Well said, Nate.

Daniel, NO PASS FOR YOU!

 

A trick I learned from one of my high school mechanic friends, engine assembly goes much faster if you do it on the kitchen table.

 

Multiple cans of beer will probably slow it down.
Åke

 

A wife coming home will make it go much quicker

 

Hey Daniel, I concur with Greg, just study the engine, and associated manuals, be wise in advice heeded as not everyone herein has done the sort of work, but don't fear it, it can be done, it was built by men, and men can unbuilt - and built again by men. Remember it's just a effin' car - (albeit a very well engineered one). I built my 440HP many years ago with patience, books, specs, excellent machine work, a clean facility, clean tools, lots of assembly lube, measure everything over and over again, plastigauge the tolerances, no dust, and patience! That 440 runs so well still these many years later. Now, I'm waiting for the brain surgeons to chime in "the 440 is no M28.41 etc". They are all air pumps, and some a bit more complex than others. I'm going to build my S4 engine but at home in the garage as my shop is too dirty and dusty for such clean-required work.

 

DOG PILE!!!!!!!!!

Daniel - You have the most knowledgeable experts for these cars right here at your fingertips.

The mistakes have been made, the pitfalls have been fallen into.

It is just 'parts bolted to parts.'

Go slow and careful, pay attention to the stuff Greg, Stan, Sean, Dave and the others who actually know their stuff say to pay attention to (you've been here long enough to know who to listen to).

You've also got a hell of a big cheering section.

You'd look like an idiot in a Prius.

 

Rob Edwards and I decided to assemble his GT engine on Saturday and carefully keep track of how much time it actually took.

We were right about 2 hours in, when we discovered an issue, and spend the next 45 minutes stripping it down to the bare block....to go to the machine shop.


You have to be mentally prepared to take whatever time it takes to make it as perfect as possible. If that means stopping and starting over...that's what it takes.

 

 

Greg didn't like my JB weld suggestion. There was a small pit on the top of cylinder tower #6, easily fixed by decking the block on that side. We looked at each other, I spent about 10 seconds beating myself up for not having seen it before, and then we got to stripping the block and scraping off the new Loctite, so it'll be ready for next time. It was an opportunity to ask, what is the right thing to do? So we did it.

 

This.

This, in a nutshell, is my main issue. I just am not confident in my ability to "spot" irregularities. It's a valid concern.
I do have a great place to start, however, and it's sitting right in front of me.
I have this trashed 4.7 euro block. duh. I can take that thing apart and put it back together 1,000 times if I need to to get the "knack" for measuring clearances, putting the halves of the cradle together, etc etc etc. No loss if miss a detail the first time through, it will be like running a sim.
I don't know why I didn't see this before. Heck, I can get the hand skills and eye skills with no worry of trashing a freshly machined part or surface on my like-new 5.0L that is truly ready for assembly.

You guys really are the best. The first 100 or so 928 engines I assemble will be the same one LOL ! !


Dan

 

My 928 shop owner told me he calculated 35 hours for refreshing an 928 engine if all parts are ok. This is without time for doing the heads at the Engine shop.
This is with reworking the oil passage to the crank bearings.

 

I would likely guess up to 100 hours for an excellently built personally attended to zero corners cut engine, but, I don't like to guess - I abandoned guessing in my lane for media blasting, I just charge time, rust and bondo triples the time from a straight paint removal operation.

 

There's truth to this....totally depends on what one is handed.

I'm doing a hot rod 951 engine, right now. Handed to me in buckets and boxes. There has been more little pieces missing than even I could imagine (I have all these little pieces for 928 engines, not so much, anymore, for 951 engines.) One step forward, wait 3-4 days for the missing part....move two steps forward....order the "new" missing thing you just found out wasn't there. Complete insanity!

Reminds me that although I can build engines from scraps....I shouldn't.

One would think I would learn....