I am my own worst enemy...

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Rettax3
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

Post by Rettax3 »

woody90gtz wrote:Core charge is usually to make up for the crushed weight.
No, it isn't. Many yards charge core for $#!t like plastic bumper-covers, which probably cost them to dispose of. It is closer in the case of engines, a typical engine weighing ~400 pounds would have a straight scrap value of ~$33 for them to break even if they didn't have to put in any work to move and process the metal. Starters, alternator, pumps, etc usually come with a $6 +/- core, they weigh what, ten pounds or less? That puts them at around .82 cents value in scrap. Even double that for some due to aluminum and copper components, it is no where near $6 per piece... Steel body panels like hoods, fenders, etc, typically have a $5 core fee -for a 20-pound hood that would put the scrap value at $500 per ton, I haven't seen anything like that in many many years, I would go into the scrapping business if steel was actually worth that much...

Junk-yard core charges are just another profit-generator, like their 'environmental fee'. That one just makes the consumer directly subsidize part of their cost of business, without actually reflecting that in their prices, it is a way of advertising one price and charging another, which I thought was illegal... :pardon: Imagine going into a Wal-Mart and buying a pack of paper for $6.97, and when you get rung-up they charge tax and an extra 10% for an 'overhead lighting fee', and 5% for a 'cost of paying our employees fee', and a '$2 parking-lot maintenance fee'. That wouldn't fly very well...

Salvage yards are still a great place to go, but the extra fees and charges that a lot of them impose are not honest. While I'm on the soap-box, I'll just throw my dig at one of the big chains (no names), that advertise a price for a short-block engine, a price for a long-block engine, and a price for 'engine, complete with accessories', then they charge extra if you want the accessories (alternator, power steering pump, etc)! WTF? They say 'accessories' refers to manifolds, fuel-rail/injectors etc, but industry-wide 'accessories' refers to things like alternators and A/C compressors, sorry, while it is still a great deal, that is false advertising. :x Call it 'engine, complete with components WITHOUT accessories' and I'll stop b!tc#!ng. :wink:


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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GT_Indy
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

Post by GT_Indy »

Rettax3 wrote:
woody90gtz wrote:Core charge is usually to make up for the crushed weight.
No, it isn't. Many yards charge core for $#!t like plastic bumper-covers, which probably cost them to dispose of. It is closer in the case of engines, a typical engine weighing ~400 pounds would have a straight scrap value of ~$33 for them to break even if they didn't have to put in any work to move and process the metal. Starters, alternator, pumps, etc usually come with a $6 +/- core, they weigh what, ten pounds or less? That puts them at around .82 cents value in scrap. Even double that for some due to aluminum and copper components, it is no where near $6 per piece... Steel body panels like hoods, fenders, etc, typically have a $5 core fee -for a 20-pound hood that would put the scrap value at $500 per ton, I haven't seen anything like that in many many years, I would go into the scrapping business if steel was actually worth that much...

Junk-yard core charges are just another profit-generator, like their 'environmental fee'. That one just makes the consumer directly subsidize part of their cost of business, without actually reflecting that in their prices, it is a way of advertising one price and charging another, which I thought was illegal... :pardon: Imagine going into a Wal-Mart and buying a pack of paper for $6.97, and when you get rung-up they charge tax and an extra 10% for an 'overhead lighting fee', and 5% for a 'cost of paying our employees fee', and a '$2 parking-lot maintenance fee'. That wouldn't fly very well...

Salvage yards are still a great place to go, but the extra fees and charges that a lot of them impose are not honest. While I'm on the soap-box, I'll just throw my dig at one of the big chains (no names), that advertise a price for a short-block engine, a price for a long-block engine, and a price for 'engine, complete with accessories', then they charge extra if you want the accessories (alternator, power steering pump, etc)! WTF? They say 'accessories' refers to manifolds, fuel-rail/injectors etc, but industry-wide 'accessories' refers to things like alternators and A/C compressors, sorry, while it is still a great deal, that is false advertising. :x Call it 'engine, complete with components WITHOUT accessories' and I'll stop b!tc#!ng. :wink:
Yah my local scrap yard chain has been rising prices over time. There was also a thing where people bought parts from them and sold the parts on ebay for a markup. They thought that was stealing so they raised their prices to cut out the ebay middle man.

What I dont like is a lot of used parts at my local pull it yard costs about the same or almost as much as a new part at the auto store. lol.


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Rettax3
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

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Rettax3 wrote:...and now I have ANOTHER project car... :roll:
So it took a while for the owner to get the title straightened-out, but they were 100% good for their word and put in the time and effort to make good on it, so now I have the title in my name and a classic plate for the car, total cost was $200. Now I am willing to put time/money into this. I had to repair some of the wires under the hood just to get it cranking (I think someone had tried to steal the L98 engine from this -in some circles, they are worth a decent bit of change). Almost evrything was unplugged, even the fuel-lines were disconnected, but then a few wires were cut, even ones that had been disconnected. After I got it ready to fire and re-installed the starter, I found several things wrong, mostly from sitting too long. The distributor was toast; the pick-up coil that signals the ICM (both are inside the distributor) to fire the coil was bad, and so was the ICM itself. I have a box full of spare ICMs, I tested two good ones and installed one with a new pick-up coil for $10 (not an easy process as the distributor has to be removed, and light carbon build-up seized the shaft to the upper bushing inside the distributor housing upon disassembly, which was all kinds of fun to get right). I found three dead injectors (this era L98 has nine total, I haven't tested nor do I currently care about the cold-start injector). I still have to repair the wire to the knock-sensor, as it was cut. Yay. I got a cold compression-check done, and it is very healthy -172psi on the high-side, and the range is within specs. All eight intake runners on this are perfect -I think this is the only Tuned-Port engine I've ever seen without a ding or dent in the runners, so I am happy there. Basic stuff like belts, hoses, filters, fluids, and tune-up are getting lined-up, and I have an all-aluminum radiator upgrade ready for it, like the ones in two of my Camaros. I have some brake parts ready too, and more will be ordered shortly. This one may be driveable before any of the other projects are done, if I'm not careful. :wink:


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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GT_Indy
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

Post by GT_Indy »

Rettax3 wrote:
Rettax3 wrote:...and now I have ANOTHER project car... :roll:
So it took a while for the owner to get the title straightened-out, but they were 100% good for their word and put in the time and effort to make good on it, so now I have the title in my name and a classic plate for the car, total cost was $200. Now I am willing to put time/money into this. I had to repair some of the wires under the hood just to get it cranking (I think someone had tried to steal the L98 engine from this -in some circles, they are worth a decent bit of change). Almost evrything was unplugged, even the fuel-lines were disconnected, but then a few wires were cut, even ones that had been disconnected. After I got it ready to fire and re-installed the starter, I found several things wrong, mostly from sitting too long. The distributor was toast; the pick-up coil that signals the ICM (both are inside the distributor) to fire the coil was bad, and so was the ICM itself. I have a box full of spare ICMs, I tested two good ones and installed one with a new pick-up coil for $10 (not an easy process as the distributor has to be removed, and light carbon build-up seized the shaft to the upper bushing inside the distributor housing upon disassembly, which was all kinds of fun to get right). I found three dead injectors (this era L98 has nine total, I haven't tested nor do I currently care about the cold-start injector). I still have to repair the wire to the knock-sensor, as it was cut. Yay. I got a cold compression-check done, and it is very healthy -172psi on the high-side, and the range is within specs. All eight intake runners on this are perfect -I think this is the only Tuned-Port engine I've ever seen without a ding or dent in the runners, so I am happy there. Basic stuff like belts, hoses, filters, fluids, and tune-up are getting lined-up, and I have an all-aluminum radiator upgrade ready for it, like the ones in two of my Camaros. I have some brake parts ready too, and more will be ordered shortly. This one may be driveable before any of the other projects are done, if I'm not careful. :wink:
Wait, 9 injectors? That's new to me. I wonder if our 1992 T/A is the same. It has the same v8.
That is disapointing to hear someone took all that apart.

Ever consider Trans Am nationals?


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Rettax3
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

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GT_Indy wrote:Wait, 9 injectors? That's new to me. I wonder if our 1992 T/A is the same. It has the same v8.
That is disapointing to hear someone took all that apart.

Ever consider Trans Am nationals?
Well, not quite the same... Yours is run by speed-density (MAP sensor), mine is still MAF-metered. The manifolds are slightly physically different too, although they are for the most part identical (although I also have an '85/'86 TPI system too -complete from coil-in-cap distributor to MAF including the ECU and wiring harness, this one is quite different since it was used on the old-style SBC heads with the different mounting bolt-angles, these are comparably rare). They ditched #9 injector I think around '89? Even V-6 Fieros had seven injectors... :D

It wasn't too bad hooking the electrical back up, but spiders had built mud-nests in the open fuel lines that had to be flushed-out -that was annoying. I didn't appreciate the few wires being cut either...

I haven't even made it to a Bfest yet, T/A Nationals aren't even on my radar. I've found F-Body enthusiast sites to be somewhat snotty -BNet is the only enthusiast site I am active on anymore, although the NICO (Nissan/Infinity) site was really good too -I'll get back there more often when I get back into my 450ZX Twin Turbo project... :twisted: Pennock's Fiero Forum is also a great site, but everything you can think of doing to a Fiero has already been done 20 times, so it is a great place to research, that is as much as I've used it for.


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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GT_Indy
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

Post by GT_Indy »

huh, I didn't know the Gen1 2.8 in the fiero had 7 injectors. That must mean the RWD version in the Camaro had 7 as well.
I like spiders, but not when they get where they don't belong. Jumping spiders are the best, they don't bite and they are fun to play with.

Glad to hear it all went back together successfully.

Never been to Bfest either, 99% bad timing and travel distance is the issue for me. I went to T/A nationals once because family members went as well. I want to go again with the family because its a field of T/A's and Firebirds, but we haven't been there the last 2 years because of other stuff.
I think every car group has a snotty side, even Bnet used to have it to an extent in the past, but the forums see hardly any activity these days its non existent.
With so few posts in the forums, do many people still go to Bfest? I haven't seen any proposals or news about 2019.


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Rettax3
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

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GT_Indy wrote:huh, I didn't know the Gen1 2.8 in the fiero had 7 injectors. That must mean the RWD version in the Camaro had 7 as well.
I like spiders, but not when they get where they don't belong. Jumping spiders are the best, they don't bite and they are fun to play with.
Yep, the F-Body iron-head 60-degree MPFI engines had the 7th injector until they upgraded to speed-density (which the Fieros actually had, several years earlier than the Camaros and Firebirds) -it is only used for cold-start conditions, 'authorized' by an extra coolant temp switch (not sensor). I'm not sure how much fuel those even flow... Think of them as an electric 'choke'.

Man, we have got to be two of three or four people on here who think alike on certain things -I love those little jumper-spiders. We have a bunch of 'Cellar Spiders' around the house and my shop too -they aren't cute like the jumpers, in fact with spindly legs that can get two inches long apiece, they are downright creepy looking. Their defense is to swing around on their webs ultra-fast to make themselves look bigger -I've seen one move so fast it started to blur beyond my ability to see it -the human eye can register about 30 Hz, so this guy was moving. They are also hyper-aggressive, and eat everything from flying pests to Black Widows, Brown Recluses, and Funnel-Web spiders, but they aren't known for biting humans or pets, and they usually stay up around the ceilings out of the way, so I like them. Anything that kills a bunch of mosquitoes has a point-positive in my book, even Woody's car! :D


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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GT_Indy
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

Post by GT_Indy »

lol. That reminds me of the deadly long legs. But those are slow and break easily. Super fun to play with too.

Yah seems similar to my electric choke. That must mean the ecm has a seperate fuel table for it. I wonder if it runs open loop only. Now I want to download a fiero v6 bin to find out. lol.


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Rettax3
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

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Certain kinds of insanity are contagious... That is my story, I'm sticking to it! My better-half just bought another addition to the fendered-family, but this one has three wheels, rather than two or four... That's odd. :lol:
Rettax3 wrote:
GT_Indy wrote: I like spiders,
I love those little jumper-spiders. We have a bunch of 'Cellar Spiders'


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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Rettax3
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

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We got back with the new ride yesterday. Can-Am Spyder, SM5 (Manual trans). Took a 700 mile round-trip trek for it, worth every mile. 1. Kudos to my 200k+ mile Plymouth Grand Voyager for comfortably getting us there and back, and giving over 23.5 MPG doing it! We stopped for gas where we picked the bike up and when we got back, that was it. 2. Thanks to the guy who sold the bike to us for helping with the mechanical trouble we had with it on the way back (dead spark-plug), and standing behind the sale -great guy and we really appreciate the integrity and effort. 3. Thanks to the new Spyder for a great ride home -we took turns riding/driving, and had a good time. About as close to a real vacation as we will have this year. 4. Thanks to Rotax for building a solid engine capable of operating on one cylinder... Not something you want to do, but nice to know you can still get from here to there with half the engine running...

This Spyder has had some performance mods done -I know (from experience) that the ECM will cut out one cylinder and actuate brakes as necessary to maintain control and keep the rear wheel from sliding out during a turn. As I understood it, it would also chop power to keep the rear drive-wheel from spinning, but this one does not. After fixing the dead cylinder, it happily spun that thing until I let off the throttle, and kept fishtailing again later in second gear while aggressively pulling up a hill. I've ridden a few of these -recently operated two examples of the same model/era during my safety course/certification class (we need separate endorsements for two and three wheeled motorcycles here). I also got to ride one back in '07 before they were available in the States -Can-Am brought a fleet of pre-production units down from Canada as demos, so that was when we got introduced to them. This is by far the hottest of the bunch, it has a top-quality aftermarket performance exhaust, but I think something was done to the computer too... Not as quick as my Katana 1236 (over-bored 1100) but it does better than it needs to. Not so sure now that I would pick it for a cross-country tour, which was my first intention for one of these, but it would certainly be up for the task. It is awesome cruising around town, and back-roads aren't too bad either.
Spyder off into 2a.jpg


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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Rettax3
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

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It took a lot longer than I expected it to, but I finally got the GTA running today. Not good though. I had to rebuild the distributor (pick-up coil and ignition module were both bad), replace the injectors (eight primary, not the cold-start), several fuel-related O-rings while I was in there, also replaced the spark-plugs and wires. PCV valve hose to the lower intake manifold has hardened and cracked, so I replaced it also. Removed the EGR and fabbed a block-off plate for it while I had the upper plenum off. Unfortunately, after it started, the moderate-to-severe rod-knock was apparent. :evil: So, I will NOT be scooting a WC T-5 under the car this week. Instead, I will be pulling the engine out, and will hopefully drop in a new crank kit instead. Good thing I have one sitting in a box in the shop, so at least I don't have to drop a ton of extra money out for it right now. I think I might put in my gear-drive timing set too, instead of saving it for my 'Vert Z-28 like I had planned, but I don't want to spend the money on a decent cam for it right now, so I may wait after all, not sure yet... Overall, not a great car-day for me.


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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Rettax3
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

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Pulled the GTA's engine out for a new crank-kit last week, and found some other issues inside the engine, so I've been debating on what to do with it. It is the numbers-matching original, so I guess I will fix it and keep going forward on it. I pressure-washed the bay while it was (mostly) empty, and will now take the opportunity to strip it down and repaint it, since I am going with a different color than the original 'Flame Red' (similar to Chevy's 'Cayenne Red', not bad, but not my first choice for this car either. I haven't decided for sure if I want to go with white, or just stick with a black epoxy paint inside the bay. I'm leaning towards the black, but I know I am going with white on the car, so...


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

Post by woody90gtz »

Sucks about the engine issues. I went with Raptor Liner on my F body engine bay and really like how it turned out.


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
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whiteretta
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

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I used satin black VHT roll bar paint on my engine bay, holds up pretty well and doesn't leave spray lines either.

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1994 Chevy Beretta, mild 3500 swap.
https://youtube.com/@MurphRocks86?si=mpCQc0DnEitPx3Jg
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Rettax3
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Re: I am my own worst enemy...

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That is about what I was thinking -I like the idea of easy touch-ups too. The odds of it remaining forever unscratched are slim... I have almost a full can of VHT epoxy ready to start it out, but they make it in white too... :pardon: That would require a lot more effort though, like taping-off strut-plates and such that should be black either way, and white engine bays tend to look as dirty as they are. My cars are drivers, so 'clean' is usually transitional. I've thought of stepping it up and going with POR-15, but semi-gloss is the lowest luster finish they offer for anything but their high-heat line -glossy black isn't my first choice. I've also considered going with a more flexible coating, like a bumper-type paint, so minor bumps from dropped wrenches and such won't necessarily scratch or chip it.

This is the damage I've found, aside from the spun bearing on #2. Five pistons all have the same damage... Everything in here is original, I'm pretty sure I'm the first one in here in over thirty years. The insides are actually pretty clean, no sludge or carbon AT ALL on the top of the cylinder heads. I can't get a good reading all the way around with my T-Gauge until I pull the heads and pistons, but the cylinders don't look overly worn, compression was good and consistent, and the one spot I measured thusfar was 4.000 exactly (perfect on a 350 Chev). None of the wrist-pins feel stuck either, so unless I did this when I first rotated the engine through (by hand, thank you), that isn't the cause either. I suppose someone else could have messed with this some years after it sat before I got it and broke something... But I'm thinking it may have been over-revved at some point? Any thoughts? All five breaks are on the same side, relative to rotation (breaks on the left bank are on the cam-facing side, breaks on the right bank are away from the cam).
This is what the skirt should look like...
This is what the skirt should look like...
This is what the typical break looks like.  I only found one complete piece, but the break area doesn't look oil-stained or carboned-up.  There are enough small pieces in the pan to account for maybe one or two skirts.
This is what the typical break looks like. I only found one complete piece, but the break area doesn't look oil-stained or carboned-up. There are enough small pieces in the pan to account for maybe one or two skirts.
The harmonic balancer had come apart before the car was parked too, not sure if that was a contributing cause.


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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