Ever wonder where the weak point of a stock Opel connecting rod is?

[RallyBob]

This is old news really, I've had a particular racing shortblock in my barn since 2001 with a hole in the side of it. I finally got curious and tore it apart this morning to see the 'what' and 'why' of it all. It was once run in a Manta mini-stock circle track racer.

One of the connecting rods broke right at the oil spray hole in the beam. Tore the bottom of the cylinders off, launched the rod cap through the side of the block and oil pan, and generally wreaked havoc on the piston and rod assembly.

Thought this might amuse some of you, it's certainly the worst Opel rod failure I've seen. A picture says a thousand words!

[RallyBob]

I also found that there was this nice double disc 11.25 lb clutch/flywheel assembly bolted to the back of the engine which I had completely forgotten about. Perfect for my hillclimb car.....

[Old Hippie]

Hey RallyBob, maybe alittle Liquid Steel or Commercial Grade Elmer's will fix that block! Got to agree with you, that is a nasty hole. Had that happen to me in a 64 Falcon engine (6 cyl), course it was knocking for a month. I just wanted to see how long it would last. HEY! I was very young at the time!

[DirtTrackManta]

It was once run in a Manta mini-stock circle track racer.

That sounds WAY too close to home... we have to keep this from happening to my car Bob.

Great pics!

DirtTrackManta

[baz]

run it as a three cylinder bob it will still make more power than the hacks the rest of us have

[tekenaar]

Those pics are a real testament to the containment strength of a steel pan though. Hate to think of this with an alu pan . . .

Who made that dual clutch/flywheel at the time, Bob? Really nice . . .

[RallyBob]

Who made that dual clutch/flywheel at the time, Bob? Really nice . . .

It's a custom unit made by 10,000 RPM Racing Equipment.

[namba209 (R.I.P.)]

That is a nice dual plate setup Bob, reminds me of the old Schaefer dual plate setup of years gone by, also, I see a little of the aircraft style multi rotor-stator disc brakes, I am very familiar with from my USAF days. Interesting to see old and new on a single assembly. 10,000 RPMs, my kinda numbers.