jeff jackson

Every one of these jobs ends up with "issues"...No matter HOW much planning preparation, and shudder to say it...."experience" one has at the outset. The experience DOES come into play significantly though....WHEN the "issues" arise. Thats when BTDT really is helpful. Glad you got through it OK...I knew you were in good hands and it sounds like you had a great time too. I unfortunately...took this on by myself...and with my stuff and my abilities...I was surprised that I pulled it off so cleanly, with only one incident of a twisted off bolthead...(and this was on re-assembly)...I thought it would "look" cooler if I used Black Oxide socket head cap screws on my freshly Powder Coated intake and crossover maniffold (Oil Filler too)...So, I did the bonehead thing and bought 30mm cap screws. Thats where my trouble began ...and ended. Oh-well...I learned something in the process. The fact that Porsche used 25mm screws for a very GOOD reason..

Rolfr25

I was the 2nd lucky dog to receive the vast knowledge, skill, and the use of the fantastic facilities of Dr Bob at this home. Our particular challange was a frozen damper on the crankshaft which ate up some of our time.

One of the reason that I purchased my 928 was because I knew of the support and help of the list members, but I never expected what someone like Dr Bob offered. It is fantastic. Both Dr Bob and Keith gave 300% and never were discourged by an of the issues that we ran into but simply looked at it as another challange to be solved.

I am proud to know these guys and I am proud to be a member of the 928 group.


Rolf in Burbank

Bill Ball

"When I left at 12:30 p.m."

Hey, you mean 12:30 a.m., in which case dr. bob and Keith went way, way beyond the call of duty. Man, what a LOOOONG day! No wonder dr. bob and Keith haven't reported in yet. They probably can't move without wincing.

Frozen dampner and 5 broken WP bolts. Ugh. I've been real lucky, but my time will come.

jeff jackson

With all the wrenching on Sharks you've done Bill...if "you're day hasn't come" yet....it AIN"T coming.... you my friend have the lucky button, don't you ??

AO

Good job guys!
I could have made an offering by proxy if I had known. Next time give me a call in your time of need, but please remember the 3 hour time difference.

928ntslow

OK...I'm not THAT old yet! I was just a wee bit tired yesterday because I have only gotten 5 hours of sleep the night before the TB party and didn't get home until 1AM that night. Yesterday was a day of relaxation with Jennifer and was out of the house all day.

So here is MY story (and I'm sitckin' to it!)...

Got to Bob's just after 8am Saturday morning. Rolf and Ron were already there. I brought a few tools and such that I thought may come in handy. Rolfs car was already up in the air with the coolant was being drained. We immediately did the same to Rons. Donuts and coffee were on tap, so there were no excuses to not get working. My initial thoughts before the TB party were that I would just consult and point, though I dressed to do some work just in case. Bob and I decided to take 1 car each, so he worked on Rolfs and I worked on Rons. Within 10 minutes, I knew I was going to be wrenching. No worries as I am happy to do this. Trying to explain how to do a job is a bit tougher than doing it and folks watching. Mike and Ryan, a couple local 928'ers, showed up to lend a hand/support as well.

We started our disassembly and were making very good time. Having done a few of these already, you can pretty much streamline the operation. Ron helped out quite a bit and made things go much quicker for the both of us. Ryan and Mike helped when needed as well. Within 3 hours, we were removing the waterpump if I remember correctly. That's rather quick and we weren't even rushing. As we worked out way through the project, I explained what each component did. What i didn't know, I just asked Bob and he gave the insight that was needed. I am always open to doing a job differently, so this day was filled with a few new procedures for me.

So, this water pump issue we came upon. A swift kick in the nuts to the bonehead who never replaced the WP the last time the belt was changed, would have satisfied Ron and I to no end. *&^$%ing PO's!!! I have a good feel for twisting bolts and these little guys were not coming out regardless of any persuasion we threw at them. I snapped several bolts heads and knew that we could just slide the WP off over the remaining studs. Bob came over with a "special tool" to pry off the WP. Incidentally, I found that it is a major set back when you are not working out of your own garage with your own set of tools! One just does not know where things are and the quick thinking of how to approach an issue doesn't come to mind as quickly. Thanks to Bob for putting up with the many questions I tossed across the garage!

We got the WP off just before lunch and soaked those remaining studs while we broke for some Grade A burgers, dogs and bratwurst. A wonderful lunch provided by our host.

Had it not been for the WP bolt issue, we would have been putting the car back together by lunch. Obviously not the case. I thought there were 7 broken bolts, but who's counting. It took us close to an hour to get all but 1 remaining bolt out. There was enough of the stud on each to tap, heat, soak, twist...REPEAT, until the studs twisted out. However, the last remining sucker was the TB cover bolt that went through the pump. We center punched it, drilled it and attempted to easy out it. This process alone took another hour or so. The LAST thing I wanted to do was snap an easy out. Like a fool. I eventually did. I should have just drilled the damn thing and retapped the hole. We had to go and get some cobalt bits to drill through the easy out. This took another hour or so and we were wasting too much time. I ended up driling around the bolt and easy out and the broke the pieces out. All in all, we eneded up making a larger whole to tap and use a larger threaded bolt. It all worked out well, but took too damn long. Absofreakenlutely frustrating!!! We got it though and the reassembly was a snap.

We fired the car back up at 11:30pm. We should have been done by 2pm or 3pm. The pump had been in that car for so long that the bolts seized into the block.

16+ hours...now THAT sucks!

A BIG thanks to Dr Bob for the hospitality, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Everyone for their help in getting this thing done in less than a day with what we were faced with and, the great camaraderie by all. This situation could have been worse and taken longer. I am always amazed at how much I learn each time I work on these cars. I was open to and did learn some new things on Saturday as well as confirm that EACH car seems to be different from one year to the next.

I am always glad to help out another 928 owner.

As for Bob and Rolf, I only had a few brief moments during the day to poke my head in on their car. I thought for sure they would have Rolfs car running hours before us. Apparently they had their own issues. I offered to stay and help as the rain had started to come down, but they said they had it handled.

Two more will stay on the road for a few more years.

jeff jackson

Nice to have friends like you and the good doctor Keith...I'm sure kind words were said in the nights thanks to the creator in your behalf by those lucky guys you and doctor Bob selflessly aided. Nice to know, there are people take take the "fraternity" of the Marque seriously, and offer there aid and expertise when called upon. You guys are A+.

Bill Ball

Very nice job, Keith. I would not have been able to walk on Sunday after all that. I guess I do have a reason to get into better shape again. Congrats to you and dr. bob for staying the course until the job was done.

1981 Shark

Congrats on getting it done, in spite of the multiple PITA in the process!
Again, kudos to the mass of 928 owners in CA who are always ready, willing and able to lend a hand; I am envious indeed.

928ntslow

It would have been easy to just blow off that one bolt as it is basically a long timing belt cover bolt that goes through the pump. Yea, it still holds that corner of the pump, but we may have been able to blow it off and just leave it. I personally cannot do that and it was suggested to let it go and move forward. All I have to do is think about what i would have felt like if it was my car. It was apparent that someone had this same attitude about the WP the last time, which brought us to this present day bolt issue. Passing the buck writes an eventual pass to the scrap yard. In the time it took to F*** with that bolt, we could have done another TB job from start to finish.

Ron now has the piece of mind that the job was done correctly and won't have to worry about what may happen down the road.

Gretch

I suspect that the different metals react to eath other over time and "weld" together......I had to drill out two of the three bolts that hold the lift bracket / front wire harness & loom attach points when I installed the bracket for my blower.....Mine came out with tapping and twisting on the easy out......Needed that 90 degree drill head though.....

tv

That is what happens on these cars between the steel bolts and aluminum block. The threads sometimes come out with the bolts and i think it has to do with PO's or porsche mot using anti-sieze. As far as WP's, I left mine in because of mileage and the problems with some rebuilt WP's that have been reported.

Busted bolts are just luck of the draw or technique. You just have to baby these aluminum blocks and all their threads incl. spark plugs, spider arms, etc.

928ntslow

Words that should never be spoken if the car is maintained properly. This is of course if we are speaking of the water pump. I can tell you that in this particular case, there was NO other alternative. I have been pretty lucky over the years removing bolts from all over a 928 without snapping. This is the first time this has happened on a car I was working on.

My motto has always been, "You just have to be smarter than IT!" Well, I just wasn't smart enough this past Saturday.

SharkSkin

Bull**** -- you got it done, right? That's the bottom line IMHO and you did it despite the FUBAR'ed HW which was far beyond your control.

perrys4

Keith is way more patient than me...I am thankful for that. It is a good feeling to get it done right!! I will volunteer when I can to help on projects as a way to pay back the generosity of this group.