Jonathon Rolstin

Hey guys,

I got some more time in today, in addition to getting the sump plate fully installed, I installed the aluminum expandable return tubes, man are they beautiful! However it was very frustrating at first as I couldn't figure out a good, safe way of installing them. I took my time and got a good method together and want to document it for you guys on the forum to add to the brain trust.

Here are the tools I used:

an adjustable wrench, an 11/16 socket on 3/8 drive extension, a rubber mallet, some motor oil, and circlip tool.

Here is a picture with the first two installed. It was really easy once I got my method figured out.



So, step 1, oil the outer orings, the inners come pre-lubed so you don't have to worry about them. Then seat the larger dia end into the cam box just by massaging it in there by hand. This is the end that you can see the smaller dia. piece inside the larger dia. piece.



Now get your extension and socket setup...



And use it by insterting into the tube from the cam box side to tap on the inner piece to extend towards the block. Use the rubber mallet for this. Drive it all the way into the block and fully seat it (not shown in the picture).



Once you have done this, you will notice that the cam box side creeped out a little bit, and you don't have enough of the groove exposed to seat the circlip.

This is where the adjustable comes into play. Place it as shown in the picture below and use both hands to pull back and re-seat the side in the cambox. Once that is re-seated, hold it there with one hand while you tap the extension to fully extend the return tube the last 1/8in or so.



Now you will have enough room to seat the circlip in the groove! (my original dilema).



Now use your circlip tool to seat the clip in the groove, and voila.



Doesn't she look pretty!



Then of course I had to test fit one of the SSI heat exchangers!



Doh, some of my exhaust studs were broken by the PO - I guess that is why he had installed thing flange HEs. Time to order exhaust studs and start the journey of replacing them I guess...



I apologize for some of the poor shots above during my explaination... the lighting wasn't perfect and my camera didn't want to focus for some of them... The battery was dead, I think that had something to do with it...

Anyways, look forward to all of your comments as usual!

Cheers

Jonathon Rolstin

Yea, I am going with the assumption that my leaking cam boxes were actually just from leaking rocker shafts. Whatever residual leaks from the cam boxes are leftover when I'm done I will just live with until I do a full rebuild with new Ps and Cs, 964 cams, Tbitz EFI etc... but thats a few years in the future!

It had top end work done, replacing the head studs, but I question it... anyways I'm hoping shes not too bad from the boxes. With all the other leaks I will have fixed I will be happy enough. I am really itching to get it back on the road...

theiceman

i like ingenuity and it looks like you have lots .. good work ..

another method is to put jubilee clamps or hose clamps on the expandable tubes where you need them and leverage against them to insert the tubes .. then remove the clamps ..

yeah my o-rings between the box and tower are good for a few drops after every drive but i just dont have the 5 G right now it would take to replace that $1.50 o-ring

BTW totally should have got the heat on and removed that broken stud before putting the tubes in .. what were you thinkin' man ..

Jonathon Rolstin

I found out the hard way that carb-medic dissolves red loctite. I'm going to give it a shot...

theiceman

be very carefull and good luck. If Christien is on here I think he busted a few on his 3.0 litre also , perhaps he can provide some tips ...

jasonintoronto

This thread is awesome. What are you shooting the pics with?

Jonathon Rolstin

Sony alpha, a330... its an older dslr, but does the trick for now.

Jonathon Rolstin

And thanks, Jason I am frustrated not being able to drive my car, and have to constantly remind myself to be patient as it is starting to get to me...... when the nice weather hits again I'm going to die...

Jonathon Rolstin

I had a question on the fan belt adjustment. Manual states 10-15mm play at the center of the belt. Is this total side to side movement, or from static to just one side? I assumed total side to side (ie. I deflected all the way to the left for my reference, then went all the way right and am at about 14mm - sound good?)

Cheers

theiceman

yeah sounds good but dont overthink it. if it is not flopping around its good.

Hyper911

Looks great and best thread for sure. Love to see you wrenching your own ride. Congrats!

Sultan

epic thread.....Ferdinand would be proud.

ZR8ED

Hey If you need a hand give me a buzz. I'm in the north end of Oshawa as well. I can't be too far. BTW I have zero flat six experience, but a ton of Datsun L6 experience! Still a lot of learning to go with my 944's

Jonathon Rolstin

No problem, this is my first time on a flat 6 as well apart from gt3 cup cars, where all I've really ever had to do one them is oil changes, top ups and adjust the throttle stop and restriction.

I got a call from the machine shop today... he decided not to bother measuring the OD of the new rocker arm bushings (which were 10 thou oversized) and just started to press them in. This cracked the first rocker arm he tried it on. So I gave Brent Hunter a call and he is going to meet me up at his shop on Saturday to hook me up with a good used one.

Another setback...

Jonathon Rolstin

Thanks for all the kind words guys, really appreciate it. Soon enough I will be at the saturday GTG's hanging out and sharing stories. Can't wait.

Cheers