As I was driving to a rally last Saturday in my S3 it made a really bad noise. the noise was a deep clunking noise that got considerably better when the clutch was engaged. I stopped immediately and called the tow truck. being an eternal optimist(I have to be with three MGs and an Alpine) I thought it was probably the clutch coming apart or maybe a transmission problem. When I got a chance to inspect it when I got home however it sounded more like I had thrown a rod so I pulled off the oil pan and looked around. at first I didn't see anything but then I spied some metal bits around the no. 4 crank journal. I pulled off the bearing cap expecting to see a spun bearing but there was only minor scoring on the bearing surface. I then looked up at the journal and was shocked at what I saw. there was a crack all the way through the crank. apparently the crack was jagged enough that the crank was operating as a unit so the engine would still run.
oh well. enough babble. The reason for my post, other than to share my sob story with some sympathetic souls,(my wife just doesn't get it) is that I now find my self in need of a 1600 crankshaft. If any one has one would you please let me know how much it would cost me and what kind of shape it is in.
Also while I have this motor apart what would be some engine mods that I could do to it to give me a little more horsepower. this car is a driver so I don't want to do anything too radical, just give it a little more pep. The car seems to be pretty much stock except for it having the twin sidedraft stombergs of the later series cars.
any advice on pitfalls to look out for would also be appreciated as I have only had the car a couple of months and will be trying to make sure everything is up to spec. inside.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 10:00:27 CDT