3.0L engine into my 72 T

[Christien]

I found a great deal from another Pelican on an 82 SC engine, 154k miles, clean PPI by John Walker. I bought it, had it delivered to Buffalo, barely squeezed it into the back of our Honda Odyssey, and almost broke my back getting it out into the garage This weekend I tore into the engine swap.

A bit of background: I pulled the original 2.4L engine because it was smoking, and was tired. I bought a rebuilt 1967 2.0L that had apparently been hotrodded to E specs and came with freshly rebuilt Webers. Power felt very similar to my 2.4, and I was happy with it, considering it was only supposed to be a temporary replacement while I rebuilt my 2.4.

Well, life gets in the way often, and the 2.4 sat for two winters. And it'll probably sit again this winter. So I bought the 3.0. Hmm, 204 hp in a 2100 lb car... That'll be fun!

So first step was pulling the engine:


I want to reseal my leaking tranny while it's out:


I'll post more updates as they come.

[haycait911]

why put that old 4 speed back in when you could trade me for a nice 5 speed

[Christien]

I didn't know you wanted to trade, I thought you were just asking!

[The Stig]

I do love mucky pictures (of engines and transmissions).

[bh912e]

Nice ! Are you using your webers for the new engine?

[brd]

Good luck with the project. I have an 81 SC engine in a 1970 T. Allot of fun!
If you keep the CIS (which I still have at the moment, there are a few things you will discover with the change - one being needing to power the AAR/WUR/etc of the CIS - an easy job. After that I'm curious about the space between the right rear shock tower in the engine bay and the additional air valve.

After that, its a fabulous daily driver with plenty of fun.

[Christien]

I'm keeping the Webers. I don't want to deal with the cost or hassle of installing CIS. Plus, the Webers have only got maybe 10K km on a rebuild, so they're in really nice shape. I've got new jets for them, which I'll install after the tranny reseal. Man, I hate the smell of tranny fluid...

[Hugo930]

I swapped a 3.2 into a 72 before about 15 years ago, cool project. Your 3.0 must be a ROW engine...if so, nice find.

[Christien]

I considered the 3.2 swap, but I'd have to not just deal with the fuel injection, but also additional oil cooling and bigger brakes. When all was said and done, it would've been at least $10k, and a ton of work. I just wasn't up to either. The 3.0 is so much simpler.

[Brad394]

If the 3.0 you have has 204 hp = euro, then its only 3 shy of a 84-86 3.2, and you say your using carbs anyway so there would be no FI to mess with. and for the brakes - you could do carrera stuff real inexpensive - Just saying.

this swap will make that 72 get up and move ... no more being the slowest on back straight now.

Brad

[Christien]

Not too much time tonight. Got the tranny resealed:



Cleaned the hell out of the case matings - scrubbed as much of the old paper gasket off as I could, then scrubbed it clean with brake cleaner. Applied loctite and closed her up. Yummy orange goo...

Next up: rejetting the Webers.

[haycait911]

if you like I can look to see what my webers have for jets, etc. give you a starting point anyway.

[Christien]

Already got the new jets, venturis, air corrections screws and emulsion tubes. Thanks, though!

[Christien]

Well, it's a learning curve, right? The 3.0L didn't come with a flywheel and the the 1972 engine has a 6-bolt flywheel (compared the later 9-bolt style). So I had to source a new one, which arrived yesterday. So I get it on and I'm all ready to mate the tranny to it, when I look a bit more closely and realize something's missing. No pilot bearing. *****. So I'm stalled again while I locate one, hopefully locally so I can finish up tonight.

[Christien]

Another problem. The clutch lever on the 72 915 won't allow me to mate the transmission to the engine, because there's an exhaust cross-piece preventing it from swinging out to allow the fork to engage the throwout bearing. Details are here: Mating engine to tranny, fork stuck on exhaust - ???

I ended up removing the cross piece, which I'll reinstall when the engine's back in - it'll be much easier to access from underneath, now that the tranny's in place.

The engine should go back in tomorrow, then I need to deal with whatever electrical issues pop up. I might yank the exhaust of the 2.4 and use that, too. Again, easier to do once the engine's back in.

[Christien]

I love snags. Really, don't they just make life worth living? I accidentally hit the bell crank bolt shaft with a hammer, and managed to snap it off. So off to the tool store for a better screw extractor, a nice new sharp dremel grinding bit, and some fancy-pants new drill bits. A day's delay, and it's out:



Luckily I was able to source a replacement locally, and picked it up last night.

So time to move on to the engine. Actually, once I was able to get the jack positioned properly underneath (difficult, because the engine was still on the crate bottom) it was a piece of cake to get it up and aligned. Just time consuming, having to check everywhere to make sure everything's aligned. It's a lot easier with 2 people. But man, I LOVE the fact that the mount bolts thread into the engine mounting cross brace piece, rather than having to get the nuts on the bottom with the older engines - it's so much easier!



Next up is wiring. I had a look at it tonight, and I think this is going to be a real PITA, partly because it's all so different, and partly because there seem to be a lot of connectors missing on the 3.0 wiring. I think they were just cut in a few places. So I'm thinking I'll just take all the wiring from the 2.4 and use that. So long as the alternator connections are the same, then I think it should all be fine.

[Christien]

Let me preface this by saying that removing the exhaust is probably one of the least pleasant jobs I've ever done on a 911. Lying on your back with penetrant dripping on you, bits of crud falling into your eyes, and then trying to find an angle to get some torque on the nuts. Ugh. When I first pulled the exhaust off my 72, it was a PITA, but with penetrant and heat, I got them all off with no broken studs. When I installed the exhaust on the 67, I made sure to use anti-seize on the studs, and it came off tonight in about 10 minutes. No problem with any of the 12 nuts. On the 3.0L, however, even with 2 days of penetrant, heat cycles, and then heat blasts, still broke 2 damn studs. Luckily they broke right at the nut, so there's plenty of stalk left to do the 2-nut removal thingy, though after almost an hour at one, I packed it in for the night. The upside is that this should be the last step before filling it up with oil and turning the key.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Christien

Not too much time tonight. Got the tranny resealed:



Cleaned the hell out of the case matings - scrubbed as much of the old paper gasket off as I could, then scrubbed it clean with brake cleaner. Applied loctite and closed her up. Yummy orange goo...

Might I suggest next time to use:




And use your finger to paint a coating on. You don't need a 0.5"x0.5" bead!

[Christien]

Do you think that's better than the Loctite? My experience so far with permatex stuff is that it's good, but not great. Maybe they're improving?

[RWebb]

what cams will you use?