SSI Superstars!

Doug Zielke · 07:21 PM

Here's some images fresh from the digi-cam, of Tyson's SSI Clinic, held this Saturday afternoon in Seattle......

A close-up look at beauty and art in stainless steel. Worth every penny you pay for them.

Seattle's finest Porsche mechanic, John Walker, assists by heating the rusty nuts into submission with the oxy-ace torch.
It's a must if you want to avoid busted studs! Tyson (foreground) and Tacoma911 (background) supervise.

Tyson fits one of the new SSI's on the lucky 3.0 motor.

The SSI Clinic attendees. From left to right:
island 911, Mr. Walker, Tyson Schmidt, Sean (the owner of the SC), Doug Zielke, Superman, Freefly, Don911, (Tacoma911 not shown, but graciously taking the shot.)

This was a most informative afternoon. I can't even begin to list all the little tricks and tips that Tyson and John Walker employed to make this job go so smoothly. Thank you all!

dickster · 02-09-2002, 11:13 PM

great pics!!!

its weird having faces for those names now!!

the dickster

Leland Pate · 02-10-2002, 06:46 AM

Good show! Looks like it was allot of fun!!!

One question though.... looks like the owner had SSIs already... were they just too far gone???

Neat photos thanks for posting them Doug,

Leland

SK · 02-10-2002, 07:23 AM

how long did you have to heat the studs before attempting to remove them? Did they have to be red hot?

RoninLB · 02-10-2002, 07:47 AM

I just looked at a famous portrait waiting to happen.

epbrown · 02-10-2002, 07:47 AM

Amazing how nobody looks like the pictures you develop of them in your head from years of reading their posts!

Emanuel

makaio · 02-10-2002, 08:04 AM

Glad you guys had such a fine time!

Jcon · 02-10-2002, 08:20 AM

AHHH.... Either I need a new monitor or Tyson and Shawn seem to have become very good friends ( Or could be Tysons left hand is just missing) Nice retouch

Jeff C

island911 · 02-10-2002, 08:44 AM

That was great. Thanks Tyson. Nice facility;

and looking out of the shop. . .nice view!

Quote:

Originally posted by Leland Pate
. . . One question though.... looks like the owner had SSIs already... were they just too far gone???

As you can see from the picture below, for an ebay sale, they are "still useable" with "some rust" that are "easily repairable" original pre74 heat exchangers. So where do we set the reserve .. .$450?

Jcon. . LOL .. .Believe me, thats not a retouch;

(not that ther . ..) I was there. Tysons has a shop rag in his hand. I hope thats not too much of a let down for ya

island911 · 02-10-2002, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SK
how long did you have to heat the studs before attempting to remove them? Did they have to be red hot?

About 8 seconds w/ a small tip & yes;

If you use this method, have an extra oil return tube; to replace any that are sacrificed to the torch.

aseem · aseem's Garage

Man, I'm really envious of you guys, getting together like that and having a good time. Looks like you get some work done too. (Didn't see any beer cans in any of the shots)

Great to have some faces that attache to the names.

Jim T · 02-10-2002, 09:40 AM

Awesome!!

Man, those things are beautiful!

Makes me start to think $1000 or so for the SSIs, a muffler, etc. isn't so bad. I'd love to have those babies on my car, even if I have to take them off every 2 years.

Drool.

Also, its cool to put names with faces. Speaking of which, anyone going to Dunkle's, and is there a meeting place? Does PP have a booth or something. I guess I'll see when I get there.

don911 · don911's Garage

I'm bummed that I had to leave early. Great pictures!

What was the outcome with that one short stud? Did you have to replace it? Did you end up putting on the thin flange SSI's or thick.

Tyson, Thanks for the clinic!

Doug Zielke · 02-10-2002, 12:11 PM

Don,
The short stud was replaced. Luckily, John had brought along a nice selection, not to mention the drilling jig.

The image I shot of the thin flange SSI's was for illustration only.
The thick flange version is what went into the car.

island911 · 02-10-2002, 12:23 PM

I had forgoten about the drill guide for the studs.
These guy were *so* prepared, they had Both the thick and thin flanged on hand.

Tyson Schmidt · 02-10-2002, 01:38 PM

Thanks for coming everyone! Everything went very well. Thanks to Doug and Glen for their photo-journalism. (No, my hand is not where you think it is in that picture. I'm holding a blue shop rag! I got a good belly laugh out of that one!

)

It certainly was nice to have John Walker come and help out. That drill fixture was a life-saver. Other than that one stud, the whole job went very well. Well, there was that issue of the very ill-fitting Bursch-style muffler that required some thermal persuasion to fit right. I'll work on convincing Sean to scrap it and get a factory-style single or dual outlet sausage muffler. I just don't care for the resonance of those "other" things.

So guys, when are we going to do the "Go-Kart Racing Clinic"??

Eric Coffey · 02:17 PM

Man, what a blast! After Tyson got Superman's door check mount welded up (a miracle in itself), The SSI fun began ( those things are a work of art!).

Other highlights included:

Island911 getting his car up on the lift so everyone could point out what HE needs to fix!

Island also got his hands dirty helping to "custom" bend the (usually re-routed/replaced) oil line on the SSI install.

Getting to ramble on with Kmatts and Doug Zielke about Ducati motorcycles. Doug also brought his SCWDP stickers for the SC faithful. Even as a Carrera owner, I have to admit they looked very good.

John Walker coming to the rescue with the stud jig tool, and torch expertise. A walk down to his shop afterwards was also amazing. Incredible engine projects, a wide-body conversion, and the infamous "Turbo Speedster".

Don911's immaculate `87 Carrera!

And of course the post-clinic burgers and brews at the Ale House down the street with Doug, Kyle, and Glenn.

Thanks again Tyson for hosting the excellent get-together!

About the "Driving Clinic", I was thinking late Feb., early March? Even though it's not 100% Porsche related, it should still be fun. Maybe we can get Leland over for that one? It would be great to get Randy Wells in on it as well. Maybe you guys with the track experience (Randy and Tyson) could show us all a thing or two!

Oh and Aseem, you are correct, no beer cans. Don't worry though, there was plenty of beer, it's just that us civilized NW folk drink our spirits out of bottles (Red Hook, and Harp to be specific)!

Bill Verburg · Bill Verburg's Garage

It certainly is nice to put some faces with the names!

Doug Zielke · 04:24 PM

I almost forgot to show the images of a very important tool mentioned in the posts by Eric and Tyson.....

You won't find this modest little tool in any Porsche catalog, as it was custom made.
John Walker brought it along and used it when a (short) stud had to be replaced. Naturally, the stud refused all attemps to turn out. Last resort was to break it off, which Tyson did very neatly without much more twisting.

The drill jig was then bolted in place. You'll see from the images that it has a circular, stepped area that fits right into the exhaust port. This centers the jig precisely for drilling.
The jig also features a hard steel bore for the drill. It kept the drill bit running straight and true.

Tyson will be the first to tell you how hard the stud was to drill out. He used a sharp bit, air powered drill, and a *lot* of muscle.
But the final result was a perfectly straight and centered hole.
Although John had brought some Time-Serts, they were not needed. The remnants of the old stud threads were picked out of the hole, cleaned up with a tap, followed by the new stud.

If you ever do this job, remember your chance of drilling out a stud freehand would be pretty slim, so investigate having a similar jig made up by a machinist.

emcon5 · emcon5's Garage

Looks like it was a good time.

What is the difference between the thick and thin flanges? Which is the proper one for a 82 911SC?

Tom