Almost finished w/ the engine! (pics)

Schumi · 03-12-2009, 03:34 PM

Well I made some major progress last weekend on the engine for my track car. A nice purchase of Pelican of a good amount of gaskets and seals and belts made for a fun day of assembling things. Heres some pics of her, all nice and clean, almost ready to go into the car.

I still have to get the OPRV and oil cooler back together. I feel that I am missing a bushing on the block where the OPRV goes- in the factory manual it shows a brass bushing that is screwed into the block in the OPRV hole that the OPRV goes... my block does not have anything there, and when I disassembled the oil cooler the OPRV was just in there. There is a brass bushing/seat deep in the block that the O-ring on the OPRV snugs into, but it does not stick out like the factory manual's photos show. Here is the photo from the manual that I'm seeing:

And here is my block:

My OPRV fits in there and snaps snug with it's o-ring in the inner seat, with only a little side to side movement when it's in there. I don't see how there could be a bushing there. Is this for early cars and the old valve only maybe?

Nick, you're the man with these, any help?

mattdavis11 · 03-12-2009, 03:42 PM

I think that sleeve is removed when the switch to the 1 piece valve is made. Mine has it, and I have a 3 piece OPRV.

callmethewander · callmethewander's Garage

That looks nice, what did you do to the inside?
You might want to check the service manuals at www.eucc.pk/ the probably have pics of early and late blocks, and lots of other info there also

callmethewander · callmethewander's Garage

sorry, it's http://www.eucc.dk/

speedracing944 · speedracing944's Garage

Your engine looks nice. Did you paint everything? When I did mine I just scrubbed everything with kerosene.

Get her back together and drive. Spring is upon us.

Speedy

Schumi · 03-13-2009, 09:12 AM

Thanks guys- internals are stock, it is meant to be legal for 944-Spec. I just freshened everything that needed it: head gasket, oil cooler seals, cooling lines, cam tower seals and gaskets, timing belt, balance belt, oil pan gasket, new oil baffle, air-oil separator re-seal, ignition rotor, intake gaskets, throttle body gaskets and o-rings, etc etc etc.

I had only a couple of actual mechanical problems- 1 being an original head gasket that was still good but possibly not for long. 2 being a worn down crank woodruff key that needed replacing along with a new balance shaft gear that had it's keyway enlarged by about 5-10 degrees (making for some rough running I'm sure..). Got a nice replacement from John at A Part Above.

To do yet still is new injector o-rings and those little plastic rings on them, and some new plug wires too. Tubular headers instead of the old cast ones are also in the plan.

I re-finished a lot of things and did some gasket maker here and there, all and all the whole deal will run me around $500.

The block and intake and cam tower is coated with a silver high heat ceramic paint.

It won't be going back into the care though until I have re-done the wiring harness with some new wires and sheathing, and completed the engine bay with new firewall heat reflection material and some paint.

I'm also working on wiring the loom with the option for a stand along data acquisition system I designed to log various sensors and inputs. Maybe a little overkill but that's what I do.

The whole project is taking a while but the idea is to have a car that, when it is done, will be competition worthy in both SCCA solo and NASA club racing. It's initial shakedown might just be at SCCA solo nationals this year.

mistertate · mistertate's Garage

Ya, that's a difference between the early and late blocks with the cartridge style OPRV. I'm guessing your block is numbered M44/07 which I believe is considered an '87 and later block.
It's amazing how much you can figure out from one of those $10 porsche PET cds on ebay. Part numbers and what parts are interchangeable between what year/model cars...

Schumi · 03-13-2009, 09:23 AM

Yes, my block is an 87-on block. It's a gray area on the shop manuals I have on some things. It talks about updates made for the late engines in some places and disregards mentioning anything in other places. My next place to look was going to be the parts catologue explosions.

earlr85944 · 03-14-2009, 05:16 AM

i take it the rod bearings were done recently? i didnt see it on the list...

many944s · 03-14-2009, 05:46 AM

Looking good!
Somehow, working on everyone elses cars has slowed the process of my track car!! Funny how that works

The last of the cage bits should be going in this week, and I'll be swapping in the tranny I just built for her (LSD/short 5th).

-Nick

VINMAN · 03-14-2009, 05:51 AM

Looks great!

Schumi · 03-14-2009, 01:27 PM

Bearings were checked and everything was in tolerance. So I held off on those for now. That is pretty much the only thing I didn't touch. If that comes back to bite me I'll be pissed but I'm pretty efficient at pulling motors nowadays so it won't phase me...

Capt Squid · 03-14-2009, 10:35 PM

Looks great!

Before you install it, consider at least replacing the rod bearings if you are going to race in 944 Spec. While your old bearings may be within spec, running the engine at full throttle all the time puts stress on engine that street driving never approaches.

Almost everyone in our 944 Spec racing group at POC has had an engine failure with their original street engine and a few with rebuilds. Many of the failures are bearing related.

Even though it would be a PITA at this stage to change the bearings, it is cheap insurance in the long run. Worst case is a rod through the side of your block and the best case is a DNF. Either way your weekend is ruined.

mattdavis11 · 03-15-2009, 01:05 AM

Did they stuff the fuse/relay board under the hood, and the DME on the passenger's floor board on the '87 924S? Just curious as I know not. Rod bearings are a must before you put it in. It's maybe $80 for the set, so there's really no good excuse not to.

Schumi · 03-15-2009, 11:35 AM

Strangely the DME and fuse board are still under the driver's side dash for 87 924S's. They may have went to the other side for the 1988 model.

I have a lot of time yet before the engine goes in as I still have clutch and suspension things to sort out. Plus I want to paint the car and wheeling it around without a motor in it is very easy. So I'll probably end up grabbing a set of rod bearings.

earlr85944 · 03-15-2009, 12:41 PM

cool, looks good and the bearing replacement makes sense

shikzachaser · shikzachaser's Garage

Looks great Mike. When you gonna be in the area for a couple beers?

Steve

Schumi · 03-17-2009, 02:47 PM

I'm out of town on research the next two weekends unfortunately. It's crazy times. I'll keep reminding myself to get up there if I ever get a weekend off!

Crepitus · 03-17-2009, 08:43 PM

Is it common for the spec and nasa guys to cross drill the crank? The #2 rod bearing can be a prob, I was wondering if there was a common fix.

Schumi · 03-17-2009, 09:05 PM

I'm not sure how common it is, but cross drilling the crank is one of the fixes for the #2 rod bearing.

In other classes I have seen people run an Accusump reservoir as an alternative.