CIS to ITB EFI conversion

[ToySnakePMC]

It’s looking so very nice. Fan & shroud deserve to be above the fireplace mantle! Wifey will understand...

[dannichols1474]

Got the fan and fan housing ready for clear coat. UPS dropped off the Eastwood Diamond Satin Clear coat and tested the can - spitting and sputtering, couldn't get the darn can to spray clean (guess the cold trip from PA to CA messed it up). So off to Home Depot for my tried and true: Rust-Oleum 2x Ultracover in satin clear and all was good.

[dannichols1474]

Mounted the alternator in the fan housing (hand tightened 3 of the 6 mounting nuts). With a 21mm deep socket, tapped the fan onto the alternator shaft. The fan spins free within the fan housing. First re-assembly success.

[NickW21]

Looking good Dan!! Love how the fan/housing turned out. Can't wait to see her all back together!

[dannichols1474]

Picked up more engine parts from glass bead blasting at Spray Technology. Very happy with the results. Just need to clean with soapy water and light scotchbrite scrub to remove loosely adhered particles, then ready for assembly.

[dannichols1474]

During the CIS to ITB EFI install on post #8 (page #1) of this thread I gave 2 lines to the work done to the distributor:

Once out, I disassembled the dizzy to reveal the mechanical advance and then used steel wire to wrap tightly around the posts holding the return spring on both sides of the dizzy thereby locking out the mechanical advance so that the ignition timing advance would be controlled entirely by the ECU. The dizzy was reassembled and reinstalled into the engine.

Today, I went back and dis-assembled the distributor to inspect the condition of the mechanical advance lock out wires I installed. I took photos of the process this time that I will share below.

Start:



Remove ignition rotor:



Remove Pertronix magnet from distributor cam:



Feed Pertronix wires out of the distributor housing:


Remove Pertronix hold down nuts:



Remove Pertronix:



Remove C-clip for vacuum retard diaphragm:



Remove vacuum retard diaphragm mounting screw (1 of 2):



Remove vacuum retard diaphragm mounting screw (2 of 2) - this screw also secures the distributor base plate in the distributor housing:



Remove the vacuum retard diaphragm:

[dannichols1474]

Remove the second base plate mounting screw:



I used a flat blade screwdriver to pry loose the distributor base plate from the distributor housing:



I removed the base plate to reveal the mechanical advance assembly:



I then removed the plastic access cover from the distributor housing so I could inspect the lock out wires. This is a photo of the good (well secured) lock out wire:



This photo shows the other lock out wire that is only marginally secured:



At this point I decided to remove the mechanical advance springs so I could get better access to the spring mounting posts and replace both of the lock out wires.


Trim and bend down lock out wire #1:



Install lock out wire #2:



Trim and bend down lock out wire #2:



Then I re-assembled the distributor.

[al lkosmal]

Dan,
Once again...really nice work. You are showing others how, with the right skill set and attitude, they can move forward with their projects......Definitely the way that i and many others moved forward on our projects....by researching, asking questions, reading the available reference books and....learning enough to dig in and do-it yourself (with a little help from your friends.)

regards,
al

[dannichols1474]

While the engine and trans are out, I replaced the engine compartment seals (short piece - front of the engine compartment and long piece - rear and sides of the engine compartment).

Removal of the old seals was pretty straightforward. There was a piece of putty in the front corners that I removed and saved to be re-installed after the new seals were fitted. Then I pulled the end of the seal straight away from the C-channel the seal is fitted into and worked toward the other end until the seal was completely removed. I started with the short seal at the front of the engine compartment, then repeated the process for the long seal at the sides and rear of the engine compartment.

C-channel the seal fits into:



Pry tools I used to repair collapsed areas of C-channel so I could fit the new seals:



The old seals after removal:



Cross section of the seal:



To install the new seals (I installed the short - front seal first), I positioned the seal so it evenly overlapped the section of C-channel it was going into, then I pushed the upper lip of the seal into the upper C of the channel and then pushed the lower lip of the seal with my thumb up and over the edge of the lower C of the channel. Then I used a plastic (non mar) pry tool to push the lower lip of the seal into the lower C of the channel to seat the seal in the C-channel. I repeated this process the entire length of the seal, then repeated for the other seal.

Plastic (non mar) pry tool for seal installation:



Installing new seal:




New front seal installed:



Installing new rear seal:



Putty that was in the front corners:

[dannichols1474]

New front seal:



New rear / side seal:





New seals with putty in place (right front corner):



New seals with putty in place (left front corner):

[Ghill]

Following! Impressive gain.

[dannichols1474]

It's a great day in the garage!

1. I got my intake valve covers back from Spray Tech, polished them up and shot 2 coats of satin clear.

Sidebar: When I picked up the covers from Spray Tech, the crew had already left for the day so Fidel gave me a detailed tour of the facility. Turns out I have been incorrect about glass bead blasting with water. The glass bead blasting is done dry, the glass bead medium is a fine white powder.

I had tried to refurbish the of the valve covers by spraying 2 coats of black, but even with sanding and degreasing before hand, the covers didn't take the paint evenly (I painted the top side only). At that point, I took the covers to Spray Tech for help.

Fidel at Spray Tech started by soaking the covers in acetone over night as he suspected the covers were not aluminum and did not want to use stripper that might damage the covers. Once most of the fresh paint was removed by the acetone and hand scrubbing, he started glass bead blasting and all went well on the topside of the cover, but when he tried glass bead blasting the original black finish on the bottom side of the cover the bead blasting produced what he called "sparks" so he stopped and left the bottom side alone.

After I got home a looked at the part number cast on the bottom side of the covers (901.105.115.0R) and compared the part number to the one listed in Appendix B of Wayne's 911 Engine Rebuilding book which listed 911/911 Turbo (1974-89) as part number 901.105.115.03 along with the comment "Verify that yours is manufactured out of aluminum, not magnesium". Given Fidel's sparking and the part number on the valve cover leads he to conclude my intake valve covers are made of magnesium. Everyday is a school day.



Intake valve covers from Spray Tech, after polishing, and after 2 coats of satin clear coat:





2. I got a present from FedEx in the form of 2 rather heavy boxes from Craig Garrett (cgarr) from G2 in Grand Rapids, MI. Craig rebuild my heads, rocker arms, and cam towers and they look awesome! Thank you Craig, and thank you Al for recommending Craig to me.

[dannichols1474]

I found a thread in the forum that addresses part number versus casting number confusion I was having with my intake valve covers:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-engine-rebuilding-forum/288905-mag-vs-al-upper-valve-covers.html#post2652005

Unlike my MB daily driver where Mercedes either prints, molds or casts the part number on a part, Porsche uses a casting number on the cast parts (like the upper valve cover) that is internally used and is distinct from the part number.

So the upper valve cover part number is 901.105.115.03 as listed in Appendix B of Wayne's 911 Engine Rebuilding book while the casting number of the magnesium cover is 901.105.115.0R and the casting number of the aluminum cover is 901.105.115.2R.

First the CIS to ITB EFI project, and now the continuation with the engine and transmission rebuilt project is definitely giving me ample learning opportunities!

[dannichols1474]

Waiting for parts is difficult, so I go out take off the car cover and shine her up.

[dannichols1474]

I have learned a lot of valuable information from these forum pages - the most recent being that I can download Porsche parts catalogs (referred to as "PET" in forum threads) by model and year range (eg. 911 1974-77). I just went to Porsche.com, from Menu select Services, then select Classic Services & Parts. Scroll down the page to "-Genuine Parts" then select "Porsche Genuine Parts Catalogues". From Choose Catalogue select the model and year range, then press the "Display" button and boom your pdf format catalog opens. Thank you PP forum members!

Replaced the deck lid seal while I wait for engine and transmission parts (really easy).

Removal:



Clean up area under the seal:



New seal installed:

[dannichols1474]

Originally Posted by NickW21
Hey Dan,

I am still struggling to make sure I set this all up properly. There was one response where you mentioned: "I connected the MSD B+ to battery terminal on the starter (thank you Al for the idea) and I connected MSD B- to the chassis ground connection that the thick copper webbed cable from the transmission uses (near / beneath the starter)."

When I looked at the picture from an earlier post, it seemed like the wires would not be long enough to reach the starter from the MSD (since they only reach the midpoint of the engine near the hood latch). Did you connect to the Alternator instead or is it just some optical illusion that makes it look like the wires are shorter than they really are?

Thanks again for all your support. Hoping I can make some real progress in the next week or so. I think I finally have all parts in place to do much of the install now!!

Best,
Nick

Hi Nick,

I used some spare red and black wire to make wire extensions. I used 10 gauge because I had some on hand but the high current wires are 12 gauge so you can use that. I cut the wires from the MSD box to about 12 inches and crimped on wiring connectors (I used bullet sytle, but I know you want to use a moisture resistant connector) to connect each high current wire from the MSD box to its extension wire. Then I made the extension wires long enough to run along the back of the engine bay out of sight and drop down to connect to battery terminal on the starter (red) and engine/trans chassis ground lug (black). Hope this makes sense.
Dan

Hey Nick,
See the close up photos below.


The yellow arrow points to the wires coming out of the MSD Street Fire CDI box. The red wire is the MSD logic power wire. The larger gauge B+ (red) and B- (black) wires are under these wires and are hard to see in this photo.



Extra close up of wiring in left front corner of the engine bay:


The black arrow is pointing to the yellow bullet connector and red 10 awg MSD B+ wire extension. Just out of sight below the B+ extension wire is the yellow bullet connector and black 10 awg MSD B- wire extension. The other end of each B+/B- extension wire has a ring connector crimped to it and is connected to the battery terminal of the starter (B+/red) and the engine / trans chassis ground lug (B-/black).

The red arrow is pointing to the red 10 awg wire that supplies 12V switched power to the EFI power panel (back near the fan shroud it is connected to the black engine harness wire that originally powered the blower motor). The smaller red wire that is taped to the 10 awg red wire is the MSD logic power wire.

[NickW21]

Thanks for that, Dan. A couple other questions if you please...

Did you ground the MS ECU to the chassis or the engine block? I was doing some reading and it seemed like the preferred method is to the engine block due to possible voltage drops, but it's also possible that I'm reading that wrong. So, just curious as to how you set that up.

Also, did you connect the power grounds (pins 15-19) to the same ground point?

Finally, not sure if you connected a the brake booster vacuum line to your vacuum manifold, but if you did, which direction does the vacuum flow? I need to make sure I install the check valve in the appropriate way I was thinking it would flow TO the manifold, but I'm basically just guessing

inching ever so slowly forward....

-Nick

[dannichols1474]

Hi Nick,

Regarding ground connections, at the Al's suggestion, I connected grounds for the ECU to the grounding lug that is welded to the inside of the left rear fender located beneath the fuel accumulator mounting bracket (red arrow in the photo below):


There are 3 through bolts with nuts that secure the bracket to the fender. Remove the 3 bolts, then remove the bracket and the ground lug will be revealed.

I ran a main ground wire from the fender chassis ground lug over to the EFI power panel (yellow arrow):


The orange arrows point to the ECU ground connections (pins 15-19).
The red arrow points to the 14Point7 O2 Sensor Interface unit grounds (black and white wires).

Regarding vacuum manifold: I don't have a brake booster, but the vacuum source is toward the engine. So I would mount the check valve so the engine can pull a vacuum on the brake booster diaphragm then not let the vacuum in the booster drop when you step on the throttle and the engine intake manifold vacuum drops.

[dannichols1474]

Hi Nick,

Brake booster check valve: mount the check valve so air can flow from the brake booster to the engine, but not flow air from the engine to the brake booster.

Hope that's clear / helpful.

Dan

[NickW21]

Thanks for confirming, Dan. I know our configurations are slightly different, but did you end up taking apart the shielded white/black wires (pins 24 & 1 respectively) from the ECU and connecting them up as well? If so, did you also ground the shielded wire itself (pin 2 per the documentation)? I wasn't sure if I needed to ground the shield wire or if it was ok to just leave that unconnected.

Things are starting to shape up. Finally beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel!! Here's a sneak peek of the cleaned up shroud/engine bay with the ITBs loosely mounted just so I can start to see what the final product will look like

I installed a new engine pad over the weekend, which definitely made things look a lot nicer back there! Got some rivnuts in for mounting the FPR. Those things are magical!!