"at a crossroads" update

[JoeyD911]

Again, thanks to all that helped me through my "just back from the mechanic" depression in my last post! Keep, sell, burn, suicide, you know the drill. The diagnosis then was 1 broken head stud #6 cyl. and low comp. due to partially burned valve #3 cyl. Full rebuild was best solution. Only 55K on the motor at the time.

Flash forward to post depression. After the pro tune up, the car really was running pretty good. The consensus of replies to my last post was I could probably drive the car for a short while and get the job done over the next winter. I had tons of new parts that I had ordered before the "good news". Decided to go on with these projects anyway, the cash was already spent so why not. Noticed that the more I drove the car the better she ran. After about a month of weekend projects and daily driving of 50 or 60 mi and she was really starting to feel and look good. I'd gone about a thousand miles at that point. Got a "go or blow" attitude during one nice morning drive with lots of open road. Drove the livin snot out of her for ten or fifteen minutes, redline through the gears, triple digit speeds etc. (this sounds worse than it was) this was actually a closed road I "accidently" turned down on a sunday. What a find, I hope they never reopen that road Anyway, the point is, the following weekend I do my own compression test. All range fron 173 to 168 pounds. I may have dodged a huge bullet, although I do still have the head stud issue to deal with. The broken stud is on the inside of number 6. I think I might just let it go for now and start saving my money. The more projects I accomplish, the more I think about doing the job myself.

Here are a couple shots I've taken along the way.

P.S. the only thing I love more than this car, is the search button! Thanks everybody!

[oregonmon]

I don't have the experience of doing engine work myself but I know what you mean. As I DIY (which I really didn't in the past) my confidence around the car grows.

[Bobboloo]

Glad to hear the Italian tune-up had such a positive effect on your car. If the compression on #3 came back then it's quite possible the valve wasn't burned . It may have just had carbon trapped in the valve seat.

Considering your mileage is so low you might want to consider just replacing the bottom row of head studs instead of rebuilding the whole motor. You could remove the left and right bank of heads and leave them assembled with the cam towers. Then remove the pistons and cylinders leaving them assembled.

When your down to the case you can then remove the studs. At this point you might want to have a well respected Porsche mechanic who has experience removing broken studs remove all the bottom row of studs.

If you decide to do this make sure you clean the motor as clean as possible before you start and be sure to cover the spigots as soon as the P+C come off. You don't want any dirt getting inside of the crankcase. Cleanliness is of the up most importance to the life of the motor.

[JoeyD911]

O-mon, I've been doing work on my own cars forever. This is my first Porsche though, the intimidation factor reduces with every project. I just have a convenience issue with every major repair starting out with, step one: remove engine! Still blows me away you can't do even a clutch job w/o step 1.

Bobby, If she comes apart that far, it's getting a rebuild and every other while you're in there project done. Securing a venue to do the job will be hard enough as it is. I'll get it all done at one time.

Right now my my attitude is, when the clutch or head stud issue goes way south, I'll do it all then. Until that time I'll keep up with all the smaller projects and just drive it. I think I'll ease up on the Italian tune ups though