Titanium rod refurbishment
 

Does anyone know if Ti rods (Pankl GT3) can be refurbished? And if so who could do this work?

Regards,

Hi Steven,

I'd be sending them back to Pankl for this since it take special equipment to resize the big ends.

Brian Pauter may do this too, but you'd have to ask him.

If they are close to being timed out, Pankl may elect not to do this due to liability concerns.

What would be timed out? 20 hours? What about a street engine with 24,000 miles? Is that timed out?

50 hours for an engine that sees 8K-9K RPM like RSR motors, 100 hours for engines that regularly see 8K, such as Cup engines.

Its all about max sustained RPM (usage) more than just miles.

Thanks Steve, I'll give Brian a call first, then as a last resort talk to Pankl.

These were out of a street GT3 with about 12k miles on it, it was turned into a race car not sure of the 12k is race miles. It was rebuilt into an RSR spec engine, so the rods, crank, heads etc were replaced.

The rods measure up well, I would just like to have them brought back to spec and new bushings etc put in.

Spoke to Brian, he will be able to look after them for me..... Thanks Steve

OK, dumb questions...so how do they keep a log of how many hours at 8000rpm on the rods? Is this something that's built into the engine management system? Do vehicles sold for street use have some sort of built-in hour log as well?

Thanks

Thats not a dumb question at all,... its totally legitimate.

Since there is no practical way to measure stresses in a race engine, Porsche Motorsports (and anyone with experience at this) makes specific recommendations based on testing to failure. This is why they recommend 50 hours (RSR) to 100 hour (Cup) replacement intervals.

The racing ECU's do log hours as well as various types of overrev events. :)

Street engine ECU's do not log hours, simply types of overrev occurrences to help one determine how much stress they have been subjected to.

Now,...street engines rarely see 8K RPM, unlike Cup & RSR engines which get revved to 8K to 9K, several times a lap, so the operating conditions are totally different. That said, Ti rods should always be replaced when the engine is rebuilt and thats why the true costs of owning & operating a GT-3 isn't for the faint of heart (or wallet).

Kinda makes you appreciate those "old" air-cooled engines, eh? :) :)

Well said good sir. I will take my "Briggs & Stratton" air cooled setup as far as it will take me. Just can't justify the the big dollar water cooled stuff for a grassroots racer like me. Especially when sickening engine failure occurs. :(

How about a Hobbs Meter hooked to an RPM window switch, so it only records hours when the motor is above 3000 rpm? That would seem to be an effective means to measure "at speed" wear as opposed to time spent idling.

All the engines are expensive if built with Ti rods.

Thanks Steve. I'm with Kevin for now. Will be hanging back with the 911 crowd for a while. Great times none the less.

Michael Mount has the correct tooling and information from pankel and is well versed in rebuilding these rods , Which in fact have a very long service life. You can reach him at:

Michael Mount
BPMS
5210 Minnick Rd.
Laurel, MD 20707
301.490.3131 shop
301.490.1962 fax