SharkSkin

OK, the steering rack on my shark has scheduled itself for replacement. This weekend looks to be the perfect time to handle it, so I'm forging ahead. I just wanted to see if any of you spot anything I may be missing for this job.

first, the WYAIT's that I'm going after:

-Engine mounts
-Engine shocks
-Oil pan gasket

So, I've gathered the following parts together for this task:

-Rack
-Crush rings for pressure hoses
-Rack stops
-Boots(3, just in case I tear one)
-Solid rack mounts
-Downpipe from reservoir to PS pump(I think mine is a bit old & hard)
-Engine mounts
-Engine shocks
-Engine support bar to hold engine while xmember is out
-Oil pan gasket(RealGasket, Si)
-Carl's oil pan stud kit
-Dipstick O-ring
-Oil sender gasket
-Fresh locknuts for swaybar droplinks, rack & crossmember
-New set of HF 6-ton jackstands(extend to 24" )
-Borrowed air compressor
-Borrowed impact tools

My PS pressure & return hoses are less than 2 years old. Oil has been in for ~2K miles, if I can find clean jugs to put it in while I flush the PS system I'll put it back in, otherwise I have enough fresh oil to do a change -- though I think I'll leave the filter.

Anyone see anything I've missed? Any other WYAIT stuff? I did briefly consider an oil scraper, but I don't have a huge oil problem -- I think I can manage it with breather mods.

Airflite40

Once you've got the oil pan of, might as well replace the rod bearings/cap nuts unless you know them to be in *great* condition. If you have no record of ever replacing them then maybe you should do it just for the piece of mind. imagine all the stuff you have to remove to get at them in case one starts to go. good luck!

SharkSkin

Borys, that did cross my mind, but this engine seems pretty tight. I'll put an indicator on the caps and give them a wiggle to see where I'm at. I would have thought that I would have to mic the crank in order to know what bearings to get. Just out of curiosity, what did the parts cost for that?

Airflite40

bearings $53.24 (4) X 2 = $106.48
rod nuts $2.00 (1) X 16 = $32.00
-------------------------------------------
$138.48 (+S/H) on VISA debit card

Peace of mind = priceless!

Bill Ball

Hey Dave:

Why are you turning a steering rack into a total bottom side redo? If you were doing motor mounts and/or pan gasket, it's a great time to do the rack (and the rod bearings), but I don't see the vice versa quite the same way. You can do the motor mounts and pan gasket, leaving the rack on, just by pulling it down out of the way. The rack is an insignificant part of the motor mount/pan gasket job. So, I would not do the latter at the same time unless they were in need. The steering rack is a 3-4 hour job at most, including re-centering the steering wheel. Adding the motor mounts and pan gasket turns this into a 14-18 hour job.

Regardless, add an alignment to your list, of course.

Also, while doing the rack it is the time to replace worn balljoints, eccentrics and bushings.

BC

Rods bearings and new nuts (really shoul dbe resized and rebolted, but), are around 120.

WYIAT - headers! PERFECT TIME! I'm not even kidding. Of course, to do it this weekend would not be the best timing. Do you really think you can do all this this weekend? That whole job usually takes me weeks of 2 or 3 hours here and there. Maybe I just have Porsche ADD.

OIl pressure sensor, oil pressure level indicator seal, new oil cooler lines if used,

Airflite40

brendan from what i have read here you definitely have 928 ADD

svp928

Easier to just ask the Sultan of Brunei for a whole new car....

Rob Edwards

Having just done almost all of what you're proposing (on my '90), I would make sure I had the following tools:

-10 mm flex Gearwrench for oilpan bolts- The 10 around the forward 1/3 of the pan are a pain, the other 20 are trivial, though I had a 3/8" air ratchet that made the latter bolts' removal a lot less tedious.

-17mm flex Gearwrench for alternator adjuster bolts and counterholding rack bushing bolts

In fact, there are so many spots where I used the 10-17mm flex gearwrenches on this job, I think Porsche should have included a set with every purchase. I got mine here for $60 + shipping.

-You'll need 2 17mm combo wrenches to remove the tow hook bolts, I didn't have enough room to get a socket on either way.

-8mm ball-end allen wrench, or the world's shortest swival 8mm hex socket, to tighten the upper starter bolt, assuming that OB's used allen bolts for the starters. The slave cylinder makes it a tight squeeze otherwise

-One of my banjo bolts on the PS pump was either 22 or 24 mm (don't recall), make sure you've got a socket for that.

-A small to medium cold chisel, for removing rack bushing sleeves if yours are peened into place (mine were) This HF set is reasonable and has some punches that are useful for tapping out bolts, etc.

Airflite40

dave, did you buy a rebuilt steering rack? I thought rebuilt racks come with tie rod ends and boots already attached.....

Bus

I hope I can help a bit here, Dave, because your website has helped me tremendously... I just looked at your Pod R&I yesterday as I prepare to replace a odometer gear and ignition switch this weekend.

When I did my pan the engine was out of the car, and the bolts around the front third were still a bear. Give yourself lots of time.

Someone mentioned the gasket for the oil level, there is an oring on the oil fill line. You may want to get the hose for oil fill also, mine snapped a couple of weeks ago during my tb/wp job. The little boot that fits over the oil level sensor is not available for 928's anymore, but I saw on Rennlist that there is a 944 part that fits... I tried to get that a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't.

There is a tool, essentially an M10 bolt with a tappered point on the end that is supposed to help align the rack to the body. When I got my car, the rack was hanging loose because the PO started to remove the engine. Well, I bolted it in and the wheel is off. I read on here where the rack is supposed to be lined up with this bolt-tool... well, I bought it from DR and haven't used it yet... I'll get to it!

A pneumatic angle die grinder with the little scotchbrite prep pad is a god send on removing old gaskets... I prepped the surfaces of mine in probably 3 minutes... that part of the job used to take 10 times as long...

FlyingDog

It depends on who rebuilt it and where you bought it. Bushings (internal and external), boots, and tie-rods are all variables.

Rob Edwards

[HIJACK]




Bus-

Any ideas on the part #/ availability? Or a link to the discussion regarding this boot? I'm in need...


[/HIJACK]

SharkSkin

Thanks for the info, Borys. My notion of how to do rod bearings involves measuring, sizing, plastigage, etc. so if all seems well I'll leave it alone. If not, then obviously I'll have a lot more work to do. If they seem like they are marginal but could last a while, I'll probably schedule another time to do it and just pull the motor. I suspect that they are fine, 75K miles or so and the engine sounds real tight. BTW, don't the rod bolts need to be replaced as well once you disassemble things?

Bill, I understand what you're saying... here's the deal. Early on, I snugged the oil pan gasket down, and it really minimized the seepage -- for a while. The cork gasket is pretty shot though. I've had to get in there and snug up the fasteners every time I get under there. I'm sick of it seeping all the time, even though it's not so bad that I get oil puddles under the car. So really, the pan gasket does need to be done. Engine mounts are WYAIT stuff. I'm hoping that air tools will make this a more manageable task. Lower balljoints are pretty new, as are the eccentrics. Bushings and upper ball joints all check out fine, though I may find out different(as Brendan mentioned in another thread). The exposed rubber does not show much sign of deterioration, and is still pliable. Of course an alignment will be needed, but I'm hoping to put it back together close enough I can drive it a bit this weekend to settle the suspension.

Brendan, I'm not going to do headers anytime soon. More likely I'll get the later stainless manifolds. Why? Well, sooner or later I'm going to need a clutch. All of the headers I've seen for the early cars have to come off(at least one side) to get to the clutch. Mark A. was offering some headers that had removeable collectors -- I like that approach, but am unsure whether they work on older cars and in any case that's not really a priority(yet). Maybe one day I'll get some headers and mod them myself to address this issue. Still undecided.

Rob, thanks for the tool tips. I'm pretty well covered IMHO, and while I'm pretty sure I can get the tie rod ends off the steering knuckles using the two-hammer method, I think I'll go ahead and get the right tool for the job.

Borys, no tie rod ends or boots.

Bus, thanks for the tip -- I had forgotten that o-ring on the oil pipe. I already have the rack centering bolt, no worries there. Hopefully I won't have any issues prepping the gasket surfaces -- I have a lot of different ways to deal with that issue already.

Thanks guys, for all the input!

Shark Attack

WYAIT... and in there, you might as well do the timing belt and fuel pump.... oh yeah do you have the steel tie rod nuckle thingys? you may as well also do all the bushings in the a arms... ooo.. dont for get if you havent already, this may a good time to upgrade to the 4 piston brakes.... what about a steering wheel re leather?... and since the car is going to eb off the road anyway. pull that tranny and get thatg redone also.... o o ooooo torque tube bearings.... dont forget those. I guess my point is.. what do you want to replace? I think i could think of 1000 things to replace while the car is off the road.