951Dreams

I had been trying, without success, to break the crankshaft bolt free. Finally ran out to Lowes, picked up a 24" black steel 3/4" pipe, and turned my breaker bar into a 40" breaker bar. Came RIGHT off. I suppose I could have hit it with the impact gun, but seemed like too much trouble...LOL (Like driving to Lowes wasn't!)

That was about all I got done since the head came off. Waiting on Monday to come, so I can give LR a call about getting my head done. I've started ordering parts, but the majority of them will be ordered this coming week.

Got to get something setup for supporting the engine, so I can start dropping everything down under for the rod bearings. Also, my power steering reservoir is leaking like a sieve where the hoses attach to it. Making a total mess, so i need to get that sorted sometime. So much to do, so little time to do it!

951Dreams

Haven't gotten a lot done, need to box up my head and send it off to Lindsey Racing. Ordered up a new coolant tank and cap. Mine were shot and warped all to heck. Ordered up a oil fill cap, my O-ring was shot and the cap itself was all jacked up. Also have them sending me a new J-boot, mine isn't leaking, but it doesn't have much time left till it starts. And also a cam gear bolt, since I'm going to have to drill mine out it looks like.

Aside from the cam bolt, none of that was "broken" per say, but needed replaced. More restoration type stuff, and a bit preventive.

I've also picked up a used clutch on ebay for my automatic damper to manual static clutch swap. That should be here in a few days.

Once I get a chance to swing by Harbor Freight and pick up an engine support, I'll start dropping the cross member and get my rods and pistons out for the swap to 88 pistons and the re-ring/rod bearings. I've decided to go with the Lindsey Racing rings, so I'll have a lot of fileing in my future.

My biggest internal debate is if I want to start dropping the tranny and TT in prep for the damper/clutch swap. Also going to have to do something with the converter mount/flex plate at the tranny side too. I'm thinking, it would make the most sense to do it now, while I have the exhaust manifold out anyway. I'm going to have to drop the exhaust to get the TT out, so might as well do it while it's partially unhooked anyway, right?

My only fear is if I get too much apart at once, I'll forget how crap goes back together!!

951Dreams

I'm strongly of the opinion that Harbor Freight is evil, and they put something addictive in their tool oils.

Stopped in for a engine support, and a pitman/ball joint puller. Walked out with a cart load of stuff..... AGAIN!

HF has got more of my restoration budget than any Porsche vendor has yet!!! UGH!!! I'm going to have to ban myself from there or this project is never getting done.

I stared at floor jacks for a long time (my 2 ton cuts it, but just barely). I was able to walk away without one, so that's a win!

But they have a great sale on a 3 ton "fast pump" with 18" lift...... I'm so going back, I just know it!

mel_t_vin

Is it the photo, or does that Phone Dial have radial fractures originating from two of the lug holes?

944CS

While you have the head off, I suggest going to Mcmaster Carr, ordering up some adhesive backed heat shrink ring terminals, and cutting the old ring terminals off the ground wires at the back of the engine.
Also order up a stainless steel M8 bolt to replace the original zinc plated one. Then clean the mating surface of the block, and re-tap the hole. This will give you a nice, like new ground, which these cars really like.

Now is also the perfect time to replace the speed & reference sensors, as well as the coolant bypass valve, since you have such good access.

951Dreams

That would be dirt.... LOL, it's water tracks from brake dust and water. They need cleaning.

951Dreams

I was planning on redoing the grounds, all of them. Also been thinking of replacing most of my hardware, as most of mine is either rusting, corroding on the threads, or stripping.

However, I'm having a hard time deciding what's best for our Aluminum blocks! Lots and lots of info out there, most of it conflicting. SS, AL, Chrome, Zinc, all have pro's and cons. I'm going to need to decide quickly before I start putting it back together.

Do to the condition of most of my threads, I'm really wanting to use a anti-seize, but lots of conflicting info there too. Copper, zinc, AL... all have their pros and cons too.

I can tell by the condition of my hardware, it's engine has been taken apart a number of times, they are reaching their limit. I really don't want to put most of them back in at this point. And what isn't nearing stripped is finally losing its coating and starting to corrode. Decisions decisions. I'm sure this had been addressed here before, I'm going to do some 944 specific searches later. So far most of what I've found is guys talking motorcycles! LOL

Then you add in conductivity for the ground connections, and that's a new can of worms!

I may just end up going factory, it lasted 30 years right? But I do have some rusted ones, and they look to have been rusted for some time...... I dunno, just have to do more research.

odonnell

The vast majority of the factory hardware is cadmium plated but not many places are still allowed to plate with it anymore (health regulations, cad is toxic). I've had no issues with zinc coated though.

Another thing you can do is open the PET and search google for the part # of each fastener you want to replace... All the ones I've gotten have cadmium plating and are OEM. For me, it's not about the plating, it's the quality of the metal. The ones at Lowes and etc are ok for non critical things but you don't want to use them for engine assembly. I also found the hardware store bolts lose their plating pretty quickly just by sitting there.

951Dreams

yeah... but the price of some of these OEM bolts!!!!

In other news, my clutch came today for my automatic... LOL, that sounds so weird! So let me know odonnell when you get to that Pressure plate and flywheel. No hurry, I'm not close to needing them yet.

Spent the entire week working on other cars, hoping to get back to the P-car soon. I did manage to get my head boxed up, and I'll ship it out to LR on Monday (I hope).

Still need to attack my cam gear bolt.... I'm not looking forward to dealing with that again.

951Dreams

Random thoughts by 951Dreams:

V2 has got me thinking. My original plan was to get a 951 to begin with. But they are rare as hens teeth around here, and with shipping I was going to end up paying far too much more than one was worth. I was still planning on buying a pretty nice N/A, but this restoration project fell into my lap, so I went that direction instead.

Now the 951 prices are starting to get kinda crazy (not that it's not deserved, they are just finally demanding what I always thought they were worth) but what the rise is doing is making the old "Don't spend money on a N/A, just buy a 951" argument less of an unquestionable truth. Today, it might still be a good path, but in 3 years, once I have this one done, and am ready for a 951 again? Not if things go how they are right now. (I'm thinking)

So, I'm not all that interested in the LS1 conversion, I came from the world of American V8's, and part of my reason for diving into Porsche (aside from a lifelong love of them) was because they were NOT SBC's.

Bottom line, it's beginning to get to the point where the "just get a 951" argument is not going to be so valid anymore, and alternative solutions are becoming non cost prohibitive when compared to picking up a 951. So what's a good way to bridge the performance gap?

Supercharge it!

I'm still going to keep my eyes out for a good 951 project, what I'm learning now will go a long way if I can pick one up for a decent price. But since I first started looking, the way things are looking like they may go, the 951 may just stay a dream, but 951 level performance might not....

In the end, time will tell. In the meantimes I'm going to start researching other options for these. Won't hurt to keep an open mind, right?

951Dreams

Well, my clutch came in.... for my automatic.... I still can't get over how weird that sounds.....

951Dreams

Progress was made. After about 1.5 hours, got the cam gear bolt drilled out. Tried in vain to get it out otherwise, till I finally stiped the head. Story there, but I won't bore you.

Lost of good stuff came in the mail, she's going to be fresh and happy once I have her back together.

Got my head mailed off to Lindsey, we'll see what they can make of it.

Scott at Team Harco

You might want to double check your (wheel) nuts. I have seen similar ones to what are shown in that picture - and they had conical taper. Our wheels need spherical wheel nuts.

951Dreams

New to Porsches, what do you mean? Do you have a picture? I'll try and Google it, but I wasn't aware we needed anything special. What's the difference?

Edit: ok, Google answered. Only thing I've ever had to buy lugs for was GM. Aside from the fool that put tuners on my legend, never had anything that wasn't stock, aside from GM. Didn't know there was anything different. Thanks for the heads up, I'll have to see what the PO did now. Hope it didn't damage them!

Scott at Team Harco

The only reason I brought it up was the fact that those lug nuts do not look stock. That wheel lock definitely is not stock. I'd start with that one and see what style of interface is present.