A Photo Diary of a top-end rebuild. Or, The Tale of a one-armed rebuild.
 

Perhaps others will benefit from this thread in the future….

I've decided that now is the time to address the guides on my 3.2. I've pushed my luck enough. Now is the time to rebuild the heads. Better now than after a valve looses a head. Now here's the trick. I'm two months post-op for rotator cuff surgery. I have my MD's clearance to proceed, but dang if the tenderness doesn’t get in the way.

• Day one: A slow start. Wilke3169 in Charleston is nice enough to lend me the yoke, engine stand, and more. On top of that, he delivers the stuff to my door! My shoulder is still pretty sore. I’ve committed myself, but dang I hurt…
• Day two: Nothing interesting for photos. Perform basic analysis:
  • Engine has 98,000 miles.
  • Engine run fine, except,
  • Oil consumption is 1 qt/250 miles.
  • I have a notable amount of "fluff" on the magnet oil drain plugs.
  • Compression numbers (warm) are: 1) 180 2) 190 3) 180 4) 190 5)190 6)180.
  Unhook all connections under the engine lid. The weather is not exactly motivating. t’s a dog-nose day: cold and wet.
• Day three: Got the engine and trans disconnected. I fired up my impact gun to spare my shoulder. Good decision except for one thing. It’s too freakin’ easy to switch from “reverse” to “forward” (more on that in a bit). The Harbor Freight ATV jack? It rocks! I placed a small sheet of plywood on top of it, and the engine/trans removal was a snap. I decide that rather than evicting “The Bride®” and her Jag for a few days, I’ll wait until the coming weekend to remove and separate the engine / trans.

Damage to date:
1) One dead twenty-year-old air ratchet.
2) Three stripped half-shaft bolts, removed via a chisel and BF hammer. (This is what happens when your impact wrench unwittingly slips from “reverse” to “forward”.)
3) One reverse light switch, DOA. (No wonder they never worked before.)

Here's the photo documenting where things are right now...
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1201049417.jpg

This is going to be awesome. Don't leave out a step :)

Thanks for sharing this, I'm getting a little intermitten smoke from my 87 3.2 at stop lights so I know the day of addressing valve guides is getting closer, probabaly when the clutch goes. I look forward to reading your progress and seeing what you decide on the "while your in there" delima.

I am in the same position with my SC motor. I am using about just under 1 quart of oil per 250 miles (although I do have some serious valve cover bolt leakage).

I am an obvious noob ... what happens when a valve looses a head? Will it result in a more expensive rebuild?

Also, major props to Wilke3169 (Kevin). He is certainly one of the nicest guys I have met. He has helped me numerous weekends - in fact he helped be install my carrera style oil cooler a couple of months ago. Great guy! It doesn't surprised me that he delivered that stuff to your door.

Best wishes and please continue to keep us updated.

Cheers,
Craig

It will be way more money. When the valve breaks, the head from the valve falls into the compression chamber. By the time you turn the motor off, you'll need at least a head. Probably more.

The exhaust valve sheds heat via the guide. As the clearence increases, the valve gets hotter. Too hot and it fails.

Bear with me on the progress. So far the going is slow. And I too wonder what I'll decide to do "while I'm in there". ;)

Oh goodie:D:D:D:D:DSUBSCRIBED:D:D:D:D

I'm on the brink of this myself. 160K and 1 qt/ 700 miles consumption

I want to subscribe to track the progress. I do believe your major motivation to get done will be the owner operator of that beautiful Jag. Although she is a very nice lady it won't be long before she tires of the sights, sounds, and smells associated with said project.:)
You do know that I would be happy to lend a hand when you reach a point that requires it. You will certainly enjoy this rebuild. Rewarding and educational all wrapped into one...

sub'd

Subscribed!

Subscribed

Subscribed.... Good Luck!

100K valveguides shot is atypical. will follow your rebuild.

Truer words have never been written! My wife continually reminds me that she married a "golfer" and now lives with a "stinky" mechanic. We have two grandkids (boys) that she adores. I consistently remind her that I too am just a boy! Or is it she who reminds me? :confused: Whatever she says;)

Add me to your list of progress... The problem is always. "while I'm there" add ons...

Heck, I wanna see it too. Subscribed

subscribed.

Hah!!!!! As if you could evict “The Bride®” anyway. You're not fooling me.

Good Luck Rob. Let me know if I can help out.

John

For those who have jabbed me in the past for removing the engine without the transmission - on older cars, the CV joint bolts can be easily stripped. I did this on a car once, and it took me about 30 hours to get them off after that (I have better tools for this now).

-Wayne

Subscribed.... Good Luck!

Wayne,

I think the choice of an impact wrench to remove the bolts was the culprit....

Rob,

You are doing good, keep at it!

Cheers

Thanks for the interest y’all. To be honest, I almost deleted the thread this morning. I was thinking no one would be interested in a plain vanilla refresh…

Y'all just don't realize how sweet a Southern Belle can be…

She’s put up with end tables that were really V8 engine blocks. She’s had a dishwasher ruined by “some idiot” washing engine parts in it. (On the plus side, they did come out squeaky clean.) She’s grown accustomed to having three or more vehicles in residence. And she no longer thinks it’s odd knowing so much about carbs, EFI, gear ratios, tire compounds, and more.

She has now reached a new plateau. She said that since the 911 is down, I could take her Jag to the track! God love her. I need to buy her some new jewelry or somethin’ ;)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1201135154.jpg

subscribed

subscribed as well, i have my engine on the stand to do the lower studs but wonder if i should do guides as well. My car has 90k as well so i will follow this thread to help me make up my mind.

subscribed

good luck with it
I am building up the courage to try an engine drop too...

Craig:

What happens? You can look forward to this.

Day three:
 

Today’s goal is to get the engine out and on a stand. Easier than it sounds…. I had to raise the rear of the car to stupid heights before the engine would clear. After ten minutes of making sure everything was clear, I rolled it out.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1201393609.jpg

Next task was separating the engine and trans. Now I’ve heard horror stories about getting the pivot pin out. So in preperation, I spent last week sourcing bolts, nuts, and what-not to deal with this arduous task. Amazingly (and luckily) the shaft slipped right out. It took hardly any effort at all. As you can see in the following photo, I tugged it up with a screwdriver, and pulled it out by hand.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1201393904.jpg

Looks like the original throw out arm and shaft. What do you think?


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1201394009.jpg

Day three, Continued.
 

Over the last two decades my 911 has not seen a lot of repairs. Just oil changes and what not. Why’s that good? Because there’s little to defornicate. Why’s this bad? Because most things are due to be replaced... Here’s an example. This looks like the original rubber center clutch. It’s about .005 shy of hitting the rivets. Time for a new clutch as well as head work…

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1201394529.jpg

Finally, after many hours, it’s on the stand. Too bad it didn’t progress as fast as this post makes it appear.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1201394622.jpg

That's it for today.

When pulling the heat exchangers and exhaust off....do your homework on the nut removal. They snap easily...there are MANY threads on it but you can always ask me via phone for my $.02 worth. The snapped studs are a BIOTCH to get out of the heads...

Also....a new clutch, pressure and TO is a good idea no matter what it looks like.....even though that rubber center one looks good...%^B.....

Sachs Power units are my recomendation.

Engine Removal...
 

Rob,

I was so worried about jacking the car high enough to remove the engine that I designed and made these fixtures that bolt up to the hubs. I borrowed two engine hoist, actually most people were happy to get rid of them since most of the time they're under foot anyway. This gave me complete control and I didn't have to worry about removing the valance or bumper for additional clearance.

I would send them to anyone that needed them, but the cost of shipping is probably about the same as to make them. Mine are probably too heavy for what they have to do, but at least I know the car isn't going anywhere while they're doing their job.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1201411563.jpg

Wayne, "Older cars"
Can you be a bit more specific?
Any pre-removal procedures that may lessen the risk ?
Bugger, another thing to keep me awake at night .....!

Mitch..........I take it that shot is of the motor going back in.....not on it's way out...it looks brand new!!:eek:

Sub'ed

T :D

Dave,

Ya, you caught me... Actually it's a clean up job, new clutch and "while I was there" items. The clutch was so torn up so bad I thought I better check the trans, I'm glad I (my Porsche mech) did because the synchros were installed backwards which were self destructing.

Subscribed - I'm afraid I may need this one...

Day four:
 

I got everything off the top of the motor today. The plan was to remove everything as one assembly, as mentioned in Wayne’s rebuild book. I gave up on this plan pretty quickly. Mostly, I didn’t thing the fiberglass shroud would hold the weight of the fan and alternator without cracking. Plus, the alternator ground tethers everything. In the end I removed the fan & alternator, the shroud, and the EFI as three separate assemblies.

The alternator had obviously been replaced in the past. I have a cracked boot, and a sheet metal screw used to secure a vane on the air diverter behind the alternator. I removed the screw, and replaced the broken rivet.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1201464329.jpg



50+ bolts later, and things look like this. And yeah, I'm starting to realize this is going to take longer than I thought...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1201464392.jpg

Put seperate items like fasteners and catagory parts in a ziplock bag and label the bag with a sharpy. Clean them first......

Get a bunch of spray bottles....1 gallon water based "Purple Stuff" degreaeser, cheap cans of brake cleaner......

Some threads on MY tranny and engine tear downs.....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/search.php?searchid=1009102&pp=25&page=6
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/264698-mikey-ingo-dan-tranny-rebuild-clinic.html