1986 930 Engine RR and R

[spoke]

The time has come to drop the engine in my '86 930 for overdue repairs. The plan is to Remove the engine, Refurbish/Restore/Replace questionable parts. The main issue being a stripped spark plug on #2 cylinder that I crossthreaded about 10 years ago.

When I bought the car in 2009 with 110,000 miles on it, the car ran like a charm. Didn't leak oil or blow oil smoke out of the exhaust, started every time. Here's the link to the ad for the car.

1986 911 Turbo (930) for sale

60,000 miles and 14 years later and the engine leaks oil out of seemingly every interface. It blow some oil smoke when idling. The push vacuum can on the distributor is leaky (The pull can is ok). The car at one time wouldn't start because the microswitch in the fuel distributor does not work. The microswitch was bypassed. And I've chased an intermittent ignition miss for the last 3 years to find out I had a spark plug wire break.

Here's the list of things to do while the engine is out. Feel free to comment on things to do.

Repair #2 spark plug threads
New valves, guides, other wear items
Check pistons, re-ring
Tear down case, inspect engine internals
New clutch, pressure plate, Throw out bearing
Turbo refurbish/replace
All new oil hose/pipes
New electrical harness
Distributor refurbish new push/pull vacumm cans
Fuel distributor refurbish
Replace tin rubber gaskets
Transmission inspection, re-seal
Inspect/replace shift linkage
Non-engine: PMB restore of all 4 calipers

The plan is to drop the engine and send the long block and transmission to Mark Epstein's shop for repair/refurbishing/replace parts.

The fuel distributor will be sent to Tony. The brake calipers will be sent to PMB for restoration.

When purchased:



Now:

[PeteKz]

Suspension parts too? "as long as you're in there..."

[gsxrken]

$19.5k for a 930… those were the days!!! The crazy prices have hurt the hobby side of things in a noticeable way. Glad you’re enjoying the car and using it.

I’d add Len Cummings’ tunnel fuel lines while the engine is out. Peace of mind.
Check your brake booster line for vacuum leaks.
Maybe engine/trans mounts.
Maybe brand new injectors

[Speedy Squirrel]

Before launching into the rebuild, you might want to do a couple of checks.

1.Do a Leakdown check and a borescope inspection. This will give you an idea in advance about the state of your cylinders and rings. Turbos can be hard on rings. If one or more is broken it will score the cylinder, which will likely be a write-off for the cylinder and the piston.

2. Take off the rocker covers and look for broken studs. Your increased oil leakage could be due to that problem. This usually shows up as a mess at the base of the cylinders where they contact the crankcase. You will want to go with the current replacement 993TT studs, and if you find some broken ones you might want to curtail further turbo adventures until it can be addressed.

3. It can be very convenient to switch to electronic fuel injection at some point, so the DME style flywheel and a lighter weight clutch would be a good idea. You will love the the feel and drivability of a lighter clutch package, and the DME flywheel makes it easy to adapt a crank sensor later.

I think your list is a good one. I would add though to remove the air injectors and plug the air injection ports in the cylinder heads.

Also, it is common for the backside diaphram to be shot in the distributor. The formerly rubber diaphram coating turns to a red dust.

[mepstein]

I’m really glad Jerry is getting this car back to where it should be. There’s not many Porsche’s more iconic than a black 930.

[spoke]

This engine work has been in the planning phase for about a year. First order of business was to improve the work area in the garage. For someone who works on their cars, I never had a permanent workbench. This was the first improvement. It is anchored into the walls so there's only one free standing leg. I stuff 3 cars into a 2 car garage so space is limited.

The blue tint under the shelf is a string of LEDs inadvertently purchased for under counter lighting. I hit the 'buy again' button and didn't pay attention to the color selected and ended up with blue instead of white. I used a cable converter 12V power supply to light the LEDs.



Second order of garage upgrades was lighting. Two screw-in bulbs just didn't cut it so I mounted five 4-foot LED shop lights. Still want to add a couple more.

[spoke]

Final upgrade to the garage was the MaxJax lift. I've only done one other 911 engine drop/replacement with a friend and was not a fan of being under the 911 with 2 jackstands holding up the rear torsion bar caps. So much nicer being able to raise the car so much that my face isn't rubbing on the engine case as I move around under the car.



After talking with Mark, I decided to go with the hydraulic lift table for the engine. Already used the table a couple of times as a portable workbench. Had to solder some wires on my 914 so put all solder equipment on the table and rolled it over to the 914.

[pkabush]

Great looking 930. looks like a good list and it sounds like it'll be in good hands.
I went back and fourth on wether or not to replace my tunnel lines. I ended up leaving them in. Hopefully I won't regret that decision. I did, and would recommend changing out all the soft rubber fuel lines. I used a grinder to cut the crimped metal ferrules and had a local hydraulic shop crimp on new rubber fuel lines to the original metal fittings.
Congrats on the new shop equipment. I still don't have a lift but the Harbor Freight hydrolic table and those LED shop lights are game changers.

[spoke]

The car developed an intermittent miss. Usually after startup and the first stop.

It looks like the plug wire plug sockets were deteriorating. They've become very brittle. 2 of them were cracked upon removal, #1 socket came off the wire and stayed on the plug, 3 were in one piece but after a little bit of torque, they too just fractured.

I think this could have been the source of the intermittent miss. The miss would happen then the engine would run strong for a long time.

[spoke]

The engine/trans are out. The hydraulic table really worked well. To clear the shift rod from the chassis, I lowered the back of the engine first so the turbo down tube, fan, and AC compressor mount cleared the rear of the car. Once cleared, I blocked the transmission and removed the transmission mount bolts.

The only concern while dropping the engine was the passenger side 1/2 shaft interfered with the starter so I had to move the shaft around as the engine dropped. The driver side 1/2 shaft was tie-wrapped up.

Now to start the teardown. I need to get an engine stand and yoke. There is a 356 restoration shop near me who has one so I'll check with them before purchasing one.

[spoke]

Removed the muffler and found a couple of what looks like hairline cracks in the muffler body. Doesn't look like any exhaust has been seeping out. Should I think about welding this up?



Upon removing the muffler, it sounded like marbles inside. These little 'marbles' came out of the input end of the muffler as if they came from the cat.



The inside of the cat seems quite a bit damaged. Looks like some melted material inside and several layers of the cat look to be compromised. Is this normal for a 40 yo cat?

[brighton911]

Well that cat is certainly done. You could gut it if emission testing isn't a factor. And as someone else mentioned, it's a good time to do the suspension bushings. The front are the first ones to compress and allow the torsion bar to rub which can seriously weaken the bar. Elephant Racing rubber ones are great. Good luck on your build !

[spoke]

In the process of separating the transmission from the engine. Have the starter off and the 3 other securing nuts. Still seems to be stuck together.

I didn't remove the circular spring on the clutch throw-out arm when dropping the engine. Do I need to remove this spring to separate the engine and trans?

Also where is the center of weight for the trans? I have the floor jack under the differential.

[spoke]

I made a temporary frame to provide stability of the engine while sitting on the hydraulic table.

[BobbyThomas]

Originally Posted by spoke

The time has come to drop the engine in my '86 930 for overdue repairs. The plan is to Remove the engine, Refurbish/Restore/Replace questionable parts. The main issue being a stripped spark plug on #2 cylinder that I crossthreaded about 10 years ago.

When I bought the car in 2009 with 110,000 miles on it, the car ran like a charm. Didn't leak oil or blow oil smoke out of the exhaust, started every time. Here's the link to the ad for the car.

1986 911 Turbo (930) for sale

60,000 miles and 14 years later and the engine leaks oil out of seemingly every interface. It blow some oil smoke when idling. The push vacuum can on the distributor is leaky (The pull can is ok). The car at one time wouldn't start because the microswitch in the fuel distributor does not work. The microswitch was bypassed. And I've chased an intermittent ignition miss for the last 3 years to find out I had a spark plug wire break.

Here's the list of things to do while the engine is out. Feel free to comment on things to do.

Repair #2 spark plug threads
New valves, guides, other wear items
Check pistons, re-ring
Tear down case, inspect engine internals
New clutch, pressure plate, Throw out bearing
Turbo refurbish/replace
All new oil hose/pipes
New electrical harness
Distributor refurbish new push/pull vacumm cans
Fuel distributor refurbish
Replace tin rubber gaskets
Transmission inspection, re-seal
Inspect/replace shift linkage
Non-engine: PMB restore of all 4 calipers

The plan is to drop the engine and send the long block and transmission to Mark Epstein's shop for repair/refurbishing/replace parts.

The fuel distributor will be sent to Tony. The brake calipers will be sent to PMB for restoration.
When purchased:



Now:

Replying for the updates.

[Oheggem]

Brilliant thread this one. I hope more pics and progress info. Great stuff and keep it up

[spoke]

Making some progress on stripping the engine. Almost everything off the top.




The last 2 rows of fins are clogged with junk.

[spoke]

Looks like there is some oil seepage from the top tower. It seemed to run and leak everywhere.

[Oheggem]

Classic mess like most of these engines. Mine looked very much like this. Just the worst place to leak at the very top spreading downward all over fins and cooler. Good job so far

[spoke]

Massive buildup of crud in the air tube going to the heat exchanger on the driver side. Not sure how far the crud goes into the HE.