[Lear35A]

I would like to post from time to time the trials and tribulations of the rebuild of my engine. If this isn't the right place for this, please mods let me know.

A cracked #2 cylinder wall led me to this point. I have no idea what caused the problem in the first place. I am pretty much doing this all on my own, Because I didn't know what the problem was, I took the head off with the engine still in the car,. I also disconnected all the electrical stuff and left the wiring harness on when I pulled the block out.

I took the engine apart fairly carefully, taking a lot of pictures and putting the fasteners for each item into individual label boxes. We'll see if that helps.

Biggest problem on disassembly was stripping some heads of the triple square fasteners. I drilled off the heads where I had to (those screws are made of hard steel...it really dulled the drills quickly). Eventually I got everything apart.

I had already lined up a race oriented machine shop to fix the block. I also enlisted them to do a competition valve job. Their plan was to weld the crack and then put iron sleeves in all 4 bores. They also intend to get me a different set of rings to be more compatible with the iron sleeves. I am told that work is done (it's been over a month) but I haven't seen it yet. (There were also a few broken studs (including one head stud) they had to get out. The valve job is also done with new vavlve guides needed too.

I have used the time to clean parts to be ready for reassembly. It's a huge job, but it will look great. I had to take everything apart because a lot of coolant had gotten into the oil. So the oil cooler and all hoses have been cleaned thoroughly.

Today I took out the wiring harness which was a PITA. I'm going to get the car outside and clean the engine bay of 10 years of grease and grime sometime this week.

I have not yet started to buy the parts I'll need for reassembly. I guess I'm afraid to face the cost [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif[/img] . I may start that this week. If anyone cares to pass on your most price competative sources for this stuff I'd appreciate it. With everything apart I would be glad to take pictures of any internal parts any others would like to see.

My big reasembly concern is retiming the cams. I know there are some good posts on doing this.

Everyone have a great Easter.

Lance

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[PorscheDude]

Lance, sorry for the misfortune.
I think lots of folks would love to see pics of the process.
Also, the knowledgeable folks here should be able to help out with any questions.

Sounds like your off to great start.

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[Cloud9...68]

Lance,

You're a brave man (or maybe you have a lot of experience with engine rebuilding) to tear into this, apparently on your own. Are you following the instructions in the manual (and if so, are the instructions well written?), or did you just dive in? And when you say you stripped some heads of the triple square fasteners, do you mean the head bolts?

As Porschedude says, there are many of us who are very interested in your progress, because at a minimum, installation of Flash's supercharger requires replacement of the head gasket, and therefore a head rebuild.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures of the job, as well as hearing your tips and recommendations for what to avoid, what types of tools are needed before plunging into the job, etc.

Oh, and speaking of the supercharger, as long as you're going through the rebuild process, have you thought about adding the supercharger, as you would seem to be a prime candidate? Thanks in advance, best of luck with the project, and sorry it had to be an unplanned event.

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[Lear35A]

For your Easter enjoyment here is a picture of a 968 wiring harness. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img] They do come out. Stay tuned to see if they go back in.

I am NOT a professional mechanic by any means. This started out to be basic 968 preventive maintenance 101; that is change cam timing belt, water pump, balance shaft belt, plugs, new fluids, etc. One problem led to another and now the engine is completely apart. I consulted the manual from time to time, but I am sure I will discover I should have done more of this. I absolutely intend to "go by the book" on reassembly.

MANY years ago I raced an SCCA G Production Spitfire, and got so I could take that engine apart and put it together pretty easily. I even did the transmission and differential a couple of times. A Porsche engine is in an entire different league, but I'm going to give it a go. It's not like I need the car to go to work tomorrow. The other thing is that unfortunately our cars aren't worth very much these days (does the market really work ?). Therefore to have this done professionally would have put me even more under water. (I work for myself very inexpensively.)
I've spent a lot of time cleaning everything, which a shop isn't going to do unless you absolutely give them a blank check. The engine bay will look very nice when it's done.

As to supercharging...well I'll be thrilled if it runs as a happy NA Porsche engine. (but OTOH, what's a supercharger kit cost? I raced an '89 944 Turbo in Porsche Club racing for about 5 years, and I gotta admit I'd like some more HP)


Interesting side note: the shop doing the block and head work says the head matches a big block Ford head pretty closely. I know the guys there are trying to figure out the potential of a dual ovhd cam, 4 valve per cylinder 427+ cid Ford. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Lance

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[Lear35A]

Tip 1
Porsche uses triple square head fasteners in a bunch of places, eg cam brackets, pressure plate, CV joints. The triple square tool goes in the center like an Allen head screw. The problem is that the 12 points are quite shallow and are very easy to round out if you're not careful. These things will help:
1. Clean all the goo out of the head so the tool can go into it as deeply as possible.
2. Take a punch that will fit inside the head and give it a rap or two with a hammer. That may help break the initial resistance of accumulated goo or Loctite that may have been put on the threads.
3. Use a proper socket like the one in the picture on the left, NOT the cheaper tool as shown on the right .
4. Position the socket absoutely square over the fastener.
5. Put as much pressure into the socket as you can as you start to turn.
6. Have good sharp drills available if the above fails [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img] .

Lance

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[Cloud9...68]

Ah, thanks for the description of the infamous triple square (aka "cheesehead") bolts. I've owned my car for five years now, and have done a moderate amount of work to it (timing/balance shaft belt, water pump, engine mounts, clutch master & slave cylinders, etc.), but have yet to venture into anything held into place by the aforementioned triple squares. It is inevetible, though...

As far as the supercharger, take look at the thread called "Get ready, get set, Blow!", started by Flash. You'll get all the information you'll ever want to see about the low boost supercharger Flash is working on. It should be available for sale very soon.

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[PorscheDude]

Anoter good tip dealing with triple square fasteners is buy good tools.
The cheaper triple square sockets will actual deform under realitivly low torque and strip the bolt head.
Invest in a high quailty set.

Lance your tips are spot on.

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[Ryan]

Funny thing is that if you go to the dealer to get a triple square bolt, they will sell you an allen head instead. This happened to me. I went to the dealer and had to order the bolt. When it came in it was just an allen head. I was pissed because I just waited and paid P dealer price for something I could have picked up anywhere. This was when I was doing belts and not the cam bolts, so I don't know if they have changed anything up there.

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[Lear35A]

I am supposed to get my engine block with steel sleeves and head with trick valve job back tomorrow or Saturday. I can finally start reassembly. It's been a long time. Apparently no one makes piston rings for steel sleeves the right size for stock 968 pistons, so they had to have some custom cut. I've got a lot of work ahead of me. Please all, be ready for a bunch of questions

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[unknown4u]

It is good to hear that your block is coming back home. I'm interested to see how they have done the job with the sleeves.
Can you post a picture of it?
Thanks.

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[blue968]

HI Lear,

Wished I lived near you I would be right there helping you. I always wanted to rebuild my engine and would love the experience but just dont have the room.
I'm sure you know but for some reason it always stuck in my head when replacing any cam or rod bearings you have to use a special lubricant, if not used it can cause sever engine damage. Not sure how true that it is but I would do it as a precaution.

I had changed my cams last year and bought a good Snap-On triple square and was able to get every bolt off with no problem. Dint know if I got lucky or if it was because of a good quality tool.

Anyway I wish you the best of luck.

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[Cloud9...68]

Could somebody put together a quick list of the special tools needs for a 968 engine rebuild? Obviously a quality set of triple square drivers (or whatever they're actually called), and I believe an angle wrench (again, no idea if I'm using the correct term) for "torqueing" the head bolts, but what else? The answer will drive my decision as to whather to tackle the job myself, or take it to somebody who does this sort of thing for a living. Thanks.

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[RS Barn]

You need a whole bunch of correct tools to rebuild. If you look at Porsche factory manual they are pretty much described and some can be replaced with alternates. You do need two dial indicators to time cam to crankshaft. You can make steel plates with magnetic base dial indicators vs. factory stuff. You still need a way to pressurize variocam before timing cams.
Torque angle guages are pretty basic and inexpensive.
Some Arash guy on RL used wood dowel pins to degree cams. You could aim for the moon like this but end up on Mars.
Pete

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[Lear35A]

I can only answer half the question now. And that is what's special to take it apart. Here is a picture of what might be considered "special." Obviously you need a complete set of metric wrenches (open end and box), metric sockets of all sizes (and it doesn't hurt to have the deep wells too), screw drivers and other such basic hand tools.
On the left are metric Allen head sockets long and short. Above them are the triple square sockets. The black open end wrench and black thing with the long handle are to take off the balance shaft belt pulleys. The S box wrench and crows feet are musts for getting the exhaust apart. The black thing in the upper right is the 968 flywheel lock. Top center is my set of broken screw extractors (you really shouldn't need those, but I did [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img] )
Don't forget. A man can never have too many tools. No doubt I'll be adding some (many ? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif[/img] ) on assembly.
Lance

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[Lear35A]

Here's my cleaned up intake manifold. This is one complex casting! No wonder the car was so expensive.

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[Cloud9...68]

On a scale of 1 to 10, how difficult would you rate the removal of the head? I realize timing the cams is tricky, but I figure one option would be for me to get it close (with help from a neighbor who has rebuilt a 944 and a 911 engine), and then take it to a professional for final adjustment if needed. Doing the head R & R myself would sure save a bunch of money when installing the supercharger...

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[Lear35A]

It's a 7, if you have the tools, the space and the time. If it's a daily driver and you HAVE to have it back running on a fixed date, take it to a pro. Otherwise, it's a reasonable challenge to do it yourself. IMHO, of course.
Lance

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[apex]

I did mine last summer - no one part of the job is all that hard. The cumulative effect is quite sobering for the first-timer - my biggest concern was losing track of all the parts and pieces, heh, or simply screwing up my engine somehow. If you're interested follow this link to some pictures.

As far as tools the biggest hurdle will be the cam-timing tools - the air compressor fitting and variocam clamp are essential. The cam hold-downs are optional - but frankly I wish I'd had those during the re-install.

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[Cloud9...68]

Thanks for the replies. Mine isn't a daily driver, so I can afford to take my time, and be very systematic about it. Plus, as I said, I have a neighbor who has done it before on a 944, so other than the Variocam thing, I have experienced help nearby. Doing the head R & R myself vs. taking it to someone could make the difference between making the supercharger a reality, and staying in dreamland.

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[Lear35A]

The fun begins. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img]
Head with the ever popular competition valve job and the block with repaired crack and cast iron sleeves are back.
First pix is the block; second a close up where you can see the weld repair (at the bottom of the bore in the picture); third is of the pan. The pan is no big deal but getting it to this point of clean took over 2 hours, and I'm not done yet. That yellowish gunk that Porsche put on it is a crime!
Lance

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