81 Porsche 911 SC

[Colour me gone]

Hi

I just recently bought my 3rd Porsche and had 2 3.2 cars prior. The SC of course has the 3.0.
I'm still a novice but I have a good mechanic holding my hand through the process although the basic stuff I'm all good. The car has 162K KM (97,200 mi) on it . The car sat in a garage for ten years but is now cleaned up and after changing oil plugs filters gas tank etc etc it runs all good.
The worry is what I read. Head bolts, chain tension update, and air box issue. The engine runs like a top and there is no outward concern to any of three items that I've mentioned I have a budget and want to spend it as best I can.

Can anyone tell me what order these would be done ? I drove the car 20 miles when we got it running. Then put it away for the winter I need tires and shocks and I would like to do brakes first and the engine issues next. Perhaps I'm the wrong way round with the schedule ?

Any advice is appreciated

J.

[autobonrun]

Originally Posted by Colour me gone

Hi

I just recently bought my 3rd Porsche and had 2 3.2 cars prior. The SC of course has the 3.0.
I'm still a novice but I have a good mechanic holding my hand through the process although the basic stuff I'm all good. The car has 162K KM (97,200 mi) on it . The car sat in a garage for ten years but is now cleaned up and after changing oil plugs filters gas tank etc etc it runs all good.
The worry is what I read. Head bolts, chain tension update, and air box issue. The engine runs like a top and there is no outward concern to any of three items that I've mentioned I have a budget and want to spend it as best I can.

Can anyone tell me what order these would be done ? I drove the car 20 miles when we got it running. Then put it away for the winter I need tires and shocks and I would like to do brakes first and the engine issues next. Perhaps I'm the wrong way round with the schedule ?

Any advice is appreciated

J.

I can only say what I'd do based on what I've seen over the years.

Probably the least expensive item on the list, is to add the pop off valve to the air box and take care of that potential issue. Mine blew back in 1984, first repair I had to do after I bought the car. This is an easy DIY but the cost of an air box is expensive.

The best fix for the tensioner is the pressure fed option. I don't disagree. I decided to go with the less expensive option of adding collars to the mechanical tensioners. I've had them on about 25 years now. Knock on wood, I haven't had to use them yet.

If there are no issues, I wouldn't worry about the head bolts now.

If you do these yourself, you will have spent less than $500 for the above fixes.

Then, I'd fix my brakes. Again, if it's just the pads, it's not expensive if you do it yourself. Measure the rotor thickness and determine how much brake pad remains. Make sure your calipers are not sticking.

Lastly, I would make sure my tires are good before I did the shocks. If you still have your original, they are most likely shot but you need good tires first in my opinion. When I did replace my shocks, I put on some Bilsteins.

[Coastr]

Stress less. If the head bolts are going to go, not much you can do about it.

Pressure fed tensioners...the kit is over $1200 now. Listen out for rattling chains and if you're doing any work with the engine tin off go in and rebuild the tensioners and fit collars if you can.

The thing to remember is that few posts are made "just did another 40,000 miles with no problems with head studs, air boxes or tensioners". People only post when their car goes wrong. If the SC failed with these things on every single one, you'd need a whole forum just for that. There were a lot of these cars sold new at the time, so even a single-digit failure rate will show up a lot of examples. Your car got to 90,000 miles without any of these things happening after all, so chances are good it will do another 90 as well.

[Colour me gone]

Thanks to both of you. Very helpful. I'll keep and ear and at least I know there is a warning signal and enjoy the car for a bit this summer and perhaps put the kit on in the fall over next winter

Thanks

John

[autobonrun]

Originally Posted by Colour me gone

Thanks to both of you. Very helpful. I'll keep and ear and at least I know there is a warning signal and enjoy the car for a bit this summer and perhaps put the kit on in the fall over next winter

Thanks

John

If you want a little insurance, here's what you need.

Mechanical stops for tensioners. These prevent a catastrophic failure if the mechanical tensioners fail. You'll hear the rattling then pull over and have the car towed. These are sold but you can get a part number.

FS: NEW 911 Mechanical Chain Tensioner Guards

Here's the relief valve that protects your air box. They used to come with the 2" hole saw but no more. You'll have to get the hole saw. Basically drill a hole in the bottom of the air box, suck out any loose plastic pieces, then use a strong glue to hold it in place. It comes with instructions. Make sure that the relief can open up sufficiently and is not held closed by the air filter. Looks like total cost for both would be less than $100.

Porsche 911 (1974-1989) - Filters & Belts - Page 2

[Colour me gone]

Pmax. Thanks for the advice and heads up on the pics. I will post soon as I get a little time to take some. I,m a Canuck and under 3 feet of snow so shop pics are all I can post till spring which is around June.

Thanks again to everyone's advice and help. This a great forum to keep one out of trouble. Thanks Guys

[Colour me gone]

Hi :

Here's the pics of my car. I need to address the ride height too.

[r-mm]

Beautiful colors. I love 911's in dark non-black non-red colors.

[86 ssinit]

I'm with r-mm great color and hard to find. Probably want to put h4 headlights on it and a set of headlight relays and the dash light fuse. All easy things to do while your waiting for the spring. I have an 83 with the same ride height. Going to lower it this winter it just doesn't look right at that height. My car doesn't have the chain tensioners either ill do that if I have to drop the engine. Pop off valve is another easy fix and a lot cheaper than an air box. They are great cars get ready to enjoy it. Good luck with it.