Not another head job!

[strath44]

hey I know you've probably seen it all before but thought i would post some pics on the progess of stripping the engine down.

Can't believe how well it went so far considering the mileage of the car.

I was literally having nightmares about getting the exhaust headers off and there no probs at all!

On the downside one very rusty hex head bolt snapped which i noticed happened to someone else. It holds the edge of the cylinder head down near 2 sensors. I know the head will still come off just hope the main studs for it are ok!!!!

Something I noticed is that my old 84 had a sort of lifting bracket & eye near the end of the camshaft, this 86 doesn't have it??

Plan is to get the head off and replace with a replacement head from a low mileage 85 still not sure but think this will match up ok with my 86 lower main block?






Pic of tensioner that died, the other 2 pulleys run very freely and think i read that isn't good - replacing them anyway!


Pic of very bad oil leak from the AOS seals, there was a lot of oil in the air filter housing and in the intake manifold. Hope replacing the seals will sort this - maybe, even a bit!

[cvriv.charles]

Thats a nightmare. Take care of that. Great pics. Take more

[carlege]

liking the battery compartment/ beer bottle holder

[strath44]

He he though no body would notice that! thanks getting there slowly slowly! Engine is sooo dirty worried about all the grit wanted to clean it first but wasn't able to.

[Icey1174]

I have to agree that I find my car very easy to get things off that have never come off the car before. Maybe it has to do with high quality and tight specs from Porsche.

Looks good. Get yourself a few cans of degreaser and clean it up nice. It will make working in there a lot more pleasurable.

Post more pics!

[Techno Duck]

Dont sweat the broken bolt for the water jacket. Had this happen on my 951. When you get the head off just use a pair of vice grips and work it out. It helps to heat the area around the head first with whatever type of torch you have on hand. Make sure you antiseize both of those bolts on installation. One of the threaded holes goes completley through the waterjacket, so the bolt is exposed to coolant / water.

Hoist ring was probably removed and never replaced in the cars life.

Cylinder head will work no problem.

AOS area looks exactly like my '87 n/a did. They were leaking so badly i had external leaks down the side of the pan...made a mess of the driveway .

[Schumi]

Way to keep one alive. It's awesome to see people doing this kinda work on their cars (bittersweet that is..)

The hoist hook on the back of the cam tower should be there... someone may have replaced the rear cam tower cover gasket in the past and lost it/never put it back on.

Techno Duck is spot on with the heat/vice grips. It won't be too bad.

[strath44]

Hey folks here's tonights update! Need some help now!

On another thread someone was soaking there head nuts / bolts in penetrating oil for several days I have done mine for two and not sure it was a result of that but the bolts came away quite well - although initially very tight!

Randomly the biggest pain all night was not being able to get the oil drain plug out! Again lots of penetrating oil / spray and a rap with a hammer! and it came out!

Here are the pics of the head off, keep in mind the car has done 245k miles.

A lot of carbon build up on the piston heads and bits of rubbish - what is the best route with this should i leave it as is or try and clean it off? Whats the possiblity of dirt getting between the piston and wall?? Also what is the best thing to do with the gasket and cleaning the block as I am leaving it in the car? A few people I have rear using a dremel wire attachment but again what about the dirt - also head someone talk about a carbide?? block!


There doesn't appear to be much damage to the piston heads and 3 valves look bent, 1 badly, however I don't plan on reusing this head anyway.

Any help on where to go now is appreciated.

I have a new crankcase, cylinder block and gasket on the way. Will order the other relevant gaskets soon.

[pontifex4]

Kudos on the innovative light stand use!

Originally Posted by strath44

[strath44]

The poor dampers already led to the prev owner putting a dent in the bonnet with the dizzy which was sitting off and me getting a sore head last week!

[Icey1174]

I use a 1' pipe on the end on the ratchet. Make sure the socket is all the way on the screw and you have a good ridged set-up. All the bolts come off like butter. I give them a quick shot of PB Blaster right before I take them off. I also use some when I put them back in.

[white944cup]

Strath.....when I did mine, I rotated the engine to bring each piston to the top and then carefully scraped the top of the pistons to remove the carbon buildup......I used a progression of a putty knife, razor blades, a fine wire brush chucked in a drill motor, and then a scotchbrite wheel to polish out the scratches. Use care not to gouge the piston crowns and stay away from the cylinder walls. I also removed any sharp edges from the valve reliefs in the pistons to reduce the possibility of pre-detonation. I then used a shop vacuum to suck up every bit of carbon possible, rotated the engine to cycle the piston through a couple of strokes and did a final wipe-down of the cylinder walls to get any residue remaining. Maybe a little too anal, but it feels better to have clean pistons!!

[cvriv.charles]

Also,... make sure the socket stays straight on teh bolt head and not at an angle. Thats how you strip. Back and forth until the bolt moves.

[DP944]

http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/
im pretty sure this would be safe to use on the piston tops....

[strath44]

DP944 see my other thread on this, unfortunately as the pistons aren't coming out this isn't an option - wish it was!!

[cvriv.charles]

Originally Posted by DP944

http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/
im pretty sure this would be safe to use on the piston tops....

OMG! I have got to try that!!! I need something to clean!!

[HondaDustR]

strath44, you want to trade pistons? I've got some nice clean ones here ready to go! jk. (why couldn't they just put those in all the cars for petes sake!)

The soda blaster looks pretty awesome! I wish I had an air compressor.

[strath44]

lol ....

spent 2 hours cleaning the gasket off the main block tonight, going to fish out my dremel tool and get a brush for it as its too tricky for my hands to get into the corners around the studs.

[HondaDustR]

Originally Posted by strath44

lol ....

spent 2 hours cleaning the gasket off the main block tonight, going to fish out my dremel tool and get a brush for it as its too tricky for my hands to get into the corners around the studs.

Careful, careful... clean the surfaces around the tops of the cylinders and seal them shut with several pieces of duct tape first. All it takes is one little piece of something hard (grit, piece of gasket or aluminum accidentally taken from the gasket surface, wire from wire wheel...don't know what dremel tool you're using, but the little wire wheels are awesome, etc. to ruin your day. I've got a block worth scrap because something got between the cyl and the piston at one point before I got it and put a big gouge in the wall.

[cvriv.charles]

Originally Posted by strath44

lol ....

spent 2 hours cleaning the gasket off the main block tonight, going to fish out my dremel tool and get a brush for it as its too tricky for my hands to get into the corners around the studs.

Becareful with that dremel. Some jobs are bettre done by hand. Mating surface has to remain flat. Any dug in areas will become weak points.

I just googled soda blasters and there is a small soda blaster system for like 250! Holds 10lbs of soda for small jobs! Thats awesome! Strips away paint, dirt and grime, corosion on aluminum,.... all without eating into the metal! That is so cool.