Studs snapped, Engine rebuild required!

[keynsham1]

I have just taken the offside (UK) lower cam cover off my engine to find four of the six studs broken. I suspect that they have been like this for a while as one of the nuts is missing so I think it was 'noticed' in the past with no action taken!

The engine runs perfectly and burns little if any oil. It certainly doesn't smoke. I want to get this rebuild right but don't want to do loads of work for the sake of it. I plan to replace every gasket I can get to so I eliminate my oil leaks, and obviously replace the studs. Is there anything else I should do whilst I am in there? I was wondering about piston rings? Also what studs should I use? I am no millionaire so some of the racing sets I have seen are out of the question. Are Porsche supplied ones OK these days?

[Bob Kontak]

If you want to do it on the cheap here are some thoughts. They are worth what you are paying for them.

I am prepared to get flamed here but just some food for thought.

Pull your compression numbers and determine if you have an isolated problem.

If you do not, pull your cam tower, heads and cylinders off as a unit. How this is done properly, I do not know. But if it can be done, and I think it can, it's worth some reading / queries.

Take you case to a machine shop and drop the 100 UKP to have them pull the studs for you. Pull the piston / con rods if you want and clean them up. You can check ring end gap from the bottom of the cylinder going up. If they are within tolerance, re-use them.

Flush your case with kerosene/diesel to get all the black dust out from the heat torches.

Install the Porsche all-thread studs. Raceware, etc are sweet but spendy.

Install new chains with a master link, ramps if you want and put it back together.

[zelrik911]

Originally Posted by keynsham1

I have just taken the offside (UK) lower cam cover off my engine to find four of the six studs broken. I suspect that they have been like this for a while as one of the nuts is missing so I think it was 'noticed' in the past with no action taken!

The engine runs perfectly and burns little if any oil. It certainly doesn't smoke. I want to get this rebuild right but don't want to do loads of work for the sake of it. I plan to replace every gasket I can get to so I eliminate my oil leaks, and obviously replace the studs. Is there anything else I should do whilst I am in there? I was wondering about piston rings? Also what studs should I use? I am no millionaire so some of the racing sets I have seen are out of the question. Are Porsche supplied ones OK these days?

I suggest you take off the other camcover to see if you have any broken studs on that side too. Seems like vast majority of SCs & 3.2s have this issue - but Four out of Six seems more than usual for one side.

You have to start reading & researching now, there are many excellent recent posts on this forum. For example, search for some relevant posts by: Aurel
He successfully used a cheap extractor to get out some stubborn stud remnants that were broken close to the case.

From what I have read, the steel studs (which were used on the top row) are perfectly adequate replacements - and cost about $10.

You are going to need a fair time off the road and garage space ( & money, especially if you pay someone to do it!!) and be prepared for the task to snowball at any stage.

If you decide to keep driving, keep it gentle while you actively plan for stud replacement. Good luck.

[timmy2]

My car had one broken stud and I broke 2 more changing them, I used the $12 steel studs that are the same as used on the top row, and have had no problems for over 3000 miles so far.
I'm not racing or tracking the car, although I do like to keep the RPM's in the torque range.

[Joe Bob]

No need to split the case....top end rebuild will suffice in most cases unless there is a ton of miles/km on the motor. Raceware studs have a good rep.