Rebuild 3.2 checklist

[KTL]

Hex keys work good in a pinch. Don't use too small of a key though. Did that on my Mitsu. 2.0L belt tensioner (hyd. not oil-fed) and it bent the key. Was kind of a pain to pull it out.

[89911]

Originally posted by PeteBrown
Michael why are rebuilding her? Have the valve guides gone bad? How many miles are one your car?

As a fellow Carrera owner, I'm curious about the strength and durability of the 3.2 living mostly on the track. Half my miles are track miles.

I think most 3.2's that have been run hard are going to have guide problems. Really, unless you have fouling plugs, the only real issue is oil usage. I've been contemplating upgrades for a few years and this winter seems like a good time to integrate these. My mechanic just located some Mahle 3.4's that will work with my car. The price ($3500...ouch) is a consideration over the euro 3.2's at $1900. Very hard not to fall into the "while your at it" mentality in an engine rebuild and suddenly be the owner of a $10,000 upgraded engine.

[Rot 911]

Update, I pulled the cylinders off and I have Mahle cylinders and they are in great shape! Whoo hoo, just saved $2000 not having to buy new P&C's!

[89911]

Nice, what are the tolerances on them? I'm hoping mine are bad in further reasons to upgrade.

[Wayne 962]

Hmm, there's lots of misinformation in this thread. First of all, many of your original questions are answered clearly in the Engine Rebuild Book (http://www.101projects.com). I suggest you get a copy of it before you plunk down $10K on engine parts that your mechanic recommends. From your comments, it doesn't seem like you've read the book yet...

You can't tell which cylinders you have in your car until you open them up and test them with a magnet. The color on the outside typically has nothing to do with the inside coating.

Twin-plugging is useless unless you run with a higher compression ratio. As I mention in the book, that is very risky on the stock injection system, as it has no method to compensate for knocking (can't reduce the timing). The only solution for that would be a custom chip (pain in the butt, difficult, and not cheap).

You mention better connecting rods and springs? In general, these engines have no known failure problems with the springs or the rods. You really want to replace the rod bolts with ARP or RaceWare ones though when doing the rebuild - that is where the weak point is.

A neat engine would be the 3.4 with Weber 46s or large jetted 40s, running a 2.7 distributor, and mod-S cams. The stock heads would be good, as would be the crank and rods. Such an engine upgrade would probably cost you $10K on a rebuild (as opposed to the normal $8K), and increase your HP to about 275 more or less at the crank.

Again, read the book and a lot of your questions will be answered...

-Wayne

[ChrisBennet]

The high performance valve springs I mentioned are stiffer thus reducing the chance of bent valves when you miss a shift.
-Chris

[Rot 911]

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
You can't tell which cylinders you have in your car until you open them up and test them with a magnet. The color on the outside typically has nothing to do with the inside coating.
-Wayne

Mine pass the magnet test!

[89911]

Thanks for the feedback. A couple of points. I do have a book but unfortunately, it has been on permanent loan for my brothers engine job. Besides, there are always a couple of ways to approach this and what better place then here. I'm trying to sort through the facts and achieve a basic guideline prior to rebuilding. Some of the problems I am getting from the start is different opinions as to what upgrades/replacement parts are needed/recommended from 2 potential engine rebuilders. I do not have the time to do this myself so I have to tell them what I want and justify it. I'm getting there and you opinions have helped. One point is that I don't want to change the intakes. I imagine that is where most of the power can be had if so.