'79 SC Project - That isn't a backdate!

[Paul K]

John:

Great story- keep up the good work!

Cheers,

Paul.

[911 tweaks]

more pics John...more pics...please...
Great job it sounds like...& fun doing it also...
Bob

[billybek]

Looks good, John!
Have fun with it.

[JeremyD]

I'm a big believer in doing the car YOUR way. Your car looks great - I like the bedliner idea - it wears well and looks uniform. make it your own and $#@! the purists...

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by JeremyD

I'm a big believer in doing the car YOUR way. Your car looks great - I like the bedliner idea - it wears well and looks uniform. make it your own and $#@! the purists...

Ditto, especially on a $9000 79SC... It's not like you are mangling a matching numbers 72S or a 1965...

Incidentally I did more or less the same on my $9000 83 ;-) plus a backdate... Only difference is I was the Previous Previous Owner, sold it to a friend who neglected it for 5 years, bought it back cheaper and made it mine... Enjoy, that kind of mileage is just the beginning for those cars...

[skinnerd]

Hey we need more pics!!!!

Like the finished front trunk and how them wheelwells are looking.


Great progress on your car.
I am sure you are more than satisfied....and even more so proud.
Keep up the marvelous work.
Cheers

[kerthunk]

Well, there has been a slight change in plans. I'm thinking to take a road trip later this summer, so I decided to move up the engine rebuild in the schedule. It also so happens that my dad is in town right now, so I have someone to assist me in the process...




As you can see, the engine is a tad on the messy side...but it won't be that way for long!

I'll get more pics together shortly.

[78SCRSMAN]

Originally Posted by kerthunk

I recently finished off a project for a client that also likes tinkering with cars. They were so happy with the work that they bought me a BendPak mid-rise scissor lift as a bonus. That thing is seriously cool!

You must be quite a guy for someone to give you that as a bonus! If you decide it's just getting in the way, I'm just over the hill from you.
There won't be any excuses not to rebuild your own engine now.
Nice project, keep up the good work.

[kerthunk]

Well, I got the engine down to the long block...this thing is amazingly filthy! I had a good 1/4" of mud on the top of the engine that I have already scrapped off.





Now I am at the point where I'm not sure how much farther I'm going to strip it down. It definitely needs a thorough cleaning.

The compression/leakdown results were:

1: 145/12
2: 145/10
3: 145/11
4: 140/15
5: 155/15
6: 155/12

I'm wondering if I can improve those numbers by re-ringing the pistons. I guess I first need to figure out if I have nikasil cylinders.

Things I have so far:

SSIs and the needed oil lines (I'm going to keep the blower motor in the engine bay).
Sach's Power Clutch
Carerra Tensioners
Turbo Valve covers
fresh Mounts
all the small stuff for a good tune-up (air/oil/fuel filters, spark plugs, etc).

The engine has been mostly dry with no real leaks, but maybe it is just the engine filth that is keeping the oil in.

I snapped one exhaust stud getting the engine apart, but it broke off just under the nut, so it shouldn't be too hard to extract. I'm thinking that it would be best to put in a fresh full set of studs.

No barrel nuts fell out from the head stud holes, so I'm still hoping for the best there. I need to cut into the engine further to try the magnetic test for dilivar head studs.

I know that I will probably regret asking this, but is there anything else I should be doing? Do you guys think I need to split the case?

[kerthunk]

I dug a little deeper into the engine last night. Pulled the cam tower and heads for 1-3. I wanted to check for Dilivar studs and figure out wether I had Alusil or Nikasil cylinders. The exhaust studs are definitely not magnetic like the intake ones, so I'm guessing Dilivar. I also couldn't detect any magnetism inside the cylinder and I counted 10 fins, so I'm guessing I have Alusil. I also noticed that I had a slight bit of pitting on a couple of lobes on each cam, so I'll probably need to get them worked on a bit. I'm kind of bummed about all that since I am looking at probably needing to throw a good hunk of $ at the engine now.



I've read a bunch of the threads about re-ringing the alusils, so I'm thinking that getting some new pistons and cylinders is probably on the menu. So, of course then comes the whole "if I'm going to get new cylinders, why not just turn the engine into a 3.2ss?"

Basically, this car is going to be 90+% street, so I want to make sure I can run on pump gas. I would prefer to keep the CIS setup as dropping another $3k for PMOs doesn't sound like a ton of fun. Probably keep it single plug as well. I want to put together a reliable engine that can provide a fun kick in the pants when I stomp on the gas.

I've been spending the morning drooling while looking at the Nickies website and reading every 3.2ss thread I could find. Of course, having never rebuilt an engine before, all this is just numbers and theory to me.

Any ideas on how to spend my money?

[78SCRSMAN]

Given your parameters, and I've been over and over this for my own project...

I'd go with 98mm JE's @ 9.5/1 CR
Get an (out of spec) cheap set of 95mm nikasil's from a 3.2 and have them bored to 98mm and replated by EBS or have them do your Alusil jugs (not sure if they can do them with the CE ring groove)
964 cams

With this, you can add some SSI's, a hot cam and better induction later if you desire.

JMO

Have fun!

[mickey356]

I just did a top end with reringed alusils. I've got about 1500+ miles on it and I haven't burnt a drop of oil. ( I swear and it's been really hot here) I know it's a little too soon to be totally confident but you'd think if something was gonna go wrong it would have. I too read about rerunning alusils and was skeptical but when you figure you can buy a used set of in-spec p&cs and new rings for $500-$600 what's to lose? If it doesn't workout then you can get the others and you're only out $600.
I toyed with the idea of 964 cams too and for me it came down to my car is a road car and likely always will be (unless I make it a dedicated track car), but since I don't really use what I have so wasting money on more power was just that, wasting money. If you do a couple track days a year I'm sure you'll have just as much fun as you would in a tweaked 3.2
If I was gonna split the case and go crazy with a total overhaul then maybe but at that point $3-4k for p&cs is the least of your money concerns.
I'm very happy with a stock rebuild and SSIs and an M&k.

[kerthunk]

I just thought I would update this thread a bit. My seats came back from GTS Classics a while back and I got them installed into the car. This means that the interior is now DONE! I had Stefan put convert my seats into the PanAm Sport seats with leather on the back, perforated leather on the interior of the bolsters and houndstooth inserts. I think they came out pretty great!



For the engine, I had the cams reground to 964 and picked up some 98mm Nickies with JE pistons at 9.5:1. I chickened out on putting the long block back together on my own. So, I dragged a truck full of engine parts down to Steve Weiner @ Rennsport Systems and had him clean it all up and glue the long block back together. While he was at it, he reconditioned the heads, rods, rockers and just about every other "while you're in there" thing. I got it back and cleaned/rebuilt the CIS and everything else that is bolted to the engine. Steve is a fantastic guy and happily gave me advice over the phone whenever I needed an assist.









With getting the engine all together, I figured that it would be best if I had the 915 looked at as well. So, I figured that I would drag it over to John Walker and have him give it the once over. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite prepared to have him call it a piece of junk. Pitting on the ring and pinion with a worn mainshaft bearing retainer and loose pinion race in the diff housing. Luckily he had an '83 915 sitting in the shop that he opened and spiffed up for me. New 1st and 2nd syncro rings, 1+2 shift sleeve and new gaskets and seals. He gave it to me for not much more than buying an unknown used 915.



Now, I just need to finish up my suspension refresh and then stuff the motor back in the car. I am aiming for driving it around this spring! I'm kinda wishing that I had the cash to give the car a fresh coat of paint before I got it all back together, but too late now! I'm itching to drive it!

[Kemo]

great job man! its great that you have SW and JW as resources you can turn to. thanks for posting.

[Rodsrsr]

You dont mess around.

[CJFusco]

Originally Posted by kerthunk

I owned a '86 944 for a grand total of about 50 hours. Right up till my ex-wife decided she wanted to take it for a spin with a friend of hers and totaled it. It was then dictated to me that a Porsche was too dangerous, and that I should scratch it off my list of wants. Now that she has been scratched off my list instead, I went out and found what I believed would be a fun project car.

Not to harp on this point, but the 944NA is one of the easiest sports cars in the world to drive fast. I think you're better off without her - you don't want a woman who can't even handle a perfectly-balanced, 160hp 944! Imagine what she would do behind the wheel of a 911 or a 951...

BTW, I think the bedliner looks pretty good under the trunklid, even if it isn't "proper".

[Carl_Boehme]

Great project. Subscribed

[Busta Rib]

Great build thread, John. Would love to see your baby the next time you are in Seattle. Let me know. Subscribed.

[kerthunk]

Hmmm....it would seem that I have just been pushing on getting the car finished up and not bothering to update this thread. Sorry folks!

The good news is that the car is "done" and I'm putting the miles on it now! I can't believe that I have been working on this car for 2 years! Anyway, I am loving driving it around.









Only thing is that I'm itching for a bit more now. A nice set of 46mm PMOs should be arriving soon...

[Brown747]

You've come a long way John. Congrats! I've got almost the same car down the road in Gig Harbor. My engine is out for clean up and numerous other "while I'm in there" items but when its back together I'd look forward to meeting up. What kind of muffler did you use with your SSi's? Thor