Gordo's 3.2L Engine Rebuild - Ready to Reassemble

[Gordo2]

My engine rebuild project initiated when I first purchased my car in 2003 - or a least in my head.

Since that time I have been researching, selecting parts, buying a few used parts and more researching.

I research everything... I think by the time I get the engine back together I will have spent over 2 hours of research per engine part (blue vs. green, sealants, nuts, bolts, washers... - I mean every part ). The Pelican Parts BBS has been an incredible resource.

In 2009 I bought a second engine to rebuild (car really; but bought it for the engine & sold the remaining Cabriolet roller to my brother, Pelican "Cabmando" who's now driving the car). I wanted to take my time with the rebuild and didn't want my car down that long. In hindsight - it has been a good decision.


This summer I finally disassembled the engine and began the lengthy process of parts cleaning and sending parts off for machine shop work.

So... after that winded introduction - I'm now to the point to where I am ready to start reassembling my engine. Here's a shot at a few of the parts going into it:



Fun (but expensive & time consuming) stuff so far - hoping to have the engine in and running by spring.

Will update photo's as it comes together.

Gordo
Gordo

[irobertson]

Nice pile of stuff Gordo.
I'm just in the final stages of my 3.2 rebuild.
Have fun with your assembly.

[Gordo2]

Info on case cleaning:

Case cleaning and more case cleaning

Meant add to this thread - but the carb cleaner must have gave me a buzz

Hit new post instead of reply...

Gordo

[AlfonsoR]

Nice....

[HawgRyder]

The feeling of turning the key for the first time on a new engine is (for me) better than sex (please don't tell my wife!).
The sound, vibration into your body, and smells to your nose .... almost indiscribeable.
I wish everyone could have that feeling at least once in their life.
And...the BIG thrill....driving down the road ...knowing it's all yours...knowing every moving part...Wundebar!!
Bob

[cabmandone]

The part my brother left out was, what inspired him to get to work on his engine was coming home and driving my car. He couldn't stand the thought of my car being faster Truth be told, I owe him a lot because without him selling me my Cab for a very brotherly price, I wouldn't be driving a 911 today. Get it together and you know I'll be there for the install.

[camgrinder]

Don't let that cam roll off onto the floor! they don't bounce too good.

Originally Posted by Gordo2

[Gordo2]

Originally Posted by camgrinder

Don't let that cam roll off onto the floor! they don't bounce too good.

Ever see a grown man cry - that would have done it (no worries, I made the workbench with the black facing slightly raised above the worktop level to avoid such travesties). Your own GT2-102 grind - long overdue to be run.

Slow going due to lack of TIME... While I'm not wrenching, I've been looking at micrometers - I almost purchased a used set of Mitutoyo 103's but realized the set I was going to buy had a resolution of .01mm - understand I want .001mm's. The tool search is just procrastination - I will probably end up picking up a set at HF to give me a final sanity check on the crankshaft journal sizes.

Meanwhile, I did get around to more cleaning - joy

I detailed the crankshaft, spraying each oil hole with carb cleaner and blasting with the air compressor. Followed this by cleaning the surfaces with Kimwipes that were wet with isopropyl alcohol. The crankshaft is cleaned and ready for final measurements and rod installation:



I also pulled the old seal out of the number 8 bearing - it fought me, but I won (jammed a flathead screwdriver into it):



Lastly I cleaned and prepared the connecting rods. The machinist pin-fit the JE pins to the small ends, rebored the big ends and balanced each. They all came out to 1lb 8.4oz on my scale (doubles as a barley and hop scale...).



I also measured each ARP rod bolt. The machinist used these when he bored the big end; wish I would have measured before their first torque (he torqued to 50ftlb for boring). Don't have the measurements handy but I think they all came in at 67.90mm (give or take a hundredth).

Shot of one of the rods with ends ground for balancing:



Additionally, I sealed up all of the galley plugs on the case with Loctite 9340 (JB Weld equivalent that I received in my Supertec sealant kit). I spread it with a chemical brush - need a better solution when I do the case mating surfaces; it drops bristles/hairs:



Finally, I familiarized myself with the Summit Racing rod stretch gauge that I purchased:



Looking forward to the holiday break to actually start assembling some stuff.

Gordo

[Henry Schmidt]

That is a nice place to start. All clean and ready to assemble.
For those of you thinking about balancing your rods, weight on the bottom end (big end) should not be removed from the boss on the bottom. That boss is for strength not balancing. Weight should be removed from the corners near the the rod cap joint.
It is also preferable to make the grinding as smooth as possible to reduce the chances for cracks to form.

[Gordo2]

Originally Posted by Henry Schmidt

...weight on the bottom end (big end) should not be removed from the boss on the bottom... ...make the grinding as smooth as possible...

Henry,

I didn't really think much about removing material from the bottom of the rod caps - appeared this is where material is removed from most rods. Meanwhile, I have no doubt where you indicate is clearly better from a structural standpoint.

I was however somewhat surprised by the crude grinding appearance on the rods. My reference was this video that I found on rod balancing (great vid if you want to know how its done).

Connecting Rod Balancing - YouTube

The guy uses a belt sander and makes a smooth pass to remove material, which would produce a smooth finish as Henry suggests. Meanwhile, looks like my guy hit it with a bench grinder...

In spite of this, I think the machinist I used is good to go. He has pretty solid knowledge & experience with old VW engines - I guess he's just not sophisticated enough for the Porsche community .

When I picked them up, I really did feel like asking him "can you make the grind look purdy?

Thanks for the info Henri - good stuff to know before you go marching off to a machinist.

Gordo

[Henry Schmidt]

Although John is a great guy (makes a pretty good chili as well) he missed the procedure for weighing Porsche rods.
We have seen rods in Porsche engines that are 9+ grams off. This amount is beyond the recommended amount for removal.
We always weigh the total rod weight first, then start with the balancing procedure.
This allows you to determine which rod weighs the least making it the last or "zero" rod.

[Gordo2]

I checked the connecting rod bearing clearances using Plastigage today.

Posted the process in this thread: Checking Connecting Rod Bearing Clearances With Plastigage

Adding the link to this thread for continuity purposes.

Gordo

[Gordo2]

Updating this thread for continuity.

Today I measured my ARP rod bolts for semi - pre-stretch length:


Link to the separate thread addressing this step:

Measuring ARP Rod Bolt Stretch - Micrometer vs. Stretch Gauge

Note - hoping that linking to separate threads that allow in-depth discussions on various topics makes my rebuild process easier to follow. Probably turning out to be the opposite

Gordo

[Gordo2]

Tonight I installed the rods on the crankshaft.

Here's the measurements I took:



I also did a review on the Summit Racing rod bolt stretch gauge that I used:

Summit Racing Rod Bolt Stretch Gauge Review

And ran into a problem installing the number 8 bearing pulley seal:

Pulley Seal Spring on Number 8 Bearing Came Loose When Installing on Crankshaft

Gordo

[tharbert]

I'm maybe a couple months behind you on my 2.4T to E upgrade/rebuild. Thanks for the time to put this together. Subbed...

[Gordo2]

Today I went ahead and mated the case halves together - only a few minor glitches along the way.

For starters - I somehow forgot to apply sealant to the number 8 bearing o-ring prior to laying in the crankshaft and mounting the oil pump and intermediate shaft - Ooops. Since I had already bent the tabs on the oil pump nuts, I managed to remove the crankshaft, apply the sealant to the o-ring and reinstall while leaving the pump & intermediate shaft in place - it's possible, but not the preferred assembly method...

Possibly could have done without the sealant (Threebond 1211 from the Supertec sealant kit) - but figured I would kick myself if I hadn't and later sprung a leak.

I was also a bit concerned that the flywheel seal didn't look right (gapped at the top), but figured it would even out when I mated the case halves - it did:



I built some rod and cam chain holders out of a 8' length of 1 1/2" wide aluminum flat stock that I picked up at Lowes. I figured this would be easier than cutting up some strips of sheet metal as per Wayne's Engine Rebuild book:



I went ahead and prep'd everything - tools and stuff all laid out and ready on my cart:



I lubed up the case through bolt Viton o-rings with Dow 55 o-ring lube (o-rings and lube come in the Supertec sealant kit). I scrubbed a bit of the lube on the o-rings and in the areas where the washers and case are beveled - for good measure, there's plenty of lube to go around.



I applied what I thought was a reasonably good bead of Threebond 1184 to the case perimeter. Shortly after applying it, it spread out and I realized I was a bit too happy with the stuff:



No biggie - I was able to remove some of the excess with the toothbrush that I planned to use to spread the stuff out.

I went a bit easier on the Loctite 574 application to the bearing web surfaces:
This amount spread out to a nice even layer:



Everything's still cool at this point - now its time to mate the cases.

As I attempted to place the case on top of the other, I came to a sudden realization - the 1 1/2 wide aluminum stock material that I used to make the connecting rod and timing chain holders didn't fit through the case half

OK - now my hair's on fire. I grabbed my son (who should have been helping and learning in the first place - but he isn't interested - wait till he asks for the keys someday..). He came out and helped me manually feed the timing chain and connecting rods through the case. Again, not the preferred method - but it worked, crisis resolved.

And the outcome (with my favorite engine rebuild lubricant in the background)



And finally a recommended update to Wayne's awesome rebuild book - use something smaller than 1 1/2" wide material to make your connecting rod and timing chain holders with



Getting there slowly.

Gordo

[flat6pilot]

My rebuild is still a twinkle in my thoughts. (Maybe a couple of years from now..) Nice to watch yours though! Get em!

[lindy 911]

Sealing up that #8 was a wise move.

[philippeF]

Originally Posted by Gordo2

Today I went ahead and mated the case halves together - only a few minor glitches along the way.

For starters - I somehow forgot to apply sealant to the number 8 bearing o-ring prior to laying in the crankshaft and mounting the oil pump and intermediate shaft - Ooops. Since I had already bent the tabs on the oil pump nuts, I managed to remove the crankshaft, apply the sealant to the o-ring and reinstall while leaving the pump & intermediate shaft in place - it's possible, but not the preferred assembly method...

Possibly could have done without the sealant (Threebond 1211 from the Supertec sealant kit) - but figured I would kick myself if I hadn't and later sprung a leak.

I was also a bit concerned that the flywheel seal didn't look right (gapped at the top), but figured it would even out when I mated the case halves - it did:



I built some rod and cam chain holders out of a 8' length of 1 1/2" wide aluminum flat stock that I picked up at Lowes. I figured this would be easier than cutting up some strips of sheet metal as per Wayne's Engine Rebuild book:



I went ahead and prep'd everything - tools and stuff all laid out and ready on my cart:



I lubed up the case through bolt Viton o-rings with Dow 55 o-ring lube (o-rings and lube come in the Supertec sealant kit). I scrubbed a bit of the lube on the o-rings and in the areas where the washers and case are beveled - for good measure, there's plenty of lube to go around.



I applied what I thought was a reasonably good bead of Threebond 1184 to the case perimeter. Shortly after applying it, it spread out and I realized I was a bit too happy with the stuff:



No biggie - I was able to remove some of the excess with the toothbrush that I planned to use to spread the stuff out.

I went a bit easier on the Loctite 574 application to the bearing web surfaces:
This amount spread out to a nice even layer:



Everything's still cool at this point - now its time to mate the cases.

As I attempted to place the case on top of the other, I came to a sudden realization - the 1 1/2 wide aluminum stock material that I used to make the connecting rod and timing chain holders didn't fit through the case half

OK - now my hair's on fire. I grabbed my son (who should have been helping and learning in the first place - but he isn't interested - wait till he asks for the keys someday..). He came out and helped me manually feed the timing chain and connecting rods through the case. Again, not the preferred method - but it worked, crisis resolved.

And the outcome (with my favorite engine rebuild lubricant in the background)



And finally a recommended update to Wayne's awesome rebuild book - use something smaller than 1 1/2" wide material to make your connecting rod and timing chain holders with



Getting there slowly.

Gordo

Hi gordo
how did you apply the Threebond sealant ?
Philippe

[cajun]

I'm following this. My '86 needs a rebuild and I'm hoping to get to it later this year.

Excellent job so far!