Leland: I have some rebuild question for you

[Kurt B]

I've never done a rebuild, and I've seen your questions from time to time and here's what I'd like to know:
1) How do you plan to put it together? I mean, do you have a step by step plan or book?

Is it straightforward like a big lego set and you just drop in the pistons and everything lines up? (hahaha I'm so out of touch here, but since I haven't done it or seen it, I have NO idea what's going on inside there).

2) Do you have any parts left you need before you reassemble?

3) And a general question for people who have rebuilt:

Assuming you have all brand new(honed or whatever, but it's all in a box in front of you) pistons, cylinders,...every thing and an instruction manual, how long would it take to put it all together? It seems to me like you just put the crank in, drop the pistons in and bolt em to the crank....or is it like WAYYY more complicated than that?


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Kurt B
1984 Carrera Cabriolet
911 Page
carrera_cabriolet@yahoo.com

[dtw]

There are many things to keep in mind when building an engine, it is not like assembling a Lego kit or something quite that easy. Torque specs, gasket placement, o-rings, case (and elsewhere) sealing, etc. Careful measurement has to be done to make sure your chain sprockets are in the proper planes, to keep lateral tension off the chains. The engine-building environment must be absolutely clean. Special tools are necessary, some expensive (cam tower wrench, etc). The cams must be timed- this can be a serious headache- not overly complicated but time consuming and painstaking. Then there are all the ancillaries to deal with- alternator wiring, distributor timing, fuel and ignition, to name a few.

So, I guess, yes, WAYYY more complicated than that, but not beyond the realm of an ambitious do-it-yourselfer with some tools and patience. There's no real inclusive "instruction manual" with the possible exception of the factory shop manuals. If you don't have it (doesn't sound like you do), go ahead and run, don't walk, to your bookstore and get Bruce Anderson's 911 Performance Handbook. Great engine reference. Also shows ya where the torsion bars, sway bars, and tie rods go!

-d

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Dave
1972 911T (E motor) RSR replica project
http://members.nbci.com/dtwinters/garage/

[Superman]

It's a bit more complicated than that, but in a way, it's not much more complicated. On the one hand, if you have the parts ready, it IS just a matter of putting it all together. I imagine (just a guess, folks) that aside from waiting for stuff to dry (loctite, sealing goop, etc.), it would take an experienced P-wrench perhaps a day (8 hours) to assemble a motor, probably less.

I expect it will take me something around 40 hours (I'm not kidding). But it's not rocket science. There are tricks, and everyone fears the cam timing thing, but it's just a motor. If Leland has all the parts, he could probably drive the car tomorrow.

finally, this is as fun as wrenching gets. Building a motor.

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'83 SC

[Leland Pate]

Well I am no expert but here are a couple thoughts.

This is my first rebuild. I am fairly mechanically inclined.
And I would never have dared to do this without the boards support.

If you are thinking about a full, top to bottom rebuild, then yes there is allot to do and many tasks that have to be done.

In my opinion almost anyone can take apart an engine. Dissassembly was not that hard at all. The biggest things to keep in mind is to keep things neat and organized. You do need to read up on the motor before disassembly otherwise you would never know to make sure the rocker arm shafts are completely loose before trying to tap them out. Otherwise you'll end up ruining the cam housings.
Stuff like that... but it is not that dificult.
The hardest part for me has been money. I am just an airman and I have been working on it as the ole' wallet will allow.

I did start off with a big plan...but as usual the "big plan" always changes as you go along. I was not planning on replacing half the things I have done so far. Like the chain sprockets, valves/springs and P/Cs. But you learn as you go.
I will go ahead and say that the assembly of the bottom end (case,crank, rods and lay shaft.... is pretty straight forward. Pretty easy. Assuming everything is still in spec and there are no suprises lurking down there.

I have read every tech article, book, manual, etc... as sort of an overview but I pretty much focus on the task at hand. ie. when I was preparing to assemble the case I didn't give a damn about cam timing.

And now that the case is assmebled I am dumping that info in the back of my head and focusing on cam timing. I believe this is going to be the hardest part of the rebuild.

I guess you can say there are four major areas of reassembly:
1.Bottom end (case, crank/rods, layshaft)
2.Pistons and cylinders(pretty easy)
3.Heads and cam towers (my heads will come back from EBS assembled...but cam timing is gonna be a bieatch)
4.And finally ancilleries (CIS, Exhaust misc.)
Then it's on to refitting...
I have made my fair share of mistakes but nothing ireversable so far.

I am at the point now that I just need to send out my heads for machine work and then I should have just about everything I need to finish it up.

I have a ton of digital pics and over 100 pages of handwritten notes and I am hoping to start a web page documenting my experiences after the motor is done.

[Doug Zielke]

Lee,
Looking forward to seeing your "Motor Rebuilding" webpage. Hope we won't have to wait too long to see it. You must be just as anxious to have your car running again.

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'81 SC Coupe (aka: "Blue Bomber")
Canada West Region PCA
The Blue Bomber's Website

[Roland Kunz]

Hello

8 H for the longblock is a good time. 7-6 is if everything is new and you donīt have to worry about sealing surfaces and other matchings. Those home runs are very rare

Assembling is pretty easy and somewhat satisfying the most time is investet in dissasembling and cleaning, then messuring and preparing for assembeling.

The cam timing is not a hard job. Just use the old mechanical lifters for adjusting and donīt mix up the TDCīs. So first step is to install the distributor on TDC 1

Grüsse