DaveCarrera4

I liked how this thread started out. I had mine welded, but the local PCA club forced it on us for HPDE. Not a bad thing, don't want to cause an accident, except the cost was over $6k with clutch, accumulator, trans mount, etc. When I finally picked up a 997 turbo, made sure it was already done.

Mahoney

Speaking of 2003's and coolant pipes, I blew one out on a spirited Thanksgiving day ride. I'm thinking of parking the car for a couple winter months and doing the job, plus clutch upgrade and 60K mile stuff in the spring. Car has 54K miles.

Any known issues with letting the car sit for a couple months with cooling system half empty like that?

Any advice appreciated.

"02996ttx50

my '03 has just over 150k miles, and while it makes sense ( and is often required compliance for track events? ) to have them pinned/welded/jb'd/whatevered?
i would never pre-emptively has them done as i believe that the reports of the coolant fittings letting go is "relatively" insubstantial, relative to the numbers of these cars built and still on the road.

unless of course it happens to you! and i did witness ( yes from behind ) a pals 02' car let them go while doing a mind bending 60 mph up a local mountain.

but still i say: what, me worry? yours sincerely,

alfred e. newman.

DaveCarrera4

i can't think of a problem associated with partially drained coolant system sitting idle over a winter. Doubt corrosion could manifest in that short a time. Change the circ pump when you fix the pipes. Mine had a pretty bad bearing at 90k miles.

Atrox

Pinning seems like no small job or price. It’s funny how with these cars it seems you are in camp a (fix it if it fails) or camp b (fix it because it will fail). I’m comfortable in camp a.

What is going to be interesting is when people start demanding this is done before purchase.

Mahoney

Many thanks Dave for the feedback, appreciate the tip on circ pump too.

T Kono

Thinking of doing the pinning during a planned motor-out service next year but.....................what about originality? If one is concerned about that, these are mods that cannot be "returned to stock" without considerable expense. Threaded holes in housings need new housings to undo the "fix". I plan on keeping this car, but.........................

Kevin

It is a fairly easy task to Borescope the coolant fittings and inspect them. They are either leaking or they aren't. If you have planned service like a waterpump and clutch repair, it might be a good time to pin the coolant fittings. I would NOT recommend just pinning the fittings without removing them and cleaning the old glue and re-epoxy them and pinning. Why>>because the fittings OLD glue can fail even when pinned. This will cause coolant to seep with a constant smell of coolant over time.

T Kono

Totally agree. As others have stated, the pinning is aimed at preventing a catastrophic loss of coolant, bad epoxy will still need to be addressed if leaking. Unless someone has had a bad experience, I kind of like this idea:


Could be done WITHOUT pinning for a stock look......

manimal

+1 curious to hear if anyone has actually done the knurled approach. The conventional wisdom here seems to be to pin or weld, but I kind of like the idea.

T Kono

Welding scares me, thick wall to thin wall - better be dang good at it. The folks at Sharkwerks recommend against welding as well, check their site for explanation. I have not had any cooling issues in 54,000 miles, but I do not track the car, just an occasional onramp missile launch. When the motor comes out I will probably do either the pinning or the knurl repair, but not both.

32krazy!

2 turbos 1 pinned 1 welded both work just fine. if you weld have a quality welder do it. then pressure test for pinholes.

Oak

pinning makes the most sense for me, fittings can be easily replaced or retrievable if needed and can be resealed. welding makes sense but I would be more concerned for pinholes that may not be evident initially but over time can be a hassle as it starts to wick through.who nows how later and at that point you almost impossible to re weld due to contamination. fittings wouild have to be removed and replaced and re wielded.

Carlo_Carrera

If you use brand new coolant tubes milled from billet aluminum, a highly trained and experiennced welder and high pressure test the welds for 24 hours there is no chance of any future problems. Problem solved, permanently.

Oak

not sure if welded aluminum would be a good idea, could easily crack or bend easily and what would happen if you had to replace. atleast with pinning you can repair or retrieve hose ends if needed.. Im sure if all aluminum would be ideal porsche would have cast the entire manifold with the hose ends included as one piece. Im sure porsche engineers designed it as two piece to be able to replace or retrieve if needed.