txhokie4life

I'm considering picking up a project 944 that blew a head gasket.

This would be a Uncle/nephew project that would be a learning project
that would become his DD. He's 14 at the moment.

I've got the means to do the project -- just trying to determine
how much I'd be getting into. Also trying to know if I can
do it in my nephews house garage -- or we need to take it to the shop
I have access to. (convenience of house vs shop considering
school, work, etc)

Not sure I really want to get into pulling the engine --

so can the block be shaved/decked to insure that it doesn't have
warping issues due to the overheat while still in the car.

I'm told the heads have already been pulled -- so I can inspect
the block and cylinders when I check out the car?

thx,

Mike

968 GUY

Bring a good straightedge and feeler gauges to check the trueness of the block and head. You should be able to check the cylinde bores.

txhokie4life

What tolerances should I expect?

How good of a straight edge and where would I find it?

txhokie4life

Assuming it is not within tolerance
Can the block be trued in engine bay?

xsboost90

No - that is something you do at a machine shop although I've not seen one bad before- more likely the head would warp first

krystar

don't think u'd want to deck the block with pistons still inside. u'd want to strip it down to bare block.

a steel bar stock and feel guage is all u need. after u've clean off any headgasket material that is.

FRporscheman

Yes, the engine needs to come out (and be disassembled) to be decked, but if the only problem is a blown head gasket, it's unlikely the block is warped.

If the surface is straight, then with the straight-edge against it, no feeler gauge should be able to slide in between.

f1rocks

I absolutely smoked a motor at Daytona 3 years ago. Failed thermostat. Even after overheating terribly and puking coolant on the garage floor, the head warped but the block was still true. I'd be amazed if the block isn't okay.

harveyf

I would agree with the others that warpage of the block is not likely. That said, you won't be able to get a good measurement with the feeler gauges until the clean up the top of the block really well, removing all grunge. BTW, on the head that I warped due to overheating, the warpage was about 0.006" at the worst point.

Regarding straight edges, you can buy the real deal from Enco. They will sell you a precision ground bar. I would suspect a steel framing square from building supply store would be straight enough though.

Quattropower88

Many responses and research on the web indicate that warping the block is unlikely... Sooo....

Has anybody ever actually seen a warped block on a 951/944? Edit: I would think the Cylinder head would do most of the "warping" since the block has more structure...but how likely is this

I am currently in the process of replacing the HG (among other things). My machinist said the head was warped pretty significantly but also noticed that the head has never been machined before (despite a HG replacement on the car just 12,000 miles ago).

Could this be cause for concern? Naturally I will take a straight edge to it when I get a chance to clean the block...but I am just wondering for now since I only get to see the 951 on weekends