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I'm extremely sorry about the length of this post but the last year and a half have been building up to this there's more but I didn't have all night.
Last year I had my engine rebuilt by MM. It was not a very pleasent experience to say the least. I sent the engine to them on April 14/99. May 3 called them they finally had it apart. Found out all the timing gears were shot due to tensioner failure, top piston groves were shot, valves had been cut once and were no good and the heads and block needed surfacing due to the cylinders moving around.
From that point I was told 5-6 weeks to completion. Didn't think that was too bad so we discussed mods. It needed new valves so I put in the stainless ones and since the heads needed surfacing we decided to up the compression (9 or 9.2 I can't remember) while it was getting machined. I also decided to have the heads and runners ported and polished,replace the 8 gears with used ones,put in used pistons and 24 performance studs (brand?. I also wanted oil feed tensioners put in as well as SSI's and the stainless TURBO muffler.
Several calls over the next FEW MONTHS to find out when its going to be done it finally got done begining of August. They recommended against putting on Turbo Muffler till the engine was broken in. At about 500 miles I was going to the shop to get the valves adjusted. About 120 miles away from the shop the electrical problems began. The distributor rotor burned in half and stranded me in the middle of nowhere. Got the car flatbedded to that shop where I though the mechanic MIGHT be competent. WRONG!! I would have fixxed it myself but home was another 180 miles away. After 6 more weeks without my car I could have more than paid the extra towing bill and had the car running in probably a week or two. The car had a small dent behind the left light which of course I didn't notice till I got home. He denied everything and I was so sick of dealing with him I just let it go.
About a month later the cooler on the engine split and that was the end of the driving season. Only had about a 1000 miles on the engine at that time.
Decided before worrying about the cooler I would try on the muffler. It would not fit under the car. Not even close. Called Roy and told him about this and he said that it should fit. A few of them needed the tips bent a bit to fit propper but the muffler should fit under the car. I asked if I could exchange it but he said that they quit dealing with the supplier. He offered a refund if I couldn't get it to fit but after shipping costs (from Canada) I figured it would be worth the effort to make it work.
That was last fall. This last week I have been getting the help from the welders at work to make it fit. We have finally modified the tubing enough that I can get it to fit under the car. Lesson learned don't get this muffler if it is still from the same supplier.
After finally getting the car running this spring it started acting up again. Wouldn't rev, missing etc. I checked under the cap and found that the rotor was burnt again. Last time it wrecked the Crane HI-6 and PS-92 CDI and coil which I thought caused the problem in the first place. I figured that the wrong rotor had been put in so I ordered the proper cap and rotor from Porsche. Put them in and the car ran excellent.
A couple weeks later a grinding noise stared coming from the back. I removed the fan belt and the noise went away. Put it back on and it sounded fine. A few days later the noise was back and alot worse than before. I ended up pulling out the alternator and found the bearing dissintegrated in the housing. This was the alternator that I had asked Roy to check thoroughly because I had suspected it was loose. They OK'd it, but less than 2000 miles later it was toast!! Since it was no longer rebuildable because the housing was wrecked. Finally found a rebuilt one in Calgary but since it was a saturday I couldn't get it till tuesday. Picked it up and put it in on tuesday but somthing was wrong. After R+Iing it 5 times I figured out it had a burnt out diode trio and it was constantly drawing power when it was shut off. Of course the next closest on I couldn't get till the following week.
After that I took a 3000mile round trip to Michigan and back and the car ran perfect. The power after the mods is excellent. Recently the rotor went AGAIN. This time though it looks like it was hitting the cap. I disassembled the distributor with the help from Warren and I found that the advance plate had worn into the housing. Called Porsche and a new one almost 900 Canadian Called Pelican and they didn't have any in stock finally called MM and ordered a rebuild. Now I am awaiting it and working on the muffler and dreaming of it to be trouble free. It is definitely times like these that make the good times more enjoyable.
The engine has a small leak from underneath which I can't locate. I think its coming from near the #4 cylinder base but I can't tell for sure. It also smokes on startup even when warm. Besides the poor comunication (1-800# doesn't work from Canada) and long time to get it done and alternator and distributor problems and smoke and small leak I am very satisfied with the rebuild. I also have the kevlar clutch and aluminum pressure plate and am very satisfied with way they work as well. Really pissed off with the muffler though.
SORRY about the length of this post but this is the first time I have vented to people that know my pain.
Hope this contained some of the answers you were looking for David..
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'76 911S
'80 924 M471
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