This past winter I dropped the motor for some annual TLC. My primary motivation was to tackle an ongoing oil leak that I have never overcome since I first rebuilt the motor almost 10 years ago.
This time I concentrated on the internal oil cooler that after much partial disassembly and reassembly I discovered the oil cooler would not sit absolutely flush to the block unless I first removed the intake manifold and engine shroud with its air deflector that slips in between cylinder #6 and the oil cooler. On my motor the deflector is really hard to push in-maybe something to do with my ruf cylinders that are slightly different. I found this out the hard way last year when I attempted to fix an oil leak by removing the oil cooler and replacing the three seals with the motor in the car. The cooler would simply not sit flush to the block hence the eventual oil leak.
I have had several experiences with oil leaks around the Triangle of Death so I’m adding a forth source and renamed it the Square Of Oily Crap!
Anyway, with new twin ignition cables from Clewett, valves checked (thanks SnapGap) oil rails flushed out with parts cleaner under heavy pressure and a bit of spit’n polish, engine and trani were ready and installed and ready to go on our annual pilgrimage to the Hershey (now Carlisle) Annual Swap Meet held on April 30th.I hardly had time to test drive the RST in preparation for our trip because of the lousy weather here in Ontario. At one point it looked like we would have to take the ‘06 C2S (a nice alternative) with more suitable tires for possible near freezing temperatures and white precipitation across the Pennsylvania mountains. In the end the weather forecast improved so off we went in the RST- thank goodness for the heated seats and decent hot air. The first day we drove through Buffalo to Henrietta for the night (just south of Rochester) where we enjoyed a fine meal at one of our favorite restaurants. The following day we headed for the Waterloo Outlets for a few bargains (meager this year) then headed south along the shore of one of the Finger lakes, through Watkins Glen and meandering along the the hilly delightful roads ending up in Selinsgrove, PA for the night. We stopped by this abandoned gas station in Dresden and had to take this pic.
The next day we crossed the Susquehanna River at Shamokin Dam to enjoy a great sports car route #147 through the mountains down to Little Mountain, Hegins and into Myerstown. Great scenery, tight curves and switchbacks. A bit of a hidden gem with no traffic on a Friday.
Friday night we stayed in Mechanicsburg which is only about 30 minutes from Carlisle by the back roads. On Saturday morning we drove to the Swap Meet and was quite surprised at the size of the place and number of cars and people there by 9 a.m.
I ended up not buying a thing as my shopping list was not too big and quite frankly I suspect that the early pickers bought up everything leaving only rusty old and worn out junk for the rest of us.
The RST did attract fellow Porsche enthusiasts more than usual with people milling around the car all the time. My wife and I had to break away a few times from answering questions and were tired out from talking by the time we left after lunch-a side effect from two years of isolation, I presume that we were a bit out of practice having been cooped up due to the pandemic for so long. LOL
The following Monday and Tuesday, I was fortunate to attend Tony Donato’s Introduction to Engine Rebuilding class mainly as a refresher for my next project. It’s been ten years since I last pulled apart a 911 motor and I have forgotten more than I know. Great experience with only five participants plus Tony. I highly recommend this two day program to anybody planning a DIY rebuild. Thank you Tony.
We returned home to Muskoka driving around the eastern side of Lake Ontario through Watertown, NY, crossing into Canada at Thousand Islands. All in all, we were away eight days and the RST “purred” happily for the 2,500 km (1,500+ miles).
Cheers,
Johan