Starting my restoration project - 56 Carrera
) coming!!
09-04-2007, 08:50 PM
#20
I'm doing the engine myself - it really shouldn't need much and I have a degree in mechanical engineering, a box full of Snap-On tools and a set of factory reprint manuals.
It's just an engine......yeah right - but I've rebuilt some 911 motors and bunches of other 356 engines and other stuff - used to work on an IMSA race car and was a foreign car mechanic for a few years. If I run into anything I'm uncomfortable with I'll ask some experts. It's fun for me - good therapy after working on F-22's during the day.
It's just an engine......yeah right - but I've rebuilt some 911 motors and bunches of other 356 engines and other stuff - used to work on an IMSA race car and was a foreign car mechanic for a few years. If I run into anything I'm uncomfortable with I'll ask some experts. It's fun for me - good therapy after working on F-22's during the day.
09-05-2007, 12:13 AM
#21
Hi Jack,
It is a nice and complicated piece of art... did you read the bellow article printed at Christophorus some years ago?
It is a long article but worth reading... says a lot about 4-cam engines and the beaty in it... it is a complex engine and any mistake could be very very expensive... Have fun reading it:
"Hour of Truth
The Fuhrmann engine-transmission unit, built from 1953 to 1965, was the forerunner of all the Carrera engines and can still be serviced at Porsche today. Michael Sönke watched the restorer Dieter Wurster at work.
The reputations of some Porsche engines race around the world. The fame extends beyond the engines themselves to the people who carefully tend them. At a bar located a good 10,000 miles from the Porsche factory headquarters, the following conversation was overheard among vintage car fans: “There’s a mechanic in Zuffenhausen who can get any Fuhrmann engine to run. He can do it even when other experts are stumped. What’s his name again...?” Someone else promptly chimes in with “Dieter Wurster.”
Dieter Wurster? We meet the man himself a few days later at a work station in Zuffen-hausen’s Hall 1. So, Mr. Wurster, what is the secret of your work? “You just have to know what to do,” he replies modestly. Hmm. “I mean, the engine is really complicated.”
How long has he been working on these engines? “I’ve been doing repairs since 1960,” replies Wurster, who came to Porsche as an apprentice back in 1956. With a hint of pride, the 57-year-old runs his broad hand over the gleaming black fan blower of one of the last of those Fuhrmann engines built between 1953 and 1965.
This one was the best, from the 904,” says the man from the Swabian region of Germany, “And the most powerful one of this series had 192 horsepower.” The engine is a delight to behold. Every little screw is highly polished. “All the screws used to be galvanized as white as these ones,” reminisces the expert. “But this type of screw isn’t made anymore. Nowadays they’re only chrome-plated yellow.” So for the restoration work, each screw is sand-blasted individually and its surface is treat-ed. Many other parts, large and small, re-ceive the same treatment because the engines Dieter Wurster restores have to be original down to the last detail.
Klaus Bischof, the director of the Porsche Museum, attests to the brilliant reputation of this man. “If a Carrera engine has been restored by Dieter Wurster, then its value goes up tens of thousands of marks just like that.” In certain circles, the best ex-amples of these four-cylinder engines exchange hands for as much as 150,000 marks.
Given the anonymous designation 547, this engine-transmission unit was noted for the vertical drive of its camshafts, its dual-plug ignition, roller bearings, and double-sided cooling fan. Those in the know also call it the “Schubladenmotor,” or “drawer engine.” The young engineer Ernst Fuhrmann received his doctorate with this design. But not everybody was supposed to know about the unit while it was under construction. And so some of the parts were made under the work bench, so to speak. When certain guests came by, the parts were quickly hidden away in the drawers. Fuhrmann left Porsche for a while, only to return later, becoming Porsche AG’s first chairman of the board in 1976.
With a capacity of 1498 cubic centime-ters, the original Fuhrmann engine took its first spin on a Zuffenhausen test station on April 2, 1953. Trimmed for racing, the 547 generated 110 horsepower at 6200 rpm. It was installed in the new Porsche racing car, the 550 Spyder. With this car and engine, Hans Herrmann took third place in the over-all rankings for the 1954 Carrera Panamer-icana. Since then, the name Carrera has played a prominent part in the history of Porsche models. In 1955, Porsche decided to install this air-cooled racing engine in the standard 356 sports cars series as well. The first Carrera had 100 horsepower. By 1956, the Fuhr-mann engine was up to 130 horsepower in the 550 A. In one of these cars at the 1956 Targa Florio, Umberto Maglioli celebrated the first overall victory for Porsche in a world championship race. Two years later, the en-gine was clocked at 164 horsepower. In the Porsche RS 60 of 1960, the capacity grew to 1604 cubic centimeters, and by 1961 to two liters.
If everything goes well, Dieter Wurster is nearly finished with an engine after 150 hours of work. It runs again, just like the engine of a Porsche 904 that was delivered to Jordan’s King Hussein thirty years ago. The monarch later purchased a Carrera 6, and the 904 now belongs to the Porsche Muse-um. But before Dieter Wurster is finished, the engine must successfully undergo a special ordeal, namely a stint at the performance test bank. The noise level at test bank number four in Zuffenhausen is very high. The 904 engine revs up again and again over the course of almost an entire day. A special program drives it for a good three hours, at which Wurster then pushes the accelerator lever forward in a single swift stroke. “Full load,” he yells, and then a few minutes later confides that “no engine unit has to withstand this kind of load on the street.” Is he nervous? “Oh no, I haven’t felt nervous in ages,” he answers quickly and adds, “I know what I’m doing, after all.” Later he admits that “before my very first engine was tested, I couldn’t sleep a wink the whole night.”
Customers occasionally observe the tests. As Wurster notes, “Sometimes the rpm figures just about cause their hair to go gray.”
While the engine spins away it’s time for some stories. Several decades ago, one of the cars was owned by the Formula driver Carel Godin de Beaufort. “He was hard on the gears, so I was always having to repair his engines,” recalls Wurster. The engines that Beaufort drove were listed as having 164 horsepower, but often they only reached 155. Like every racing driver, the Dutchman wanted more. He promised the mechanics that “if you can get it to 165, I’ll give you a case of beer.” With this prospect before their eyes, the mechanics weakened just a single time. They tinkered with the rpm indicator on the test bench beforehand and Beaufort then watched the dial move to precisely 165 horsepower. Now, however, the mechanics had to be careful that the engine didn’t die out, because the test bank would still show a performance level of ten horsepower. Beaufort was very pleased and the mechanics got their beer. “I’ve never had such a great machine,” he said at the next race. “And,” smiles Wurster, “he never drove bet-ter in his life than with that engine. A driver is faster when he believes in his car.”
Towards the end of our conversation, the question again comes up as to the secret of his work. Now his tongue is loosened. He talks about castor bearings, valve seats, valve actuation, dial gauges, bearing bush-ings, and asymmetrical shafts. And when no one else at the table can follow him anymore, he looks a bit embarrassed and concludes, “You just have to know how it all fits together.” But isn’t that hard for a lot of people “Absolutely, says Wurster and grins broadly.Designated the 587, the design reached its climax in the 904 GTS built in 1964. A 904 GTS with Colin Davis and Antonio Pucci led the field at the Targa Florio. Eugen Böhringer and Rolf Wütherich took second place at the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally with a four-cylinder 904. Six and eight-cylinder engines were already being installed in some 904s, and these gradually nudged the Fuhrmann four-cylinders from the racing tracks. The Fuhrmann engine is still highly regarded at vintage races today. Even Dieter Wurster does not know how many Fuhrmann engines have survived. But of the ones that have, he is sure they need careful maintenance. “Then they’ll give you up to 8000 rpm with no trouble,” he reports. When shifting down, however, the driver should be careful because there is no speed limiter to keep the engine from going out.
Klaus Bischof sends the Carrera engines from his museum cars for a thorough check-up every 10,000 kilometers. He also recommends this to customers. “Service” in this case is of an unusually comprehensive nature. The engine-transmission unit is completely dismantled down to the last screw. Steel and aluminum parts, from the crank shaft to the valves, are examined for cracks using special procedures under ultraviolet
light. Parts that wear down such as gaskets and bearings are replaced. Things start to get difficult if a major part can no longer be repaired. “Generally speaking, these engines can only be maintained with parts from the same era,” explains Klaus Bischof. “Imitations are too expensive.”
So Dieter Wurster gets on the telephone. He knows the true believers who still have parts for this engine. Sometimes he is lucky, but success is always costly. Recently he was offered virtually complete units, but on driving out to inspect the items found “a bunch of junk.” Only the price suggested otherwise. “They wanted 30,000 marks for the stuff.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents copyright 1999, Christophorus Magazine."
It is a nice and complicated piece of art... did you read the bellow article printed at Christophorus some years ago?
It is a long article but worth reading... says a lot about 4-cam engines and the beaty in it... it is a complex engine and any mistake could be very very expensive... Have fun reading it:
"Hour of Truth
The Fuhrmann engine-transmission unit, built from 1953 to 1965, was the forerunner of all the Carrera engines and can still be serviced at Porsche today. Michael Sönke watched the restorer Dieter Wurster at work.
The reputations of some Porsche engines race around the world. The fame extends beyond the engines themselves to the people who carefully tend them. At a bar located a good 10,000 miles from the Porsche factory headquarters, the following conversation was overheard among vintage car fans: “There’s a mechanic in Zuffenhausen who can get any Fuhrmann engine to run. He can do it even when other experts are stumped. What’s his name again...?” Someone else promptly chimes in with “Dieter Wurster.”
Dieter Wurster? We meet the man himself a few days later at a work station in Zuffen-hausen’s Hall 1. So, Mr. Wurster, what is the secret of your work? “You just have to know what to do,” he replies modestly. Hmm. “I mean, the engine is really complicated.”
How long has he been working on these engines? “I’ve been doing repairs since 1960,” replies Wurster, who came to Porsche as an apprentice back in 1956. With a hint of pride, the 57-year-old runs his broad hand over the gleaming black fan blower of one of the last of those Fuhrmann engines built between 1953 and 1965.
This one was the best, from the 904,” says the man from the Swabian region of Germany, “And the most powerful one of this series had 192 horsepower.” The engine is a delight to behold. Every little screw is highly polished. “All the screws used to be galvanized as white as these ones,” reminisces the expert. “But this type of screw isn’t made anymore. Nowadays they’re only chrome-plated yellow.” So for the restoration work, each screw is sand-blasted individually and its surface is treat-ed. Many other parts, large and small, re-ceive the same treatment because the engines Dieter Wurster restores have to be original down to the last detail.
Klaus Bischof, the director of the Porsche Museum, attests to the brilliant reputation of this man. “If a Carrera engine has been restored by Dieter Wurster, then its value goes up tens of thousands of marks just like that.” In certain circles, the best ex-amples of these four-cylinder engines exchange hands for as much as 150,000 marks.
Given the anonymous designation 547, this engine-transmission unit was noted for the vertical drive of its camshafts, its dual-plug ignition, roller bearings, and double-sided cooling fan. Those in the know also call it the “Schubladenmotor,” or “drawer engine.” The young engineer Ernst Fuhrmann received his doctorate with this design. But not everybody was supposed to know about the unit while it was under construction. And so some of the parts were made under the work bench, so to speak. When certain guests came by, the parts were quickly hidden away in the drawers. Fuhrmann left Porsche for a while, only to return later, becoming Porsche AG’s first chairman of the board in 1976.
With a capacity of 1498 cubic centime-ters, the original Fuhrmann engine took its first spin on a Zuffenhausen test station on April 2, 1953. Trimmed for racing, the 547 generated 110 horsepower at 6200 rpm. It was installed in the new Porsche racing car, the 550 Spyder. With this car and engine, Hans Herrmann took third place in the over-all rankings for the 1954 Carrera Panamer-icana. Since then, the name Carrera has played a prominent part in the history of Porsche models. In 1955, Porsche decided to install this air-cooled racing engine in the standard 356 sports cars series as well. The first Carrera had 100 horsepower. By 1956, the Fuhr-mann engine was up to 130 horsepower in the 550 A. In one of these cars at the 1956 Targa Florio, Umberto Maglioli celebrated the first overall victory for Porsche in a world championship race. Two years later, the en-gine was clocked at 164 horsepower. In the Porsche RS 60 of 1960, the capacity grew to 1604 cubic centimeters, and by 1961 to two liters.
If everything goes well, Dieter Wurster is nearly finished with an engine after 150 hours of work. It runs again, just like the engine of a Porsche 904 that was delivered to Jordan’s King Hussein thirty years ago. The monarch later purchased a Carrera 6, and the 904 now belongs to the Porsche Muse-um. But before Dieter Wurster is finished, the engine must successfully undergo a special ordeal, namely a stint at the performance test bank. The noise level at test bank number four in Zuffenhausen is very high. The 904 engine revs up again and again over the course of almost an entire day. A special program drives it for a good three hours, at which Wurster then pushes the accelerator lever forward in a single swift stroke. “Full load,” he yells, and then a few minutes later confides that “no engine unit has to withstand this kind of load on the street.” Is he nervous? “Oh no, I haven’t felt nervous in ages,” he answers quickly and adds, “I know what I’m doing, after all.” Later he admits that “before my very first engine was tested, I couldn’t sleep a wink the whole night.”
Customers occasionally observe the tests. As Wurster notes, “Sometimes the rpm figures just about cause their hair to go gray.”
While the engine spins away it’s time for some stories. Several decades ago, one of the cars was owned by the Formula driver Carel Godin de Beaufort. “He was hard on the gears, so I was always having to repair his engines,” recalls Wurster. The engines that Beaufort drove were listed as having 164 horsepower, but often they only reached 155. Like every racing driver, the Dutchman wanted more. He promised the mechanics that “if you can get it to 165, I’ll give you a case of beer.” With this prospect before their eyes, the mechanics weakened just a single time. They tinkered with the rpm indicator on the test bench beforehand and Beaufort then watched the dial move to precisely 165 horsepower. Now, however, the mechanics had to be careful that the engine didn’t die out, because the test bank would still show a performance level of ten horsepower. Beaufort was very pleased and the mechanics got their beer. “I’ve never had such a great machine,” he said at the next race. “And,” smiles Wurster, “he never drove bet-ter in his life than with that engine. A driver is faster when he believes in his car.”
Towards the end of our conversation, the question again comes up as to the secret of his work. Now his tongue is loosened. He talks about castor bearings, valve seats, valve actuation, dial gauges, bearing bush-ings, and asymmetrical shafts. And when no one else at the table can follow him anymore, he looks a bit embarrassed and concludes, “You just have to know how it all fits together.” But isn’t that hard for a lot of people “Absolutely, says Wurster and grins broadly.Designated the 587, the design reached its climax in the 904 GTS built in 1964. A 904 GTS with Colin Davis and Antonio Pucci led the field at the Targa Florio. Eugen Böhringer and Rolf Wütherich took second place at the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally with a four-cylinder 904. Six and eight-cylinder engines were already being installed in some 904s, and these gradually nudged the Fuhrmann four-cylinders from the racing tracks. The Fuhrmann engine is still highly regarded at vintage races today. Even Dieter Wurster does not know how many Fuhrmann engines have survived. But of the ones that have, he is sure they need careful maintenance. “Then they’ll give you up to 8000 rpm with no trouble,” he reports. When shifting down, however, the driver should be careful because there is no speed limiter to keep the engine from going out.
Klaus Bischof sends the Carrera engines from his museum cars for a thorough check-up every 10,000 kilometers. He also recommends this to customers. “Service” in this case is of an unusually comprehensive nature. The engine-transmission unit is completely dismantled down to the last screw. Steel and aluminum parts, from the crank shaft to the valves, are examined for cracks using special procedures under ultraviolet
light. Parts that wear down such as gaskets and bearings are replaced. Things start to get difficult if a major part can no longer be repaired. “Generally speaking, these engines can only be maintained with parts from the same era,” explains Klaus Bischof. “Imitations are too expensive.”
So Dieter Wurster gets on the telephone. He knows the true believers who still have parts for this engine. Sometimes he is lucky, but success is always costly. Recently he was offered virtually complete units, but on driving out to inspect the items found “a bunch of junk.” Only the price suggested otherwise. “They wanted 30,000 marks for the stuff.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents copyright 1999, Christophorus Magazine."
09-05-2007, 09:32 AM
#22
The Hoffinator
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
I'm doing the engine myself - it really shouldn't need much and I have a degree in mechanical engineering, a box full of Snap-On tools and a set of factory reprint manuals.
It's just an engine......yeah right - but I've rebuilt some 911 motors and bunches of other 356 engines and other stuff - used to work on an IMSA race car and was a foreign car mechanic for a few years. If I run into anything I'm uncomfortable with I'll ask some experts. It's fun for me - good therapy after working on F-22's during the day.
It's just an engine......yeah right - but I've rebuilt some 911 motors and bunches of other 356 engines and other stuff - used to work on an IMSA race car and was a foreign car mechanic for a few years. If I run into anything I'm uncomfortable with I'll ask some experts. It's fun for me - good therapy after working on F-22's during the day.
09-05-2007, 02:50 PM
#23
Three Wheelin'
Nice article on the carrera 4 cams! Aren't the cams gear operated in this car? I can't see where they fit in the overhead shot of the motor, but I guess they could be on the bottom half.
There is a guy in the porsche club I met at a recent meeting who has 2 carrera engined cars- when I asked him how they drove he said he never drives them- they are in his collection. What a waste (in my opinion). Hopefully you drive yours!
Great pictures!
There is a guy in the porsche club I met at a recent meeting who has 2 carrera engined cars- when I asked him how they drove he said he never drives them- they are in his collection. What a waste (in my opinion). Hopefully you drive yours!
Great pictures!
10-19-2007, 11:23 PM
#27
The Carrera finally made it to the body shop this week - had to wait (a year) for my turn. There are seven 356's in line behind me - Mike's going to be bored of Porsches by the time he's done with that bunch. It's in good hands though - Mike Marcelic is one of those old world craftsman that does great work in a one man shop. There's only room for four cars in there at a time. I like the fact that it is very reminiscent of the type of shop where Dean Jeffries originally built the car back in LA in 1957. We'll start to see some (slow) progress as the bodywork is restored to its original Kustom kontours.
01-11-2008, 10:17 PM
#30
Some progress - the rear end of the car is about done and in primer. I'm anxiously waiting for Mike to get started on restoring the nose as that's when it will start getting really interesting.