2.2T rebuild for my 914
 

I thought I would start a build thread here since there are so many of you with solid input.

To start, I bought Wayne's book from Barnes and Noble and had buried my head in it for a few weeks before even starting the tear down. On top of that, I've been wrenching on cars for years, just this year I finished the rebuild on the type-4 motor in my 914 currently.

The type-4 is a 1911 with Weber IDF40's. Goes well for what it is but my wife's base model 2014 Volkswagen Jetta can pull away easily on the straights. Now, I understand that the build I'm proposing wont be a speed demon, but it'll at least be closer...

The car:

I know almost all of you are 911 guys, and the 914 has been looked down upon for awhile, but I'm hoping you can appreciate this even though it may not be your cup-o-tea.

I pulled the car from a garage in Minneapolis where it had been sitting for 20ish years getting pooped on by mice. In 14 months I've gone through everything but bodywork. New fueling from the tank to the carbs, engine, brakes, wheels, suspension, interior, exhaust... it was quite extensive. Running and driving now while I build the 2.2.

Here it is the day after I brought it home.
http://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1619/25...f9558a76_b.jpg

And a couple months ago at it's maiden voyage to C&C
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4268/34...a033d2b3_b.jpg

Interior when it was about 90% done, I actually rebuilt both of those Heuer timers as well.
http://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7371/26...d735805f_b.jpg

It was on the maiden voyage where I knew I had to do something about the engine. I drove down with my good friend Kris. He has a 911 with a pretty awesome engine build, I don't know the specifics off hand, but it's quick, and it sounds glorious.

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4211/35...78d74499_b.jpg

Leaving a cloverleaf where we were both stuck behind a minivan, Kris guns it and pulls away hard, past the minivan and was gone. I'm already in a lower gear, ready to pounce. Gun it. Don't pass the minivan. Stay on throttle, creep closer to the van. Finally going past it and this person has no idea how hard this little engine was trying to get by it. Like they're sucking down a McDonalds cone and are completely oblivious. Hecking heck.

So, if I'm going to loose to a family hauler, I might as well do it with something awesome.

Engine:

Through Kris I was able to befriend Aaron from Flat Six in Minneapolis. Been down to drool a few times at all of the metal going through his shop and sent him a message. Looking for a six to put in the 914, nothing special, core quality. I like to rebuild stuff.

Turns out he had a 2.2T core motor, no idea the condition of anything inside other than it turning freely. Came with a set of Zeniths. When I went to look at it Jack noted that you could feel when it comes up to compression.

It was a core engine at a core price. It was a roll of the dice as to if this would be awesome or completely munched inside. nevertheless I needed a starting point and this was it.

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4258/35...76fc8c78_b.jpg

So what is it? it's a 911/07 2.2 T motor, the one with 125hp or thereabout.

engine number 6117639

The plan:

Chatted with Aaron a bit when I picked it up, these have good valve and port sizes and I don't want to go to crazy so I'm planning an E grind on the cam, larger displacement in the form of larger pistons and bored out cylinders. Keeping the crank/rods if they check out. Then a general rebuild. Not cutting corners, but I am a mechanical designer with access to a full machine shop (excluding the CNC) I've been trained on the equipment too so a lot of it I will be able to do. Of course I will have someone else do the line boring and depending on fixturing I may have them do the cylinder base machining as well if I don't feel comfortable doing it myself.

Goal is around 150hp.

First step was to get it home and into the garage. It had a set of heat exchangers on it that Aaron needed back. I couldn't use them in the 914 anyway and he had given me a deal on the motor. So first step was to pull those and run them back down to his shop.

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4253/35...86c1f0c8_b.jpg

HE's off and the teardown commences.

You'll notice the yoke is on the wrong side. This is a cheaper yoke and it wouldn't bolt down all the way with the oil cooler in place. I will be swapping it to the other side once it gets closer to the case split.

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4242/34...f7971aa5_b.jpg

Aaron actually gave me two sets of Zeniths since one set has some melted venturis. I can mix and match to get the best set I can and then bring him back the spare parts.

Ports look like they've been port-matched to the gaskets/intakes. Awesome.

Popped off the chain covers. Chains and chain wheels are looking good. Actually very little wear. A more in-depth examination to follow once everything is all cleaned up. I'll be doing new chains and guides of course, if the rest of it checks out I may just rebuild and reuse.

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4202/35...0e533274_b.jpg

Non oil fed tensioners. After talking with Kris (who built his engine with close guidance from Aaron) I've decided not to do oil fed. Instead these will get a rebuild with close examination, and of course I will be adding the safety collars.

I swung up to Kris' and took out some tools on loan. (cam gear removal tools and much more) Was able to continue with the teardown this week.

Started with the cyl 1-2-3 bank. pulled the rockers, cam, cam housing, heads, and cylinders.

cam is 901.105.133.0R which is the stock cam for this engine (1971 911T). I'll be measuring them up to see if they've been ground at all.

cam - #3 cyl end
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4309/35...6b934e25_b.jpg

cam - middle
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4284/35...e234cff5_b.jpg

cam - #1 cyl end
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4234/35...5d26f4fe_b.jpg

The heads are 911.104.306.0R which are also the stock heads for this engine

#1 head
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4234/35...9a2e2c33_b.jpg

#2 head
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4229/35...33bf40b7_b.jpg

#3 head
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4286/35...2bc96ea3_b.jpg

all of the cylinders looked like this
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4215/35...6edf1f03_b.jpg

everything is generally caked in either carbon deposits or oil/grime.
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4233/35...9146d4f0_b.jpg

that said, everything looks pretty good. And by pretty good I mean nothing terribly terribly borked. i.e. no valve/piston contact or broken rings. The whole thing came apart pretty easily, no complaints.

Of course I've been bagging and tagging all the hardware, bigger items go into my build cabinet
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4303/35...4ab18800_b.jpg

#4/5/6 pistons, cylinders, and heads all in equal shape to 1/2/3 that I pictured above, no terminal damage so far. To be honest, to me it looks like a pretty good rebuild by whomever did it.

Went to inspect the head studs and found something...

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4299/35...2cb4c569_b.jpg

Looks like someone installed case savers or time-serts already. Judging by the fact that all of the cylinders and heads came up with no issues, I'd say they're straight. The one on the left is slightly proud of the surface, where the right one is flush.

All of the studs on this case half have them, didn't even think to flip it over and check the other side, I got called away right after I took this pic.

Again, no history on this motor. Complete unknown. So it's nice to see this when I very well could have been looking at toasted valves, heads, chains, and much more. Also to reiterate, despite this good news I will still be doing a full rebuild on this, now I just may not have to install new case savers.

High compression pistons like JE and some Solex cams. Perfect combination for that fantastic 014 you have.

Is 9.1 or 9.5/1 considered high compression? And are the installed time-serts in a mag block ok with that amount of compression?

I was looking on the JE website and didn't find anything for this engine, everything I saw was like 98mm and up. Am I looking in the wrong place?

Now that I type that, I'm assuming our host stocks them?

My last motor had 90mm Mahle piston and cylinders based on my '71 T motor. Made it a 2,5 l with E cams and Webers. Head slightly ported, 35mm I and E. Pulled 180 to 190 HP. Even with the 8,4 to 1 CR it had it was a still very sweet running motor. BTW the long block is for sale.

Your problem is you have cast iron cylinders. They can be bored, but really they are not the best for a true high performance motor.

If it was me, I would find a set of used 90mm barrels and have them bored to 92 and get some JEs at around 9.5 to 1 to match.

You will have to machine the case and heads for anything larger than, I think, an 84 bore.

If you really want to take it to the next level consider going to a 70mm crank.

Do a search here, there are a couple of threads on building 2,2s.

not really wanting this to be a high performance engine, just something fun to drive around with the exhaust note that melts hearts. If I can get a little more pep with a few bucks thrown it I'm all for it, not looking to drop $2k on new P's and C's unless it's really needed.

I don't really have a budget, but the more performance oriented stuff I buy for it (i.e. 70mm crank) the further and further the project extends. I can't just dump a ton of cash into parts collecting, gotta do it one bit at a time. So unless my stock crank is toasted or far out of spec I will probably keep it and reuse it.

Again, the goal is around 150hp, for time and money constraints I'd like to keep it around there. I feel that with the E cam grind and a bump in compression I could get close.

I'm not an expert, but this is what I'm doing to my '71T, 2.2, based on the advice I've received and my research:
Bored cylinders to 85mm (the max for the iron cylinders on the T)
JE pistons (about 9.2)
Solex cam
increase Zenith venturies to 32mm and upgrade the jets.

I've seen dyno sheets in other threads that indicate this combination gives about 160 hp to the rear wheels and a flat torque curve with a max of about 140.

Nice work on the 914-good luck with the project!

dho

Case is apart now, most of the bearings looks really good, a few have some wear. I've had a few engines apart but not many, and those were special circumstances so I don't have a lot of personal experience reading wear on bearings.

No, I'm not planning to re-use anything here, just looking for input on condition. Namely what might cause one or more bearings to wear differently than others.

One case half
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4322/35...037190dc_b.jpg

From one end to the other, close up's on each of them

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4320/35...05590673_b.jpg
This one seems to have much more wear than all of the others for the crank.

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4296/35...777024bd_b.jpg
The dark spot here is oil, I think.

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4298/35...fa1a7954_b.jpg

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4324/35...ed8a438e_b.jpg
Wear on the far edge of this one.

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4330/35...5f83e875_b.jpg

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4306/35...a83f95d5_b.jpg

For the intermediate shaft bearings:

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4321/35...730ecdb7_b.jpg
More wear here too.

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4326/35...32d31b17_b.jpg

Any thoughts or input from you guys and gals?

OK, I'll give my amateur opinion.

Those main bearings don't look too bad. The rule of thumb on the 2,2s is as long as none of the bearings look worn to the backing the case is probably good to go.

Not sure why the IS bearing looks so bad...

Wonder if the IS thrust bearing wear is due to some funkery with the chains/tensioners? The chains and sprockets all look really good, maybe there was some issue with them and they were replaced but they left the case alone? Not sure, once it all gets inspected maybe we'll find out.

Initial inspection and measurement taking tonight. Made up a few sheets to keep track of measurements to compare them to spec. Also so I can note installed stud height, hole condition, presence of inserts, etc.

After I finished I realized that the case picture I used to make the line drawings on sheets 1 & 2 isn't from a 2.2. To fix it I used a pen to edit the hard copies but that was after I snapped this pic.

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4329/36...ae3315da_b.jpg

To my eye the case looks out of alignment. Lot's of asymmetrical bearing wear. Especially the edges of the bearings in more than a few locations.

You need to send that case out and have it accurately measured. Unless you can do this yourself.

What are you going to do about heater boxes and exhaust? Pretty sure 914-6 heater boxes and exhaust are very rare and hard to find. Any ideas?
Bob B

I don't run heat in my 914, I'll be doing headers. Exhaust shouldn't be too hard to be honest. There's a guy on 914World that builds 914-6 heat exchangers, probably working with him to just do a set of headers, if I end up wanting to go the expensive route. I have wanted to build a set of headers on most of the past car builds I've done but in the end always just pay for good stuff, we'll see what happens, that's far enough down the line that I haven't really given it any thought.

I can do some measurement, but I will be having professionals look it over too. For instance, I can accurately measure the crank bores on their own, but can't accurately measure their relation to one another.

Cam journals all in spec, need to machine up a bracket to measure crank runout.

Crank to intermediate shaft gear, as well as the distributor gear. Few nicks in the soft gear, but nothing bad IMO, I'll clean it up a bit and reuse it.
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4320/35...28bc3e60_b.jpg

All of the big end rod bearings have significantly more wear than the crank main bearings.

Rod #1
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4325/35...2971e3e8_b.jpg

Rod #2
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4294/35...c9e621e7_b.jpg

Rod #3 (probably the worst of them)
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4317/35...9a82ab07_b.jpg

Rod #4
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4299/36...8504dbdc_b.jpg

Rod #5
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4326/35...410b7307_b.jpg

Rod #6
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4323/35...bc9da1d4_b.jpg

Finally, didn't clean this part up at all but wanted to snap a pic of the cylinder markings.

http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4312/36...8a1597f3_b.jpg

How's cooling in a 914 vs 911? Those cast cylinders don't shed heat as well as nickies.

I don't suppose I have enough experience with 911's to be able to answer accurately, but on the 914 there is a large almost open area directly above. Tins and rubber seal the underside from the top side in the engine bay.

Check out post #13 here for some cool stainless headers with heater boxes from "mb911".

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/966748-do-these-engine-bushings-look-stock-also-what-exhaust.html#post9702979

Yes I've seen his work a lot on 914World, I'm not running heater boxes though.

I make these for just this situationhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1503368150.jpg

Yup, and the post right before yours explained that I'm not running heater boxes.

Yup I know that just sharing with others..

Hi- Nice project and work done thus far. You will love the sweet sound of the six. Given your location, I am curious about your choice to not run heat. I would imagine the defroster alone would be worth it. Or are you just going for headers to maximize the HP from the motor?

I suppose one could do headers and then possibly build heat exchangers around them later.. My last 6 I had just had headers and didn't need heat for when I drove it. That was about 16 years ago. I am much bigger of a whimp now and can't handle cold like I use to..

Glen so back on topic what did you decide to do with the case?

MN uses a lot of salt on the roads. I wont be driving it in the winter, and in spring I always wait until it rains a few times to clear the roads. In the fall, on nippy days, I'll wear a light coat.

My previous fun vehicle was a motorcycle (well, still have it but don't ride it) and this will get about the same use, same temps. Windows always open.

Apart from not feeling that I need heat, I also enjoy the simplicity when these things are stripped down to the essentials.

That is a huge point.. Way to much salt used in the midwest.

Based on my other thread about the bearings, and from talking it through with Aaron who has spent more time wrenching on these than I have spent wrenching on anything, I do have a plan for the case.

Before I get into that, I should note that I've recently had a pretty major reduction of my fun car fund. My sister in-law who has been our childcare, will be moving to Maine in two weeks. This means that cash I had set aside for this build will now mostly be diverted to babysitters :/

For that reason and others, I've decided to just do a stock rebuild on this 2.2. No hotter cam, no higher compression or displacement. Since everything is is really good shape on this engine it makes the new plan pretty easy to agree to. Sure it'll only have 125hp, but that's still a bunch more than the 4-cyl. And the 6 sounds so much nicer than the sewing machine idle 4-cyl. This is a street driven, fair weather cruiser. No race days.

Now, onto the case. Wait, not yet. I got my new micrometers in and have been measuring things. Crank measurements I had taken before have been verified. Crank is well within spec so I ordered a set of Glyco main bearings. Bunch of threads on here had me a little paranoid about out of spec bearings but measuring them up will set my mind at ease.

Really now, to the case. Since bearing wear was pretty even and nothing really scary inside, I'll be bolting it together with the crank and new bearings then checking for interference or binding. If that checks out I'll plasti-gauge as well as check the bearing bores as-assembled to measure the bearing clearances. If those all check out I'll clean it all up and slap it all back together.

I may throw the case halves on the end mill to even out the cylinder base surfaces, but they, and the case parting line surfaces, all look pretty straight when resting my Brown&Sharpe straight edge on there.

So, I'm sure a lot will shake their heads. That's fine. It's my own car/engine and if it goes pear shaped I'll only blame myself. Aaron made it clear that he would never-ever-ever do it on a customer car, but for a low power 2.2, that was bought as a core, I could do it.

Your right on about the 6cyl sound. It will be well worth it.. And I agree if it all checks out you should be good to go. I wish my core would have been as solid as yours. The bearing thing has me concerned as well. I had everything machined and now have to decide if I need to remeasure everything.. Probably wait until winter to build my engine..

Understand the babysitter thing that surely is expensive..I Have 5 kids..

I can't even imagine this times 5, haha.

Priced out daycare centers. Crazy that these things cost 1200-1300/month. When we were married in 2009 our apartment and grocery bill together cost less than that.

I hear you.. My 3 oldest are 13,15,17 and eat like horses and then we adopted a 1 year-old and do foster care in hopes of adopting almost 3 year old.. Most expensive time of my life for sure

very cool, we were planning to do foster care until our little one surprised us, now we're going to wait until she is a bit older. Good on you.

We have done it for about 5 years.. If you ever want to talk about the ins and outs of that in the future feel free. Happy to tell you about some of the pitfalls.

For sure. I was a foster kid, so from that perspective I've seen a lot. From the other side I'm sure it's far different. That's part of why we wanted to do it though. I was in 7 different homes in my childhood and saw first hand how a positive home could effect a kids life. I owe a lot to the last home I was in and we want to give back. One stipulation though is that we don't have kids older than our baby, so we need to wait a bit.

Our biggest challenge is trying to keep the one little girl that we have had since she was about 2 months old she is almost 3 now..

I am very happy that you had a positive experience as we have tried very hard to be that positive rock..

Little slowing of the 2.2 rebuild, so I was able to work on it's digital counterpart.

3D model work done in Creo, rendered in Keyshot. Few goals for this, first I'll be making some exploded view posters. Also I will be doing a scale 3D print of the components and maybe offering them as a kit. This isn't a for sale thread though, so I'll stick with the first teaser picture.

edit: see my 3D model engine thread here: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-engine-rebuilding-forum/971257-3d-model-render-work-2-2t-motor-im-building.html

Very cool.. I want one

Impressive work. How did you dimension the parts? Laser scan?

No laser scanning here, it's all parametric work, so each part is a combination of hundreds of extrudes, rounds, drafts, etc. Created in the same way a large scale manufacturer would create models for CNC. Each part is broken down into features where I measure the real part feature and create it's digital replica.

It's a bit more complex too, in that I use surface modeling for the most part, and then solidify the part at the end. And on top of that, the surface model work is done in what they call a master model that contains all the parts, individual solid parts are separate files as-is the assembly model.