mo_gearhead

Ice , The round, slotted plug is the seal to the oil presure relief piston and spring assembly. No need to be removing that. Though it could be a leak source, it seals with a crush washer beneath. IMO, If its dry, leave it alone.

theiceman

Thanks I think I will leave it alone .... it is bone dry and I would like to keep it that way. I was at a G2G this weekend and a couple of guys were dropping motors. One guy was leaving the transmision in the car. I am getting closer to taking the plunge just to do the cam seals.

theiceman

As far as the dial gage goes for tiiming the cam anyone knoww aht reange or dial indicator I need ? I saw one the other day with measuremeant down to .01 of a mm with a total range of 10mm. Would this work for my cams ?

SeattlePorsche

Yes, it would work. Don't know what the SC spec is but somewhere 1.00-1.20mm. But you need more mm to preload the gauge. I liked the digital meter very much because once you set the preload, you can push a zero button to zero it and it is in metric. Got mine at Harbor Freight for about 25-35 bucks.

So you are going to drop the engine? Great. I know you are concerned about costs, so if you go in with a focused plan it shouldn't cost you much. From what you are saying, it is all just paper gaskets. You will have to remove the upper valve covers anyway to time the cams so it gives you a chance to do the valve adjustments and inspect the cam lobes.

If you do drop it I would consider doing all the seals in the triangle up top since they are so cheap and pretty impossible without the drop. From what you are planning to do you could be done in a week or two. Good luck Ice!

Peter Zimmermann

ice: I use a .01 - 20mm, but the one you found will work fine. If possible, buy the factory tool that holds the dial indicator, it's really worth having. Also, plan on needing an extension for your dial indicator, most that I've used/seen come up about an inch short from reaching the valve spring keeper. Regarding engine removal, it's perfectly fine to leave the trans in the car (CV joints attached, etc.), just make sure that you use a coat hangar, or similar, to tie up the bell housing end to take pressure off the shift fork seal. I put a bolt into one of the two upper bell housing to engine mounting holes, and then loop a coat hangar around that and up to a shock tower - very simple but effective. Don't forget this, there's nothing worse smelling on a hot summer day than a center tunnel filled with trans oil!

theiceman

great because it was on sale with the extention for $4.99.... right up my alley ...

I am considering doing the drop at my next oil change, doing the cam orings and doing my valve timing and rocker arm seals. After that if I still have leaks I will live with them as I am not prepared to rip down the top of the engine at this time.

Peter Zimmermann

You will be surprised at how big a mess those cam o-rings make!

Before you loosen your cams hook up your dial indicator, adjust your #1 & #4 intakes, and check where your cams are set. It's great practice, because you have to teach your eyes to tell your brain when the pulley mark and crankcase mark are lined up. When you can turn your engine and get repeat readings you're good to go. Don't forget to adjust the exhaust valves before you take the spark plugs out!

theiceman

er .. no i wouldn't be surprised ... I even have the coated exchangers to prove it :-)

Your right Pete about the practice. I plan to do that a lot before I loosen it off so I know what I am looking for. I have to do a bit more reading too. There was a point where it wants me to use a brace to keep the chain tight I guess , but i don't get it as the picture shows that being removed so I do have more reading to do.

The guys on the weekend were having all kinds of trouble with an oil hard line. Is that theone by the oil tank? I was thinking of starting to spray it down now. They were messing with that thing for over 2 hours trying to get it loose. Don't know if they did but it didn't look good one of the guys was telling me. If I can make sure a lot of the key areas will in fact come loose before hand I will spray that stufff first.
won't be for a while anyway as I have hershey this weekend and then people visiting after that.

And I am still gathering tools and gaskets.
James did you order a complete gasket set ?

dsmith

For the oil line, get the 36mm oil line wrench from Pelican. I use that with a pipe on the end and counter hold with a 15" crescent wrench. I lost my pipe and couldn't remove it this time. My friend loaned me his WRX rear control arm, which fit perfectly on the handle and viola, removed!

Oh yea, buy a scissor lift and ATV jack. Undo the 4 bolts, lift the car off, do your work, lower car back down and bolt up.
David

theiceman

Thanks Dave I'll just pick that stuff up along with the groceries.. so much for my $4.99 good deal ..

mo_gearhead

Ice,
Just timed my engine this weekend and I second Pete's note on your dial indicator needing an extension, otherwise the rocket arm hits it. As for the OEM Porsche tool (to mount the indicator), handy I'm sure ...but being a fabricator, I made my own. Mainly because my indicator stand has a magnetic base ...thus some angle iron, drilled to sit across and bolted down to the cam tower worked fine.

Peter Zimmermann

For simplicity the factory holder is nice to have, but mo's solution is very good - magnetic base holders are wonderful. The object is to be sure that the indicator can't move while cam timing is being set, any deflection will mess up your readings.

ice, definitely start spraying your oil line, but that might not help. Your difficulty factor depends on who connected that line last. Because the hardware is so big many technicians really muscle that fitting, which makes removal later difficult. The one wrench, and one adjustable wrench is a good solution - big wrenches from Stahwille or SnapOn are really expensive. Pipe extensions will always help. Hopefully yours will come right off.

theiceman

oh shes coming off allright .. it's just a matter of if it's coming off the way the engineers intended... or wether half the oil line is coming with it.

I like that fabricated holder idea ..hmm.. wonder if I could make something for less than 4.99 ?

Peter Zimmermann

...but then you'll have to buy a magnetic base holder...

theiceman

hmmmm..there are some fridge magnets my wfe wouldn't miss..... I mean how critical can this be ... !!