John McM

That's the kicker. As much as I love my regular deliveries from the online tool shop I figured this was one I could do without.

John McM

Weekend is wash day. Engine shroud, intakes, engine tin and about to start on the heat exchangers. New ignition wires are fitted.

John McM

New Zealand is a temperate climate with no road salt so these heat exchangers are still in great condition after 27 years.

John McM

If you read the entirely of this thread you'd wonder how reliable 964s are. Well, I can say that the amount of work done doesn't reflect breakage, just my OCD nature.

Buying a new set of pistons and cylinders falls into that category. I have no doubt the originals would have been ok, but I want perfect and I'm very happy with what arrived from Autobahn.

Everything looks in great condition and there are only 2 grams weight difference across all 6 pistons. That said, these are 11 grams heavier than my existing pistons so I have decided to fit them as a set rather than mix and match with my existing set. More cleaning required.

John McM

Cleaning the pistons and cylinders allowed me to see the numbers on each. The new pistons were produced five months later than my originals. They also appear to have the cylinder number stamped on all but one.

Unfortunately these numbers don't correspond to the cylinder numbers the pistons were packed in. While everything is the same tolerance group I don't want to make an assumption that bites me in the backside later so I'm taking them to a machine shop for measurement. That way I can be sure that the cylinders and pistons are matched for consistent tolerances.

By the way, the pistons ex carbon deposits and rings are within 1 gram of each other (5 of them are the same weight). Fritz was on his game when this set was matched.

John McM

Another of the engine out jobs on the list was a power steering pump rebuild. Mine wasn't leaking but I didn't want to do this with the engine in, which it would eventually require and the Rennbay kit was reasonably priced.

There are DIY instructions in the forum and Rennbay have a YouTube video. It's relatively easy except for the circlip, which I had to slightly bend to remove. It is easy to rebend when installing. Now I need to replace the lower seal and O ring which may not be in my gasket sets.

Super90

Very nice John!

I've got this on my to do list when I pull the motor. Can you expand on the detail of the hourglass shaped seal and the reinforcement that goes inside? Does that metal or plastic reinforcement just lay in from the top?

Thanks!

John McM

The rubber seal goes in first. It is flat on the bottom but has a bevel on the top side. The hard plastic seal slips in around the outside of the rubber seal. It's a tight fit, but not difficult to fit or keep in place.

Btw instructions say to mark the pump housing before opening it. That is unnecessary as there are cast marks on the case and it's obvious how it goes back together.

John McM

The machine shop measurement verdict is back. The 27 year old cylinders and pistons have held up well.

John McM

Last of the big cleaning jobs, the heads. Gasket stripper on the Loctite 574, throttle cleaner on the carbon and a lot of elbow grease.

I'm also replacing exhaust studs where they chose to come out rather than release the nuts attached to them. The stud thread lengths are not symmetrical - a trap for young players.

I used Loctite 263 thread locker for the studs and finished the exposed thread with copper grease to keep them good for the install later on.

John McM

The rebuild is stalled waiting on parts so I had a big garage clean up in pre build preparation (yes, that is clean for me)

All of the existing parts have been cleaned and measured so when the parts arrive it will be like an operating theatre as it all goes back together with (sort of) clean room cleanliness and military precision.

Btw it's easy to take your time when you have a spare 964 to drive in the meantime

John McM

First items have arrived at home.
4 refaced tappets
Cylinder head temp sensor
Oil return tubes
Ignition lead clips
Piston rings.
Fan pulley shim
Nose bearing seal.

This is only the start. There are 5 more deliveries to come.

GeorgeK

Not much to say except thank you for the future reference. Great organised work.

ffc

Hi John,

Is there any reason why you didn't change the more recalcitrant exhaust studs while the heads are out of the car? I'm just curious and wondering whether they are more prone to breakage later on?

Cheers
Dave

John McM

Hi Dave, If the studs didn't move when I undid the nuts I left them well alone except for running a new nut over each one before putting the copper grease on them.

I figured that the risk/reward of pulling out serviceable studs to put in shiny new ones wasn't good if I chanced breaking one in the head. Let sleeping dogs lie.

It helps that the NZ climate is benign. These won't cause me any problems if I have to go back in there one day. That said I'm putting all new nuts on for insurance.