Ruby's engine rebuild-Rev1
 

I rebuilt the engine a couple of years ago keeping the stock P's and C's as they were fine-and I needed to keep my budget at the number I had in mind at the time. No real expense other than that was spared to build a good solid 3.2. She runs great, and I've probably got 7 or 8000 miles on her in the 2 years since the build.

But I have a slight leak (bristle from the brush used to spread sealant?) between the head and cam tower at #3. I've not been motivated to fix this as I'll end up having to tear down the top end on the LH cylinder bank, and she is so much fun to drive!

Anyway, yesterday I decided to get to these new P's and C's for a bit more power, which will motivate me to move on this. Mahle 98's in 10.5:1 compression. I'll also go to twin plug via an Andial splitter setup-I'd machined the heads for the extra plugs when I built the motor. I'll probably look to start late in Feb or early March. I'm going to strip her down to the case-no need to split it-clean, inspect and assemble.

I'll document this as I go. :D

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Ed, You will have lots of valve clearance with those pockets... HInt hint, wink wink...




New cams?

I hear 'ya! I did cams on the first go.....got the DC19 profile which has a bit more lift than a 964 grind from John @DRC. I really only need to think about doing some work on my intake manifold to help with the increased capacity.

can't leave well enough alone here huh Ed... ;-) its just a minor oil leak, right...

I will follow your build as you do a great job writing up your journey...
Bob

SUB'D

Looks like this should net some nice #'s!

Hey Ed, those are probably about the most expensive boxes to land in your garage aren't they? Have fun with the build. I just finished taking mine down to the case today and will split the case and pull the rods in a few weeks. Thank heavens for the winter season to pull off projects like this.

They are very expensive. My rebuild was right at five figures, and this is going to be 3/4 of that again with the P's/C's, ignition, clutch, injector cleaning, etc.

Winter? That is the big dilemna! When do you take a perfectly good 911 offline in San Diego County?!?! :confused:

Good luck on your build.

Ya, I saw your pics of the new years day drive and commented to Dee and Wade that "we could live there"....

Cheers

Just to keep us honest down here-we've been in the 70's since the end of '09-the El Nino cycle may be starting next week, so it may be a wet spring.

Go ahead, rub it in. If it wasn't for Chicago winters, I'd never find the time to do the projects. But it does mean working in an unheated garage when it's -6 out. Today it was 25 out and I got the garage temp up to 48, downright toasty.

You're going to have a really fun car when the engine's all done. You're building the engine I'd considered before going the 3.6 route. Will you dyno it when done?

I hope to dyno it soon after with Mr. Wong present.

Boy... I envy you guys that have the courage and skill to do your own rebuilds. I know my limitations and engine work is not within them. I do enjoy the cosmetic side of things though.
Will enjoy your write-up Ed
Oh... I do change my own oil :D

Courage and Ignorance!

Fear & Loathing on the Porsche Trail ?

We'll keep the eye out for your progress, Ed.

Best,

Doyle

Well, progress is that the jewels arrived at the house today http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/nuts.gif :

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looks great Ed...whats up w/ the balck board pictured there...twin plug controller??
Also, thx for the travel info tips...I'll call you if you can pm me your #.
Bob

Yep, that's a splitter for the DME to run the twin coils.

There you go again...having fun in a warmer climate. Ha.

Those are very nice P/C's you have acquired!

Good luck with the rebuild. Looking forward to all the pictures and progress.SmileWavy

It starts on 2/20:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/525113-san-diego-area-escondido-engine-drop-2-20-invitation.html#post5168578

good luck, Ed, I am sure all will go well!

Wish I could be there...

Cheers

Thanks Jeff. The hard part is over, the heavy spending is done!

email sent

Well, finally, the work has started. Got the engine out via a garage party yesterday:

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Started stripping it down today. I'll do some exterior cleaning next weekend before opening any of the internals up. I'm not opening the case, so cleanliness will be a prime concern. It's almost harder doing it this way than stripping everything down and making it as new, then building up from there. Everything that bolts to the case will be made as new, but again, caution is prudent.

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Well, how is this for a bit of a sobering surprise? My motor mount or console is severely cracked. It looks like heat treating gone wrong. Interesting to note, Pete Zimmermann relayed to me that he saw this happen to a few '84's, maybe Targas, a number of years ago. It was bad enough that they made it a point to inspect the mount on any car they worked on. I've had Ruby's engine out twice, the most recent two years ago-no issues were evident at that time.

Or, I can say I'm thinking it was the severe torque she already put out, coupled with my driving extracting the most out of her...:rolleyes:

At any rate, something to look out for:

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Wow Ed, good news/bad news deal. Expensive item, (aren't they all on our girls?)

Only expensive new...I found several for $75. I'm just going to make sure and keep an eye on this when the motor is back it.

very cool. When I had the 3.6 rebuilt the shop welded a gusset on the right, (passenger side), support. I guess they've seen that side break from the torque.

Hmm, that is interesting. I may check into this. The fact that this cracked like this would lead me to believe it is high strength steel or heat treated, which means I'd not be quick to weld myself. But worth exploring, thanks Mark.

Ed, I looked at the build sheet. He say they 'modified the rear engine hanger'. I'll go into the garage and see if I can get a picture.

Opps you are talking motor mount. Could still be worth looking into depending on what kind of torque you are going to have. I believe Silin is at 258.

Modified rear hanger
 

Here it is Ed. If you'd like I'll talk with the shop and find out what all they did. I believe they cut a wedge out then fit the gusset. May be mistaken.

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Ahh, I believe I've seen beefed up horizontal bars. Mine is the chunk that bolts to the case and covers the crank pully. I've called it the "motor mount", but I think PET calls it a "console".

Mine was cracked on my '78 SC but not as bad. I had the crack ground out and TIG welded. Cost about $30 to fix and it's right. I don't believe the part is heat treated.

Lindy

Thanks Lindy, nice to know someone else has seen this. I should probably post this on the main forum. Good warning for folks to inspect theirs.

Last night, I ordered a few hundred $ worth of misc from Pelican Parts. Today, I took the headers off, gave her a sponge bath with several cans of CRC brake cleaner, took the camlines, oil cooler and valve covers off-then "bled" her. Tomorrow I'll hopefully get her stripped down to a shortblock and then work on cleaning the head and cam towers. Then-start going in the other direction. It amazes me how many part come off these suckers!

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Good looking engine. Makes mine look filthy. What are you going to do with your existing P/C?

Today, I removed the cam drive hardware, chainboxes and head/camtower units off today. I really goofed up though-almost. I didn't pull the dowel pin from the cam sprocket like I meant to before pulling the sprocket. I immediately remembered it when I got the sprocket off the cam, and it was MIA. I was sorely disappointed in myself. I tipped the motor on end, and reached into the case with a magnetic pickup to try and nab it, but got nothing. I tapped on the bottom of the case gently to try and dislodge it, but that didn't do it. I was well into my vulgar vocabulary when it came rolling out of the case and onto the ground. Got to be more careful!! I also pulled the clutch which looks great after 17,000 miles and 5 years.

No progress until next Saturday. I'll take the heads apart then, and get a plan together for cleaning them. I'll probably take them to a shop for cleaning. I may then put the new p's and c's in too.

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John-I haven't gotten that far yet in my thinking.

Ed, looking good!

What type of floor is that in the garage?

Thanks Jeff

It is Racedeck tiles. So far-so good after almost two years. Mops up every 6 months and looks new. Floorjacks and jackstands do need some protection.