Oil System Refresh 99.99% Complete

[911SCRVA]

TL;DR: It took a while but I finished the project.

Last summer I noticed my car was either consuming or losing too much oil. I didn't know which. I kept my eye on the dipstick and couldn't see anything unusual. So I called the mechanic who worked on the car for several of the car's previous owners. He told me that the car had an oil plumbing problem under the rocker panel--there was a seep that might have turned into a leak. I Googled "oil plumbing problem" and "rocker panel". I sort of understand what he was talking about and stayed vigilant. There were oil spots in the garage, but nothing dramatic.

And then things got a little dramatic this spring—a big drop of oil dangling from the hard oil line bracket. Then the occasional drip became became more like the leaky drip drop of a faucet when the car was running.



After a little more inspection, I found a hole in the hard oil line. It looked like someone had taken the tip of a knife and tapped the line. I'm not saying someone did, just that it it looked like it.

So I ordered a supply hard line. And the rear oil lines. Along with a filter and oil and other stuff.

When the supply line came, I noticed the thermostat end had a right angle. The one I was replacing had a curved end.



I hadn't noticed that before buying the line, and wouldn't have known anyway that it would be too short to reach the thermostat. For that, I'd need a hard line with a curved thermostat end. So I ordered one.

In the meantime, I tried removing the rear lines. For the life of me, I couldn't loosen the line that goes to the oil reservoir. I was afraid of bending the supply line, so I tried supporting thermostat and eliminate any movement of the hard line. No dice. I tweaked the supply hard line and created a leak.



An expensive mistake. I ordered a new supply line and told myself that I had inadvertently saved myself the hassle of replacing the old line years later. I removed the rear lines still attached to the thermostat, put them aside while I installed the new rear lines.



Then I took the thermostat to the workbench and put it in a vice and continued to trying muscling the rear line nut free from the thermostat port. Eventually, I succeed in freeing it--and stripping the threads from the thermostat port. Another expensive mistake. Rather than trying to muscle the nut loose, I should have cut it. Live and learn.

I also made the mistake of not asking for any advice here. I was eager to get things done and didn't have the patience to wait for advice. But, some advice did come. Try a thermostat saver, Mr Walker said. So I did. I don't know if it was the thermostat saver or me, but it was a complete bust. I only succeeded in stripping away more threads. But I have doubts that even if I'd succeeded in attaching the saver to the thermostat that it would have sealed properly. Shouldn't both sides have the same type of ends to create a seal?




The new thermostat arrived looking all shiny and beyootiful.



The new hard oil line arrived looking like this...



Shipped bubble wrapped (not boxed) and bent. So I ordered a new line.

While I waited, I attached the rear lines to the thermostat. And when the new oil line arrived I attached both hard lines, too.



But there was a little problem with the hard lines and the front lines. They overlapped by a few inches and I could not mate them. The front lines were very stiff, so I couldn't bend them at all. I tried loosening things up, as someone suggested here, to no avail. Because his front lines are known to be very flexible, I called Mr Griffiths (as in Griffiths Technical Inc.), who was perplexed as to why there was any overlap. I shared pics with him and he said he'd make me custom lines and patiently talked me through the process of measuring. But throughout our conversation he kept returning to how it was even possible that I should need custom sized front lines. He told me to loosen things up and try again. I did, and, lo and behold, this time it worked--I could attach the old front lines to the hard lines. I ordered a standard-sized pair of front lines from Mr Griffiths and they're beautiful.



What a process. I learned a lot. Mostly about patience. And persistence. And the value of a great community to help guide me through the process. One of the forum members, Pampadori, also lives in Richmond, swung by my house a couple times to help me out when I was in a pinch. He was impressive to watch. Confident and fast. When I commented on this, he joked that he moved like he was being charged $200 an hour.

The car is now back in action and running great. There's just one thing left to do: attach the hard oil line clasp in the front wheel well. I'm having trouble because the bolt is just a little too short to get it seated. I've shredded the skin off my finger trying to thread it. It was on the car before so I know it's possible. But I've given up on it. I bought a bolt that's a little longer.

All this (long post) is to say, thanks much for your help on this project. I'm continually astounded by the amount of wisdom and goodwill here.