1st drop & top end observations & questions

[r-mm]

While I'm waiting for my ring compressor I'm dotting the I's on the case and accessories.

Wayne's book recommends JB welding the posts which are flush with the surrounding case at the front and back. Are we supposed to JB Weld the recessed "caps" as well?




Getting back to my cracked airbox, I also noticed that there appeared to be a small ~3mm air port added by someone at some point (see light colored tube, upper right) Can't see this in the PET and it looks homespun. What would this be for? Seeing as the crack is decently sized and it has this unknown mod, anyone have an airbox for sale? Really I just need the half that attaches to the MAF.

I suppose I'd use a K&N or this guy if it doesn't drain power. A bit more sound wouldn't be a problem...

[JJ 911SC]

I did the flush one but not the recess cap one.

[JJ 911SC]

No Power gain, look/sound good, more room and does cleanup the engine bay.

[GaryR]

Originally Posted by r-mm

I suppose I'd use a K&N or this guy if it doesn't drain power. A bit more sound wouldn't be a problem...

We use the stock air filter in our race cars, K&N lets of ton of fine particles in.. Just $.02 from a Dan Jacob's disciple..

[Reiver]

Originally Posted by GaryR

We use the stock air filter in our race cars, K&N lets of ton of fine particles in.. Just $.02 from a Dan Jacob's disciple..

What he said...had a K&N on my hot rod in dusty Az, oiled every 6k....so much dust in the carburetor you could scoop it with your finger....your basic paper filter and 15k later no dust at all.

[r-mm]

Yeah I'm with you all... the only reason for the K&N style would be if its cheaper and faster than sourcing a replacement airbox. I'll post a want ad and see what I come up with.

[r-mm]

I'll be installing the pistons in the bores before installing the assembly onto the conrods. Wayne's book has a diagram showing the order as 1-2-3-4-5-6 but in the text mentions something to the tune of "do it in the right order, for instance if you install 1 & 3 without installing 2, you won't be able to get to the wristpin circlip for 2. I left the right side wrist pins in all pistons. Shouldn't be any prob installing them sequentially, should there?

[Smoove1010]

On that airbox - there's supposed to be a nipple there to which a hose from the evap canister attaches. There are many threads on JB Weld airbox repair - these things get brittle - so if you can't find one right away, a little creativity might cover the gap until you can find one.

I followed the same plan you described for your wrist pin installation, but installation wasn't really sequential. I left the circlip in place in the deep-recess side (I'm pretty sure it was the right side) and installed the piston/cylinder assemblies 1-2-3-6-5-4 to make sure that the left side of the piston I was installing was accessible. Doing it this way means that you're installing the wristpin and circlip in the shallow left-side, while juggling the piston/cylinder assembly.

Stuff those spigots with rags so they don't catch any fliers!

GK

[KTL]

Yeah it looks like somebody got physical on the airbox when they didn't know there's a hose nipple on there, as well as the hose carrier for the breather hoses. Looks like the nipple was busted clean off so they cooked up a makeshift barbed nipple that is smaller than the original. No big deal, just get 'er hooked back up. It's an emissions thing that doesn't really affect performance, nor do you typically smell anything since the evap can intercepts the gas tank fumes with a charcoal filter. The engine does the sucking thru the filter.

No need to put JB Weld on the recessed sheetmetal plug fitting down in the recess itself. But do indeed put the epoxy on the edges of the plug. It's an oil gallery plug that has same purpose as the flat plug. See this excerpt from the 993 manual

[r-mm]

Love Porsche telling us to use a "home-made extractor" ha.

Thanks for the tips on the recessed plugs, I'll hit them tonight. Curious how often these are the source of leaks as the JB weld was basically gone from all of mine. I'm using this high temp JB weld - its funny stuff, has the consistency of dry play-doh but seems to set up nicely.

I had success at the local mom n pop hydraulic hose store today. Super nice people who were able to sell me 1' of 7/8" (22mm) ID high temp & pressure oil hose to replace the thermostat-tank line that was leaking on my car. I brought the little 90 degree fuel line that's been giving me trouble. The lady behind the counter pulled out some fuel line (happened to be 1/4", all she had) that had a VERY thick wall, and could be bent into any shape at all without kinking. Ethanol & high pressure rated. She ordered up some 5/16" for me, should have it soon, which is good since the postal money order (groan) I sent to Len for the $66 replacement is apparently lost in transit.

[r-mm]

Got the oil caps JB welded up along with the flush studs.



Re-assembly work progressing on the intake manifold. Used some "rescue tape" to fix the "pipeline" per advice here. Somehow, even though I matched the length of the old x-over fuel line exactly when I re-hosed it, I came up about 1" short. Guess its back to Car Quest for more 3/8" hose.



In prepping for tomorrow's piston install I noticed that the wrist pin on #3 is tighter than the rest, which slid in freely after 30 seconds of heat-gun. A closer look at the bearing surface on the piston shows some discoloration that looks like staining more than wear. What would be an appropriate step to take? I can easily tap the wrist pin in with a drift, or should I try to open up the bore a bit?

[GaryR]

Did you use assembly lube? I would clean up the varnish a bit but that's it.

[r-mm]

Yep used assembly lube. I'll try to get the varnish out. Presume I should not use anything aggressive, just carb cleaner and shop rags...

[Lapkritis]

How did the wrist pin look?

[r-mm]

They all had similar varnish banding but all felt 100% smooth.

[KTL]

Take a close look at #3 piston pin bores. Maybe there's a slight bur there from picking out the circlips.

I recently measured a set of Mahle piston pins & bores to check clearance. Clearance checked out OK but the pin was a bit futzy inserting it. Had to wiggle it a bit and it'd go in with a little bit of resistance. But not so much resistance that you had to force it in. I grabbed a finger full of #0000 extra super fine steel wool and rubbed the piston bore with it to clean up the surface a bit. Made a considerable difference.

So check the area around the clip grooves and also a little bit of very fine polishing goes a long way toward improving the fit. The clearances I measured were around 0.0007" for all the pistons. That's seven ten-thousands. Pretty tight fit that can easily be fouled by a bit of crud!

[r-mm]

Fine steel wool is a great idea, thanks.

A word of warning to anyone with the Rauch&Speigel aluminum collapsible oil return tubes: the correct INNER seals are not on the PP website, but they DO sell them. 10-4730-010. Same price, but very much NOT the same size as those for the OEM steel tubes. Ask me how I know.

Didn't realize how nice it is that the PO of my car bought $200 worth of machined billet OR tubes. Very fancy!

[r-mm]

Big day... got all the pistons and cylinders installed. My OTC ring compressor is better than the coil type... but still needs a lot of finesse to use right. Only by #6 did I get the piston in the bore on my first try.



Laid out all the clean cylinder and pistons, circlips pre-installed on one side, base gaskets lightly dressed in Curil-T.



First three in place. Feeling good. Tell me if you spot mistakes!



Next bank going in.



Orientations right?



Don't need to explain how good this feels...

[KTL]

Don't forget to put your engine tin in place before you secure the heads to the cyls. Once you snug the cyls down, you can't fit the tin between the cyls. Well, you can but you have to squash the stamped "lip" on the tin to slip it between the cyls and then pry it back out. Been there, done that.

[GaryR]

Originally Posted by KTL

Don't forget to put your engine tin in place before you secure the heads to the cyls. Once you snug the cyls down, you can't fit the tin between the cyls. Well, you can but you have to squash the stamped "lip" on the tin to slip it between the cyls and then pry it back out. Been there, done that.

Mine must be pre-smushed cause I always put the tin on after the fact, no problems.