First startup after rebuild - success!!

[500_19B]

I started my rebuilt 3.2 Carrera up for the first time last night, for its maiden 20 minute run. I was nervous as it was my first motor rebuild and although I tried hard to be ultra-careful, I was fearful of missing something.

Fortunately, all appears well. The motor ran very smooth, with good oil pressure and no leaks or seepage anywhere.

This was a complete rebuild. I used new Mahle Euro P’s & C’s but went with a 0.5 mm thick cylinder base gasket to wind up with a calculated CR of 10.0:1. Other than that, no performance modifications were made. Everything was focused towards making a maximum longevity engine. To that end I used ARP rod bolts and Supertec head studs.

I owe a lot of thanks to people on this forum. Although I did not post much, I learned a ton by searching and reading countless threads. So, a collective “Thank you” to the combined brain trust here.

Henry Schmidt was particularly helpful, answering questions for me off line. I went with Henry’s case sealing method and it certainly seems to be perfect.

Here is a video of the startup:

1985 Porsche 911 Carrera first startup after rebuild - YouTube

Some pics:

[paul284pt]

Well done! She sounds great on the vid.

It looks like a very neat job, some pros wouldn't have take so much care.

Good luck,
Paul

[Oheggem]

Great job!! That looks fantastic! "Wish" i had to do a complete rebuild. Not really though

[James Brown]

great job, sounds great, i wish you many miles of happy motoring

[Lapkritis]

Looks great. The attention to detail shows. Enjoy!

[peppy]

congratulations, sounds good.

[Iciclehead]

Thank you for posting your success, congratulations. It is so great to hear that other "mere mortals" can undertake a 911 engine rebuild and have a good result.

I am still a little ways away from the build of my 3.4, but it is very encouraging to hear your story.

Good job!

Dennis

[NEWFIE 69 911E]

Very well done! Congrats!!!

[Baby]

Awesome! Congratulations and happy driving!

[simsalabim]

Well done sir.

Now is when all of that attention to detail feels so good. I am a few weeks behind you with my 3.0, but sure hope to experience that same feeling you are right now.

A sincere congratulations to you. Keep your eyes and ears open these next few hundred miles and be sure you break that thing in the way it deserves to be!

By the way, how did you clean all of your metal work? it looks great.

Cheers,
Bill

[Flat6Heaven]

Congratulations! Another inspiring success story, thanks for sharing

Ben.

[dshepp806]

Yes,..very well-done. Big Congrats! ENJOY!

Doyle

[500_19B]

Thank you everyone for the very nice comments.

I can't understate how much I have relied on the wisdom shared by experts.

Today I started it up once more, as I did not drain the oil from right after the first run and I wanted to warm the oil to help it drain. This time it started instantly and sounded really good again. No real smoke or anything untoward.

After start up, it idles at 1200 rpm intially, with a steady 3.5 bar of oil pressure. Once warm, the idle drops to around 800 rpm, and the pressure still reads between 3 and 3.5.

When I drained the oil it looked good. I used Brad Penn break-in oil and I think I could see some of the lithium from the assembly lube. I passed the oil through a paint strainer and there was nothing I could see yet.

I filled in new oil and now I have a couple of weeks of work to finish off things like doing a wheel alignment etc. and then I will be able to take it out for its first real break-in run.

[Robey5]

Very nice work man. It looks cold there ----- but I can relate to a certain degree.


Congrats. When the weather breaks - give those roads some hell.

[irobertson]

Congratulations. Great to hear the successful startup.

[Smoove1010]

Sounds excellent - must be music to your ears! I'm about a month behind you on starting mine, if it sounds half as good I'll be happy.
I'm curious about your break-in routine - what/whose routind did you follow? I had thought that break-in for these cars was best under load.
Good luck and keep us posted as you get to know your "new" engine!
GK

[E Sully]

Looks and sounds great. My first startup was a little more dramatic when the old oil in my exhaust smoked out the garage and I needed the leaf blower to clear the air.
Are you running a stock US chip in the DME? Just curious about how that works with the increased compression.

[500_19B]

Originally Posted by Smoove1010

...I'm curious about your break-in routine - what/whose routind did you follow? I had thought that break-in for these cars was best under load.
Good luck and keep us posted as you get to know your "new" engine!
GK

Well, the break in process is just starting! I'm following Wayne Dempsey's, in which he does the intial 20 minutes at 2000 rpm, dumps the oil and then does a series of drives (with new oil of couse) in which the car is loaded in acceleration (3/4 throttle to ~5000 rpm) and deceleration (coasting down a hill from speed, in gear - to load the pistons with vacuum)

Originally Posted by E Sully

...Are you running a stock US chip in the DME? Just curious about how that works with the increased compression.

Yes, I am running a stock US chip. A reputable builder in these parts, Brent Hunter does that too. I am also taking his advice and using 0.5 mm cylinder base gaskets, which lowers the compression to a calculated 10.0:1, right in between US and Euro spec.

[triguy]

It looks very nice. I like how everything you can see has been cleaned and plated.

The attention to detail shows.