3.2l rebuild, the quest for more power

[michael lang]

My engine rebuild started 9 1/2 yrs ago when I bought my car. I always knew that someday I would get to this point, I just didn't realize how I would get here. I have wanted one of these cars since I was a young child, my father got me hooked. He was always a Porsche fan and at one point had a 356. Then he got married, my parents had me so the 356 went away for a VW Beetle but my father never was cured of the bug (no pun intended!). The past 9 1/2 years have been absolutely awesome, I cannot imagine ever being without my car. Last season, while exiting T9 @ Summit Point Main I over rotated and went sideways. I went both feet in, I slid a little bit and I start rotating back to facing forward. Just when I thought I was going to be alright, I was hit on my pass side by a driver that in my mind could have avoided me. After very carefully thinking everything through, I decided to keep my car and have it repaired.

Fast forward to present, through this forum and various materials like the Bentley manual and Wayne's 101 book I have learned how to do a number of things so I had the confidence to do my rebuild myself while my car was away having the body repairs completed.

I would like to share my experience, my challenges and my victories as I go through my engine disassembly, cleaning, upgrading, dealing with subletters like machine shops and parts suppliers, reassembly and ultimately reinstall & start up. Hopefully some of the things that I encounter, others will have already dealt with and will be able to suggest the best ways to deal with those things. Additionally, some of the things that I have successfully worked through will help someone get past that obstacle if/when they are facing the same set back.

My goals are relatively reasonable for my engine, 250bhp. I am getting sick & tired of having 986 & 996 cars leave me on the straight only to catch up when the track gets tight again so it would be nice to have a little extra go go in the juice. I feel as though my plan is realistic, 964 cams, upgraded exhaust and reprogramming the fuel management system.

Any suggestions, help in sharing your knowledge and experience or guidance that anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

[michael lang]

This is what I'm starting out with...plain 3.2l w/64k miles. To my knowledge, it has never been apart or even out of the car for that matter.



The removal was fairly in eventful and so has the disassembly up to this point.
The intake and all it's hoses and lines came off without a hitch



Now that the intake, alternator and fan shroud are out of the way I can start really digging into what I'm going after.

[JJ 911SC]

Mike, are splitting the case?

[DCPorscheFreak]

Mike:

I have an '86 basically stock 3.2 w/ low compression on #3 that I'm planning a rebuild for.

If you go to the 911Chips site, 911Chips - Porsche Dyno Runs, there are number of dyno runs for a variety of street and track cars that list the mods made, and then the resulting HP and torque figures.

I'm planning either a twin-plug 10.5:1 3.2 w/ probably 993SS cams or a 3.4 twin-plug w/ the same cams if I can swing the extra cost of the P&C's.

Since I drive my car primarily on the street and b/c of pretty strict laws here in DC, I'm keeping the stock induction and CAT in place hoping to not exceed the OEM emission levels.

Good luck with the rebuild.

John

[michael lang]

JJ 911SC, I am contemplating it. My thought is it would be so much easier to clean with the internals being removed but I'm not having any problems in the way of drivability, noise, metal in the oil or any other issues. If anything splitting the case will give me a real good idea on the health of the engine & it will give me the opportunity to do those WYIT type stuff.

John, if you haven't already done so, it might be worth your while to check with DC MVA, with your car now being 28 yrs old you may be emissions exempt which means no pesky yearly inspection. In MD, it's 20 yrs old to qualify for antique tags.
I have been to that website, I will have Steve burn a chip for me but since I'm not done with my rebuild, I want to be able to tell him exactly what was done so he can make a chip for my car that will maximize the upgrades that I have done.

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by michael lang

JJ 911SC, I am contemplating it. My thought is it would be so much easier to clean with the internals being removed but I'm not having any problems in the way of drivability, noise, metal in the oil or any other issues. If anything splitting the case will give me a real good idea on the health of the engine & it will give me the opportunity to do those WYIT type stuff...

I was just wondering if there was a reason for it.

Yes the "WYIT" is the "pass go" card

BTDT and I'm also in waiting of doing my engine which at that time will probably Supercharge her.

Will be following your journey

[fred cook]

There are several ways to extract more hp from an engine. You can increase displacement with bigger pistons and cylinders, increase compression, use hotter cams, change to dual ignition and/or increase port size. Or, you can pressurize the engine (turbo or supercharger) or add a Nitrous system. Keep in mind that an internal combustion engine is a heat pump. Pushing more fuel and air thru it will generate more power. There is an old saying among the hot rod crowd that goes "Cubic Inches = Rectangular Money". Unfortunately there is no cheap way to make more horsepower so you have to decide on what your budget will need to be. Good luck with your project!

[michael lang]

Between Wayne's engine rebuild & the Bentley manual teardown has been fairly uneventful up to this point. Just taking my time and carefully paying attention to what I'm doing, taking lots and lots of photos




Getting started on the intake manifold





Making sure I am getting all the vacuum hose and harness connections disconnected


Throttle linkage & springs


And it's off


I want to remove the intake manifold from the MAFS and throttle assy to be cleaned. Is there anything inside the tube assemblies that could get ruined from cleaning or solvents or are they just empty tubes?

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by michael lang

Between Wayne's engine rebuild & the Bentley manual teardown has been fairly uneventful up to this point.

On repair job I always check at least from two sources. A lot of people laugh at the Haynes version but at least on one occasion they were the only one showing me the photo that I need it, perfect for the car. Even the Porsche manuals got mistakes.

101 Projects for your Porsche 911: Corrections & Updates (Including the Engine Rebuild)

Corrections - Porsche Repair Manual: 911 Carrera Coupe, Targa, and Cabriolet: 1984-1989 *-* Bentley Publishers - Repair Manuals and Automotive Books (Only 2 corrections...)

List the Bentley 911 SC Manual Errors. (PP Threads)

[michael lang]

Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning. I looked and looked at parts cleaners and found nothing that I liked enough and was reasonably priced to buy for a home garage that would work with something stronger than a water based cleaner, so I decided to use this. My makeshift parts cleaner



My wife thought I was nuts but it's working so far

[hcoles]

FWIW- I rebuilt (DIY) the top of my 89 3.2. The only thing I did was have Camgrinder work my cam to 964. I would suggest contacting Steve Wong and get a chip, I didn't do that but probably should have. Take the cat out, you probably already have done that. There are countless threads on getting more out of a 3.2.

You might consider a 3.4L or more disp. set of Ps&Cs. There are countless threads on this as well.

[safe]

Originally Posted by michael lang

This is what I'm starting out with...plain 3.2l w/64k miles. To my knowledge, it has never been apart or even out of the car for that matter.

I wouldn't split the case, bottom end lasts forever. New exhaust guides might be in order.

You can easily reach 250 with intake, exhaust and cam shaft mods.

[michael lang]

Thanks safe, I appreciate the vote of confidence. Since I decided to keep my car after the on track incident, I have spent a lot of time thinking/researching about what was the best way to get more power out of my car's engine. I decided to stay normally aspirated and go the route of more air in and more air out and like any muscle, you have to feed it. Cams (more air in), exhaust (more air out), chip to reprogram the fuel system (fuel for the muscle).

Lots of progress this weekend, got all the externals off the engine. Let me backtrack a little bit. After the intake was the exhaust. This is where my first set of challenges occurred. Every single nut and barrel nut came off without a single issue. Now fast forward to this weekend. After a week of soaking the exhaust manifold studs in PB Blaster and my new set of stud removers I got from the Matco tool guy at the dealership I work for I figured I was in good shape. The first the came out with next to no effort.



Then I ran into problems. Cylinders #2, 5 & 6 snapped. That's small compared to when I got to #1 & 6, the stud remover could not go onto the stud because the gap between the stud and one if the cooling fins on the head wasn't big enough. So in my attempt to get the tool on the stud I accidentally cracked the fin.





Since I am sending the heads out to be redone, can anyone tell me if this is something that a machine shop can repair? This really concerns me as I'm hoping it can be repaired. I'm continuing on with the teardown but next on the list is the the intake manifold and to send the injectors out for servicing.

[Gordo2]

I managed to get all but 2 of my exhaust studs removed - and spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get the last 2 out.

Meanwhile I planned to give the heads to a shop for a refresh - as it turned out they only charged me ~ $25 per stud to remove and fix the threads (time serts). As such I wasted a bunch of time and effort trying to remove them when in the end I failed, and it wasn't that expensive to have the shop remove & repair them.

No worries - a good head shop will get them out and make sure they are good for install for a fair price.

Gordo

[michael lang]

Thanks for the advice Gordo, I was thinking the same thing about the exhaust studs. I hope the shop I choose will also be able to help in getting the fin repaired as well.

By the way, I followed your rebuild. I must say, very nicely done. I hope mine turns out as nice as yours did.

[safe]

A bit late now, but there is no need to remove good exhaust studs.

I would also bolt on the valve covers again, tape the intake ports and clean the engine BEFORE disassembly. Degreaser, a brush and a water hose will get you a long way.

[michael lang]

Can anyone tell me if it is safe to clean the intake manifold with mineral spirits?
Does anyone have any pics of removing the alternator from its housing? I've read the threads but cannot imagine how this is done by dropping it on a piece of 2x4.
Is there a trick to removing the fuel injectors? I've looked and looked at those things and just don't see how they come out of the intake manifold.

[jmh61]

I took everything off the intake manifold then cleaned it with mineral spirits. No issues.
Took my alternator to a local shop, NAPA, had it pressed out.
There is a clip at the top of the injector. Remove the clip and you can pop them out. You can also loosen the fuel rails.

[Fly911]

I'm just about to start the rebuild of my 1987 Carrera engine... I hope for 375Hp, naturally aspirated!

[michael lang]

Thanks for the info John, appreciate the info. Monday I sent the engine oil cooler out to be power flushed and cleaned. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way it was working, just needed a real good cleaning. I called Looper Servicenter in Rockville MD. I have used them for years when I needed to have a customer's radiator rebuilt because LandRover used to never have stock for replacements so I would send them to be rebuilt. This is what went out


And this is what came back




Turn around time was 24 hours, you couldn't ask for much more than that.