John McM

Pop quiz on Friday evening !

996tnz

Yep. Porsche should have ponied up for better glue when they decided to GLUE the metal coolant fittings into the block back then. The Mezger block is brilliant but this decision is a weakness in implementation. The fitting pops out and water just pours out the bottom as fast as you pour it in the top. Second time it's happened (two out of the six fittings now). Same issue impacts on 996 GT3s, which have watered a few tracks here and there.

Thankfully it is a water-cooled endurance racing block(won 24h Le Mans in '98) that is an evolution of the classic air-cooled one so handles running dry better than most.

Contis just weld the fittings back in with liquid metal. It's the getting to it that costs a bit...

If the fittings are exposed during other work anyway, many recommend pinning them with a grub screw or two as a preventative measure beforehand.

John McM

Been there done that. Mine was accessible with the engine in. A reasonable cost repair. Even the tow from Pukekohe to CCS was reasonable. Mine won't be going back to the track as I have other choices

Macca

I think youll find the crankcase number is stamped 964. A few years ago we had never heard them referred to as Mezger. Everyone referred to them as GT1 block. Infact they are based on the 964 crankcase, the 993 used them and later the GT3 and turbo. The term Mezger is misleading as the engine he designed bears little resemblance to the water cooled unit people use his name to refer to today...

996tnz

Thanks for sharing and it's nice to know that at least some of the remaining 4 fittings are easy access. My tow (well flatbed) was even more reasonable as I learned from my 928 to keep the AA membership up. Car up to Contis and then dropped back home. Couple of good sorts offered their car trailers as backup plans too (thanks guys).

996tnz

Yep, but today many if not most know this block lineage as that. Like grandpa's axe, it's evolved over time but is based on the same block line. Mezger was heavily involved in Porsche's race engine development program so water cooling was nothing new to him either.

From Christophorus 2008 "60 years of Porsche":

'This engine started out in 1963 as a 2.0-liter unit with 130 horsepower. In 1978 it reached 845 hp in the “Moby Dick” racer. In
the current version of the 911GT3, it plays with a capacity of 3.6
liters and 415 horsepower, and 480 in the 911 Turbo. It has swallowed gasoline and methanol, and versions have won Le Mans
a hefty 14 times. It has viewed every boost in its capacity as a spur
to greater performance, and it has never sputtered in either induction or turbocharged form. It continues to be transformed
to this day—having been called RS, GT1, GT2, or GT3, each signifying higher levels of performance.'

Link:http://pap.porsche.com/pap/filestore....default.0.pdf

We're all lucky to have such technical geniuses creating our cars, so I'm happy to keep giving him a name credit.

John McM

Good reminder. $138 for a year with full car recovery is a no brainer when you're about to do 5,000 km in a 24 year old car.

ChrisB_NZ

Just catching up on the thread, but yes, definitely in for Targa Rotorua. While some parts of yesterday weren't as good as I expected I was able to confirm what I wanted, ie. will the car work being a Tip (definitely), can Pete and I do this together (yes, the man is awesome, had the notes sorted straight away and great communication), will I enjoy it (yes, there was enough promise to get me going back for more and all the other competitors were great).

ChrisB_NZ

Thanks Chris, great to see you out there yesterday and good to get some pics!

ChrisB_NZ

Sean, you had a big smile on your face when we saw you at the start of stage 5! You were having a great run, that's motorsport as you say, next time....

ChrisB_NZ

Kevin looks after his cars very well and he would have inspected it thoroughly and chosen well when buying it, so no doubt it will be a very good car.

Looks like he is selling up a few cars, going to a GT3 Cup Car??

kiwi 911

So it looks like we have Chris/Pete, Walt/+1, Ron&Patsy and Doug/Paul signed up for NI Targa Tour?

Sean??, John??

ChrisB_NZ

That's a bugger, I had the easily accessible ones done on my car before the Targa based on John's experience. The rest will be done next time the motor is out.

Good fun yesterday, sounds like not the ideal ending for you, but nothing major.

peterC2S

Funny, that was my thought. But the 944 can't be far off that pace?!

John McM

I'd have to check my laps to be sure but I imagine he's 2 or 3 seconds off Simon's times at HD in the 997 cup car. It could be that he's taken the '44 as far as he can, possibly too far. Great buy for '44 seeker, but I understand the 996 cup cars are possibly at $65,000. Starting to look attractive.....