I have two cars here, looking to make one. Both have had some "minor" problems. The first had the timing belt failure, the second had the fuel line failure and caught fire. I plan on using the long block from the car that caught fire and to get the rest of the parts from the timing belt car. I have the timing belt engine out, bad gouges down the cylinder walls. Maybe I'll turn it into a nice table or something.

I guess the main question is, aside from the belts, rollers, crank seals, and oil pan, is there anything I should look at doing while I have the fire car's engine is out for reassembly? Any sneaky gaskets or seals that are extra hard to access when the engine is installed? I don't really want to do a full rebuild, and the fire was fairly mild so I doubt I need it, but I may be wrong. I was hoping to just throw it back together on the cheap, or at least as cheap as a 944 will allow. Just something to drive around on occasion until I get my main car done.

Also, any general advice for extra things to check would be appreciated. I've worked on my other 944 a good bit, but never had to go to deep into the engine. I was kind of hoping to use this as a training exercise for when I start delving into my main cars engine. Thanks for the help.
-Ish

 

I'd do the rod bearings while it's out. They're not too dear, and they are a failure point (or at least #2 is).

 

I suppose that might be worth the time since I'll have the oil pan off anyway, but just out of curiosity, why is #2 more of a failure point than the others?

 

The #2 bearing gallery also supplies the balance shafts -- so it gets a bit less oil than the others.

 

The #2 bearing failure occurs on track and race cars, IMO, not an issue with street cars. Lots of RL posts on theories for #2 premature failure, but the bottom line is the drilled oil hole for #2 in the single hole rod bearing crankshaft is position such that at sustained high rpm, there is sufficient ,negative centrifugal force at the oil outlet to starve oil flow to #2 bearing. The fix is cross-drilling the rod bearing journals, 2 holes. Also, the oil pan is modified with a baffle and skirt installed around the oil pick up tube screen.

 

Huh. Never would've thought that would be an issue with the car. It's very possible that the guy who had the car before the fire pushed it a bit hard, judging by some of the stuff he did to it (Buying crappy coil overs before fuel lines, cheap tires that certainly look well used and abused). I'll check it out, see what it looks like, and go from there. Thanks for the advice.
-Ish

 

Just to be clear, it's probably not an issue. It's just that with the engine out it's pretty easy to do and not very expensive... something that can't be said when the engine is not out.

 

+! on what T&T racing and Jeyjey said! Do it while it's out! Now is also the time to power wash and touch up the engine bay! (paint). Do the clutch while it's out as well. That way you don't have to fight the TT and Trans later!