the flyin' scotsman

You don't have to remove the brackets from below............I did it from above.

There's 2 bolts holding the air diverter bracket (10mm) and one bolt and a stud holding the hoist bracket (13mm). I used a gear drive wrench to break them loose. Just be careful where your hand and arm will end up when the bolts free up. I also didn't remove the hall sensor before the VC was removed and the intake remains in place.

Another pic:

worf928

The relationship between the hall sensor cover bolts and the forward lower corner of the CC seem to vary from car-to-car or year-to-year (I haven't decided which.) On my '91 the cover could not be removed with the top sensor bolt in place. On my '89 the reverse was true. On '87s it seems that you can do the CC or the sensor in either order.

Also, this is a good time to think about deleting the blue-rubber-tipped exhaust gas test port lines. If they're in good shape at the bottom where they go into the manifold then fine. If not, yank them and get an port cap from your local hardware store. (3/8th NPT IIRC but don't quote me.)

Bill Ball

As well as the spark plug wires, hard fuel line and all the cover bolts, I remove the top Allen that holds the Hall sender (although a few times the cover has cleared it by moving it to the rear after lifting the rear end of the cover but it will be in the way of easy reinstallation), the lift bracket (from below with a 13mm socket, long extension and u-joint - too many obstructions to get it from above), the air pump diverter from its bracket and from its hoses as well (10mm Gearwrench), the small clamp that holds the harness at the rear lower corner of the cam cover (10mm Gearwrench) and that does it. Malcolm suggests you can just loosen the lift bracket and diverter bracket. I'll have to try that next time.

the flyin' scotsman

Bill...........I did remove the brackets (edited my post for clarity) but I did from above. I'm also doing the water pump at the same time so have much of the hoses etc out of the way.

I double checked the hall sensor bolts and both are tight in place..........wonder if there's that much tolerance in spec of the cover that allows easier/more difficult removal.

worf928

I don't think its the CC. The variation seems to be in the location of the Hall sensor.

Bill Ball

OK, the harness is in the way of getting at that bracket from above.

My main concern is getting the cover back on w/o knocking the gasket or the spark plug hole seals off the cover, so I get everything as much out of the way as possible, allowing the cover to almost drop straight on. Sometimes it's easy, other times it's been a bit of a fight. I still don't think I've found the optimal stuff to glue the gasket to its groove in the cover. Permatex High-Tack is not tacky enough, even after setting overnight. The gasket tends to pull up in the corners, although I've managed to get the cover on with the gasket seated properly anyway. I don't glue the spark plug seals on and have only had a couple of instances where one fell off - the spark plug holes need to be examined after the cover is in place before buttoning it down.

the flyin' scotsman

I haven't dry fitted the new gaskets but the old ones were tight to remove. It'll be interesting to see how it all goes back together in a month or so.

Dwayne

Elmiko,
Unfortunately, I'm on travel back here in Maryland and don't have access to my picture library to post a helpful pic. However, great advice is already given here. As Malcolm suggests, try to loosen the brackets for the air diverter and lift bracket from above. This should make it easier to remove the CC. I removed my CC with the air diverter valve removed AND its bracket detached from the head but my engine lift hook was still attached. As I recall, it took some manuevering - keeping in mind there is a tall cylinder attached to the underside of the CC at the rear breather port - right under the rear elbow. The cylinder attached underneath doesn't make things any easier. Work one end of the VC up at a time. I worked at clearing the rear so I could lift it about an inch then worked on clearing the front by the same amount, then back to the rear to lift it enough to clear the cylinder underneath, then the front is cleared last. I did find it prudent to remove the engine lift hook before re-installation for the same reasons Bill mentions above.

After you've completed the repairs and are satisfied, you can leave the air diverter bracket and engine lift bracket disconnected until you can get under the car, remove the belly pans, and get easy access to the bolts that secure the brackets to the head.

Let us know how it goes.

Elmiko

Thanks to all for the advice--I finally got the passenger side cover off this weekend-it was tough! I did have to get under the car to get at the diverter valve bracket and lift hook. I'm glad I did the passenger side first-the driver's side was a piece of cake in comparison. One more question-what are those steel tubes with the blue caps on the end for? They come up from below on both sides. I broke the passenger side one while I was working on it, but found that it already corroded off at the other end-same on the driver side.

worf928

Exhaust gas test ports. Deleted in mid-'89 by factory. Replaced with ~$36 (per side) Official Porsche Cap Nut. Go to your local h/w store to the "brass odds and ends section" and buy two NPT cap nuts for about $2 each. (Size is 3/8" or something, bring the threaded-end of one of the ports with you for sizing.)