73E Engine Drop - Thanks NoVA gang!

[Jim Richards]

Last night I did some of the prep work for dropping the engine out of our 73E. I managed to disconnect many of the things that Wayne addresses in his book. This morning a bunch of guys from the NoVA Pelican gang came over to finish the engine drop. After posting a last minute topic on what I need to take care of that's '73-specific and getting some greatly appreciated responses, we did the deed.

Thanks to local Pelicannites marcesq (Marc), targa911man (Dan), Tom, Clay, Dave, H.B., and rs911t (Greg). APKhaos (Tony) stopped by later to help with the unplanned clutch help spring fix on H.B.'s Carrera.

Here's a few pic's from today's action.

Tom, me, and Dan in surgery.

Dan, what d'ya think will happen after I remove this last motor mount?

Tanny jack, motorcycle jack and pallet make it easy.

Motor's out - another happy customer Wayne!

Don't mess with these guys.


Sometimes it's better not to go looking for problems. Tranny oil leak and it looks like a it's 72 tranny (original one, BTW) in Lu's 73E. That's gonna be expensive!

[Jim Richards]

ooops, I got out of sequence! That last pic was marcesq!
Here's the tranny...

[724doorE]

Cool, You guys are all right. Jim, I may have missed the thread, but why were you pulling the engine? BTW, I'm surprised the his and hers haven't been reversed

[Fassi]

So I made it back, finally!

Thank you very much Marc, Jim, Tony, et al for engineering the surprise fix that I needed to limp back home. I'm obviously a complete neophyte when it comes to Porsche mechanics, and there is absolutely no way I would have been able to make it back without your help, Marc especially. It was a pleasure meeting all of you and I look foward to learning a lot from the group. I'll order the necessary bracket and hopefully I'll have a normally functioning clutch soon!

Thanks again, Jim, for your hospitality and encouragement. Good luck on the rest of your project.

By the way, glad the picture I took came out ok.

[Tim Walsh]

aww man.. looks like fun. If you were any closer I'd have loved to drive up and help out.

[Jim Richards]

Dennis, the 73E has been running hot so my first step is to make sure nothing's impacting the engine's cooling. So, I'm going to clean the engine up and do the air deflector modification. I've also got a couple of oil leaks to attend to. The transaxle leak was a surprise I could do without.

Fassi, glad you made it home!

Tim, we got to do this in a nice dry garage with good lighting. Not like you, braving the elements to bring your your car back from near death. You're hard core!

[724doorE]

Hi Jim. As a point of reference, my 72 E, when it was stock in southern Fla.,would only get up to 210 or so in hot weather. Now it has 2.7RS pistons/cln and of course runs warmer in hot weather. Really spirited driving will get up to 220-230 and cause me to take a break when its 95 plus out side. I need a front cooler, and I'm sure you know one would probably save you some grief. If you choose a cooler, I'd be interested in hearing how it goes since our cars are the same. I'll keep an eye out!

Oh I once read a story concerning oil supply hoses that were delaminating on the inside and causing a race team to loose an engine after 20 minutes or so. Worth checking those old hoses as well.

[Jim Richards]

Dennis, it's interesting to hear about your oil temps. Our E has been running in the 220-240 range on hot days. So this project is just one step in getting the temps down. I have a pair of used oil lines and a front loop cooler in preparation for the front cooler install. I still need a thermostat and the remaining oil hoses to acquire.

[Tim Walsh]

just as a data point I have a 2.4T and since I've been driving it I haven't seen temps above 200. It has a carrera cooler on it and I know there's nothing coating the engine block, the engine cooler is clear and I've blocked off the heating ducts.

[724doorE]

Oh, I might also mention that sitting in traffic can kill one of these engines as well. I remember being in Orlando and cruising I drive in the late 80's. At night and with heavy traffic it would heat up to 210, maybe 220. I typically would run down a few side streets to cool it off, it would cool off immediately at 50-80 mph, then I'd go back and make another slow cruise down the drive. Oh to be 18 again
Tim, mag cases should have some protective coating on them, even if it is a clear coat. The mag will corrode easily without protection. There are several threads on this. You may even find that yours is coated with a clearcoat anyway. Good luck

[724doorE]

By the way Jim, is your car body color in the front trunk and the engine bay. Also, is it black inside under the trim? Just pondering the future of my car, I want to be clear with the manner in which that era of cars were painted. BTW, that is a nice color!

Thanks

[Tim Walsh]

what I was refering to was that the case didn't have gunk and grease all over the case.

[724doorE]

Ahhhh.. good deal, that would also keep it from corroding!!

[Doug E]

Congrats Jim. Glad to hear everything worked out.

Sorry I missed the event but hope to catch you for the re-install.

BTW, those mugshots are something. Next time we might want to lay off the glamour shots

[Jim Richards]

Thanks Dennis. The undersides of the trunk and engine lids are body color.

Tim, does your engine have the modified air deflectors?

Doug E, hopefully the re-install will be in a couple of weeks. I've completed a lot of the disassembly in preparation for the air deflector mod and general clean-up of the engine. Stop on by sometime and check it out.

[sasaki]

Jim-
Looks like fun. I would love to participate in such event and learn a trick or two from the nova gang. Please count me in next time guys(i got two working hands and the brain is still ticking).

Tim
964C4

[724doorE]

Jim, I just drove the car about 100 miles to test the running temp for you. She took about35-40 miles to rise slowly to 190-195 and then stayed rock solid right there at a steady indicated 80mph probably70-75 mph. It was a nice day here, maybe in the high 70's to low 80's temp wise. I'll be curious to hear if you find anything out of the ordinary concerning you r cooling. Like I said before, I really have to beat on my car to heat it up to the levels you indicated.

Did you have a gassy smell to your oil? your mfi pump can pass gas to the oil. That will thin the oil and reduce your oils cooling capacity.

I hope you have a nice holiday

[Jim Richards]

Dennis, 190-195 sounds real nice. I hope to be back there soon. I've been paying attention to the oil whenever I change it and so far no smell of gas. Thanks for your help.

[jtf914]

Hey Jim, Glad to hear everything went soomthly. One of these days my schedule will mesh the rest of the NoVA gang, and I'll get a chance to lend a hand. Although with Richards new 993, we'll have to find another excuse to get together.

-Justin

[targa911man]

Originally posted by jtf914

Although with Richards new 993, we'll have to find another excuse to get together.

-Justin

His protestations notwithstanding, I guarantee you Richard will find something to upgrade within a week of driving that car.