3.6 Engine - What should I do to it before plugging it in

[JeremyD]

I have a 3.6 on the way -

I plan on installing some headers - removing the fresh air box - getting rid of the stock air cleaner and putting on a cone filter. (because the stock will not fit)

I also plan on removing the power steering pump and installing a block off plate.

SO - what else should I do while I have the engine out??

[arrivederci]

If you don't have much history on the motor, I'd do all other normal service items. Plugs, plug wires, caps and rotors. Did you go with a conversion kit from one of the usual suspects?

[Tom '74 911]

Jeremy -

Congrats on moving forward w/a 3.6L! I am on the home stretch of my own 3.6L install. W/out knowing exactly what you've got coming or what pieces and parts you have, I'll make a quick list of what I had to do to install a '90 3.6L into my '74 911.

In no particular order:

Engine Mounting
- you might need some different length studs to attach the transmission.
- what rear engine mount and cross bar are you using? I used one from a 3.2L, not the 964 and needed different length studs here too.

Fuel Connections
- I ditched the accumulator from my 2.7L CIS motor.
- Supply: The fuel supply on my 3.6L goes to the right front side of the motor. You may need to have a line fabricated to run from there to the rear left of the engine compartment & maybe some metric connector/adapters depending on what you currently have.
- Return: The return should be close location wise. You may need an adapter here too?

Oil
- You may need an oil adapter pipe to connect to the "S" hose.
- If you don't have one, you will need the "?" shaped oil line that goes under the front of the motor and eventually to the thermostat.
- You may want to go with a breather/overflow tank to vent the oil tank instead of dumping all that hot air right into the engine intake.
- The breather hose (engine case breather to oil tank) from my 2.7L fit fine.

Electrical
- I'd highly recommend the kit from Patrick Motorsports. My engine came with 'most' of the kit and it sure would have been easier if it came with all of it!
- Drill a hole in the rear firewall for the elect. harness.
- My car didn't have a computer and my seats are lowered so I had to get creative on how to run the elect. harness and where to mount the DME etc...
- Fabricate a place to mount the coils.
- I removed the rear elect. panel in its entirety. Kind of a pain to work all that out, but make it cleaner and easier in the long run (I hope!).

Other
- Engine sheet metal: you may have to fab a piece in the right rear to fill in where the power steering pump was.
- Block off for the power steering pump.
- I did a single fan belt conversion. Depending on the type of engine mount you use, this may or may not be necessary.
- Exhaust: I am using the Fabspeed w/heat headers and am going to try a MagnaFlow muffler. I had a friend make some pieces for the headers-to-muffler connection (easy enough he didn't charge me) and he'll help w/the tail pipes too which should be straight forward. I don't know about sound levels yet. My fingers are crossed, but I'm prepared to monkey with this for a while. . .
- Accellerator: I spent a bunch of time fabbing a cable and standoff system that attached to the bellcrank on the transmission like the stock '74 system. I am not happy with it for 2 reasons: It's way too stiff w/parasitic drag and the pedal travel is too short. I lengthened the arm on the bellcrank and followed a previously posted 'blueprint' but I'm not happy with it. I just rec'd a 964 throttle cable and am going to give that a try next.
- While you've got access to the engine, you may want to check that the distributor belt looks new, adjust the valves etc...
- You'll need a block off plate for the fan shroud if you remove the heat option.

I'm sure I've left stuff out, but that's what is coming to mind at the moment.

Tom

[johnsjmc]

If a 993 motor it has hydraulic lifters but if sourced from a 964 they are still mechanical. Adjust the valves while out of the car it,s a lot easier. Also replace rear seal as it,s cheap when out.

[JeremyD]

Thanks for the replies - It's a 964 based engine - so I'll check the valves while I have it out.

I'll also check distributors/wires/etc.

I had a magnaflow on my last car with B & B headers - I have a set of B & B with heat coming

[john walker's workshop]

i'm tempted to say reseal it from the case out, but i won't. you can do that later.

[JeremyD]

Thanks John - yeah I'll do that when I take it up to a 3.8...

[DW SD]

964 runs a factory harmonic balancer on the crank pulley. Some say you can convert to a simpler drive pulley. This will allow you to run the back dated rear engine cross member. Especially, since you remove significant mass without the dual mass clutch assembly and flywheel, it seems plausible. Patrick Motorsports and Rennsport (the guys up in the PNW with the killer ITB setup) have crank pulleys for the 964 application.

It is a cleaner install than modifying the clunky 964 cross member.

Also, I used an RS style pulley on the alternator / fan drive. The hot setup is to convert to the flat belt style alternator / fan drive - clewett makes one of those. I chose not to drop the ~ $500 - ish on that belt system, but it is cool.

I really like the black nylon braided hose. It is much easier to deal with than the braided stainless. I found it about the same price, but more flexible and more OEM looking. BAT-inc has the hose end to fuel rail adaptor.

Doug

[Tom '74 911]

Originally Posted by JeremyD

It's a 964 based engine

Jeremy -
Do you have the motor yet? Could you take a photo of the throttle cable stop on the throttle body for me?

see: Need Photo of on-engine throttle cable stop on 964 3.6L engine

Thanks,
Tom

[JeremyD]

Should be here today - I'll be happy to take any pictures you need Tom - you have been gracious in helping me.

[Tom '74 911]

Originally Posted by JeremyD

Should be here today - I'll be happy to take any pictures you need Tom - you have been gracious in helping me.

That'd be great. As far as being gracious - I only know enough to be dangerous! I've picked up a lot of tips here, so I try to pay it forward by posting comments when I think they might be helpful.

I thought of a few more things last night to add to my list above:

- The 'S' hose may have some clearance issues with your B&B headers. It's pretty close to my Fabspeed headers which I plan to wrap in some header wrap to keep as much of the heat away from the hose as possible. I may also fab some kind of 'support' to keep the 'S' hose from sagging too close as well. I think B&B makes a special metal replacement for the typical rubber 'S' hose that you may want to look into.

- I bought a cool carbon RS heat tube from MaxSpeed Motorsports to get hot air from the fan shroud through the rear tin. It looks great, but does not fit. The bend/angle is off enough that it would require significant glass work to make it work. Also, when I test fit the engine in my car, I found that the motor mount interfered with the fit as well. $200+ bucks down the drain. It does look cool though. I think I will end up either fabbing some thin wall alum. pipe or going with some SCAT type hose to get heat. I really like the RS heat tube look and was trying to avoid having SCAT hose in the engine compartment - but I'm getting sick of working out the bugs and just want to get my car back on the road!

- I started fitting the 964 throttle cable yesterday and ran into a few things I hadn't thought of. I was running the stock solid throttle rod in the tunnel which I had to cut out because the stop for the hand throttle lever was stuck on the rod. What a PITA. So, I will lose the hand throttle w/the 964 cable. While it's not necessary, I did use it as a sort of cruise control once in a while as my car is w/out that option. (I know, dangerous!). I also worked out a good cable housing stop for the rear of the tunnel. I'm hoping to have some time today to work on it & will take pics when it's done.

I'm sure I'll think of more. . .

Tom

[JeremyD]

engine is here:


pictures of the throttle

[DW SD]

Looks great!

There is a plastic clip missing on the throttle shaft connection. It fits into that rectangular hole on the end of the throttle shaft. This is the bracket with the slot which is front and center in the bottom picture.

EDIT:
the 993 engine uses a different throttle connection, unless the cable you've shown is for cruise control? I'll post a picture.

[DW SD]

This is the 993 throttle connection. You can see the same brackets, but with the plastic insert:

[JeremyD]

Yeah - I need to get a bently book or something for the 964 engine.

[Tom '74 911]

Jeremy -

I just sent you a PM.

That looks like a later engine than mine as it's got the black plastic intake. Mine has metal runners. It looks clean!

Doug is correct, you are missing the black plastic piece that acts as the throttle cable stop:



That mechanism on the throttle body w/the cable is the cruise control I think & what I labeled as the throttle cable stop is really the throttle cable HOUSING stop.:



Can you take one more photo for me from the front (flywheel side) of the motor of the throttle cable housing stop? It's looks like it attaches to the throttle body w/3 phillips head screws? Mine just uses 2 screws. I fabricated one yesterday (mine was missing) an would like to make sure it's at least close to the factory dimensions etc... It's hard to tell from your photos.

Thanks so much!

Tom

[JeremyD]

Hopefully this helps...

[Tom '74 911]

Originally Posted by JeremyD

Hopefully this helps...

Thanks Jeremy, it does help. It looks different than mine - your's has a lot more 'stuff' back there!

Tom

[KTL]

Definitely plug the throttle body port/fitting for the oil tank vent. Run a catch can instead. No reason to send oil or oil vapor into your intake when you're running wide open on the track. Catch can is easy to install with some cloth braid hose and misc fittings. Catch cans are around $60-$70 for a nice aluminum one with baffles, petcock and gauze filter hat on it

I would also agree with the suggestion to use the crescent-shaped oil-out line from the early ('74 and older?) cars. The braided line from B&B is nice but you can route the oil path better with the crescent-shaped hard line.

The Patrick Motorsports 3.6 conversion throttle cable solution is the way to go. It works very well.

[Vincent Hill]

Jeremy, I wish you only the best on this. I know it will be right when you are finished (not to mention Woore Out!). I like what someone said about the belts and Pulleys to keep the rear mount the same. K.I.S.S. the simpler the better. Once done then you can make all of the modifications you want when you feel like it! I cannot wait to see how it turns out! How much time are you giving yourself? 3 months?