Rod Bearing Job

Lawrence Coppari · 02-13-2002, 04:25 AM

Well, I nearly have the engine reassembled after replacing the rod bearings. I should get around to starting it this weekend. So it is all over except for either the tears or cheers!

Mike B · 02-13-2002, 06:58 AM

Good job Lawrence...I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Lawrence Coppari · 02-13-2002, 07:28 AM

Thanks Mike B. The intake system goes on tonight. As soon as I get my injector rebuild kit from Pelican, the injectors will be ready.

wolfrpi · 02-13-2002, 03:59 PM

Was number #2 worn noticeably?

Lawrence Coppari · 02-14-2002, 03:02 AM

Yes, #2 was the worst. Car had 131K on it and about 40 hrs of track time. But car was bought in '96 with 90K on it, so its history is unknown. Crank miked out within tolerance. Plastigage said everything was also ok.

On the track, I have always overfilled by 1/2 quart.

wolfrpi · 02-14-2002, 11:13 AM

Thanks for the info. Do you have a digital camera to take a picture of the rod bearings. If so that would be great. Danno on Rennlist just did the same procedure and his #2 looked much worse than the others. We're still trying to find the root-cause of the damage.

Lawrence Coppari · 02-14-2002, 12:51 PM

I'll take pictures of them and email them to you. Can't do it tonight because I left them in the office. Will do it this weekend.

Lawrence Coppari · 02-17-2002, 09:08 AM

Job is finished. Drove car this morning, and it seems ok. I also had my throttle body reamed. I cannot get the idle below 1200 rpm unless I manually turn the throttle against stops. I backed off on the stop and screwed in the little brass air bleed thing all the way. Wonder if there is too much clearance at the butterfly.

Mike B · 02-17-2002, 01:25 PM

Glad to hear it Lawrence...I know it is early but at this point do you think the throttle body mod. was worth it...

Lawrence Coppari · 02-17-2002, 02:29 PM

At the moment I'm not happy with the throttle body. I purchased two boost tubes, both of which are larger and one has a jetted banjo bolt. That one has not been installed yet. Only the post intercooler tube has be installed along with the reamed throttle body. New spark plugs were also installed. Car seems to have more off boost acceleration. Until I put a few hundred miles on it I won't do an acceleration test. Drove it 70 easy miles today.

The problem that has begun with the reamed throttle body is the idle is too high - about 1400 rpm but constant. The adjusting screw is all the way in and gets it down to 1400 but no lower. The switch thing seems to be working as it should. Next weekend I plan to disassemble and try to figure out what is going on. I did notice that if I manually twist the throttle cam, the idle does come down. That tells me there is air slipping by under normal spring loading on the butterfly.

So it is not working to my satifaction. I don't see any oil leaks, however. And the oil pressure comes up faster when the engine is started.

Lawrence Coppari · 02-18-2002, 02:34 PM

Got my idle back to 900 and could go lower if I want. It was operator error. Reamed body seems to work fine now.

Mike B · 02-19-2002, 03:58 PM

Glad you figured it out Lawrence...After you drive it for a while I would be interested in you opinion on the modification...

arnebret · 02-23-2002, 12:50 AM

Hmm, i have the same thing. I cleaned out my throttle body (was completly black) and was having a high rpm idle as well. After a bit of playing with the bleed screw i was able to get a normal 900rpm's. What did the trick in you case?

Lawrence Coppari · 02-23-2002, 03:13 AM

I installed it improperly. I had the switch adjusted incorrectly so it was preventing the butterfly from completely closing. This took the air valve out of the equation. I discovered what I had done by removing the throttle body and holding it up to a light. I saw a little light all the way around the supposedly closed butterfly. When I repositioned the switch, the butterfly closed the last little bit. My error, thing works well now.

Well, it's time for new timing and balance shaft belts this morning. Following this, it's ready for another year of track duty.