Set out for a nice long drive this morning, but had to pull into a layby about 10 miles from home to sort something out. Set off again and misjudged the height of the kerb back onto the road - BANG, there goes my sump



Holy Sump!

I think I turned the engine off quickly enough (obviously engine wasn't going much faster than idle) but that may be academic, because when I got out, something else looked wrong, as if the engine had moved backwards: -


Confirmation it moved :(

Yep, the tab on the chassis for the engine cradle is bent: -


Bendy Mount

And there's evidence of bending on this mounting bar from the crack in the powder coat: -



Chassis Stress

But worst of all, it's snapped the bottom mount right off the engine block! :-



Engine Mount

Does that last fact mean that my engine is now scrap, or is it easily (and safely and cheaply) repairable? My guess would be not, but open to options.

I assume the bent chassis mounts can be either straightened or replaced reasonably easily - guess I'll need MK to do this as they'll have the jigs to know how they should locate?

What a bummer of a day

Worst thing is, this was my sump that I'd had modified to put the sump plug to the side for a bit more clearance - it actually smashed right at the front, not near the sump plug. The kerb I went over had a lip, so when I dropped down the far side, the drop was exaggerated and the sump took the full force. I spent the next hour waving bikes away from the oil patch until breakdown guy arrived with a big bucket of sand to make the road safe!

Try Dave Maddison at Weldspeck for welding the alloy, he's a genius with ally welding, ex aircraft industry, he's near Ollerton, about 40 miles from Leeds, but worth it for a good job.

Gutted for you, but would suggest that it is all repairable depending on wallet.

Steve

You must have given that a right smack Simon,looks like a insurance job to me,new engine etc,I take it your fully comp

Doesnt look like the engine mountings are up to much if dropping off or catching the kerb caused the engine to move.

Doubt insurance is really worth it - my other car's a WRX so expensive insurance, a claim would kill that for the next 5 years and cost me more than a replacement engine!

It might be a kick-up-the-@rse in the right direction to be honest - I've had the odd gearbox issues on track when it's missed 3-4th, suspect the old forks or dogs issue and so I've tended to use the clutch. Now I've got the kliktronic and flatshifter I've been noticing it more.

I do have another engine which came with the car, but all evidence suggests it's already been in a car and so must have been removed for a reason. In theory if it has a good gearbox I could potentially combine the 2, however I've never opened up an engine in my life so that's a little daunting to say the least! Plus I don't know whether buying all the required gaskets etc from Honda will add up to the cost of a replacement lump from a breaker!

Whatever I do, it'll be getting a sump guard so I skim the next time

Sy, doesn't look like there's too much damage done. I'd take the engine out and strip it down whilst the chassis is being repaired. You'll need to separate the engine casing to get at the gears but providing you do it methodically following the manual, you shouldn't have any trouble. From memory, theres only three gaskets required.

Hopefully you'll not be off the road for too long.

Phil

PS - An aluminium trim around the headers would hide the damage to the side panel.

[Edited on 9-6-08 by Hellfire]

Bad luck Sy...

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What he said Or drop a new engine straight in, easy enough!!!

Steve