B Fett

Well, I had one of the dreaded coolant fixtures pop-off on me yesterday on my 996 GT3. I know what it was as soon as it happened thanks to this forum! After the engine cooled down I poked my head in the engine bay with a flashlight and sure enough, the fitting on the passenger side of the engine bay popped right out. I caught it right away so the engine didn't overheat, no accidents, so overall it could have been much much worse.

So, I will be dropping the engine to get these fittings welded. While I am in there I know I should do a new clutch and flywheel, replace the coolant hoses and get a new coolant reservoir tank.

What else should be done maintenance or upgrade-wise while the engine is out? any other rubber items or hoses that go bad? Fittings, pipes, mounts etc.?

What clutch and flywheel is the best upgrade? Anything else need to be done with that setup? I remember reading about a different crank pulley or something.


Just want to get a list together of everything I'll need to get this done quickly and all at once.

Thanks!

kgorman

My car is at the shop for this process as we speak.

-pin not weld fittings
-water pump
-hoses
-plugs
- thermostat
- water wetter/distilled
-LWFW and RS pulley
-clutch and associated bits
-motor mounts
-trans mounts

Spyerx

Do whatever you can while engine is out. My logic was 'have to spend some $ to make car safer on track, I want some cool go fast bits too"

This was my 997 list:
Coolant pipes welded using BBI inserts,
Sharkwerks oil cooler pipes,
replaced all gaskets, seals o-rings,
rubber hoses, clamps,
rs4.0 clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, bearing, clutch fork, shaft bearing,
front/rear main seals,
water pump,
expansion tank, replaced reservoir cap, thermostat,
new drive belt,
996 cup short shifter, 996 cup shift cables,
Guard club-sport pro diff,
oil change, tranny fluid change,
cantrell transmission mounts

Add plugs and coils if they are due. have shop inspect all the rubber and replace either preventative (like I did) or as needed. I had done fuel filter, would add that too.

AudiOn19s

I've said this elsewhere but will add it here too...Fuel filter is cheap and WAY WAY WAY easier to install (like a 3 minute job) while the motor is out of the car.

The other lists are spot on as far as what should be checked and replaced as needed.

Spyerx

Edited my list, I had done mine a few months prior... but yes way easier when the engine is out.

christallon

Cant imagine welding vs pinning makes any diff. Either works, no?

gman3280

I had my LSD rebuilt while the motor was down for welding

AudiOn19s

Tons of posts on this. Read the pro's and cons of each and pick the solution that best meets your needs.

tgavem

In addition to others:
Coolant tank
All hoses and fittings
Rear and front main seals

B Fett

Which shaft bearing and other bearing did you replace when you did the clutch replacement? Was the clutch fork bent or damaged or did you just do that as a wear item replacement as well?

Spyerx

Clutch was all preventative. Throw out bearing pressure plate flywheel clutch disk tob fork and all the small bits.

997rs4.0

Where are you taking your car? If you are doing a lot of this mentioned it might be worth taking it to Orbit? Or do you know someone good in Orlando?

christallon

It appears that both welding and pinning are appropriate. I bought my car with the lines welded. I saw the OP mention he was pinning, not welding, so I assumed there was a potential problem with the welding option. I did a search but didn't find a definitive answer for one method over the other.

AudiOn19s

If your welder doesn't know how to work with very thin wall aluminum and uses too much heat he can make the fittings brittle possibly causing failure. Also, if the welder leaves any bubbles in the welds it can lead to small leaks in the fittings. If you find the right welder / fabricator neither of these should be an issue.

If you pin, the epoxy can still fail and the fitting can still leak, but it won't be a catastrophic failure and the leak will be slow. Also, if you don't properly seal the threads of the bolts used to pin the fittings you could get leaks there.

mine are welded.

christallon

Cheers Andy. I suspect the welding was done properly. I have not noticed any issues.