My engine rebuild a couple of years back required replacement of the block. I only took the sump off while I had the front diff out to check the bottom end, because the oil pressure had been variable. With the diff out and with it now so easy to do - I popped the sump off to reassure myself. After all, the engine had had a rebuild only 30K miles (but a lot of years before) by someone who knows his way around Stags extremely well.
Whereupon, sump off, I found 4 out of the 5 main bearing caps had broken in half (only the front one was intact). At least I now knew where my oil pressure was going.
What started out as an exercise to cure an oil leak on the front diff had now taken on a whole new meaning.
Since there was no way of knowing just why this had happened, and with bearing caps mated to a single block and line bored when new, a rebuild with a new block was the only answer.
Anyway - engine rebuild done.
Old block left at the side of the driveway by the garage door going rusty.
Had the idea that I'd do a Top Gear with it and make it into a table - or even a wine rack. The bores are just the right size for that.
But - I never got around to it - and with a steel block it's a bit flamin' heavy to sit in the middle of the living room.
So, it sat at the side of the garage getting rusty, waiting for me and the wife to do our collective backs in lifting it into the back of the car to take it to the tip.
Got home from work a couple of weeks ago - and did a bit of a double take.
It had gone..........
We live in a rural cul-de-sac.
The house is completely open and overlooked at the front.
Nothing ever happens here.
Said tea leaves actually left behind a brand new stainless BMW Mini exhaust that was ten feet away, and clearly visible down the side of the garage (and guess what - it's now somewhere more secure). Why couldn't they have taken the crappy and rusty garden roller too?
The reality is, whoever the thieving g*t was, he/she probably did me a favour.
But that isn't really the point, is it?
Whereupon, sump off, I found 4 out of the 5 main bearing caps had broken in half (only the front one was intact). At least I now knew where my oil pressure was going.
What started out as an exercise to cure an oil leak on the front diff had now taken on a whole new meaning.
Since there was no way of knowing just why this had happened, and with bearing caps mated to a single block and line bored when new, a rebuild with a new block was the only answer.
Anyway - engine rebuild done.
Old block left at the side of the driveway by the garage door going rusty.
Had the idea that I'd do a Top Gear with it and make it into a table - or even a wine rack. The bores are just the right size for that.
But - I never got around to it - and with a steel block it's a bit flamin' heavy to sit in the middle of the living room.
So, it sat at the side of the garage getting rusty, waiting for me and the wife to do our collective backs in lifting it into the back of the car to take it to the tip.
Got home from work a couple of weeks ago - and did a bit of a double take.
It had gone..........
We live in a rural cul-de-sac.
The house is completely open and overlooked at the front.
Nothing ever happens here.
Said tea leaves actually left behind a brand new stainless BMW Mini exhaust that was ten feet away, and clearly visible down the side of the garage (and guess what - it's now somewhere more secure). Why couldn't they have taken the crappy and rusty garden roller too?
The reality is, whoever the thieving g*t was, he/she probably did me a favour.
But that isn't really the point, is it?
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