The new motor really wailed! Frankly, I didn't think I'd notice much of a difference but this was noticeable. I put around a 1000 miles on it before heading to the track for my first event, the Zone 1 in July.  The year before with the same car, same tires, etc I was hitting an indicated 120mph at the end of the back straight. This year I was hitting 120 at the beginning of the back straight and 129 at the end. Somewhere during the 4 days my rear sway bar came disconnected but that's another story.

After running 4 days at Watkins Glen I tore the motor down to fix some leaks. (I don't believe that all 911 motors leak and I saw no reason that mine should.) A little more sealant this time and ta-da, no more leaks. I probably put the engine in the car a few days before driving 7+ hours to Tremblant for a 4 day event. It ran fine on the way up.

On my 2nd run the engine felt odd so I pitted. The engine stalled and wouldn't start. I tried different things and cranked it over. Then I started to hear a knocking noise so I stopped.

It took me a few months before I had time to work on the motor but here is what I found when I tore it down:

  (click on pictures to enlarge)

If you look at the very top of the cylinder you can see some plating chipped off above the shiney area that the rings travel on. I haven't finished so I may find more like this on the other side.

A friend of mine had this happen to his motor at the very same event. It looks someone sold us the wrong octane fuel.

Part II: The high cost of failure...

I took the other heads off. The total damage was 5 broken pistons, 2 damaged heads and peeled cylinder coating on 5 of the cylinders.

Note: These pictures may not be suitable for small children.

(click on pictures to enlarge)

Part III: Maybe it wasn't the gas. 

Was it bad gas? Was it too lean? Was the timing wrong?

• That Canadian gas might not have been up to snuff.
• A year later my vapor recovery system wasn't working causing the gas cap to make a wooshing noise when I removed it. Could that have made it lean?
• When I examines the custom chip it seemed like the timing advance was bad. The custom chip may use different table locations which would throw off the dump program.

Updated 8/13/02