SC4DnP

Hi James,
Looks like your having alot of fun. Everything looks great. I'll be curious to see what you think after you get it all back installed. Keep up the good work!

Doug

As a side bar, I'll be up at Pacific Raceways with the race car on the weekend of April 13-15 if your around. Maybe you'll be ready to get that hot rod out then.

SeattlePorsche

Doug, sensei. Thanks! Yes, I will be around. If you are here for two days, you know where you can stay! I need to learn how to drive like you do first, like take my first DE, etc. But I would like to go down there and see what it's all about.

SeattlePorsche

Major progress after work today. Here are some photos from last weekend. My messed up clutch cable. No wonder it wouldn't come out. Pedals in. There was no bushing in the clutch arm. Old heat hose from flapper box to HE with holes. Throwout bearing arm before and after. The PO didn't have the seals in place. I do now.

Started to clean engine bay with mineral spirits to get rid of all the oil. The paint started to come off so easily. Uh oh. Spray painted it. Half of it done. See the color difference. Not to bad. Close up of the touch up paint and the Rustoleum "Rust Burgundy" match. Engine bay "mask". I did very little masking. Not like painting my house. just throw it in there. A little foil here and there. Strings to hold up hoses. Engine bay ready.

SeattlePorsche

Saturday Tony and Herbert helped me get the engine ready, but I couldn't get the engine in then. Couldn't find my tranny mount to body bolts. Engine ready. Tranny bolt cleaned with M12x1.5 die. Right heat duct in. No problem. Left side- problem. The brown paper tubes have aluminum on the inside. Very hard to twist to make the curves until the aluminum inside would tear. After work today I went to National Aviation at Boeing Field and bought some 2.5 inch SCAT tubing for 8bucks/foot. This stuff worked like magic. Left top, left bottom.

Tran oil in. No idea why I didn't do it with the tranny out. Crawled under, pulled the plug, filled to overflow, then torqued to spec. Engine starting in. Did this part myself until shift rod was locked with allen bolt (Doug, I bought a new one.) Look how tilted up the engine/tranny is. I had to drag the the engine forward on the motorcycle jack (with a piece of fiberboard acting as a platform. I was afraid if I didn't, the engine might slide off the back of the platform. Shift rod saying hello.

Once the shift rod was attached to coupler, I couldn't get the jack to go high enough. At this point, Tony my friend came over. Thank goodness, because it would have been difficult lining up the tranny bolt holes without him. Photo shows how I got the car a little higher so I could lower the jackstand. Did both sides, back and forth. I forgot we had to do this to slide the engine out with Doug, Bob and Jordan. Pushed the speedometer wire thru the tunnel. I was never under the engine or tranny until it was bolted in. The hardest thing today was getting the rubber engine tin seal in place at the front of the engine by the clutch. I had to use a long allen wrench to slip the rubber over the lip of the tin. I put in new seals. They are like a rubber sandwich, with engine tin in the middle. Engine bolted in (see, no more jacks!). Engine check. Tasty.

Cool. Tomorrow happens to be my day off. Connect axles to diff. Connect clutch. New fuel filter. Make connections. Fill with oil. Bleed brakes. Prime oil pressure and then see if it starts.

SC4DnP

DUDE!!!! It's in!!!!!!
Nice work!!!!

I thought you were going to call me when you put it back in? Looks like you had it all under control.

SOOOOO? How does it run???

SeattlePorsche

I have a mystery connection to make. The photos show the wire with a loop connection and a rubber cover that fits over it. It is a thick wire and looks like a ground. It comes from the body. It is in the area of the starter. You can see the starter in the background. The red wire on the starter looks like it would be a good connection, but that is a red wire and I think a hot wire and not a ground.

The engine is all connected up today and I put on the oil lines to the backdated oil circulation (for the SSI's). The engine was filled with oil today but wouldn't turn over. I think it is this important wire.

SeattlePorsche

Doug, I would have called you, but you might know how it is, as I have never done this before I am never sure when "today is the day"! I thought yesterday was the day. Then today. Well tomorrow is another day. I still need to hook up the clutch cable to the tranny and put the bumper back on.

(PM me your phone number. I think I am gonna need it...)

gbailey911

Seattleporsche, I have enjoyed watching the progress you have made on your Porsche along with all of the challenges. The wire in question, unless it is actually connected to the body, I believe goes to the big stud on the starter. This is the main source of power to the starter thus the rubber boot to protect it. I don't know if it originally is/was red in color, but am pretty sure it is hot. You can check continuity to ground with a volt meter.

Good luck and great work!

Peter Zimmermann

That wire goes on the large post on the solenoid.
Pete

SeattlePorsche

Thanks George and Pete! I connected it today and the whole car lights up and I now get the starter to turn over. I turned it over until I got oil pressure, about 3.5 bar. I will try to fire it up tonight.

Anything to do to prime the fuel? I put a new fuel filter in so it is empty, as is the fuel accumulator. Off to work! Maybe tonight is the moment of truth.

SeattlePorsche

Got the engine running 2 days ago. Video below. I was working on the car last night. Bled the brakes, attached the AC compressor and attached the rear bumper. I then realized I could drive the car today. It initially drove well, but the accelerator was a little inhibited feeling. I had a hard time getting the RPM's up when in gear, but it was still very fun to drive. After work today I drove to John Walker's shop. He set my CO. It was initially 2.8%, but John adjusted the CIS to 3.5%. He checked my ignition timing and he said it was correct. Just lucky I guess. He test drove my car with me and he said it ran very well, but the accelerator seemed weak. Turns out I made a mistake with the accel rod from the tran to engine bellcrank. The rod should go thru the hole in the engine tin, but I had mine going up and over the tin. Oops. In addition I was not adjusted to give full throttle, so we adjusted the linkage bar.

I have to tell ya I called JW after work and he told me to bring it by. In addition to test driving it for me and adjusting all that stuff, he adjusted my clutch cable. He said there was a little too much play and I had my release lever too far from the screw. I was a little bummed because I set it at exactly 1mm like the book says, but then he said "the books say 1mm but that is a little too much for my tastes." He adjusted this too and he refused to charge me for anything. He said he was just glad to help me out and he seemed surprised that I "did a real good job for my first engine job." Thanks for the help John!

The 915 is shifting very well. 1st and 2nd are like butter, and no grinding of first at stops anymore. The more I drive it, the smoother the tran becomes. I went in and out of each gear to break the syncro rings in.

Here are photos of the underside. Tony said it will never look this good again, and he is right. After I drove it in the rain today, it was already starting to get dirty. I got a little oil leak. At first I thought it was the left chain tensioner cover. It is actually the little oil line nut from the crankcase to the chain tensioner oil line. Of course, it is the only nut not accessible, with the distributor in the way.

Driving home after JW adjusted things, the change in the accel was dramatic. The car has a scary fast feeling to it now. JW said I did a good job, so I was relieved. Car is finally down on all 4's! I bled the brakes lastnight.

Here is a movie of the first start.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=B-eGYnWRaIk

Later,

madmmac

Way to go James. Have to hook up at the XXX again. Congrats.

Andy_Ash

I have to say I'm a little dissapointed that you've got it all back together. I enjoyed reding your posts and looking at the pictures so much. Many thanks for taking the time to post such detailed, illustrative and interesting threads.

Above all I'm glad that you've got it all back together.

Enjoy.

SeattlePorsche

Thanks mac and Andy! Yeah, see you at the XXX breakfast club. I have to tell ya I picked up my buddy Tony last night to take him for a spin. The highway was pretty empty so I could open it up the throttle a little. The car just flies. Totally different feeling than before. There is a new sound from the engine under load at low RPMs. Not metallic or anything. Hard to describe but it is almost like the engine is searching for more air.

If you don't mind I will still post a few photos in the future. I still need to get my rear sway bar with new links in. I need to fix the one oil leak from the tiny oil line connection. And I need to finish my interior.

How about that video, huh? Never having done it before, I was a little nervous since it seemed to be sputtering. And there was a little intermittent metallic sound coming from the chain box that is no longer there. JW said that was probably the chain tensioners priming up with pressure.

It took me exactly one year to do this restore, working on it steadily. Front suspension to now. I basically took the PPI that the seller gave me and plowed thru the whole thing. And there were several things I did that were not on the list. I estimated $10,000-12,000 saved in labor costs. I estimate $3000-4000 for my parts. For three months it was in the body shop to repair a pre rust hole in the lower windshield cutout. Now Jeremy and I want to learn how to drive our cars properly.

Thanks guys for all the help at the house. Thanks Pete for the online guidance!

theiceman

James your my hero man .. just outstanding work. I would be interested in your overall tab for the project and a list of parts used if you kept up with that stuff. next year it will be my turn.

congrats

ice