My 964 engine rebuild (Steve Brookes)

[Steve Brookes]

I know that more than a few of us have had this done already but thought I would do a write up on mine.

Although I like to work on the car myself, I'm no where near enough competent (or have the facilities) to do this myself. Hence, on Monday it went into Unit 11, Warrington for Danny and Jonny to tear down. The car had multiple small leaks in all the usual places that an aging 964 engine has (timing chain covers, power steering pump, crank case nose seal, cylinder base gaskets, etc) and some leaks from breather pipes around the inlet. Therefore, I elected to go for their menu rebuild as a starting point. This includes addressing all these leaks, fitting new oil through pipes, new valve guides, de-coking the valves and cylinder heads, new piston rings, new timing chains and tensioners.

Of course, lots of other stuff crops up once the engine is out, particularly engine tins that need to be replaced or blasted and powder coated and breather hoses that have hardened and need to be replaced. Ideally, I want to have a LWF and clutch fitted but that will depend on how heavy the main bill gets! Luckily, my current normal DMF and clutch has been found to be in excellent condition and can go back in if the funds run out.

Here's the empty space in my engine bay where the lump used to reside:

The clutch slave cylinder and hose (left of next picture) has already been identified as needing replacement as has the clutch fork:

Here's the inlet and engine cowling that has been set to one side. The cowling is oily from leaking breather hoses. It's also split and some point so is going to need replacing:

Here are the first pics of the engine as it's being (quite quickly) disassembled. Obviously it's very dirty and oily at this stage:

This pic shows the rusty crank case breather hose on the right that will soon be coming off and replaced:

 

[da_gleadless]

Amazing and well documented post!

Those pictures answer my constant pondering of how my engine would look when I'm faced with an open engine bay.

Hope all goes well and your able to enjoy the lightweight flywheel/clutch package.

 

[Steve Brookes]

ORIGINAL: da_gleadless

Amazing and well documented post!

Those pictures answer my constant pondering of how my engine would look when I'm faced with an open engine bay.

Hope all goes well and your able to enjoy the lightweight flywheel/clutch package.

Thanks Chris, there will be plenty more to come. Looks like that I'll have to wait a while to upgrade the clutch because I've just heard that the crank case has now got to come apart because the bottom end needs refreshing and it needs a new camshaft. i.e. the engine is now having a FULL rebuild! []

 

[iangray100]

Steve welcome to engine rebuild club

Why do you need a new camshaft ...can't it be reprofiled as Porsche I was told by a cam reprofiler have the hardest thickness cams out and can easily be reprofiled ..its what Autofarm and most rebuilder do, as Autofarm had some in for reprofiling.
Why buy new its a waste of money , i didn't on my 964 rebuild . It will cost a 1/4 of a new one new cam, and that will profile two for you approx £150-£200 for two ..... and if you do one you must do both and also replace/recon all the rockers. I have allways reprofiled cams even in my racing engine rebuild days way back .

PS.:...the bill only ever go's in one way ..up

 

[Steve Brookes]

Thanks Ian. I'll be inspecting the camshaft later this week. I believe it's an odd problem where just one of the cams on the shaft has got damaged (cylinder 3). No doubt the associated valve will need replacing too. It's suspected that there was a lubrication blockage (from an oil spray injector?) at some point and the cam got chipped. Sorry I can't be more technical than that. [&:] Will post a pic later this week.

 

[iangray100]

I had one lobe worn and i think its common in 964 high mileage engines is what my investigation came up with talking to 964 pros in the USA etc .
You will need to replace /reprofile both cams and replace all the rockers , you can't replace one cam or reprofile one this without new rockers or it will rip the lob's off in double quick time ...seconds of starting the engine !!
All my valves were fine even with the one worn lob. I had a broken valve spring and you see this in the thread in my signature.

 

[MarkK]

Best of luck with your rebuild hope it doesn't spiral too much!More pics pls![]

 

[Steve Brookes]

Thanks for your thoughts Ian. At the moment there has been no decision made on the camshafts and I may well have mis-represented the outcome by saying that because of a problem found with one of them, means that it needs to be replaced. It may well be as you say, that both need to be replaced (assuming that one of them is beyond re-profiling). As I say, I don't pretend to be an expert on engine rebuilds. I started this topic to give people an insight in to some of the things that go on during an engine rebuild.

Apart from my snaps that I take when popping in to view progress, Danny is taking a load more pics at each stage of the rebuild which I will get copies of when it's all done.

 

[appletonn]

ORIGINAL: Steve Brookes

ORIGINAL: da_gleadless

Amazing and well documented post!

Those pictures answer my constant pondering of how my engine would look when I'm faced with an open engine bay.

Hope all goes well and your able to enjoy the lightweight flywheel/clutch package.

Thanks Chris, there will be plenty more to come. Looks like that I'll have to wait a while to upgrade the clutch because I've just heard that the crank case has now got to come apart because the bottom end needs refreshing and it needs a new camshaft. i.e. the engine is now having a FULL rebuild! []

Sorry to say it, but that all sounds strangely familar to me![8|]

I was lucky enough not to need new cams though, just about the only things that didn't need replacing!

 

[Steve Brookes]

ORIGINAL: appletonn

Sorry to say it, but that all sounds strangely familar to me![8|]

I was lucky enough not to need new cams though, just about the only things that didn't need replacing!

Your job was mentioned more than once []

 

[MarkK]

Sounds like i got off lightly..[8|]!

 

[Scamper]

Good luck with the rebuild!!

I looked at Unit 11's website but cant see any prices for their menu rebuilds...do you have a pricelist for the rebuilds??? I know its all dependant on what they find but it would be good to know what the least cost one can expect....

 

[ray stobbs]

your all frightening me to death what milage had your car done steve and what was the reason for the strip down regards ray []

 

[John Boggiano]

Very interesting - and quite entertaining really, when it's someone else that's paying...

 

[bobster]

Hey Steve,

Didn't know this was on the cards. I hope it doesn't escalate too much, but somehow you just know it's going to hurt!

Good luck, I'll be watching with interest.

Bob

 

[Steve Brookes]

Nick, John, myself and many others use Unit 11 because we know how hard they work and the more than reasonable labour rates they charge. They really do love these cars and want us to continue loving them.

Ade - the internet is not their thing. Ring them up and ask to speak to Jonny or Danny and they will give you the menu price for a top end rebuild. It IS very extensive - barrel gaskets, new cam chain, new cam chain tensioners, de-coke, new valve guides, new chain cover gaskets, oil, valve adjust, all labour to remove the engine, work on it and re-install it (and probably stuff I've missed). However, do bear in mind that unless the rest of the engine is perfect they are likely to come across other stuff that they are going to discuss with you and advise you on.

Ray - mine has done 167,000 miles and as Jonny (of Unit 11) says, she's an old girl and overdue a bit of TLC. But don't take mileage as a critical factor....the engine has caused me no grief over the last 3 years. I could have easily carried on running her. It was ME that decided it was time for the rebuild.

Bob - cheers mate...your's is next []

 

[appletonn]

As Steve says, Jonny and Danny will always try and do the best by you. It's not their fault that the cars are now old and that Porsche keep on putting up their engine parts prices!

The phrases "whilst the engine's out" and "you might as well, whilst it's all apart" do tend to crop up frequently [8|][]

 

[appletonn]

Steve, mine was similarly filthy and oily...

However, thanks to the magic of Jonny/Danny, plus CASH [8|]....

It'll be worth it in the end![]

 

[Steve Brookes]

One of the things that has cropped is that my cat is pretty much goosed - the ceramics have come adrift inside and the flange is starting to fall apart. The sensible thing to do would be to put a de-cat pipe on. However, that would probably mean putting the primary silencer back on because it would be too loud with the cup pipe. I like the cup pipe because it's so light compared to the primary silencer so am thinking I should go for a 100 or 200 or cell race cat.

So my question is what have you got on yours and what make would you recommend?

Alternatively, has anyone got a good condition standard cat cluttering up their garage?

 

[mr pg]

I have one in my garage, which I was thinking of passing on to the new owner if I sold the car. Wouldn't be worried if I sold to a dealer though. How much are you thinking of paying?
I'm in London, so would have to check how much shipping would be.
I'll also add that my cat bypass made only a subtle difference, so it may not be as bad you think with a primary as well.