BigAl1

A great week of engine teardown work is past, and I'm very pleased with the condition of the engine hardparts. No problems with the water pump area, looks like the cam gears were replaced not long ago, no marks on the cylinder walls, and the crank thrust end play is 0.008" (well within spec!). I verified the cams are Euro S, and the pistons have the flycut reliefs, so the final proof it is a Euro S engine. No idea why the intake runner legs were changed for US versions! Next is to order the gaskets and seals needed and standard parts to replace (WP, TB). Planning to use a Porkentioner, and need to replace the oil pump and crank gears as they are worn quite a bit. My teardown speed is a little slow since I try to take a picture of every component and the related hardware as it comes out, so I can put things back together properly without relying on my memory. Just the engine teardown was over 200 pics! This engine is a grimy mess, and will be all the more satisfying to get it back in top form.

Podguy

Replace the front seal. I am sure you are planning on doing it.

BigAl1

Yep, on the list along with all of the others related to water and oil, both inside and outside.

Ducman82

so when can i drop my car off for the white glove treatment?

Bill Ball

Some day my car will get this treatment. It deserves it, but I think it's about another 100K miles away.

Nice job, to say the least.

BigAl1

Well, in the few weeks since last update there has been some progress, but work as kept me away from the 928 quite a bit. With my priorities on the to-do list, I have gathered all my parts for the next plating order - all the clamps, hose fittings, hardware, brackets, pulleys, pipes, ..... I think this will be my last plating group, as soon moving to the interior parts and they shouldn't need plating work.
I decided to gut the air intake system on the CIS air guide, so removed the air metering plate with it's mechanism and the adjusting screw. I think the hole where the fuel distributor was will make a nice location for the air intake temp sensor as it will be hidden under the stock airbox as it enters the air guide top hole. In the quest to get all the parts o be plated, I did a no-no. I removed the oil fittings from the block casting ,and found firsthand why you don't do this - the edge of the threads on one hole broke out, including some of the crush ring seal face. I think my fix will be to permanently epoxy the fitting back in when doing the final assembly - GRR!
Been doing lots of cleaning of the engine castings, and found the best combo for me is to use Simple Green Max with a stiff nylon bristle brush - works wonders on the heavy grime! Then using a handheld wire brush to brighten up the cast surface leaves it nice and new looking, even removing most of the old discolorations from chemicals. Playing with ideas on how to highlight the "PORSCHE" letters on the cam towers, I used a vibrating sander on the top face of the letters, and it works great. The letters smoothed off nice, to give a slightly brighter surface than the cast surroundings. I think I'll spray paint the whole lettering area, then just do the sander run again to reveal the letters - should make the PORSCHE really pop, and be a great focal point in the engine bay. A high temp clearcoat should keep it all shiny, and easy to clean.
Found the oil level sender has a broken wire, so another detail to fix. Also had to get the oil drain plug out - some PO cranked it so tight without a seal ring that I could not remove it with any wrench I had. Finally had to resort to welding a big nut to the mangled head of the plug, let it cool for a couple hours, and it came out easy. Relieved!
Got my steering rack mounted with Delrin bushings, then realized I'll have to drop it again to mount the new motor mounts, but at least I verified all fits into the newer crossmember. Also with help from Carolyn got my brakes bled initially, have to go back for round 2 in a couple days. Just waiting on a few small parts for underneath, then I can put it back down on the ground! Thanks to Joe and Helen for dropping in last week to bring some steel timing belt gears - I really appreciate it!

Podguy

I do not understand the change to the CIS system you are suggesting? An air temp sensor?

I have not had much luck with simple green. I find Marine Cleaner from the POR 15 people works better. For the final clean I havce been using some purple floor cleaner from ZEP available at Home Depot. It takes that final layer of grease out of the pores of the aluminum and leaves behind an nice new alumimun look.

What kind of plating are you doing. I have talked with a place in Fremont that does barel plating in nickel. Then as an option they will do a gold or black rinse. The guy said the Black or Gold does not hold up well to heat so it is probably not good for the engine. I am thinking of gold rinse for the majority of the parts for the car and leaving the nickle on the engine parts including the metal fuel injector lines. Any feed back would be very helpful.

Great job BTW. I did what you suggested for the cam cover lettering. it cam out very nice, but the problem is no one can see it when the air tubes are in place.

Keep up the great posts they are an imperation

BigAl1

Dan,
The air temp sensor is for MegaSquirt3X EFI - all the CIS is removed now. I'll try the ZEP stuff you mentioned as I want to be sure the paint and clearcoat will stick properly. For the plating, we use "yellow zinc di-chromate". Thanks for the thought about the plating holding up - I'll sort out my hardware so any internal hardware is not plated new - shouldn't need it anyway, right? Looking forward to your pics of your 2nd rebuild.....

BigAl1

A productive day yesterday as I took it off from work and went to a wrecking yard to source all the parts I needed for my conversion to MS3X. Got lucky and found the right 24lb injectors too, plus the electric fans from a Ford Contour V6 - it was a good day! A word of advice for others - trying to remove the fans and shroud from a Contour/Mystique with the V6 engine still installed is impossible without the use of brute force! I had to use a jack from a nearby truck to wedge the engine away from the front crossbar over the radiator. This plus some large hammer work gave just enough space to wiggle the shroud out the top.
Today was spent rolling the car outside for the first time since Sept 2010, then cleaning the shop. It's nice to have things clean when doing final assy on the engine! Still some more short-block cleaning to do, then strip the heads to install new valve seals and check the guides. I'm getting anxious to get the engine back together and design the MS3X conversion. Also got my last pile of plated parts back, so nothing holding me back now except getting my butt moving!

Mrmerlin

for the broken oil cooler line fitting,
if you have the old piece that chipped away thats good ,
clean all of the parts and fit a fresh sealing ring ,
mix up some JB weld,
add a few drops of green locktite to the inner threads of the girdle ,
then screw the fitting in a few turns then mud the Jb weld into the breakout then screw the fitting in till its tight let it cure.

this is how i have fixed a few of these so far so good .
When fitting the lines make sure to counterhold the fitting

BigAl1

Thanks Stan for the Green Locktite idea - the JB Weld was my original plan. Nice to hear this has worked for you in the past.

Landseer

This is like a pro build thread. Impressive skills

BC

Ah, you will be using the LS coils with the MS3X? Did you try and find the Truck Coils? I think its D585 for the part number.

BigAl1

Thanks Chris, but I'm just an amateur on 928's. I enjoy the build process.
BC - these came off a 2002 GM truck, but have not looked for the PN on them.

Ducman82

im going to keep an eye on this thread. i plan on do the MS as well