Estate car find

[TPorsche930]

I recently purchased my '68 912 from an estate of an elderly German fella. Unfortunately any paperwork corresponding to the car was lost in the "clearing out" of the personal possessions. I know the car was last driven in '86 and I have traced the registration history back through several states and am convinced the 61,000 on the odometer is correct. In the process of getting the car prepared for the first firing of the motor I pulled the valve covers to check the valve adjustment. I was very surprised to find what is shown in the attached pic. Does anyone recognize the blue sealant on the pushrod tubes as being a factory item? Seems to me this is way too clean for even a 61,000 mile example.

[MarKoBrow]

It's silicon sealant, I see this on these engines more and more these days, if it's not very sloppy I would leave it alone. It's not factory.

[TPorsche930]

Thanks for the input MarKoBrow. What did the factory use for this sealing surface? I guess I can assume that at a minimum the heads have been off the car. Hopefully a complete rebuild was done shortly before the car was put in storage. I'll find out when I do a compression and leak down once the car is running. Any suggestions on what I need to do with the carbs prior to start up. I have a rebuilt mechanical fuel pump ready to go along with a N.O.S. Walbro electric that is period correct should I need it. I don't want to do a complete rebuild on the carbs until I'm certain that all the gunk is out of the system.

[Christopher E]

Either way - clean is good! Maybe oilchanges has been carried out quite frequently - and flushed the internals. Factory pushrod tubes had o-rings only I think? Yours seem to be flush with the head as mine protrudes a little into the valve chamber? They do seem different. Dont know what conclusions can be drawn from this, though?



What carbs are you running? Inline filters catches most gunk from fuel lines and the tank. Weber carbs have a small filter built in to catch fine debris and sediments - easy and quick to change. (Still I got a pine tree needle in one of my main jets last summer? Go figure?) No personal experience of Solexes.

// C

[MarKoBrow]

On a stock 912 engine the push rod tubes rely on O-rings for sealing like a VW engine. Rebuilders sometimes think that adding a little silicon gives a little extra protection against leaking. I normally use a carb cleaner to do an initial clean-up, if it's been sitting long enough more attention might be warranted.