Alright... did some searching but have a few questions.

[CorsePerVita]

So my parts came today.

Clutch, pressure plate, tune up kit, engine mounts, shifter bushings and a lot lot lot more.

I plan on really just going through the car and getting it all caught up on maintenance. But I have some questions.

1. I'm not afraid of dropping the engine but in a garage with somewhat limited room just HOW HIGH does my 911 need to be in the air to drop the engine and get it out to work on it?

IS IT POSSIBLE.... to drop the tranny without dropping the engine to do the clutch? If I get in a pinch? (This clutch is wayyyy past due for change)

2. Is it feasible to drop the engine with a small 2 ton jack?

3. I keep hearing people say "Adjust the valves if the get noisy" but I don't really know what people's definition of "Noisy" are on these engines. My 914 clicks here and there, those engines can make a little noise. But what's normal in comparison on a 6? I'm really trying to get an ear for it. I'm not sure if it's me being paranoid or if the ticking is louder. It's not all that noticeable from in the car, and it's fairly quiet outside of the car but you can hear a little clack here and there. Normal? Or are the valves probably too loose?

Is there maybe someone here in the pacific northwest that would maybe listen sometime and confirm "Yep that's normal?"

Call me paranoid but it was "Uknown" on the last valve adjustment, therefore I'm just going through the entire car back to bones as far as I can so I have a nice solid point of where "it now lies" in maintenance.

4. What is the torque spec on the adjusting nuts for valve adjustments? I've seen torque specs listed specifically for the valve cover but cannot find any documentation on the actual adjusting nuts for the valves. From what I can see people just snug + some and call it good on the adjustments I've seen. I'm used to doing adjustments on my little 250 ninja every 6k miles and on the 914, but I know some engines expand differently than others so i want to make sure the torque is right.

5. Do the valves tend to get tighter with miles on these? Or do they tend to go more loose with time? I know some engines tend to just sometimes back off with time while others get tighter... Most seem to get more tight on miles... figured that's the case but just curious.

6. "While I'm down there" what is the best method to inspect valve guides and seals?

7. When checking engine oil I started relying on the dipstick method after reading the 101 things you should know thread. I didn't realize the little gauge was that inaccurate. However, I am assuming the car NEEDS to be at a dead smooth idle. If it's at high IDLE will this be horribly inaccurate on a reading? I thought I was using oil heavily till I used the dipstick method, and it seemed to be hardly using oil at all over 1000 miles. Then I checked it again and it seemed it was using a lot, however, the car has been high idling lately due to what I believe to be a sticky aux air valve... am I correct in my assumption that it has to be at a solid idle at temp?

8. Today I noticed "Play" in my steering wheel. WTF? I noticed the other day there was slight vibration in the steering wheel, very slight. While at a total stop at a parking spot I just moved the wheel a little and the whole steering wheel moved. I went "Whoaaaa wait... what? That can't be.." I tried it again and nothing. So I literally grabbed it and can move the wheel up down left and right, (more up and down than left and right) it must have 1/8" of play... what in the hell could that be? Think of when you have the cars where you can move the steering column up and down to adjust, it's like that... it turns fine, it feels fine. Parking it till I find out...
(nevermind on this one, i read there is a steering column bearing, this makes sense...)


Looking forward to my first in depth maintenance session with my 911.

And thank you kindly for your time.

[tobluforu]

If you saw the shared garage that I have my porsche in, and the fact that I just dropped my tranny and motor in it, then almost anywhere is possible. Drop them together and use an atv jack. What's great about this jack is that you can keep the motor on it, take the tranny off and place in the corner, and it's super easy to move engine around. Based on car, bumper, engine you need about 32 inches of height.
Slop in steering wheel-look for lelands bushing which can be bought on pelican.
I'll let the pro's comment on valves and such.

[CorsePerVita]

Did you use a lift or just jackstands to get yours up that far? 32 inches is just a hair over 2ft, seems quite high , well, perhaps I just need to go measure and see where it's at right now.

[tobluforu]

Originally Posted by CorsePerVita

Did you use a lift or just jackstands to get yours up that far? 32 inches is just a hair over 2ft, seems quite high , well, perhaps I just need to go measure and see where it's at right now.

Stands, remember that you are placing them at the torsion tubes so the stands are not at 32 inches, just the tail end of the car. I have big heavy duty stands which you can buy at almost any parts store. I bought the atv jack through harbor frieght and it was cheap as all hell and worked great, you can search craigs lists as well in your area for a used one.

[CorsePerVita]

I found one and i guess i called the guy too early, he picked up the phone and hung up on me LOL! There is a new one at lowes for $15 more though than what this guy has listed on craigslist so that looks like a good deal to me!

NEW TOOLS!

[rusnak]

Corse, you should trade it in and get a water cooled 911, since you used this forum to support your dissertation thesis on how much better the water cooled 911s are over the air cooled ones, right?

[CorsePerVita]

Originally Posted by rusnak

Corse, you should trade it in and get a water cooled 911, since you used this forum to support your dissertation thesis on how much better the water cooled 911s are over the air cooled ones, right?

Huh? Where did I say water cooled 911s are better than air cooled 911s? You've got me way confused. Dissertation thesis? Do you have me confused with someone else?

[rusnak]

Yeah, I might just have you confused with another dude with a similar name, and search does not work so good on this phone out in the boonies.

[CorsePerVita]

yeah no worries i pm'd you lol. i looked up "dissertation thesis" and read it's some sort of paper for college. i went to college for one year for computer science, never wrote such a thing. i'm an air cooled fanatic :P only water cooled porsches i've owned are 924/944. for the 911, give me aircooled! haha. no worries though. i certainly hope no one is confusing me with someone else and henceforth hostility, if that be the case and there is someone else with a similar name perhaps i need to change my screen name on here.

[rusnak]

Well, the other Corsepervita is a pita, haha just kidding. Since you can search and I can't look up supporting engine at removal, and you'll have a lot of the questions answered.

[rusnak]

Fred Cook came up with a nice design that I shamelessly copied with great success. Use 6 ton jackstands to get the height, and drop the front to get that last bit of clearance at the rear without removing the rear valance. Use a second jack to support the tranny, and prevent the shift rod from hitting the center tunnel. Triple check all cables, wires, hoses, etc before the drop.

[CorsePerVita]

Hmmm I'll see what I can come up with. Thanks Rusnak. I'm ready to get this car where it needs to be.

[Hugh R]

No torque spec on valve clearance nuts that I know of. Idle normal warmed up level surface to check the dipstick., I pulled my engine with a traditional engine hoist that I have by raising the body up (flanges through the engine mounts, much safer IMHO.

Pelican sells a bushing for the steering column to take care of the play, you pull the steering wheel, vacuum out what is left of the old one and pound the new metal bushing in. It takes care of the up and down movement. BUT, you only get one chance to pound it in straight! Works very well, and cheap. That is about all that I can add.