JohnJ's 87 924S Rehabilitation

[jjeffries]

Chris, you can replace the valve in-situ, with just some swearing and cut up hands. I’d also replace the short, right angled hose from the back of the intake manifold to the heater valve; the other one will require pulling the heater core (and thus, the dash). Having a replacement for that hose on hand will also allow you to cut the original, making the replacement of the valve that much less of a pig.

The wiring diagrams: I saved them as PDF’s, which allowed me to print them off on regular A4 copy paper and scotch tape them together. May I email you those files?

John

[maint]

+1 on taping the pages together
I do the same and it does make trouble shooting much easier. If I still struggle, I'll create a schematic centered on where I think the problem is and keep working out from there, adding things that are connected to it onto the drawing. This way you get all the pertinent things and none of the ones that don't cross connect. Be warned though; sometimes need a large piece of paper

[jjeffries]

This is the 928 wiring/electrical resource Rus mentioned. It is uncommonly educational. Luckily, “our” cars have maybe 50% of the circuits/complexity of the 928, but the system logic is similar. What is clearly understood by the pro’s among us is a learning opportunity for a guy like me.

http://928-electrics.com/Docs1/Porsche%20928%20Electrics%200.85%20-%20WDP%20Only.pdf

Thanks, John

[joshlindsay]

I just replaced that short right angled hose between the heater valve and the intake manifold yesterday morning. I can't imagine the magical dexterity needed to replace it and the valve without taking off the intake manifold and the air oil separator. I found a bunch of other things to do in the process, but things I needed to do anyway.
Thanks for this amazing thread John!
Josh

[jjeffries]

Very kind Josh and thanks for stopping by. Bear in mind these hoses and the valve were recently assembled so are far more easily manipulated than a car that hadn’t just been assembled. I also admit that I (happily) spend much time in all phases of the project cleaning fasteners, greasing the worm drives on hose clamps etc.

John

[SilverLined]

Originally Posted by jjeffries

I also admit that I (happily) spend much time in all phases of the project cleaning fasteners, greasing the worm drives on hose clamps etc.

John

All that time spent pays dividends! Much more enjoyable to work on a clean car, far fewer headaches, and 100% less tetanus, too.

[Rasta Monsta]

Heater hoses can be replaced with the core (and dash) in place. Silicon highly recommended for this, to make it a one time job.

[jjeffries]

Originally Posted by Rasta Monsta

Heater hoses can be replaced with the core (and dash) in place. Silicon highly recommended for this, to make it a one time job.

Folks/Future Readers ... please do take Rasta's word on this over mine. He'd BTDT and knows WTF he's talking about, while I'm a first-timer on these cars.

John

[jjeffries]

Hubris strikes again ... that $&%£#!! heater valve. “Replace it in place”, I said with savior faire. Not so fast, Junior.

After a couple of hours of painful, mostly unproductive work this morning I threw in the towel and pulled the intake manifold, which had been installed with the engine on a stand. The fact that I’d had* to repair the heater cable with a ferrule (from a bicycle shop) didn’t aid my efforts to reinstall The Clip. Right now I’m taking a break as dictated by my L4, L5 and S1 vertebrae all howling at me.

* replacing that cable - damaged putter sheath from some other guy being in there before, I’d wager - would have been $40 well spent.

Many lessons being learned that would prevent these admittedly self-created/first-timer errors in how things need to be precisely routed in that crowded bit of real estate between the back of the motor and the firewall. I’d taken a number of photos but should have studied it MUCH more before pulling the engine. Also - as V2 pointed out - the direction in Clark’s engine removal steps that I’d followed, to pull the engine harness with the engine is something I’d strongly urge others to avoid.
.

This likely sounds rather wimpy to you 951 guys, who must be almost as masochistic as those fellows who play with old V12 Jaguars.

John

[jjeffries]

I ventured back out to the garage before taking a therapy-ride in my SC (amazing early spring weather today here in southern New England). The ferrule on the frayed end of the cable sheath was not an effective repair; the increased outer diameter is too great for the clip on the heater valve to accommodate it. So I need a new 944 572 647 00 cable; it’ll need to come from a dealer and I will order it this week. Then I can put the intake back on and get back to installing the center console, and from there, the front suspension.

Thanks,
John

[dsfnctn]

I have the same car and some how now have the same looking engine compartment but I decided to take it a step farther and just go ahead and explore inside the car. Im glad I did as upon removal of the heater box I was amazed how much crap was inside the heater box

[jjeffries]

Hi All,

I've enjoyed writing this thread so much I figured I'd do a retrospective of my experience with the 911SC. I'll also cover any current fiddling/TLC.

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/1090773-johnjs-82-sc-coupe-ownership-repair-maintenance-experience.html

Please stop by if you're long on time and short of other ways to spend your time.

Thanks, John

[jjeffries]

Greetings Friends and Allies,

Quite a lot to report on, much of it pesky, detail stuff, but my education may in turn help others down the line. I am nothing if not a sharer.

Long-time readers may recall that in installing the replacement engine I'd initially made something of a meal of routing and positioning the wires and cables in that nasty bit of real estate betwixt the rear of the motor and the firewall. As mentioned a couple of times already, doing this over again, I'd not have followed Clark's direction to pull the engine wiring harness with the engine, and I'd have worked to better document or somehow retain/understand how it all needed to go back together.

The last bugaboo of this learning curve for me to resolve was the heater control valve, and I'm catching back up to my own story when I remind myself and you that when I last wrote, I'd come to the conclusion that the bowden cable 944 572 647 00 (I just typed that from memory ... it's etched in my brain) needed to be replaced in order for me to gain control of the heater valve, itself necessary before I could reinstall the center console.

This damage was enough to prevent the clip from grabbing the cable's sheath.


My previous Clever-Trevor idea to use a bicycle-shop sourced ferrule to add diameter to the cable sheathing was ineffective ... it made it to broad for the spring clip to grasp.

Well, at this point 944 572 647 00 is NLA. My 964 friend in Fairfield, Conn, reminded me that DC Automotive would likely have a used one, and indeed they did/do. But in the meantime I'd removed the dastardly cable assembly entirely and pondered it with the luxury of having it on my (custom-made by me, tall-guy version) workbench. No rocket science: a bowden cable assembly is comprised of an inner wire or cable, and an outter sheath. On mine, the latter was damaged to the extent that the two spring steel clips, one on the heater valve itself, the other on the HVAC panel in the center console, could no longer grip it, resulting in lost motion when yours truly tried to actuate it.

The outer cable, I realised, was likely available locally, because it's pretty much 5mm OD bicyle cable sheathing. Off to Storrs Cycle, just off the UCONN campus, and $3 later I returned home with a suitable length to "rebuild" my Bowden cable. This entaileded straightening the factory-applied kink at one end so that I could whip off the old sheathing and install the new. That worked, but would I now be able to restore that same kink - necessary for it to connect to the heater lever - without the end of the inner wire work hardening and cracking, and thus shortening the cable?

Bicycle store-sourced sheathing measured and cut to match the original.

Short answer: yes, but it was a surprisingly frustrating and tedious job. I connected the cable to the heater control valve on the bench - to avoid doing it in situ, which meant I'd have to connect the other end - at the heater lever - in the cabin, near the console. It's now back together, the intake manifold is on and the center console is in. I'd happily never touch this area of this car or any other 924/early 944 ever again. My hands got beat to hell and, goshdarnit, I was not enjoying myself.

The same p/n spring clip is used to retain both ends of the Bowden cable, at the heater control valve and on the heat selecter lever

Two key things I did during this job, one learned here on the forum, the other a common electrician's tactic: first, I tied string to that nasty little spring steel clamp at the heater valve, a good 2' section which did enable me NOT to lose it; second, when I pulled the heater cable out of the car, I tied the same variety of string (nylon) to the in-cabin end and pulled it through the firewall grommet and out into the engine bay. Reinstallation was facilitated by the (rare, nowadays) assistance of my lovely wife, pulling the string from the driver's footwell. The Bowden cable went back, whence it had come, with nary a complaint. Connecting the end I'd manipulated back onto the heater panel lever was, by comparison, a nasty and intense little fight.

Electrician's trick of leaving a string where the cable was, to preserve its routing for reinstallation.

Two photos of the clip (same P/N at both ends of the Bowden cable, also NLA!).

This was after I'd rendered it too loose with my earlier attempts to get it installed:

While this is the clip tweaked with two pairs of needle-nose pliers, to add more springiness back in:

Of such banal and painful trivialities are the differences between something working right, or not working at all, made.

More to come. It gets better, sort of.

John

[jjeffries]

If you've bought parts for the project, use them.

I'd purchased the Arnnworx throttle reseal kit after I'd assembled the engine (procured from HondaDustr, aka Greg, as you may recall). But since I had the intake manifold off and to give myself a break from that godforsaken heater valve, I pulled the throttle and had at it. I've always kind of liked overhauling carburetors so this was more comfortable leisure time.

A couple of observations:
1. What nicely made things these throttles are. Needle bearings and a throttle plate that's easily removed. Built to be serviceable. Today's cars with electronic throttles generally go in the trashcan and require a $1500 replacement.
2. The Arnnworx kit is a solid deal at ca. $20-25. Yes, if you were a shop doing these all the time, you could figure out the size of the o-rings and re-use the old screws, but even this tightwad thought it a good value.

Not the world's most interesting pictures:

I used various picks, some NAPA carb cleaner, Q-tips and compressed air.


A pleasant couple of hours spent on this. From the reconditioned fuel tank, through all new hoses and lines, a new pump, serviced injectors, extra filtration, this car's fuel system has been comprehensively serviced.

ciao,
John

[pfarah]

Hey John,
You'll have a brand new car when done... I'm looking forward to a couple runs this summer with the group.

Patrick

[Stoneguy]

John,
This is too funny. I have my throttle body apart on my bench right now. I am also installing the ArnWorks kit. Make sure you have a dental pick and a magnifier to clean out those 30 year old ,dried up, destroyed shaft seals. They were totally gone on mine.
Kind of a pain to clean out efficiently. Pick, spray cleaner and compressed air worked for me. ( Critical before new ones go in). I'll be reinstalling my TB a little later today.
Good luck and happy motoring!

[Stoneguy]

[jjeffries]

Stone: same thing, the remains of my throttle shaft seals looked more like crispy little chunks of earwax. Their demise must have explained the oil in the TPS switch.

John

[jjeffries]

The next phase of my recent works was pretty important to the project but I neglected to take enough photos.

Having disassembled, stripped and painted the strut housings and obtained a pair of 250lb Weltmeister dual rate springs from a kindly fellow Pelican, I took all the components over to friend Steve the Pro Mechanic's shop where we assembled them. This included new Sach strut inserts, bump stops and upper mount/bearing assemblies. Steve used a high quality, heavy-duty pair of spring compressors, using great care and a gradual approach to managing all the potential energy as the springs were compressed for fitment. (I'd once bought a pair of those, but later gave them away; they were far less heavy-duty than those Steve uses.) Taking our time, drinking exquisite coffee Steve brewed and nibbling on the Biscoff cookies I'd brought along, a couple of hours later we were done. I brought them home and hung them from the inner fenders ... on the wrong sides, it turned out.

Rather than proceeding with getting the newly-rejuvenated bolted back in to the knuckles, hubs, etc, I summoned the gumption to finish-off the battle with my nemesis, the heater control valve and its partner-in-crime, Bowden cable 944 572 647 00. But yesterday, I got busy and fully reinstalled the struts.

To my relief - and this might sound shallow - the new springs have fulfilled one of their promises, to lower the front end. I want the car looking more hunkered down and less gawky-tall. A casual bump test on the front end (using my knee/weight) suggested that the new springs are NOT crazy stiff. Unscientific, I realize,



Next I installed the new NOS (and currently NLA) Boge rear shocks, also obtained from a fellow Pelican 924/44 owner. I'll need to undo their lower mounting bolts next week because I'm about to order a pair of 26mm torsion bars for the rear end, to match the 250lb front springs, which will require - among other things - dropping the torsion bar housing (again ... I'd lowered it to R&R the driveshaft tube).

I'll also need to find a pair of 477 511 515 eccentrics to accomodate the rear sway bar. Then, with some more spannering, a sprinkle of reindexing and an alignment, hopefully I'll have a road-ready car.

That brings us up to the present; thanks for stopping by,
John

[jjeffries]

Today's FedEx delivery:

27mm Torsion Bars. Yes, I said I was going to go with 26mm's, but those were on backorder and these weren’t. Besides, either Rasta or V2RocketMan originally said 27mm was the right size.

Best,
John