AO

Cross member is off!

Bill Ball

Andrew, why is your cross member off?

AO

Cause I'm going to do rod bearings too.

Bill Ball

Oh, forgot about that. Fun and games.

Mike Frye

Andrew,

Congrats! What's your setup, lift? jack stands? (I keep asking everyone because I'm trying to convince myself that I need a mid-rise lift to do these things right ).

Did you decide to do the bearings for any particular reason or is it PM, time/mileage? How do the old ones look? Any play/wear?

I'm hoping I won't have to do mine while I'm in there, but if there's any hint of wear, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and order some, which will put the car out of commission for at least a week until I can get the new ones in and the car back together.

jon928se

If you have already done the hard work of getting the sump off then changing all rod bearings is $150 for the bearings, $32 for the nuts and about 2 hours tops extra time. You know it's worth it.

Mike Frye

Jon,

If you're going to apply logic to this situation you take all the fun out of it .

I'm trying to decide if my head or my heart is telling me to wait and see. I'm sure you're right, but at the same time, I'm torn between the time I have and the fact that I have so many other real problems to fix before getting to that level of PM.

I know I should probably do it while I'm in there, but I could just as easily say I should be doing an entire rebuild at over 200k miles (and/or pull the injectors and have them cleaned, do the valve seals, possibly rings, main bearings and seals...). I just can't justify the time and expense of everything at once. This is my DD, and if I can buy another 6-12 months of driving on this engine while doing the peripherals, I'll be able to do the TB/WP, brakes, suspension, and possibly interior work I need to do while driving it during the week. When I pull the engine and go for the rebuild, it's going to be a month long process (at best) during which I won't be able to do anything else, including sleep!

Thanks for the input though, I may just order the parts today so they're on the way and it may tip my decision knowing that they're coming. A week of downtime now could prevent a major hassle in the future.

AO

Unfortunately, I'm on jack stands. Wish I had a lift.

I'll you something, I did the motor mounts last year, and I thought about doing the oil pan gasket, but was trying ot hurry up before the Frenzy, so I skipped it. I sure wish I had done it back then, becasue this is not one of my favorite things to do. From everything I've read, since you're already 99% of the way there, you might as well do it. Sure the con rod bearings are probably okay and they might be okay for another 100k mi, but this way, I'll never have to touch them again.

AO

Got the pan off! Here's some pics of my engine holder and the bottom end. I hope to tackle the connecting rod bearings tomorrow.

Mike Frye

Andrew,

Damn! You just beat me (nice camera work). I got home early today and wanted to get started. I just got the cross member out and I'm going to call it a night. I don't know how the heck I'm gonna get those outside cross member bolts back in.

Tomorrow, I take out the oil pan and see what I'm up against with the rod bearings and then, (Hopefully) reassembly with new MMs.

Right now it's time for a beer. or three.

Ed Hughes

If you're looking for an answer on whether to get (eventually) a mid-rise lift, the answer is yes. With the exception of removing a torque tube, I can do anything with my 928 at the front or rear. It was first bought for the 911, but works just as well on the Shark. Even if your working on the topside of the motor, it's nice to pop it up a bit to avoid leaning over for extended periods. Particularly with my sorry excuse for a back/spine. Best TOOL I ever bought!

AO

So, what's the word? I haven't touched it all weekend... except I did clean the oil pan yesterday. Nothing to brag about.

ROG100

Andrew,
Love the 4X4 supports
Roger

Mike Frye

Well, it's done, and I was advised to just update this thread so it can be put to bed or show some resolution if anyone searches it later.

Anyway, Bill was right, and it took me every minute of 16 hours to do the whole job.

At 5 hours I had the cross member out.
At about 8 hours I had the pan off. (had to run out to get the 8mm allen socket for the starter)
At about 12 hours I had the new MMs in, pan back in and everything but the cross member back.

It took me the other 4 hours to get the cross member back in and lined up, the steering put back together, and everything else done.

Words of warning for unsuspecting newbies:
***If you've done an oil change on these cars while on ramps or jack stands under just the front, you know that the pan holds about a quart or more of oil in the back part if the car is tilted. Expect that to drain out near the starter when you drop the pan unless you drained it when it was level.
*** You might need an 8mm allen socket for the starter bolts, I couldn't get the top bolt with a regular allen wrench.
*** The 10 mm gear wrench is definitely needed (as many have said) for the front pan bolts. There's just no other way to get in there.
*** If you pull the oil pressure sending unit, it will come apart like a swiss watch , gather all the pieces, and have your PET-6 diagram handy so you know how it goes back together.

As far as the running, I've only driven it a few miles since then and noticed some slight but not dramatic improvement. The engine sits at least an inch higher in bay and now the intake tubes reach the inlets on top of the TB covers.

My pan gasket had been leaking and it turns out most of the bolts were barely finger tight. I used loctite and I'll check them again periodically throughout the winter as the cold causes them to try to back out.

Thanks for everyone's input and I'm just glad this one is behind me. Next stop, worldwide TB/WP !

SharkSkin

Good going Mike, and thanks for the update!