02-03-2006, 03:56 PM
Well, I finally bit the bullet and submitted my 968 to the capable hands of Pete @ RSBarn. On a somewhat warmer than normal day back in January, Pete arrived at my house with his tow vehicle and race trailer. I charged the battery the night before, and added some air to the tires. Pete got the car started without much issue. The fact that the car started at all somewhat suprised me. I half expected to end up pushing it into the trailer with Pete. Off to his shop we went...
Some of you may or may not remember, but I was experiencing tapping noise in my engine bay. Because of this, I have not driven the car for more than about 1000 miles since I obtained it a few years back. It got to the point where I knew I either had to get it fixed so I could drive the damn thing, or try and sell. Luckily, the wife was pushing me to get it fixed and common sense won out in the end!
Pete put the car up on his lift and immediately noticed two things:
1) A power steering hose was leaking and had distributed some PS fluid in and around my engine bay. Bummer, but nothing too bad, I think! I noticed a spot on the garage floor quite a few months ago, but thought it was oil from a dried gasket or seal. Not so.
2) My A-arm rear mounts are in terrible condition- rusted, disintegrated, etc.
Other than that, most everything looked okay. Not concours, nor perfect, but acceptable.
Then it was on to check the rod bearings. I came down during the day to help (read: get in Pete's way!). He took the oil pan off and we (he) inspected the rod bearings and the crank journals. Pete's initial diagnosis was that they looked acceptable. He plasti-gauged them and determined they were well within spec! Woohoo! No damage to the crank or the bearings! While there, he checked the motor mounts and found that one was out of spec. He ordered up some parts (new rod bearings, new motor mounts, new oil pan gasket, new control arm mounts from Racer's Edge [very nice pieces!], etc.) and has begun to reassemble to bottom end. While doing so, he removed the existing motor mounts and found one to be cracked in half! While somewhat apprehensive, this could be the source of my tapping noise. I sure hope so!
As a side note... Can I tell you how beautiful the Racer's edge spherical bearing pieces are? Very well made! After seeing them, I wanted more than just the rear A-arm mounts, but I didn't tell Pete that! I need to stay focused on having the problems fixed first!!!! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />
There are other details here and there, but that is the bulk of it so far. Pete is going to checking a bunch of other stuff for me (repair and replace as necessary) so as to get the car mechanically sound. As things progress more, I will update everyone. I am extremely excited about the whole thing!
And now a few words about Pete if I may...
He has been more than accommodating and he is a straight shooter. So far I have nothing but great things to say about him and his dealings with me. I believe that my 968 is in great hands and I look forward to driving it this season thanks to Pete and his work. I would certainly recommend him to anyone in his geoghapical area (or outside of it provided you want to ship in your car!!!).
After I get the car back, I plan to put many miles on it and really start hitting the cosmetic issues. The cosmetic list is long, culminating is a respray/paint job. But that is a few years down the road.
I am also considering some performance improvements, and I am anxiously awaiting the results of Pete's NA mods. I would first like to get the car sorted mechanically, then cosmetically, and after which, I can focus on some perf mods.
Jim C aka biotechee
Some of you may or may not remember, but I was experiencing tapping noise in my engine bay. Because of this, I have not driven the car for more than about 1000 miles since I obtained it a few years back. It got to the point where I knew I either had to get it fixed so I could drive the damn thing, or try and sell. Luckily, the wife was pushing me to get it fixed and common sense won out in the end!
Pete put the car up on his lift and immediately noticed two things:
1) A power steering hose was leaking and had distributed some PS fluid in and around my engine bay. Bummer, but nothing too bad, I think! I noticed a spot on the garage floor quite a few months ago, but thought it was oil from a dried gasket or seal. Not so.
2) My A-arm rear mounts are in terrible condition- rusted, disintegrated, etc.
Other than that, most everything looked okay. Not concours, nor perfect, but acceptable.
Then it was on to check the rod bearings. I came down during the day to help (read: get in Pete's way!). He took the oil pan off and we (he) inspected the rod bearings and the crank journals. Pete's initial diagnosis was that they looked acceptable. He plasti-gauged them and determined they were well within spec! Woohoo! No damage to the crank or the bearings! While there, he checked the motor mounts and found that one was out of spec. He ordered up some parts (new rod bearings, new motor mounts, new oil pan gasket, new control arm mounts from Racer's Edge [very nice pieces!], etc.) and has begun to reassemble to bottom end. While doing so, he removed the existing motor mounts and found one to be cracked in half! While somewhat apprehensive, this could be the source of my tapping noise. I sure hope so!
As a side note... Can I tell you how beautiful the Racer's edge spherical bearing pieces are? Very well made! After seeing them, I wanted more than just the rear A-arm mounts, but I didn't tell Pete that! I need to stay focused on having the problems fixed first!!!! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />
There are other details here and there, but that is the bulk of it so far. Pete is going to checking a bunch of other stuff for me (repair and replace as necessary) so as to get the car mechanically sound. As things progress more, I will update everyone. I am extremely excited about the whole thing!
And now a few words about Pete if I may...
He has been more than accommodating and he is a straight shooter. So far I have nothing but great things to say about him and his dealings with me. I believe that my 968 is in great hands and I look forward to driving it this season thanks to Pete and his work. I would certainly recommend him to anyone in his geoghapical area (or outside of it provided you want to ship in your car!!!).
After I get the car back, I plan to put many miles on it and really start hitting the cosmetic issues. The cosmetic list is long, culminating is a respray/paint job. But that is a few years down the road.
I am also considering some performance improvements, and I am anxiously awaiting the results of Pete's NA mods. I would first like to get the car sorted mechanically, then cosmetically, and after which, I can focus on some perf mods.
Jim C aka biotechee
