Do you feel like your car feels ?

[Aurel]

Friends,

I don`t really know why I am writing this, just want to share a piece of life with my Porsche, and see if anyone can relate to that. I am kind of feeling down , and this may just be because my 911 SC is feeling down too. In short, what is wrong with the car is a broken door pocket, three pulled headstuds, an oil leak on the left heat exchanger, a targa top that needs new vinyl (I will get the domestic one this week-end), an alignment problem that occured after I did a 360 in the rain,my 360
which screwed my right caster angle by putting the right wheel 1/4 inch shorter than the left one after it hit the road border..that is about it. I can still consider I got lucky, after the big tree that fell in my garden during the last strom did not hit the P-car , but my car, that used to be in great shape, now seems all crippled to me...and I know it is just a matter of putting my own energy (and money) to get it back to life...and in the mean time, I am driving that new Xterra, which is a fine car too, but definitely does not have the same handling and acceleration. Anyway, all this is futile, isn`t it ?

Aurel
78 SC Targa

[Bill Douglas]

Aurel, it sure looks good anyway

I guess the broken headstuds is just the risk we take owning older cars. Get those things fixed it it will be back to it's former glory for sure.

[emcon5]

Look at it this way, you have the oportunity to refresh the top end and replace the cams. You can fix the oil leak while you have the engine out, even clean up the pistons and re-ring if you find the need. You can also swap in some higher compression pistons if you want, or depending on what is legal where you live, junk the CIS altogether and go to Webers, (with a much more agressive cam, and pistons to match). 250 HP is closer than you think.

Not sure I get what you are saying about the caster problem. ¼" seems like a lot of difference, have you put it on a rack to see if something is bent?

I hope you mean broken head studs. Never heard of pulled on an aluminum case. broken=lower machine shop bill and you don't need to split the case.

Nice looking car, What color is that?

Tom

[Aurel]

Just what I wanted to hear ! Thanks buddy. I am not sure I will go to 250 Hp, but a top end refresh could be a nice project. The greatest problem is that I have no garage to do the work though. One solution would be to drop the engine by a nice day, and put it in the basement till next spring...I wonder if two persons can carry that easily. But I`ll fix the targa top and the alignment first. Color is dark metallic green, I don`t know how it is exactly called. British ? For the headstuds, you`re right, they are broken, not pulled. I was typing wihtout thinking.eek:

Aurel

[Superman]

Things could be worse. You could be a starving African girl with AIDS (sorry to be so graphic, but sometimes we miss the broader picture). I thoroughly enjoyed my rebuild this last Winter and you will too. If two guys are going to carry the engine down the stairs, I'd suggest stripping the intake, exhaust and tranny, and use big guys. No problem. Sometimes we need to put our car up on blocks and refresh them. They are getting older, but you can reverse that. When you're done, you'll probably be prouder of your car than you ever were before, particularly if you do the engine disassembly/assembly. Xterra's probably an excellent winter car. This is more of an opportunity than a problem, it seems to me.

[Aurel]

You`re right superman, things could be worse. But it is all a matter of perception, as you know. I guess we all come to earth with different challenges and lessons to learn. Some have to be happy with aids and starvation, others with broken heads studs !
That seems really unjust, and we could think that God was more cruel to some than others. But the spiritual justification is that all the things we go through are a choice we made ourselves, before we were born. Of course, this implies to beleive in reincarnation, and look at the body as just a temporary vehicle for the soul...
To go back to the car, I am still hesitant to do the engine drop this winter, because besides the oil leak, it runs very strong, starts immediatly, idles perfectly...how was yours before you rebuilt it ? And did you feel a difference after that ? I`ve got 101 Kmiles on the clock.

Aurel

[Jim Richards]

Yeah, the broken door pocket would have me bummed...

LOL

[Dood]

Do you feel like we do?

[Jim Richards]

Dood, I feel a lot better now!

LOL

[Jadams1]

I was in a similar boat as you. I found 2 broken head studs this spring when I was adjusting the valves. I sucked it up and pulled the engine, replaced all the lower dilivar studs with steel ones, new gaskets and I was back on the road in two weeks for about $300 bucks.

The car ran great before so I opted not to rebuild the engine. My engine had 107,000 miles on it at the time.

[Sean Hamilton]

Originally posted by Jadams1
......I found 2 broken head studs this spring when I was adjusting the valves...............[/img]

Oh Oh..... similar mileage, same year and model.
What would have happened had you not discovered the broken head studs John?
Did you notice any difference after renewing them?
Still, terrific that you were able to tackle this yourself - I doubt I'd have the courage. Maybe after Wayne's new engine re-build book.

[Superman]

Three cheers for John! Many people dream of going in, replacing a few studs and some gaskets and being back on the road in 2 weeks for $300, but all seem to succumb to the "while I'm in there..." sickness. Hooray for John!

I don't think anything in this life really matters except our choices once we're here, and the kind of creature we make ourselves into as a result. In that sense, the unlucky ones are really the lucky ones, and vice versa.

Having gotten away with my shocking remark above (thank you for your tolerance), I can further illustrate the same principle by reporting that last night I reflected on how irritated I sometimes get when my child parks her bicycle right outside the back door, and what a terrible walking obstacle that becomes. I thanked the Big Guy for problems like these. Now, back to Porsches...

My car ran great before the rebuild. I had between 190 and 195 psi compression on all cylinders. A car that could make anyone smile. But now the heads are freshened, new rings and 20/21 cams. It is even more fun to drive now. Mine had 182K miles. Your decision is not a no-brainer. Good luck.

[Jadams1]

Sean Hamilton

I had no symtoms of any kind before I replaced the studs. No discernable change afterwards. But great peace of mind!