Case Question
 

OK. ('88 3.2 160k) p/c, heads going to Ollie's for checking and new valve guides but I have a question on the case and crank. I broke that down this week and there does not appear to be ANY wear on the main bearings...they all look like a dull, flat grey color which I assume is good. There IS a slight showing of copper on the intermediate shaft bearing shell though. Here is my question...what are the chances that the crank is out of spec and the same question on the case? Any reason to not just replace the main bearings? Does it really need to be shipped off and measured? How often are 3.2's with mild use in need of reworking?
TIA

Buck,

The answer is: “Probably everything is OK.”
The operative word there is ‘Probably’.

These engines can get very expensive if something fails. I consider it imperative to change the ‘probably’ to ‘for sure’ the best reasonable. You do this by careful inspection. When you have the engine apart, there becomes no question for me – I would inspect everything.

If the engine was known in good condition and reasonable mileage, you might make the decision to change the rod bearings, nuts and bolts through the case and then make the decision to split the case (or not) based on the rod bearing condition.

Items like the main bearing shells I replace every time the case is split. The #8 bearing is the exception. If the clearance measures good and there is no visual damage, I almost always reuse that part. It is common for all the main bearings to look perfect. It is also common for the copper to show slightly on the jackshaft bearing shells.

Most professionals never reuse a bearing shell that has been ‘crushed’ and certainly not one with 160K. On the other hand, with good maintenance and left undisturbed, many will function properly for ¼ million miles and more.

I suspect you can have proper inspection of the crank and rods done locally. The case needs a very experienced Porsche person. With the bearings in the condition you observe, I would reasonably assume the case is OK.

Why is the engine apart? What is its intended use?


I’m a pretty cautious sort. I don’t like to break Porsche parts. Others may accept more risk.

Best,
Grady

Grady, Thanks for the words of advice. The only reason I've torn it down is due to what I assume to be valve guide wear since it was using oil at a rather high level (quart/300-500 miles) The car seemed to run fine otherwise. I have to admit, I'm not really the redline it every time type driver.
I'm in Dallas but am sending the heads, pistons and cylinders to Ollies but shipping the whole case and crank out there concerns me over possible loss/damage since they are so heavy. It was easy to VERY securely pack up the other stuff to ship.

Is there anyone who knows a shop in Dallas that can do this (measure crank and case) or would they also send this out? I don't need to add another middle man if someone's going to take it in the front door and send it out the back door to some unknown machine shop for me...and then charge me for the process.

Thanks again,

Any machine shop can measure the journals (NAPA for instance). The numbers are available in all the spec books and in the Haynes manual as well as Waynes book. I'm sure someone here could post them for you if you can't find them.

-Andy

Thanks, I did not realize that. Much appreciated.

Probably OK... and I would have the crank polished and rods checked for egg shape once all else is known...Probable can be a expensive word no matter how you play it.

Buck:

The case is pretty easy to pack well, with several thicknesses of cardboard surrounding it. Bolt it together with a couple of nuts on top and on bottom, and it's pretty sound.

The crank fits nicely into a 24" long piece of 6" PVC. It took a few wraps of bubble wrap, and it was as snug as a "bug in a rug". As it is the heavy piece, it worried me the most, but when I did the PVC trick, it was obvious it wasn't going to get hurt.

Cams fit into 2" PVC the same way.

To me, it was worth the few buck in shipping to get the stuff in front of someone that knows the parts. I couldn't get any good recommendations of people in Dallas. I know there are good machinists that can probably do this, but when you're spending several thousand $ to rebuild, I personally didn't want to skimp or take chances. My opinion...

Does the case need to be bolted together and properly torqued to get an accurate measure? I would assume at least the case throughbolts would have to be torqured up properly...
TIA

Like Andy said, a local place can do the measuring.

I would get the crank crack checked and polished. Look for "Balancing" in the phone book - that is where you can get your crank done.
I made a really nice crate to ship cases. It got destroyed on it's very first trip to Ollies. I'd avoid shipping a case if I could avoid it.

For a 3.2 case I'd have a machinist do 2 things:
1) Measure the inside to check for ovality. (I've never seen a bad one.)
2) Deck the spigot holes so the cylinders have a nice flat foundation and sealing surface for the cylinders.

#2 requires removing all the internal studs so it will lie flat on the milling machine. I posted a picture on this forum a few years ago showing all the stud lengths for when you put the case studs back in.

A local machinist can do also your rods but EBS and others do it just a cheaply and do a lot of them.
Note, the balancing place might be able to do the rods as well.

-Chris

No, just snugged up. From what I understand, there are some well known P-car shops here in Dallas that send their stuff to Cali for machining. Chris had some bad luck, but my case went in cardboard (packed with care) both ways. And, it was insured for a princely sum. There was one point when I hoped they'd lose everything in transit, I couldve made money.

I hear ya Ed...that would be a nice settlement!

I talked to Ollies when I didn't get my original crate back and they told me it wasn't uncommon for a crate to get destroyed. Once all they got with the top cover of the crate (with their address on it)! They said best way to ship it is to wrap it with lots of bubble wrap. Apparently a rigid crate like I made fares poorly when dropped off the back of a truck.
-Chris

That was the advice I got when I shiped my tranny to be rebuilt.
"Bolt it on a pallet so they see what it is and can't put anything heavy on it."