Background: 87 GN, 88k miles, all stock internals except for valve springs and a high volume oil pump, typical bolt-ons, 300 rwHP
The car has had an annoying oil leak after starting up and after shutting down for a few years now. Leaves a small puddle right under the pan. Figured it was the rear mail seal just hadn't bothered to replace it till now. So my father and I pulled the pan off tonight to replace the rear main seal and found a lot more than we bargained for:
1. Apparently the rear main seal was fine. The TC and flywheel are bone dry. But the front end of the block is wet with oil.
2. We found junk in the oil pan. It's silver colored and looks like metal but it's not magnetic. Some of it looks like wire. Almost exactly like soldering wire. It's soft like solder too. Could this be bearing material? Also found road grit in the pan but I'm not sure if that just fell in when we pulled the pan.
3. Pulled the rear cap to change the rear seal anyway. When we pulled the driver's side cap bolt a small shower of dry carbon grit fell out. But the passenger side bolt came out with liquid oil (burnt smelling though). Got the cap out and found the lower bearing has a gouge in it! Pulled a second main cap and no gouges. Crank looks fine as far as I can tell.
I don't have the money or time for a rebuild now It's not a daily driver so it can just sit if needed, but I do need it running because I may be moving in a few months. Would it be unwise to just finish replacing the rear main seal button it back up and have it in running condition if I need to move it for now. Or is replacing the main bearings a must before running it? Obviously, I'm not gonna be giving it any boost until it gets a rebuild or at least new bearings.
So I guess my options are:
1. button it back up as is and only start it up if I really have to move it
2. replace the main bearings.
If I replace the main bearings would it be road worthy after that or at this point is a rebuild necessary?
Thanks for any advice!
The car has had an annoying oil leak after starting up and after shutting down for a few years now. Leaves a small puddle right under the pan. Figured it was the rear mail seal just hadn't bothered to replace it till now. So my father and I pulled the pan off tonight to replace the rear main seal and found a lot more than we bargained for:
1. Apparently the rear main seal was fine. The TC and flywheel are bone dry. But the front end of the block is wet with oil.
2. We found junk in the oil pan. It's silver colored and looks like metal but it's not magnetic. Some of it looks like wire. Almost exactly like soldering wire. It's soft like solder too. Could this be bearing material? Also found road grit in the pan but I'm not sure if that just fell in when we pulled the pan.
3. Pulled the rear cap to change the rear seal anyway. When we pulled the driver's side cap bolt a small shower of dry carbon grit fell out. But the passenger side bolt came out with liquid oil (burnt smelling though). Got the cap out and found the lower bearing has a gouge in it! Pulled a second main cap and no gouges. Crank looks fine as far as I can tell.
I don't have the money or time for a rebuild now It's not a daily driver so it can just sit if needed, but I do need it running because I may be moving in a few months. Would it be unwise to just finish replacing the rear main seal button it back up and have it in running condition if I need to move it for now. Or is replacing the main bearings a must before running it? Obviously, I'm not gonna be giving it any boost until it gets a rebuild or at least new bearings.
So I guess my options are:
1. button it back up as is and only start it up if I really have to move it
2. replace the main bearings.
If I replace the main bearings would it be road worthy after that or at this point is a rebuild necessary?
Thanks for any advice!
