Need Motivation to drop my 3.2 motor
 

Well, it's been a month or so since I have come to the conclusion that I need to drop my motor for at least a top end. (no compression on #6, heavy oil consumption)

I bought a shed and cleared out the garage, I have arranged a neighbors garage to store my 87 when the motor is out, the weather is great, not cold anymore, but I just can't muster the motivation to get started and drop the engine!!!

Any comments or suggetions would be great.

Nervous Newbie here.

Mike

The feeling of satisfactions you'll get when you post the picture of yourself standing in the open engine bay of your car. :)

Oh, and the fact that the sooner you send your stuff out to get fixed, the sooner you will get it back so you can drive again. Don't forget to replace the fuel lines on top of the motor.

My engine was out a few years ago for clutch replacement. I of course ended up doing a major cleanup, seals etc. while 'in there'.

My 'guru' was present since it was my first time, however, I did most of the work. The job was way easier than I had ever imagined. Just remember to get the rear end of the car high enough so that the engine/trans will have clearance to come out. The reinstall was a breeze which I did alone in about 2 hours time.

Completing this project gave me enough confidence so that I will not hesitate to tackle just about any future problem/issue.

It's hard to take a care off the road in the summer when you are up north. Plus, there is always a lot of other stuff - summer stuff - going on.

If you can drag your feet until late August, I would. However, I would not pass up the opportunity to pull it before you are laying on your back on a freezing surface. If you can't wait because of the oil consumption and compression issues, then break up the job into small chunks. You can easily jack it up and disconnect everything in a couple of hours, stop at that point and go do something fun, then come back next weekend and it a couple of more hours the motor will be out. It really isn't that bad.

PS - if you take your time and work slowly, it really isn't that bad. Here was my motor project a few years ago. I have decent mechanical skills, nothing special and had never done anything like this before.

Here's some motivation:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1245071295.jpg

You can have the motor on the ground in two hours if you have never done it before and you follow the checklist and basic safety procedures.

I have it down to an hour and that is because I stop to do things like remove the oil sump plate.

The sooner you drop it the sooner you can tear it down and figure out what you need!

For me its always been about curiosity, if I had the time I would drop the motor on my 78SC (which runs fine) simply to see whats goin on in there. But if you need a concrete reason, its better you do the work now than wait for something to go wrong and be stuck with big issues later on down the road.


Regards
Dave

Do it this way. Spend an hour and drain the oil and disconnect the battery. Then have a beer.

Next night, disconnect the CV joints from the transmission. Then have a beer.

Next night........

See where this is going? Just take a small bite each time you visit the garage, and befor you know it, everything will be done and the engine will be ready to drop.

Think about how cold it will be if you wait.....

Do it this way:

Read all the engine-drop and rebuild threads that you can find;
Read Wayne's rebuild book cover to cover. Then read it again;
Visualize how awesome it will be the day you light up your newly-refreshed 911 for the first time.

Do these things, and you'll have a hard time stopping yourself from jumping right in. Worked for me.

As CCM911 said, treat it like a series of small projects instead of one big overwhelming one.

Good luck, and don't forget to post the pics!

GK

Fly me in, I will motivate you :D

It's really pretty easy.

There just isn't all that much tethering the engine to the car. I think it was designed to be removed relatively easily.

Plus, unlike removing the engine in most cars, gravity is your friend!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369342882.jpg


You get to take a pic of yourself in your engine compartment.:)

lol !

If I can do it at age 70 anybody can. Get with it. As said previously, great satisfaction when done and a real confidence builder.

The drop of the engine is not all that bad.

What will be harry is when you start to spend the wampum to buy the parts to make the repairs. Remember: Porsche made design decisions for a reason - so use as much of the OEM supplied parts wherver/whenever you can get them. (in MY opinion)

Also - budget what you would like to do prior to the drop; then double it. Having a case of "while Im in there itus" can really stretch your finances.

I argue that if you have done any work on any other car in your past - this car will be a pleasure to work on. Be patient; stay organized; take pictures (a LOT); label your wire connections. When you're done working for the day - (this sounds elementary, but) collect all of your tools and parts and put them away so that when you're looking for that part (..tool, bolt etc) - you will not have to strain your brain trying to find it.

In the end, you will have a lot of pride in your car from having done the job on your own.

Whiz,

I felt the same way about starting the first job I ever did on my 911, replacing the calipers and brake lines (which I am still in the process of doing). I had the car on jack stands and all the parts in hand for days before I got started, and I was shocked (and kind of disappointed in myself) that I wasn't more motivated to go begin.

The best advice I can give is just to force yourself to get started, think baby steps. Once I got down into the garage, the jitters went away and I now look forward to getting down there every chance I get. It's just breaking the ice can be difficult and nerve wracking.

Just jump in and I bet you will quickly become consumed with it.

At least, that's how it worked for me.

Andrew

Having another person available can help make things go smoother and keep you motivated.

you can do it!
 

Mike,
I tried talking myself into addressing issues with the car with the engine in; sought help on this forum and finally concluded a drop had to happen sometime so why not now...there's never a good time...maybe mud season where you are but that's come and gone, right?

When I finally did drop it, I can't tell you how great it felt watching that engine slowly lower down through that compartment.

Now it's out, there's more to be done than I budgeted, but I'm experiencing the other half of the joy of ownership...working on this car.

Get a Bentley if you don't already have it, read it all, plan out your steps and do it in stages as others have said. Don't be in a rush, enjoy the experience.

I'll send the buddy passes over right now Jim!!

Thanks guys for all the motivational tips. It's good to know that there is a Pelican right there when I need help.