Typical "while you were in there" story:

[speeder]

Well, my motor is finally almost ready to install. This is one of those jobs that just grew, kind of fun and expensive, but also a cautionary tale for new 911 owners with out much maintenence budget.

When I bought my '82 SC in 2001, I hadn't yet found Pelican and skipped the PPI. I should have still known better, almost got one, then just did my own "once over", compression test, looked at brakes, under car, drove it, etc. It was, and still is, a pretty car w/ ~100k miles, knew that it needed a little attention, but I like doing my own tuning, so no big deal. Right?

Well, compression tests are close to meaningless on 911s, my car had 170-180 in all cylinders and drove/sounded good with, (drumroll): 1) TWO broken head studs, 2) completely worn exhaust valve guides, 3) one broken valve spring, 4) huge oil leaks, vacuum leaks, etc., etc.

Most, if not all of this could have been caught w/ a decent PPI, all of these issues are common to my model of car. Anyways, another title for this thread could be, "Pelican Dream Customer". Of course, I've gone nuts making my car as close to mechanically new as possible, plus adding SSIs, cams, a rebuilt ltd. slip 915 from another '82 SC, etc., etc..... All of this has had to fit in to my time and $$ schedule, so it's been off the road for 6+months. Finally almost done, here's a pic:

[bell]

nicely done.....you'll see once it's mobile that it was all worth it

[Sonic dB]

Nice dogeared copy of the Porsche bible laying on the floor there....though Waynes books may be the new bibles...

[speeder]

Thanks, guys. I actually have a pretty good Porsche library, including a signed copy of Wayne's new book. I've read and done quite a bit of research, it's interesting because even the established experts don't always agree on everything. That said, I consider his book essential. The more that I read, the more that I know which questions to ask.

I tell you, if I was a millionaire I'd still build 911 engines in my garage. Once they are learned, I find them the most enjoyable to work on.

[speeder]

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas around here! So what if it's June, here is what Santa brought me: a new motor for my SC! Along w/ a new, (OK, they're both rebuilt, but I'm not splitting hairs), transmission! I am one trip down to Pelican HQ tomorrow away from installing this stuff! Need to pick up the last few odds and ends, plus time the cams and install Carrera tensioners, then as soon as I get the motor tin back from powdercoater, (Thanks, Kevin P73!), it's "plug and play" time!

Here is what I did today, I have new oil lines from aux. thermostat to motor and oil tank, so I had to get the old ones off of the therm. I was a little afraid of this operation since I've heard the horror stories of the two metals fusing together over the years, and removing the threads from the therm when you try to separate them. Best and safest solution, IMO, was to soak the threads for a couple of days w/ PB Blaster, (amazing penetrant spray), then when wrench wasn't working, I cut the oil line nuts w/ Dremel tool. Had to be careful, you need to cut almost all of the way through, then BIG chisel apart the nut:

Here is a shot of the tools used:

And one of the purty, clean thermostat threads, (expensive part to replace):

[speeder]

And here is a gratuitous shot of my motor, if you've seen one you've seen 'em all, unless it's yours:


Another angle, (these are like baby pictures to us geeks):


Hopefully I can increase my usefulness around here w/ my upcoming, "breaking in re-rung Alusils" thread, along w/ countless other typical Pelicanhead upgrade stories this summer!

[Doug E]

Nice work Dennis. The engine looks great.

Your list of 4 separate issues despite a good compression test ought to be tale enough for any prospective 911 owner to ensure a PPI.

[BennyBroadcast]

I agree Noah. Sellers invariably set their price with respect to how much they paid and what they can see cosmetically that a purchaser may pick up. No offer on a car should exclude the likely cost of major upcoming work/repairs. If sellers were honest :-) they would tell you that the reason they are selling is BECAUSE of the work/repairs that they KNOW need to be done. PPI, the only solution, dont make an offer until you have one.
Back on topic....nice work and good advice for buyers Denis :-) I hope you're on the road soon!

Benny

[Chuck Moreland]

It may well be the seller didn't know about the broken studs. But you are correct a poper PPI would have uncovered this. Think of the cash spent as tuition.

But glad to see it's coming together Dennis. When do you expect to be rolling? Are you going to bring it out to the track this summer?

[speeder]

Thanks, guys. In hindsight of course I should have gotten a PPI, but at the time I was going to PPI it at the dealer where I had worked years before, who knows if they would have even pulled a valve cover. How does that song go? Oh yeah, "I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger"

The thing about value would be great if you could do it, but just as one does not recoup repair costs, (or resto costs on most cars), one cannot score pretty SCs for $6k, generally speaking. I wanted to pay $8k for it, that didn't fly w/ seller. Wound up paying under $10k for it, now my investment is closer to $15k or so. It's a typical $$ loser as an investment, (joke in itself), but I will have an awesome car that I don't plan on selling.

Should I have bought a perfect one for ~$15-$17k? Well, I couldn't have, since I didn't have $15k to spend. And as a result, I have become a somewhat typical Pelicanhead, addicted to this BBS and having a close relationship w/ our sponsor as well as several other shops and used parts sellers.

At some point I want to acknowledge ALL of the people who have helped me, but the big ones would be my friend and neighbor Tyson Schmidt, Dave Bouzglou at TRE Motorsports, Tom Gould at Pelican Parts, Richard B., (motion), who GAVE ME A FREE MUFFLER, and many others w/ technical help on this board and encouragement. Plus Wayne for writing great reference books.

[speeder]

Chuck, should be on the road this weekend, doing my crazy break-in routine in the middle of the night!

And yes, the track is definitely in the cards for this car, it should be the beginning of a great dual-purpose 911. Then of course, the slippery slope of upgrades/track accessories, and wearing the Elephant T-shirt you gave me at various West Coast track events.

We do live in car heaven out here, I've missed two great events in the last 10 days, (Tribute to LeMans and Festival of Speed), that has got to change!

[speeder]

Well, I still like your idea, Noah.

When are you going to be back on the West Coast?

[speeder]

Well, since my last post I have been scrounging the last pieces and assembling, the motor is in and ready to break-in, but for one last small hurdle. The trans that I installed, a rebuilt ltd. slip 915, has different flanges than the one that came out. It never occured to me to check this since the new trans is also originally from a 1982 SC, (according to ser.#), but apparently when rebuilt the LSD was installed from a later trans, or maybe the LSD trans came w/ carrera-type flanges(?)

At any rate, Dave B. from TRE was gracious enough to loan me a set of SC flanges, (He was going to trade me even if they worked), but the splines are different. Soooooo........, Tyson is bringing home a set of carrera CV joints to swap on my axles and then it will DRIVE!!!!

Here are some pics:




here is the motor ready to install:

[speeder]

Here is Tyson checking the engine/trans union:


And in the car:


Will soon, (hopefully), be reporting it running! Fingers and toes crossed!

[91C2wrencher]

What in the hell kinda garage are guys working in? Please tell me that it bigger than it looks, because it looks like its barely big enough to fit the car into say nothing of doing a engine drop. You ROCK!

[RSupdate]

Rock-on Denis...!!!!!!! Looks just fantastic Lookin' forward to yr next update.....bet that felt good having Tyson there to give things a glance over...(aka: piece of mind for you!!)

This is very good indeed!!

cheers!!

[UTKarmann_Ghia]

Wow, what a great story Denis. I had a very similar tale with my first VW Karmann Ghia of course not as expensive a story as yours! Post again once you've started her up...I'd like to hear that it cranked the first time!

[surflvr911sc]

That engine looks beautiful Denis, it must feel great to finally have it in the car.

I hope you can make it to BBRIII and show it off. It should be the tightest 3.0 on the mountain.

[KevinP73]

Very nice sheet metal on that engine !! Who did your powder coating??
(eh.....couldn't resist)
It's looking Great Denis, Good Job

[speeder]

Thanks everyone! I just have a minute since we are getting it ready, I will have an update shortly!

And I was planning on mentioning you, Kev, thanks for the major hook-up on the P. coating! I tried to post a pic earlier, wouldn't load, let's try again:



And yes, the garage is as small as it looks. It is Tyson's parking space, (we are both apartment dwellers, 1 block apart), he has been unbelievably generous w/ his help. More on that later, must get back to work!