THE MAESTRO'S QUIZ, OCT 1997 (Note: those of you who were at the Tech Session during the 1997 356 West Coast Holiday, please refrain from giving out the answer.) One Day in the Ides of September, the Maestro remembered, an engine that arrived via UPS (no longer on Strike) from a Man from Virginia. The engine was a rare 1965 European SC, with an interesting combination of an almost Original Lower End, and, sadly, a messed-with Top End and Flywheel. The saddest part was the messed-up Flywheel. The Flywheel Nut had come loose and the dowel pins of the crank had Murphy-machined the Flywheel into a Picasso. Of course, before it died, the Flywheel retaliated by elongating the dowel pins in the Crankshaft. This necessitated a repair attempt that failed. Didn't work. Sigh. It was one of those. The Maestro hates Crankshafts with elongated dowel pins. Because ifin you must put larger dowel pins into the Crank, then that all-important Sealing Surface between the outside of the Dowel Pin "circle" in the Crank and the edge of the Crank is reduced. (This is where the equally all-important Soft Iron Gasket seals.) The inside of the Flywheel Hub that mates with the Soft Iron Gasket is special too- for though it LOOKS "Flat", it ain't Flat- there's a One Degree, 30 minute Taper. Check it with a razor blade (Thanks, Tim). The taper is cleverly designed so that the outer circumference of the Flywheel touches the Soft Iron Gasket FIRST, and compresses that all-important annular ring FIRST, thereby making a Perfect Oil Seal. That small annular ring from the dowel pins to the edge of the crank is all that keeps the oil away from your Clutch Disk. And ifin there's any defect or "tunnel" through that surface, oil will find a way through, suck past the flywheel dowel pin holes by capillary action, run out past the Flywheel Nut Washer, and onto the Flywheel's Friction Surface, and transfers to the Clutch Disk, which is right there. It's the Cause of many a chattering/slipping clutch. With elongated Dowel Pin holes in the Crank, there's a Very High Probability that "oil tunnels" will form through this area. And ifin the end of the crank had been HAND FILED, like this one was in a poor attempt at a fix, then it would have myriads of radial scratches- like this one had- a WHOLE ARRAY of tunnels- like MARTIAN CANALS to hot 30 weight! (But, say, ifin one were to remove the dowel pins from the crank, then MACHINE flat the Crankshaft end, note how much had been machined, and reinstall the Dowel Pins, one might actually have a chance of achieving a leak-free seal again. Maybe. Depends on what Sacrifices you've given the Porsche gods.) But first, Magnafluxing. Hopefully, it'll fail. Though these Cranks never do. The Case looked like it had never been cleaned in its life. Which is good, actually, 'cause a Greasy, Oily case is a well-preserved Case. Oil/Grease is not unlike Cosmoline. This one cleaned up and sparkled- even hadda wear sunglasses when the Case reflected that warm California Sun. But as the Maestro was cleaning the Case Halves in preparation for Torquing the Case together and measuring the Bearing Bores, he noticed Three Interesting Things. Two were expected. Expected because when the Flywheel Nut comes off (or the Crank breaks in half), the Crankshaft End Play is no longer constrained. And the Crank moves axially back a forth, a LOT! Enough for the "cheek" of the Middle Main part of the Crank to HIT the Case at the Middle Main Bearing area. When the spinning crank touches the stationary Case, it raises case material up around the Middle Main. Sometimes this raised material is razor-sharp too, so be careful. Too much "raised area" and there you are, needing a Mandatory Align Bore. Secondly- with a "free" Crankshaft, the "End Thrust", from the Clutch being pressed "down", forces the Crank against the Middle Main Bearings, which transfer the Thrust to the bearing "tangs" in the case. The little "tangs" in the case were NEVER designed to handle lotsa end thrust, so they CRACK or BREAK OFF the area of the Case where the "tang" is machined. Then you gotta weld-repair and recut the tang. Maybe Align Bore the Case too. It can be Lotsa fun when the Flywheel Nut come off. This engine had a mild case of both problems. There was a small razor-thin (and razor-sharp) section of Case raised up at the middle main. But that raised area could be easily scraped off with a 1930's bearing scraper. And two tangs were cracked, but not broken off. But the Third Strange Thing was Really Strange! The Lower of the Two Case Studs at the Flywheel Main had a funny little "Gouge" cut out of it. And it was a "Gouge" too. No other way to describe it. The "Gouge" was about an eighth of an inch deep and was cut into the side of the Case Stud, about an inch above the Case mating surface. The "Gouge" was smooth and rounded, almost like it had been "machined" into the Stud. "Hummmmh," thought the Maestro. "That's an Interesting "Gouge". It's almost like a "test notch" machined into a tensile sample to induce cracking. Wonder if someone did this to SABOTAGE The engine? Maybe the mechanic didn't get paid or was mad at the owner, or something, took a drill or a tool and cut this notch, figuring that the notch would cause the Flywheel Main Bearing stud to FAIL! And Break! And with the Case held together only by the one remaining stud on the other side of the Case, maybe that one would fail too. Resulting in Great Leaks or Damage. But the guy miscalculated- the Case Stud though nicked badly was still in one piece. Insidious Plot though, thought the Maestro. What do YOU think caused the "Gouge"? That's the Quiz this week. Hollywood, are you Listening? Jerry? Hello? How about that Product Placing Deal we had? Still thinking about that Lower Flywheel Case Stud with the funny "Gouge", the Maestro finished his preparational foreplay with the Case Mating Surfaces, induced mating and Torqued the Case Halves to 29 foot-pounds on all 6 Acorn Nuts. He got out his Dial Bore Gauge from the NBS Constant Temperature Hot Tub, set it to High Limit Standard and inserted it gently into #3 Main Bearing Bore. It checked out as a Nice Standard. Then he tried the Middle Main. Not too bad, about a half thou out. And then he got to the Flywheel Main Bearing Bore. As he was about to insert his Instrument, the Maestro noticed Something Rather Unusual about the Flywheel Main Bearing Bore. For a second he thought he was seeing double. For there were TWO Oil Return Holes! Not just one. That is Strange. There was the Factory's Oil Return Hole, of course, wayyyy out at the usual 8 O'clock position. And there was ANOTHER hole drilled through the Case- about halfway between the Factory's Hole and Bottom Dead Center! How about THAT! Thought the Maestro. The previous rebuilder drilled a SECOND oil return Hole in the CASE, probably because they thought the Flywheel Seal was the reason for the leak of oil onto the Clutch. But the oil was getting to the Clutch through under the Soft Iron Gasket, via the hand-filed "tunnels" from the bad "fix". "Must be that Oil Seal's still done be leakin', Jeb. Guess we just a-gonna hafta ream this here Porschee a second Oil Hole. Heh, heh." Even TWO OIL Return holes in the Case wasn't a-gonna help matters any! WOW! thought the Maestro, So, maybe when the guy was drilling the hole in the Case, his drill slipped from his hand and hit the Case Stud. Maybe THAT explains the funny groove in the Flywheel Case Stud! But when the Maestro took a closer look down that SECOND Oil Return hole. What did he see? I repeat. What did he see? That's Part 2 of the Quiz! Yes, that's Right- he saw something PROTRUDING into the newly drilled oil hole, blocking the top half of the hole. And what was that protruding thing, I hear you chant, electronically. It was the new, intact Case STUD. The one he had just inserted! The new Stud was hanging about halfway down inside the second, recently drilled oil return hole. Which is why that funny "Gouge" is there on the old Case Stud! Because the Turkey, thinking if one is good, then TWO MUST BE BETTER, and I'll drill mine CLOSER to the Bottom of the Case, cause I'm SMART- those dumb Krauts drilled their hole wayyy over there. So, I'll drill mine here. And so he did. And when he drilled the Second Oil Hole, he drilled it: RIGHT THROUGH THE CASE STUD that happened to be RIGHT IN THE WAY! Which is exactly WHY THE FACTORY DIDN'T DRILL THE OIL HOLE THERE! That's why they drilled the hole it where they did- over at 8 O'Clock, because ifin you drill the Return Hole any closer to Bottom Dead Center: THE CASE STUD IS IN THE WAY! The Previous Turkeys didn't know that- and plowed right on through (They must be great Lovers too), making a nicely machined GOUGE, a goodly STRESS RISER in the Lower Case Stud. It's a damn good thing that this "repair" never worked too! Or the Case Stud might have broken! But because the engine still leaked like a sieve all over the Clutch, the Owner got fed up and got another engine. And sold this one to the Man From Virginia. Who shipped it to the Maestro. Who now has to deal with all these itty-bitty problems. Sadly, ifin the engine hadn't constantly leaked oil all over its clutch, we might've found out what happens to an engine when one Main Case Stud fails! Maybe this IS a great Sabotage technique! For now though, we'll just have to wait until someone else drills a Second Oil Return hole in the Case at the Flywheel Main, hits the Case Stud and machines another Gouge. Only Time and Murphy will tell. ifin you Keep The 356 Faith Maestro