Can't Shift Into First

[OsoMoore]

Parts arrive today! I need to determine what sort of sealant to use on on the gaskets - preferably something I can find locally so I can put this together this week.

I read some references to Copper Spray. Is this the stuff?

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by OsoMoore

Parts arrive today! I need to determine what sort of sealant to use on on the gaskets - preferably something I can find locally so I can put this together this week.

I read some references to Copper Spray. Is this the stuff?

This is the recommended stuff (Curil-T) in the Wiki rebuild site. Non hardening, used it on my 915, works great. Too bad you didn't mention this when ordering parts, as you would have it by now. LOL

Porsche 911 (1974-1989) - Engine Rebuilding Kits, Tools, and Supplies - Page 3

[OsoMoore]

Found this post.

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

K+W coppercoat spray sealer works well. it penetrates, and tacks up quickly, but stays soft. using a thick sealer causes the thin paper gasket to be broken and squeezed out when the housings are torqued together, so permatex aviation sealer (AKA camel snot) or other "swab on" sealers are not the best choice. some folks use grease, but somehow i could never see the reasoning behind that.
901s used the gaskets as adjustable shims between the intermediate plate and main housing, but the 915 did not.

So I think I'll use copper spray. Apparently a variety of things work (shocker).

[OsoMoore]

Gears are pressed! The local gurus (who had a lot of 915s around the shop) said that 2nd gear dog teeth seemed in fine shape, and didn't need replacement.
The big challenge was putting the gear assemblies back together.

Putting in the gear circlip is a challenge every man must face on his own. In the case of 2nd gear, the synchro ring would not stay seated. I would compress it into place, but unless I held it, it would pop out while I was trying to wrestle the circlip in. After many minutes of struggling, I came upon a genius solution.

Behold - the latest tool for any 915 assembler's arsenal! It needs a fancy name. I nominate "Zipperoo".
I will be selling them for only $15 plus shipping. Available in yellow, green, or blue colors. Orange costs extra.



Align the Zipperoo around the synchro ring before placing it into the gear. Compress the ring with one hand while tightening the Zipperoo with the other hand. Continue until the ring remains compressed enough to lie in the dog teeth without popping out. Then insert the circlip (sorry, no tool to help there). Finally remove the Zipperoo by pulling on the special tab. If you accidentally remove the Zipperoo before finishing with the circlip, you will need a new one - it is nearly impossible to force the ring into an already tightened Zipperoo. Buy an extra one just in case!

We cannot accept returns of used Zipperoos, and reselling after use is strictly prohibited by international law.

[OsoMoore]

Quick question - is this new synchro ring OK? The synchro for 2nd gear was uniformly coated, while this one for 1st had bare areas in the middle.

[john walker's workshop]

looks like stains. are there chunks gone or is it smooth? be sure to orient the 1st brake band properly. with the gap at the top, the long side is to the left.
there is a measurement on the installed syncros. 1st/2nd should be 86.37mm plus/minus 0.17mm. measured with a caliper or micrometer at the highest point. 3/4/5 is 76.3mm plus/minus 0.18mm.

[OsoMoore]

It is very hard to tell visually if they are stains or not. I ran my fingernails over them and the spots feel less coarse than the rest of the ring, almost as though the coating was not applied evenly, or was rubbed off some. The variance is fairly low. There are about 10 spots with the odd color, of which the ones in the picture are the largest. The 2nd gear ring was perfectly uniform in color.
I have already installed it onto the gear. I'd really hate to send it back and get a new one if the issue is minor, but of course doing it twice is worse.

I have an English micrometer, so here are the conversions:
Desired 3.400 inches +/- 0.007
On 1st gear the diameter is exactly 3.400 inches as desired. On 2nd gear, it varies slightly depending on where I measure. 3.400 at the largest, and as low as 3.390. Both rings are new. Maybe I can remove 2nd gear's ring and file something somewhere to allow it to expand further?

[Matt Monson]

Who manufactured your synchros?

[OsoMoore]

The rings are Rauch & Spiegel, from our host here.

[Matt Monson]

Not a fan. I wouldn't put anything but OEM synchros, sliders and dog teeth in a 901 or 915. R&S tolerances and QC are all over the place.

[OsoMoore]

So basically I have to send back new parts because PP supplied poor quality items?

This is looking like a major pain.

[OsoMoore]

So what do you guys think? Should the spotty ring be returned? Should I file away the other to try to get it into tolerance, our return it as well?

[kodioneill]

I wouldn't risk it, return them. Matt knows what he's doing.

[OsoMoore]

PP customer service was very nice and I am returning the defective parts and ordering new OEM replacements. It will take a little while to get here, but I think it is worth having the best parts.

[Matt Monson]

Pelican generally has excellent customer service. I hate to badmouth anything our host sells, but the R&S stuff is being widely distributed through one of the major wholesale suppliers too. A lot of shops and owners think they can save a buck with the stuff, but it's just not up to OEM standards. This holds true of their G50 stuff as well. I've seen G50 synchros that dropped so far down onto the cone that they measured as "worn out" before they were even installed.

[OsoMoore]

Parts take soooo long to arrive. Time to clean the engine bay and maybe do that valve timing.

[OsoMoore]

1st gear synchro is here. 2nd should be coming in tomorrow!

Meanwhile, I did a backside method valve timing!

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by OsoMoore

1st gear synchro is here. 2nd should be coming in tomorrow!

Meanwhile, I did a backside method valve timing!

That's a nice trick. Please share the method.

Or do you mean valve adjustment?

[OsoMoore]

Originally Posted by 911pcars

That's a nice trick. Please share the method.

Or do you mean valve adjustment?

Whoops, meant adjustment.

[OsoMoore]

Synchro rings arrived and the two gears are assembled. Tomorrow I put together the shafts and reassemble. I don't have an engine stand, so I'm not sure about the best way to hold the transmission while I torque the big nuts. I also don't have the locking tool.

When I removed the nuts, I put the transmission in two gears at once. Can I do the same thing when I am torquing the nuts back on? Also, can I mount the transmission onto the engine (its out of the car) and use that to keep the transmission stable while I torque the nuts?

Then I'd take it back out of the two gears before I put the end cap on. Thanks for all your help everyone!