Engine tin - struggling with this piece

UK Carrera · 03-17-2019, 07:48 AM

1988 3.2 Carrera

I'm doing a whole bunch of jobs and noticed that the piece of engine tin at the rear of the engine on the passenger side (my car is RHD so that's driver's side for an LHD car) is badly corroded and needs replacing.

It's this piece:

Now I have partially dropped the engine (to do my other jobs) by lowering the front of the gearbox. I have removed all of the tinware fixings on this part, save for one recalcitrant cap head machine screw (which I'm probably going to have to cut off somehow) and two fixings on the top of the tinware.

It is these last two that has me scratching my head. I can just about see the outboard of these fixings (highlighted in pink) but not the inboard (highlighted in gold).

I am seeking advice as to how to release these two fixings (particularly the inboard) without either dropping the engine completely or removing the intake. Obviously both must be accessed from the engine bay.

Surely it must be possible to get to these two fixings?

TIA

proporsche · proporsche's Garage

hi ,engine dropping a little will help because of the gold side is a pita..to do..No need to remove the intake.Just remove your heater motor.The two bolts are hidden under the engine rubber seal.If you cannot access it little drop then......but remember you have to also disconnect the sensors from the bracket and clamps on intake no.3.Luckily your horizontal allen head bolts will get loose they are sometimes hard to remover(oxidized)
Also you need to mark the position of the sensor bracket so you have 0,8 mm space there between the sensor and starter ring...

You doing this just to replace the sheet metal??

I would wait until there is more engine work to be done...
Ivan

spuggy · 03-17-2019, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UK Carrera

It is these last two that has me scratching my head. I can just about see the outboard of these fixings (highlighted in pink) but not the inboard (highlighted in gold).

I am seeking advice as to how to release these two fixings (particularly the inboard) without either dropping the engine completely or removing the intake. Obviously both must be accessed from the engine bay.

Surely it must be possible to get to these two fixings?

TIA

Hahahahaha! Deja vu... Yes, it can be done. Although, as you've already discovered, it's a little awkward...

Recently did this task when adding a CHT sensor - which requires taking that tin off to modify it.

IIRC, you remove the top tin first, because it obscures the bolts holding that piece on - but that's relatively easy to remove/replace. The engine bay rubber gasket also gets in the way. It can be a little fiddly to start the top bolts when re-assembling; mostly done by feel. Some judiciously-chosen wobble/flexible extensions can help a lot.

Sometimes, all you need to know is that it can be done, right? I did it...

UK Carrera · 03-17-2019, 11:04 PM

Thank you both!

It's good to know it CAN be done and I am not wasting time on the impossible

UK Carrera · 03-18-2019, 08:20 AM

Done it - gone them both out!

I removed both the engine tin at the side of the engine and the heater blower from the engine bay.

The outboard fixing I was (just) able to reach from the side - reaching in between the engine and the bodywork.

The inboard fixing succumbed to a combination of a wobble extension and a swivel from above. What made it a little bit awkward was the fact that the throttle linkage is directly above this bolt.

Anyways - they're out. Going to be fund getting a new inboard bolt in though....