Finally dismantling the "Broken One"

[ddbach]

It's been almost 10 months since I broke it. Life and medical adventures have prevented my brother and I from co-ordinating schedules to get this done snd honestly the first few months I was still very upset w/ myself.

My question for those who have BTDT. In this setting engine out through the top? or standard thru the bottom?













I got the easy part of disconnecting the DME. I fit upside down in the front seat much better than he does. My brother was working on the front end removing pieces there. As you can see we wound up cutting the fan assembly to be able to pull it out. Amazingly the radiator (original) has only a small circle of slightly flattened fins and no leaks. The alternator really got it and my brother wasn't able to get one of the bolts at the bottom. Just no room to get in there for him.

So if out through the bottom we probably neeed to tilt the engine once it is disconnected to access the alternator bolt that can't be reached right now so that can come off or move enough to get past the bent frame. If out through the top we need to remove the exhaust manifold. Am I right in my thinking?

For those who missed the immediate afterwards post: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-924-944-968-technical-forum/545175-carnage-warning-graphic-pics.html

[OnTheRun2]

As you are not going to save this one. I would go the easy route and take a "saws-all" to the core support. This should give you enough room to get it out from the top. It should save you a lot of work. But then again I have never done it this way. I have always had to do this on cars that were being saved. So the old way of starting at the transaxel and working forward is the only way. Please do not forget to pull the speed and ref. sensors before trying to pull the motor. I learned this the hard way, as a lot on here have.
Best of luck. And I am glad to see you have a replacement.

[ddbach]

We didn't have a lot of time to work on this over the weekend. The exhaust was stubborn but is off now. With the AC compressor hanging out of the way a wrench can now get to the bolt on the alternator that was inaccessible before. Still too tight for a socket though. So we should be able to get it out through the bottom without too much trouble. Won't get back to that until next week since it's my brothers week to work.



Another question came to mind. The AC was converted to R-134 before I got it. What do we need to do to drain the AC system?

[Capt Squid]

I have done it both ways and it is about 50/50 on which is easier. If you have a cherry picker and an adjustable engine hoist bar, so you can tilt the engine, out the top would be my choice. The last time I pulled an engine, I was helping a professional Porsche mechanic and we had the engine out the top in half a day.

Interesting sidebar, the mechanic unbolted the 4 torque tube bolts rather than the bell housing. As he tilted the engine, he moved it around with a giant pry bar. It came out without removing the hood.

[ddbach]

We got back to this yesterday afternoon. Because of the cold raw weather we decided against pulling the engine since we would need the garage door open for enough space. Instead my brother worked on the front suspension removal and then did manage to get the difficult to reach bolt off thus allowing the alternator to be removed. We are still concerned about the amount of space we need to pull the engine forward to separate the torque tube and bell housing before we drop the engine. Anyone have a rough guestimate on that?




I continued with slow but steady disassembly of the interior. We burnt out a worklight bulb so I did most of my work by flashlight.



We plan to drop the engine tomorrow morning. It'll be cold but at least w/ sun and not a wintry mix.

[ddbach]

We did get the engine out on Friday after one Doh! moment. Somehow almost missed disconnecting the steering. The alternator and it's bracket both had to come off for enough room on the left side to pull the engine forward.



We used the engine hoist to lift the front of the car to get the last bit of clearance needed to pull the engine out from underneath. With the engine out the front looks more bent than before.



Yesterday I put the rear up on stands and took the tires off and hit the nuts and bolts with penetrant. I did find one surprise on the side that hit the wall.







Next week we'll tackle the transaxle and rear suspension.

[ddbach]

It's been a busy month. I signed a contract for a new job and will have a 40+ minute commute instead of 10 minutes so I'll likely be driving the Porsche more often.
In the mean time the Koni's have moved over to the replacement 944 (it came with standard suspension not M474) with improvement in the ride .
The trans, torque tube and rear suspension are down on the floor.


The near pristine dash is out and will move to the other one this week. I'm halfway in the removal process on that.



I was a bit surprised to see how much the floor was folded after I took out the carpet.


The other surprise was the amount the hatch frame was abraded, not really noticable until I finally opened it to take the support pistons off.