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I thought I'd share with you guys the carnage that was done by my father to the B3 in my '88 (before I bought it from him- I gave him $50 for it - I wanted to help him out, and that's what the junkyard was gonna give him for it).
Anyhow - who knows what caused this - I'm guessing that more than likely it was lack of oil. When I was around I used to do all the maintenance for him (that's part of the reason I got the car - I put in all new struts, new front rotors and pads, new rear shoes and bearings, and it had a new radiator, and the timing tensioner and water pump were only a couple of years old so I could re-use them on the new motor - since I did all the work and he had the car a few years I knew the condition of it already).
But unfortunately after a while, I was too busy to work on it and make sure it was taken care of, and other conflicts kept me from being able to come around. I used to call him and get on him about checking the oil. It was burning oil pretty bad at this point - and it leaked pretty bad too - it had a valve cover bolt broken off in the head since we got it. I tried to drill it out - but that was next to impossible. I just put a little RTV on the edge where it was at, and that would work for a little while...
He also developed the mentality that since it's leaking and using oil pretty bad, and he's putting new oil in on a reg basis - that he didn't worry about 'changing' the oil (mainly the filter for that matter!). I told him to AT LEAST take it to a jiffy lube or something and have them change the oil and filter and have them put the thickest oil they had in it(most likely 20w-50). At that time he was using straight 50wt racing oil because it was using oil so badly.
One day he called he and told me it 'blew up' - I asked him to define 'blew up' and he said it just made a loud bang then smoked and made a lot of noise. Well, he just had it towed home and proceeded to buy another vehicle since I couldn't help him with it at the time. Finally he was selling his house and had to get rid of the Fetsy - that's when I offered him the $50 for it.
So now here's the pics...
As you can see, the nice 'windowed' block, and lack of connecting rod on the crank journal. Also notice the nice coating of petroleum 'frosting' on everything. When I first came to start messing with the car and see if it would run - I didn't see this hole... It was slightly covered by the a/c compressor and exhaust manifold and downpipe. I first pulled out the dipstick and noticed there was no oil - so I topped it off. Then I cranked it and watched the dizzy rotor to see if the timing belt broke (it was ok). So I proceeded to try to get it to start. The battery was dead, so I had to boost it with my battery charger. I cranked it a few times, and IT RAN! It started smoking out of the front, so I turned it off. It was dark at the time so I took a flashlight and looked around where it was smoking. That's when I found the hole! Now I knew why it was smoking, since there was rod on the journal anymore, it was just shooting the oil out of the crank and it was coming out of the hole in the block (and onto the motor, and exhaust of course).So I stuffed a rag in the hole, so I could start it and see if the axles were ok (both outer boots were torn). It started right up again - it did vibrate a little (but surprisingly not that bad! I think I've driven other cars that were worse, without blown motors - believe it or not!) I drove it down the street and drove it in a circle each way to check the axles - it was pretty hard to tell because of the noise of the motor. I drove it back into the driveway and into the garage and shut it off. I'd say that's quite a testament to the B3 (or B series for that matter).
Here's what it looked like inside:
You can see the crank journal is pretty scored. And the rod is broken off at the piston....
From this angle you can see the 'window' in the block on the left side.
Here's what's left of the connecting rod and rod bearing. That's the bearing pieces on the lower left side.
I wish I would have been able to pull the head and see if the was any damage, but I was in a hurry to take it to the junkyard and get my core charge back. I got the motor in the yard way before I pulled this one, so that 30 days went by pretty fast. Not to mention the axles did NOT want to come out of the MTX at all! I wound up lowering the motor with the MTX attached, then unbolting it from the motor and dragging the MTX from underneath with the axles attached, then lifting the motor up and out.
When it was in the car, I tried prying them out with different bars, crows feet, slide hammers, and nothing. Once it was out I guess I was able to get a better angle on them because they came out after a little tapping and prying..
And here's a couple of pics of my new motor (not that anyone cares about a B3, but people like pics, right?)
Here's the motor I got from the yard - $60 on half price day. I got the best things I could find. I pulled the head off of a wrecked '96 Aspire, I would have just taken the whole motor - but it got hit in the side and it ripped the whole motor mount pad off of the rear of the block. So I found the lowest mileage short block in the yard - which was a '91 IIRC, it had around 150K miles.
Here's what it looked like ready to go in. I had the block hot tanked, and cleaned the head. I did a quick hone job on the cyls, put in new rings, bearing and thrust washers, and new gaskets of course. I probably spent way more money than I should have on a B3. (at least I got deals on the parts from Northern Auto on Ebay - and on that note - DON'T use DETRIOT HEAD GASKETS - unless you want to take your head off again to replace it - but that's another story). I would have liked to get a B6 - but I was afraid that the carb would not be calibrated to run it decently (being it's an '88, and I'm in CA so it would have pass emissions). In retrospect, I wish I would have got a B6, I had to mess with the carb a lot anyway (I don't think the 'feedback' system is working). Originally it was too lean, then it was too rich, eventually it did pass smog. For all that effort, I really wish I would have got a B6, at least I would have gained a little displacement in all of the effort needed.
Now I'm in the process of getting the parts to convert to FI, I've just about got all of the parts... I was contemplating putting a Weber carb on it, but the time involved to make an adapter, then adapting it to the stock air cleaner (so it would appear to be stock for emissions inspection). Not to mention the time required to dial in the carb - that's why I have decided to convert to FI. It'll be okay for inspection since it will be like a '90 or newer motor (with the FI setup), and it's okay here in CA to put a newer engine in an older car (since mine's an '88) as long as it retains all of the emissions equipment required for the swapped engine.
And when I finally get my use out of the B3, it'll be easier to swap to a B6 or I've been leaning towards a BP.
Hope you enjoy the pics and I apologize for my long-windedness...
Anyhow - who knows what caused this - I'm guessing that more than likely it was lack of oil. When I was around I used to do all the maintenance for him (that's part of the reason I got the car - I put in all new struts, new front rotors and pads, new rear shoes and bearings, and it had a new radiator, and the timing tensioner and water pump were only a couple of years old so I could re-use them on the new motor - since I did all the work and he had the car a few years I knew the condition of it already).
But unfortunately after a while, I was too busy to work on it and make sure it was taken care of, and other conflicts kept me from being able to come around. I used to call him and get on him about checking the oil. It was burning oil pretty bad at this point - and it leaked pretty bad too - it had a valve cover bolt broken off in the head since we got it. I tried to drill it out - but that was next to impossible. I just put a little RTV on the edge where it was at, and that would work for a little while...
He also developed the mentality that since it's leaking and using oil pretty bad, and he's putting new oil in on a reg basis - that he didn't worry about 'changing' the oil (mainly the filter for that matter!). I told him to AT LEAST take it to a jiffy lube or something and have them change the oil and filter and have them put the thickest oil they had in it(most likely 20w-50). At that time he was using straight 50wt racing oil because it was using oil so badly.
One day he called he and told me it 'blew up' - I asked him to define 'blew up' and he said it just made a loud bang then smoked and made a lot of noise. Well, he just had it towed home and proceeded to buy another vehicle since I couldn't help him with it at the time. Finally he was selling his house and had to get rid of the Fetsy - that's when I offered him the $50 for it.
So now here's the pics...
As you can see, the nice 'windowed' block, and lack of connecting rod on the crank journal. Also notice the nice coating of petroleum 'frosting' on everything. When I first came to start messing with the car and see if it would run - I didn't see this hole... It was slightly covered by the a/c compressor and exhaust manifold and downpipe. I first pulled out the dipstick and noticed there was no oil - so I topped it off. Then I cranked it and watched the dizzy rotor to see if the timing belt broke (it was ok). So I proceeded to try to get it to start. The battery was dead, so I had to boost it with my battery charger. I cranked it a few times, and IT RAN! It started smoking out of the front, so I turned it off. It was dark at the time so I took a flashlight and looked around where it was smoking. That's when I found the hole! Now I knew why it was smoking, since there was rod on the journal anymore, it was just shooting the oil out of the crank and it was coming out of the hole in the block (and onto the motor, and exhaust of course).So I stuffed a rag in the hole, so I could start it and see if the axles were ok (both outer boots were torn). It started right up again - it did vibrate a little (but surprisingly not that bad! I think I've driven other cars that were worse, without blown motors - believe it or not!) I drove it down the street and drove it in a circle each way to check the axles - it was pretty hard to tell because of the noise of the motor. I drove it back into the driveway and into the garage and shut it off. I'd say that's quite a testament to the B3 (or B series for that matter).
Here's what it looked like inside:
You can see the crank journal is pretty scored. And the rod is broken off at the piston....
From this angle you can see the 'window' in the block on the left side.
Here's what's left of the connecting rod and rod bearing. That's the bearing pieces on the lower left side.
I wish I would have been able to pull the head and see if the was any damage, but I was in a hurry to take it to the junkyard and get my core charge back. I got the motor in the yard way before I pulled this one, so that 30 days went by pretty fast. Not to mention the axles did NOT want to come out of the MTX at all! I wound up lowering the motor with the MTX attached, then unbolting it from the motor and dragging the MTX from underneath with the axles attached, then lifting the motor up and out.
When it was in the car, I tried prying them out with different bars, crows feet, slide hammers, and nothing. Once it was out I guess I was able to get a better angle on them because they came out after a little tapping and prying..
And here's a couple of pics of my new motor (not that anyone cares about a B3, but people like pics, right?)
Here's the motor I got from the yard - $60 on half price day. I got the best things I could find. I pulled the head off of a wrecked '96 Aspire, I would have just taken the whole motor - but it got hit in the side and it ripped the whole motor mount pad off of the rear of the block. So I found the lowest mileage short block in the yard - which was a '91 IIRC, it had around 150K miles.
Here's what it looked like ready to go in. I had the block hot tanked, and cleaned the head. I did a quick hone job on the cyls, put in new rings, bearing and thrust washers, and new gaskets of course. I probably spent way more money than I should have on a B3. (at least I got deals on the parts from Northern Auto on Ebay - and on that note - DON'T use DETRIOT HEAD GASKETS - unless you want to take your head off again to replace it - but that's another story). I would have liked to get a B6 - but I was afraid that the carb would not be calibrated to run it decently (being it's an '88, and I'm in CA so it would have pass emissions). In retrospect, I wish I would have got a B6, I had to mess with the carb a lot anyway (I don't think the 'feedback' system is working). Originally it was too lean, then it was too rich, eventually it did pass smog. For all that effort, I really wish I would have got a B6, at least I would have gained a little displacement in all of the effort needed.
Now I'm in the process of getting the parts to convert to FI, I've just about got all of the parts... I was contemplating putting a Weber carb on it, but the time involved to make an adapter, then adapting it to the stock air cleaner (so it would appear to be stock for emissions inspection). Not to mention the time required to dial in the carb - that's why I have decided to convert to FI. It'll be okay for inspection since it will be like a '90 or newer motor (with the FI setup), and it's okay here in CA to put a newer engine in an older car (since mine's an '88) as long as it retains all of the emissions equipment required for the swapped engine.
And when I finally get my use out of the B3, it'll be easier to swap to a B6 or I've been leaning towards a BP.
Hope you enjoy the pics and I apologize for my long-windedness...
I believe those were quite rare, even GM discouraged people from buying them.
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