Steve J.

Came across what appears to be a repair on the '78 engine's water jacket. Where the raised cylinder number "4" would be, there is a small weld. A "4" was placed beside it with a number punch. I wonder how common it was for the factory to touch up small imperfections in the casting of an otherwise useable block?

atb

What does the inside of the water jacket look like? Was it a good weld?

John..

I would like to say that was not done at Porsche, but I guess it is possible. My 1983 944 came with two factory paint jobs, in fact the mirrors had blue paint under the factory silver color of the car. We suspect it was rejected and repainted on the line.

Steve J.

I won't be pulling the head so I don't know. I may be able to see through the hole under the water fitting, though. I think it was done at the factory because if someone else made the repair, it's not likely they would bother to label the cylinder with a "4" number punch. I'm the third owner and am familiar with the car's history.

John..

Could very well be factory...hey it has held up this long, it is probably just fine. You can work magic with the Tig if you know how to use it.

If it was factory, it was probably done before the block was finish machined.

GoRideSno

On my friend's 87 S4 (SUPERMODEL) There are grind marks on the block in the valley where obivously there used to be the pedestals that hold the throttle body on the 85-86 cars. It has the correct engine #. Looks like they took an 86 block and just ground off the pedestals.

Maybe..... the guy who stamps the cylinder #s at the factory was having a bad day and hammered a little too hard, possibly broke through the water jacket. They welded her up and sent her out???

Edit: Nevermind I see it's nota stamp now.

Andy K