill Borum to be torn apart. It was smoking like Spy Hunter, although we figured out the general source of the issue when we removed the rear header and oil poured fromt the number 3 pipe. The engine was rebuilt about 400 miles ago, so the DPM (Dumb Previous Mechanic) must have installed the oil rings incorrectly (or broken one.)

    I was surprised to find after cutting off the front header's heat shield that it wasn't cracked. The rear header was cracked badly when I first removed it last year. Small victory!!!
     
  11. chairpilot

    chairpilot Formula 3

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    #11 chairpilot, Jul 15, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  12. sammyb

    sammyb Formula 3

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    #12 sammyb, Jul 15, 2011
    And the reason Ryan has a rag in the manifold is that it had probably 16oz of oil in it!

    At this point, I suppose I'd rather have something stupid, cheap and easy to fix in just one cyl than something horrible and expensive in all cylinders.

    Was out there with some degreaser today cleaning the engine up a little.
     
  13. chairpilot

    chairpilot Formula 3

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    #13 chairpilot, Jul 15, 2011
    Sammy,

    Maybe try doing what I did to my 350 chevy ski boat 6 years ago. Pull the ONE head, the pan and detach the one suspect connecting rod cap and push the piston/rod assembly out the top. Hone the cylinder, replace the rings (and piston if necessary) - reinstall everything. It worked great for the next 5 years - still was good when I sold the boat!
    Maybe suggest this to Bill.
    Bob R.
     

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