Too Much Boost…Too Much Heat…Too Much Fail!

Pt. 1 — The Carnage

For our next installment in the Chronicles of Murphy’s Law, whatever can go wrong…actually does when it comes to Project SHART!  We took the car out to California Speedway for a little seat time and shake down and ran into a few “Opportunities” to overcome.

On our first lap out, smoke filled the cabin and engine bay, quickly followed by a burst of oil spray all over the engine bay and windshield.  We brought it in to find pressure had built up and it found its weak point through a failed hose.  We cleaned out the PCV valve and repaired the broken hose and went out again.  Next session out, we noticed an overboosting issue where the car went straight to 24psi.  We brought it in…made some changes, and then went back out to test.  Again…24psi right away…this time with white smoke coming from the tailpipe.  After several failed attempts at making runs that day, we knew the motor was done…so we loaded it up and headed home.

Here is a video from one of our runs.  As you can see…the car pulled strong…too strong!  24psi instantly….then back into the pits.

So off to OSR Dyno in Fontana, CA to tear the motor down and see the damage!

The guys went right to work and pulled the motor and trans within a day…even during their busy schedule!

Just as we had suspected, the rings were toast and the ringlands cracked and fell apart upon remove from the block.  Luckily though, the cylinder walls were clean and unscathed!

The crank was fine…although VERY slight markings showing that it might be time to pick up a new oil pump while we’re in there.

Lots of parts to go through…to our luck, everything else looked fine.  This was re-assurance that we selected the right motor for the job.

As we source all the needed parts, Project SHART has found a nice place to rest here at OSR Dyno until its time to rebuild.  Stay tuned…in Part 2, we will announce the replacement parts and start building the motor.