History of a Lola T492 Sports 2000 chassis?

[911thillclimber]

Not the way I wanted to finish the year, but had to scratch my entry to Loton.
My mother was admitted to hospital and that would turn everything upside down, so cancelled.

Every dark cloud has a silver lining...at least I don't have to drive the hill in the wet today, and very very wet tomorrow.

Thus the season is over!

The Lola goes into 4 months storage on Wed so I can do the old 911 in the width of a double garage, there is a lot to do.

We won the Class in the Championship for the 3rd time running, so tuxedo needs to be dusted off in December for the do at the Chateaux Impney, all very glamorous.

The car has been great, no reliability issues, and drives so well thanks to the perfect chassis set-up by McClurg Motorsport.

Lots of hill climb cars carry his discreet sticker nowadays!

Thank you all for your support and interest this year and previous, makes all the difference.

Graham.

[Andy Clegg]

Sorry to hear about Mother. Well driven this year on winning the Championship.
Enjoy Chateaux Impney.

[Andy Clegg]

Hi I found some photos from Harewood Hill Climb in the 60's.

[911thillclimber]

Harewood is a really good hill, the track and the venue, if a bit tedious to get there.(from my place).

Run it several times but in my hot Impreza on slicks, road driven there and back.
It is well used by the Porsche guys today who do it in their droves.
Tempted to do it next year....

Have 'my' trophy on the shelf now, my name 3 times in a row, dead chuffed and beyond my dreams.

I'm re-restoring my old 911 now with the Lola in storage as I need the space. A 911 is very big when you take it apart!

While doing some boring work on it my mind has drifted to an engine hike to 3.4 litres, 8,000 rpm still on carbs.
Those extra revs would rule out the need to change gears so often, yield about 300bhp and a further 50 lbft.

[Andy Clegg]

I enjoyed Harewood. Not too far from home. They used to have rally stages in the grounds of the Estate also.
My Uncle told me one time while near Harewood just after taking a corner, a herd of sheep were in the middle of the road. That was in a Willment Cortina GT Mk 1 and knowing my Uncle he wouldn't have been hanging about.

[911thillclimber]

After what seems years, got the LOLA back out of storage today having finished the major work on the 911.

Only a few things to do on it and we are ready for 30th March, Club Member's Practice Day at Loton Park hillclimb.

Feels strange having a rammed garage again.

[911thillclimber]

Car up on stands as usual, off with the body and a good clean down all over.
I can do this in my sleep now.
Forgot to order an oil filter...but drained the oil anyway.

This was not a good idea.

I change the oil every year, so this run of oil is 12 months and about 100 miles old, and there was a constant wash of very fine copper coloured particles in the oil!

Never had this last oil change. Copper colour means crank bearings or rod bearings wearing.

Oil pressure has always been very high for a 911 engine, about 60 psi at 3K rpm.

Now, what to do?

Just tempted to run it as usual this year and it if fails it does.
I've started to think about an alternative drive train as next winter's project (again).

Everything else seems good, fuel filter has small particles in it (the tank is foam filled, suspect that is the contaminant.
I gave it a good clean before it went under wraps in storage, so a bit dustly.

Will get the engine running soon and hope there are no knocking noises.

An engine rebuild would be a pain now with 6 weeks to go!

[A.C.Clegg]

Would time for a rebuild be a bit tight Graham?

[911thillclimber]

Not really, I could do a bearing change in 2 weeks, just not sure I have the appetite for it right now!
I re did the whole engine after the Bib Bang at Prescott about 5 years ago, and the car has done about 500 miles since, so I wonder why one or more shells has started to wear so.
If I take it apart and the crank is damaged, then the season will be over!
Getting another crank will be impossible.

Plan is to start it and listen.
It was silent last year so possibly a main bearing shell.

Getting a new filter today, so will open the old one up and look inside, it should harbour the same mess....

[911thillclimber]

As above, opened the old filter up.
I change the oil and filter every year so this lot has done 100 miles tops in 2018.

Inside the filter is a dense paper concertina element of course..

And not one flake of copper to be found, just clean golden oil.

A mystery at the moment.

[Mike Harte]

Graham, it's a long time since I built an engine, but surely it's better to have a look at the crank at this stage rather than later when considerably more damage could be done. And if caught early, a quick lick on the crank and the use of slightly over size bearings is surely the cheapest option.

Hopefully I am not trying to teach my grandmother how to suck eggs! Whatever, good luck.

Edit. This was written before your latest post went up.

[911thillclimber]

It's tricky, I have decided to stick my head in the sands and run it.
If it goes bang it may be the time to change the whole drive train to a modern Porsche Boxster.
Water cooled, but about 320 bhp and a quick gearbox.
Could be quite a step forward.

[PeterMorley]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

Car up on stands as usual, off with the body and a good clean down all over.
I can do this in my sleep now.
Forgot to order an oil filter...but drained the oil anyway.

This was not a good idea.

I change the oil every year, so this run of oil is 12 months and about 100 miles old, and there was a constant wash of very fine copper coloured particles in the oil!

Never had this last oil change. Copper colour means crank bearings or rod bearings wearing.

Oil pressure has always been very high for a 911 engine, about 60 psi at 3K rpm.

Now, what to do?

Just tempted to run it as usual this year and it if fails it does.
I've started to think about an alternative drive train as next winter's project (again).

Everything else seems good, fuel filter has small particles in it (the tank is foam filled, suspect that is the contaminant.
I gave it a good clean before it went under wraps in storage, so a bit dustly.

Will get the engine running soon and hope there are no knocking noises.

An engine rebuild would be a pain now with 6 weeks to go!

Maybe run it for a while and check if there is any more copper in the oil afterwards?
If it's something failing then it would presumably continue to fail even when running statically - unless it's something like a thrust washer?

Fuel tank foam can disintegrate over time and bits block the fuel filter, jets etc., we had that with ±10 year old foam but were running methanol which is probably more aggressive.

[911thillclimber]

Think you are right Peter.

The hill climb championship I do here in the UK is split , pre and post summer holidays, so an oil change in the summer may be a good time to check.

Still strange the filter was super clean?

[Gerard C]

As to oil filter it will be hard to know what's stuck inside. What some do is drain the old one and wait for it to be dried then compare its weight with the exactly the same unit but new. Precision balance is needed. Not the kitchen one but……

[911thillclimber]

The contamination is like gold dust so really stands out. It is non ferrous.
The paper element in the filter was clean, not a 'sparkle' anywhere.

Non of the Porsche boys I know have an answer.

[Gerard C]

Have a look into your rad and inspect thoroughly all the lines going to and from. Do you put any product on the threads or/and the fittings? I would check the garage first looking for any product that could give this kind of mess when hot or diluted. What did you or another mechanic use to put everything together? Mechanical things are practical only, no mystery possible imho. Have a look to the oil cans you use too.

[911thillclimber]

All that crossed my mind too!
I've rebuilt the engine about 5 years ago, this is the first time it's shown this condition. As a hill climb car it does about 100 miles a year, so the engine is 500 miles old.
I use Shell Helix oil and Shell V Power fuel, have done for literally decades.

The oil had been standing in the engine since the last event in late Sept 2018 so was drained cold. no petrol smell in the oil as it came out into the large black tubs which were clean and dry.

Engine always filled straight from the plastic Shell 'can' into the dry sump tank.
This engine takes 12 litres.
This oil change was just my routine pre-season prep, do it every year.

[Gerard C]

Didn't you have a slight oil leak somewhere, rocker covers for instance, you fixed with gasket sealant? Did Shell change even slightly its formula without notice? How is the paint of the inside of the oil tank? If you checked the tubes an rad, can't imagine what happened.
May be you can remove the plate hosting the drain plug many Porsche engines have and have a look inside with an endoscope fitted to a mobile phone. Had a look inside the rockers covers, at least intake?
https://www.amazon.com/BlueFire-Andr.../dp/B013HZCYXK

How much is an oil test in your area? Like this may be
https://auto.howstuffworks.com/how-t...l-analysis.htm

If you're sure you have absolutely no product in your garage leading to this and forgetting about sabotage this will be a well kept mystery. Sorry not to help you a lot, like so many here I'am a regular reader of your adventures.

[911thillclimber]

Interesting!
On a hill climb site I frequent too much, I have asked this same question.
Someone on there has had the same experience!
Turned out to be contamination built up in the bottom of the dry sump tank.

He had a similar release a few oil changes after an engine failure.
My d/s tank is aluminium, no paint etc and I split and cleaned it after the engine failure, but not since.

However, this contamination occurred in the oil from the d/s tank AND the engine sump...
Oil all gone now, so cannot have any examined.

Going to race with my head in the sand and spanners crossed.

[Gerard C]

No worry all will be fine, the air cooled engine is a good boy, not really powerful but reliable. In your case there is not much weight to move.
I read that you had to clean your car several times after racing in the wet. I'm quite convinced you can manage to keep the breather away when cleaning but not when driving. Unless you have it in your pocket! Talking in the pocket, enough for now you have laurels waiting for you!
Have fun, be safe and win!!

[PeterMorley]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

Still strange the filter was super clean?

Yes, makes you wonder:

Maybe the particles were finer than the filter - unlikely?

Does the oil circulate fully, is there a way it bypasses the filter?

Then where did the particles come from - external or internal source.

If internal what could it be - as you said little ends would seem most likely, in which case it's slightly less critical than crank bearings.

Did wonder if it could it be from the oil pump itself - does that have any brass surfaces? Or similarly distributor drive?

But I'm sure you've already been through these kinds of thoughts.

Even if it's something like crank bearing failure I imagine that given the length of hillclimbs you're unlikely to destroy the engine, more likely to end up with knocking sounds or no oil pressure than internal parts ending up external?
Then the break in the championship could give you time to rebuild it.

[911thillclimber]

You are on my page in this Lola Book Peter!

[Gerard C]

The filter being super clean did you check the drain pan first?

[911thillclimber]

Yes, I drain the oil first, put it in a can for the tip, then unscrew the filter using a chain type grip to unscrew the can without puncturing it.
Once free of the engine oil pours out and the empty catch pan is used to catch that flow and the filter that I put in there quick as a flash.

The new filter goes on empty as it is near impossible to fill it on the bench.

The engine is cranked over until good pressure shows on the gauge before switching the ignition and further cranking to fire.

The pressure does not change during this procedure.

Here is the filter set-up, all Porsche 911 from the 993 engine.