SNS Engine Rebuild

I bought GTX Racer's M96 engine last fall...making room for his pretty awesome LS swap which he has done a great job documenting. I have Jake's video series, a few books and this forum to guide me through the steps. I have watched Jake's series three times through at this point and I haven't begun to put anything together...but it was certainly helpful for the disassembly process. This is my first Porsche engine rebuild. Taking it slowly and for this engine, I have sent my cases to LN for sleeving with Nickies. My car is a 1999 C4 that I daily drive that has close to 189,000 miles. I am planning to rebuild this engine and then swap with the one in my car now and do another re-build, maybe to higher performance standards on the second round. During the teardown I found a broken piston skirt, scored crank and some toasted bearings. Wondering if I need a whole new crank...I can feel the scoring barely with my finger, is this too much to be polished away?

Use the search button,and read through other builds to get a feel for your project. Good luck with your build.

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Thanks, M. I'll need some luck for sure. I have been able to review a few threads and will keep looking.

Yes, that crank is wasted.. Likely you'd find a cracked journal under the wear marks on that rod journal.. Buy another crank. When you have the engine ready to assemble, in front of you, that is when the video will help you collect the dots.

Yup, it's toast. We have cranks in stock that have been magnafluxed, polished, and cleaned so that you can remove the guesswork out of finding a good one, if needed.

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Yes, that crank is wasted.. Likely you'd find a cracked journal under the wear marks on that rod journal.. Buy another crank. When you have the engine ready to assemble, in front of you, that is when the video will help you collect the dots. Thank you Charles and Jake. I knew in my gut that it was a problem. I am appreciative there's no fussing around anymore with that broken part. Charles, I'll be reaching out. I am not checked out on the multi-quote function?!?

The deeper I go....check out these photos of my oil pump and the front console. I've become numb to the number of parts I need to replace in lieu of reuse. First pic is old and new pump side by side. I've got scoring in the housing (red arrow second pic) and on the gears themselves. And what is going on at the bottom of the hex shaft in the old pump? I hope to begin the assembly around the beginning of February.

After watching some of Jake's video's I'm beginning to see how bad the damage can become if all the debris from something deteriorating or breaking is allowed to make its way through the engine.

^^ So true. There was a bunch of plastic and likely some piston skirt shrapnel that made its way around the internals. Here's a few more tear down damage pics. Rods were done.

No more damage pics - on the other side of finding broken bits there is an order made and a shipment arrives. Here are some pics of new parts arriving and my workspace.

How far do I take the balancing of the rotating assembly? The image below is a listing of the weights of components. Initially, I just numbered the components, 1-6, as I removed them from the packaging and then recorded their individual weights. That is the top rows. I then identified the average total weight (at the far right) and the min and max weighted assemblies (in the shaded boxes). I then worked to recombine the parts into more closely weighted total assemblies (that is the second set of rows). I think I can improve a little on the .96g difference I am at in this take. My overarching question is how close is close enough for the total weights - should I be shooting for .5g or less? or what? I am not opposed to material removal from parts but would rather avoid it....lastly, should I also be including the wrist pin clips in this calculation (part of me is "why not, I already did all the other pieces" and part of me is "really?" haha)

Is that sheared off hex shaft in the middle of the oil pump gear? P.S. My bearings looked a lot like yours but they didn't spin.

IDK what that is Imo...the hex shaft I removed is the same length as the new one I have.

My intermediate level balance spec puts all the pistons with matched pins within .5 gr of each other for the full set. My race epic is .2gr. That said, yours are definitely close enough of you are only balancing the reciprocating mass, and not dynamically balancing the remainder of the rotating mass. The rotating mass is light years of imbalance compared to what the pistons will be.

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Looks like the remnants of broaching the hexagon. Material removed to create it from a round hole is not turned into swarfe but pushed to the bottom where it stays and that's perhaps what you see. You Tube

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Thank you, Jake. This engine will operate mostly for spirited daily driving and the occasional DE session so I was not planning to have the complete assembly dynamically balanced.

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Thank you hardtailer - Very interesting and makes sense - Appreciate the input

I was able to begin assembly this past weekend and made it through stage 1.5 getting the crank carrier assembled and three connecting rods onto the crank. The video series is excellent to have as a guide allowing me to move from step to step very quickly. Couple points on my assembly: 1. Inserting the piston squirters, I found the first one started in very tight. I pulled it out and added a little lube and then they all seated well. I almost forgot to install them as I prepped the bearings. 2. The connecting rod for #4 initially felt tight on the journal. I used K1 connecting rods and they have a two-stage torque. After the initial 25 ft-lb torque I checked how it felt on the crank and it was "sticky". Not like the rods on 5 and 6. I removed the rod, re-lubed both journal and bearing and switched the placement of the bolts on the rod. I re-torqued to 25 ft-lb and the rod felt just like the other two. I then torqued another 55 degrees as recommended by the manufacturer and all rods operate smoothly. 3. Crank end play was 3.8 thousandths ... slightly tight ... Other than these items, the assembly was pleasantly uneventful. Now I just want to get back at it but I'll have to wait until the weekend. For this stage I have a crank that I got from LN Engineering as mine was ruined, the carrier is from my donor engine. ARP carrier bolts, genuine Porsche crank, and rod bearings, and K1 connecting rods that came with ARP bolts. I replaced the stock rods because they were pretty heavily scored. The carrier bolts had a three-stage torque sequence. Below are some pics for your enjoyment - apologies for the flipped images...still learning on this platform.

Very nice...I love seeing the H-beam rods going into M96's...

Love the update. Excellent pix of the process. This is in my future. Thank you for sharing!

Good stuff. Nice and shiny parts!

Great work!! Isn't it satisfying when everything starts going back together.....

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Thank you Skip - I was impressed with the finish on these K1's from LN Clean, clean, clean, and then clean some more - forgot to take a pic of the small mountain of wipes! Thank you and you are welcome - trying to emulate (copy?) a few on this forum who do an excellent job with their cameras..working on orientation! It really is...there was a certain enjoyment in the procurement process but this is better than legos and I'll get to throttle on it when I'm done!

I can tell by the carb cleaner, Kimwipes, and etc that you are paying attention to the video! The reduced end play is faux, the grease on the shims is tightening it up a couple thousandths. Always does.

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ha ha ha the wipes - I have to grab 2 or 3 of those small wipes to clean pretty much any part...Thought I had ordered what I saw in the video but, nope, it's an online purchase gone awry. I appreciate your input on the end play. I measured several times as my tool is not very high quality but it read consistently just below the 4 thousandths recommended minimum. I decided to order a new snap ring and washer for the IMS tensioner paddle. Figured for the cost of those little pieces I could rest easy that I hadn't overstressed the snap rind during disassembly. Due to arrive in a couple of days and then I'll get back to it.

Great job! Yes, the best Kimwipes are the ones in the blue box. There's 3 different thicknesses of the green ones.

I was able to wrap up stage two when the washer and snap ring for the IMS tensioner paddle arrived. As I had a couple of days to wait on the delivery of those parts I skipped ahead in the assembly and tackled the first part of stage 6, assembling bank one pistons to their corresponding rods. I started early on a Saturday and the temps overnight had gotten to 65 in the work area. I had to heat up the pistons so that they would accept the wrist pins...I held them in my hands initially and then brought in the big guns (portable heater). My circlip install tools are brand new and the fit is VERY snug in the side of the piston. I pounded the tool (as gently as I could but enough to move the tool) into the counterbore of the piston to eliminate any gap between the tool and the land of the piston. I was able to seat all the clips into their correct position in the circlip groove. Indexing these pistons and rods for the installation in the engine is slightly different than stock parts; the pistons do not have any arrows on them for orientation but the JE literature noted that the JE stamped on the underside of the piston is to be set beneath the exhaust valves. For the rods, I set the bearing tang facing down. These pistons have counterbores for the circlip installation tool on both sides of the piston. Pistons 1-3 are ready for rings. Once the snap ring and washer arrived I went back to the crank and completed the install of the tensioner paddle and chains. With the crank ready to be dropped into the case I prepped the case by cleaning the cylinders one more time, installing a couple of gaskets, and confirming the pins that locate the crank in the case half were properly installed. I had my business partner help me set the crank into the case half and that went very smoothly. I bolted the aft end of the crank to the case half and then made my own Porsche Special Tool 9613 for the front end and used a couple of old head bolts to secure the crank to the case. Now the case is flipped with bank 1 point up, getting ready to receive pistons 1-3 after I confirm the ring gaps.

I am doing a similar build the only difference with the pistons and rods is that I opted for the Carrillo rods. Seeing your K1 rods makes me think I could have gone K1. They look great. Keep up the good work.

Great write up and nice photos. Good luck with the rest of the build.

You're not installing the IMS Solution?

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Thank you, I'll need the luck for sure For my middle of the road performance build Charles at LN recommended the K1's. I am a fan. I know, I know, but...but...unlike my new washer and snap ring for the IMS paddle, at the time of ordering I was being (feeling) cheap...Not that big of a deal to me as I won't mind the work associated with the changing of this wear part.

See the attached table from my JE piston ring set. Except for the rods and pistons, I am pretty stock with this build. My question is about my application. High-performance street-strip - sounds more aggressive than the parts I am assembling and the balancing that I have done... My 1999 is hardly late model stock High Perf yields .0175 for the top ring and .0195 for ring 2 minimum gaps Jakes's values for stock Porsche components I think are tighter than those figures. Whaddya think?

How much tighter are they?

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.015" on the top and .016" on the second is a safe end gap to run, however sometimes the gaps out of the box are already larger than that. Nothing really you can do there short of running one of TS gapless rings instead in either the top or second position.

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Just a few thousandths Thank you Charles - I can work with those.

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Charles, What are your thoughts on gapless rings ? The additional pull on the intake stroke, blow by mitigation and minimization of contaminants making it past the rings into the sump seem like they would be a pretty good fit for these engines.

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We have used them for years in both aircooled and watercooled Porsche engines. In fact, we stock them for the 101mm bore an an optional upgrade for our M96/M97 piston sets. We can also do gapless top and gas ported rings, but we do those custom.

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Nice, thanks for the response. Interesting info.

I was surprised to learn it has been a month since I posted progress. I was able to install pistons 1-3 successfully into the bank one case half. Gapped the rings per Charles's input. There was no grinding needed, most were very close to the tolerances provided, a couple were just a little loose. connecting the pistons to the rods was pretty smooth. I had practiced with the circlip installation tool and found it needed "breaking in" before it would seat all the way into the counterbore and against the land of the piston. Once I had sanded it down a bit it went together just like in Jake's video. Before installation into the case, I reconfirmed the orientation of both the rods and the pistons as well as staggering the ring gaps. Lubed the journals and the bearings, and the pistons, cylinder, and the ring compression tool...lotsa lube. They eased down the cylinders and onto the journals without hang-up. I moved them down slowly so as not to "impact" the journal. No drama here thankfully as there was plenty to come over the past week and a half which I will post shortly.

Great accomplishments! Based on the things I see in your pictures you have followed my video verbatim so far!

I was feeling pretty good after getting the first pistons into the engine. I prepared for the next stages by installing the front console (just a couple bolts, loosly), IMS bearing, gaskets, and chain rails. The bank two case half went on reasonably well....I had my business partner assist and upon mating the two halves I had to fiddle with it a bit to get it to seat flat, which it did after a minute or two of fussing. I used loctite 5900 for sealant....wow is that s$*t hard to get outta the tube....trying to put a consistently thin bead on the flange in a straight line was difficult but achievable...took way longer than I expected and I was getting worried about working time. I am pretty certain of coverage with consistent and thankfully minimal material squishing out of the seam. Up next was installation of pistons 4-6. My work area cools off at night and I have found I need to really heat up the pistons and cool down the wrist pins to facilitate smooth installation...Did all that...prepped the piston with rings and lubrication and installed #6 into its cylinder. Turned over the engine and got the rod and piston aligned...That took a few tries...wrist pin went in without issue. I confirmed it's placement with a borescope and was ready to tackle installation of the circlip. Inserting the tool into the piston counterbore took for F'ing ever! Jake calls it the happy spot...my tool resisted valiantly but I am tenacious and eventually got it all the way in, confirmed with the borescope...don't take your hand off of that tool! I got past my trepidation and slammed that clip into place - all the way in - Yay. Confirmed with the borescope before I removed the tool. But only part of the tool came out! You can see in the pic below the sleeve of the tool was stuck in the counterbore. I tried some angled pliers and could NOT budge the sleeve. Amazon sent me a couple long funky needlenose pliers but none were up to the task of reaching all the way into the engine to get purchase on the tool. I finally decided to drill a hole in the sleeve and then come for it with a piece of hardened wire through the front of the engine. Baling wire was not strong enough - I broke it two times before moving to harder material. Thankfully, after a few worrisome days, I was able to remove the tool. I am ready to tackle 5 and 4 this weekend.

The mistakes you made here are common. I do address this in the video, and further in my classes. 1- Always permanently affix the sleeve onto the tool before doing any assembly! I dig weld (fuse) mine on, or at minimum use JB weld to lock it in place. This tip (sleeve) was made to be removable because the factory would wear these tools out assembling engines. The tip could be thrown away, and the tube retained to save money. remember, the accountants are ALWAYS in charge. The guys that copied the factory tools (Baum, SIR and etc) don't build engines or have any clue how the tools are used, they just copy them, and in this case they copied a flaw, which caused this issue for you. It took me 10 years of assembling engines to wear out the first sleeve on one of these tools. You will note that my "Faultless Piston Pin Tool" does not incorporate this sleeve, therefore it eliminates this issue from occurring. Why? Because I had this bite me in the *** 18 years ago, but I didn't have a video, or even a book to build the first M9X engine here at FSI. 2-You didn't fit the tool to the piston counterbore on the bench, or practice the install on the B2 case half before installing the case half onto the engine. Installing the #6 piston into the bore, and practicing alignment and delivery with the case half off of the engine is a golden nugget when it comes to this process. You learn the inadequacies and challenges before the case half is on the engine, and things are "real". In lots of cases a brand new piston tool is too larger to fit the counterbore, because the surface is parkerized and this builds up a material difference. This is the reason why the Faultless tool is not parkerized, and is a smooth surface. Good job, but a a lot of this could have been avoided with a little more pre- assembly procedure/ dressing of tools/ fitting of components. No big deal, you are learning the disciplines of this engine. People think this is easy. They wonder why this cost so much. They learn when they try to fill my shoes, BUT the video has already saved you from at least 2 dozen other potential issues that kicked my ***. Its will save you from dozens more as you move forward, you just don't know that, since you won't make those mistakes. Good job, this isn't suppose to be easy.

I really appreciate that you are following this process with me Jake and I do value each and every comment. I can't argue that more practice would not have improved my performance but I did practice on the bench with just the pistons and with pistons in the bank two case as well. As the bench practice proved to me, the tool did need to be dressed to fit the counterbore which is why my tool is shiny at the tip...sanded it down until it was smooth in and out of the counterbore. I think I pinched it (the sleeve) when adjusting the piston while searching for the "happy place". I did totally miss your instructions to weld the sleeve to the tool...will do that before the next operation fo' shizzle.

I'm just happy to see the video is guiding you successfully. That's what I consider my "payment" for all the time that we spent to create the series. You have done really well following it so far :-)

The near failure of my work on piston 6 prepared me well for working on 5 and 4...after if fixed the end of my tool. Heated pistons and refrigerated wrist pins went together really well without drama. Aligning the piston with the tool bore in the cylinder wall was a lot easier on 5 and 4 and I had both in place in an hour. Checked the engine with a 1/4 turn of the crank and it was smooth. So nice to have this stage in my rear-view mirror. I moved into the oil sump and installed its few components. Next is sealing the sump plate.

Got through buttoning up the oil sump internals, installing spin-on oil filter adapter, front seal and the C2 S pulley...whoa the torque on that one! Placed heads for both bank 1 and 2 and have them torqued into position. On to lifter carrier and cam-shaft assembly and installation.

You had me for a moment there with the head gasket, and me thinking this was some kind of closed deck conversion.

Got through these steps a couple of weekends back. Now I am going through all the small plastic and rubber bits and sourcing new. I'll be reaching out to Skip via the website for a UAOS setup. Not shown but installed spark plug tubes as well, one of the last things Jake installs in the video series Assembling the cams, chain and cam adjusters was a bit of a b**ch...just fitting the adjuster assembly in between the cams took a few minutes. Thankfully, I was able to keep sprockets and chains aligned...kept the orange dots and lines aligned. With all the parts laid out on tables I experienced a couple of senior moments where I felt the need to re-confirm bank 1 vs. bank 2 components...OK maybe more than a couple...just didn't want to have the adjuster, or the cams or the caps or the etc. etc. going in on the wrong side! Remembered to rotate the engine 360, but no further, when I moved to bank 2 to install cams and the rest of the components. Switched to dreibond for sealing the cam covers vs the loctite - so much easier to apply. Installed the scavenge pumps for each bank Confirmed timing by watching the intake valves operate through the ports...Thank you Jake for the tip! On to sensors, vacuum system, fuel system, wiring, and intake components! My apologies for the couple upside-down pics - just the way I held the phone apparently.

Impressive work!

Someone is paying attention to my video. Awesome! The reason I went over the B1 and B2 parts so much is because they can get confused.. Remember to make sure the part numbers match the cam actuator solenoids properly for B1 and B2, and don't just trust the colors of the solenoid caps as a means of identification.. Not all of those are accurate.

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One of many practical reminders of the video series, confirming part numbers. I did have the odd, infrequent occasion to return parts that initially appeared to be correct. I thought I felt great after getting bank 2 pistons installed...That paled in comparison to hand cranking the engine and peering down into the ports of cylinders 1, 6, 2, 4, 3, and 5 and seeing the intake valves actuate in their proper order. Made my weekend! Throughout the build, I have been thinking about how much of what is on my engine in the car now will get put onto this engine. I have decided to purchase and assemble pretty much everything I can source. Currently, I am having difficulty finding an engine wiring harness. It's not super helpful that the manuals I find online are pretty lean on the electrics. I have started looking at what dismantlers have available but I've got to get clear on the part numbers - Mine is a 1999 C4, so electronic throttle control.

Nice job! Deja Vu for me, right down to the same engine yolk! What crankshaft pulley did you install?

I will have my engjne harness 4 sale soon. Its a 2000 c2 with e-gas do it should work. Im swaping in a gt3 motor and wont need it. pm if u r interested

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I installed the Carrera S pulley - has a little weight that Jake says will help a little with vibration. I can get you a part number if needed.

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Thank you DeJeeper...Whoa GT3 - jealous - I'll reach out.

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Had my spreadsheet open... Pulley 997-102-241-01, washer 997-102-203-00, and screw 997-102-202-00.

I didn't catch it and may have missed it, but what assembly lube are you using? Does Jake recommend a particular assembly lube? They are not all created equal. I really love all the nice photos and work. It appears you are doing a nice clean and diligent job. This will serve you well!

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I do not recommend any lubricants in the video. I actually removed every label and etc from everything that was used. I prefer to assemble engines with engine oil, except for the cams/ lifters, and then I make the decision based on what cams are being used.

Very interesting Jake. I imagine the prelube becomes critical for a build using only oil, and I imagine that is covered in the video. I know both you and Tony C talked extensively about the correct priming of the oil pump.

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I don't go over the pre- start functions. That would be a separate video, but too liability driven for me to offer.. As soon as someone has an issue at start up they would have "followed what the video showed" and had an issue they wanted someone else to pay for. Its really hard to help people today, without screwing yourself in the process.

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I followed Jake's general recommendations for using high viscosity lubricant and engine assembly grease where he advised. I ended up using a couple of lube products including these:

Jake - for people that have some familiarity on assembly lubes and pre start procedures on other engine types that have worked for them in the past - would you say that largely, if it’s worked for you and you have developed trust in it in the past, you should be good - or - are the qualities with these engines that dictate more specialized assembly lubricants and pre-start procedures ? Thanks

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Achieving oil pressure is easier than people make it out to be. The people that have issues will pull the DME relay, and spark plugs, and turn the engine on the starter till OP is gained. The starter turns these engines over too slowly to achieve this. Doing this method is about the only huge mistake that can be made, other than just starting the engine up with npc procedure in place to achieve OP the first time. A pre- oiler is a good idea, but not everyone has one.

Nice work! Thoughtful, deliberate, not rushed. Excellent use of all tools and teachings. It's gonna be awesome to light it up.

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Appreciate the kind words. Has been a very gratifying process. I have been sharing pics with my siblings...my oldest brother, who had a Porsche 1600 Normal back in the 60's, has always commented back to me...I just want to drive it when you are done! BTW - Bay Area - I grew up in Novato and my bro is in San Raphael. I really love that part of CA.

Assembling the fuel rail I've run into a block getting the injectors into the rail. I moved into the work believing it would be pretty straightforward as I have replaced fuel injectors while the engine was in the car....but nope, I am having a bear of a time seating the injectors in the rail such that the clip is properly attached. Will just keep at it and try not to break stuff!

You need to wet the O-rings with something. You can use fuel or vaseline.

Realized I was trying to get the clip into the wrong groove - Here we go!

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Yes - used a little lithium grease - it was in as far as it would go - just needed to review photos to see that I was aiming for the WRONG groove.

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Awesome followup Jake!

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Stab that thing into the car already and fire it up...whats taking so long?

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I totally deserve that - I just hope my other responsibilities and hobbies are not compromising my engine rebuild...My family, my home projects, one work model (architect day job) and my hobbies - I hope you enjoy...I do! one pic is of my family (siblings) closing our summer shack on a lake...brothers, one sister a bunch of nephews and me and my oldest.

Looks fun. Residential construction is my day job so ill never post pics of renovations . I can appreciate all the other things that steal our time.

Ha, De Jeeper you must cringe at my sequence on the bathroom remodel, I know I do at times! Material delays hit me all over the head and shoulders on this one.

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It certainly makes me cringe...brings back memories of my bathroom remodel 5 years ago. 200+ large format (1' x 2') tiles for the shower and only 5 didn't need custom cuts. Felt like I was in jail for a few weeks.

After a long hiatus and plenty of progress on the honey-do list, I brought the car into the workshop and will begin removing the old engine and readying the rebuild to take its place. I've got a little organization to do before I begin draining fluids but this was a major step in the right direction.

I made real progress - Engine out baby! Lowering went well. I have quick jacks with the truck adapter extensions and they have worked great. However, you will see in the photos below that they are NOT high enough to clear the engine on the harbor freight 1,000lb lift. After removing the throttle body and the heat shield it cleared the sheet metal by about 1/2 inch. Next is to transfer a few support parts and my UAOS from this old girl onto the rebuild. I have a new clutch and complete Cargraphic exhaust to put on and then it will be time to lift it into place.

So, when removing the engine I discovered I had a fuel cooler on the back of my AC compressor. I was unable to remove the compressor in the typical manner due to the connections in the rear of the unit. I have the fuel rails installed on the re-build which came from the doner motor which didn't have this feature. Now I am wondering if I should install the fuel rails and compressor with the cooling option onto my rebuild. Why did this feature show up on my engine and not on the doner? It was a '99 C2 and had the cable throttle. My car is 1999 C4 with electronic throttle. Is there something about the C4 that Porsche added this feature? How beneficial, or not, is this option?

It's supposed only on year 2000 engines. Have it on my early 2001 C2 though (engine stamp has the code corresponding to 00). Jake stated in the past that the cooler fuel was effective at producing more power, but don't know if that more than offset what you lost from running the A/C.

You Tube

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A fuel cooler is interesting.

The video is pretty clear that there is no effect. Maybe there is no effect because the O2 sensors are changing the injector timing based on what they are seeing. Maybe another function to account for fuel temp needs to be added to the ECU. A coworker of mine used to drag race an old Chevy Chevelle, well before fuel infection. He swore by cold fuel. He had a cooler set up in the trunk of the car. He didn't have any data to show it was better, but had stories of getting into alot of arguments about the setup...

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I have H Beam Carillos going inti my 3.4 to 3.8 M96 elective rebuild 138000km, LN Nickies. When I had an engine platform with more choice (LS9 into supercharged Holden Senator = ChevySS with leather) . I went with Oliver I Beam rods. I think the premium I beam has a good case for the M96 engine, but in the current era of supply chain issues - we will have to be grateful for any M96 upgrades. I think an F1 team would laugh at H Beam rods - but not in the 60s. I doubt the current small market will get a premium I Beam rods into the M96 despite some cogent arguements for I Beam rods in what is hardly a pushrod V8 engine - the M96 to make low displacement high power to me is a premium I beam rod engine. .

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All 996 Turbo's have a fuel cooler. I have no idea if it is useful or not. Obviously Porsche thought it was valuable.

Engine Masters on Motor Trend TV (totally worth the sub cost) covered this on a carb motor and did see positive results, peak was about 5HP I believe but they saw gains throughout the rev range, in some spots 10-15HP. The motor was a 485HP pushrod V8.

I'll take any incremental hp improvements if they are real. Headers w/ IPD plenum, gt3 throttle body, software ~ 10 hp 200 cell cats ~ 10 HP fuel cooler ~ 5 Hp Anybody on this thread own a dyno to prove it?

I appreciate all the input and commentary. I am going to swap over the compressor and rails - It's not that much of a backtrack at this point so time to just get after it! By the way - I am sure some of you noticed the melting insulation at my main power conductor at the starter...That area is seeing some heat! I replaced the existing wiring about 2 years ago when my starter was cranking slowly and that one was corroded but not melted like this. Seems odd.

Yes, it's been a while since my last post...priorities. Have been able to get a couple of hours of work in every few days over the past several weeks and have gotten the engine into the car. A few highlights: 1. took me about 8 trys to get that lift table to operate correctly - bleed the hydraulics and bleed it again, and again and again...now it's the bomb whew 2. mating the transmission to the engine - initially ended up with a 1/2" gap. gentle movement of the transmission wouldn't align the output with the flywheel. pulled it apart - re-centered the clutch and she went together very simply. the plastic alignment tool I have for mounting the clutch has a lot of play 3. lifting the engine into place went smoother than I anticipated. generally no issues with placement and fit. got it hanging in place last saturday 4. I have since put all the components _throttle body, UAOS, secondary air, etc in their place - had to leave them off for the engine to fit below the car - and made connections of power steering, air con, wiring harness, ground strap and main power 5. have installed the braces and suspension bits below the engine, connected all the water lines 6. began installing my new cargraphic exhaust system and ran into a stopping point this morning...header bolts supplied with the system are 30mm in length - looks like they are supposed to be 28mm (in the torque value book from KG) I will get the correct length bolts and install the exhaust system tomorrow. I'll be ready to fill the coolant system and the engine with break-in oil by saturday and am planning on starting her up around mid-day. Because this has taken me so long I reached out to LN Engineering asking if, due to the time this engine has been sitting, I needed to do anything special before starting. They answered that it should be fine and that I might consider using a pre-oiler. I am still considering that piece of advice.

O'Reilly used to have oil priming tanks available through their loaner tool program. Not seeing it listed on their website at the moment unfortunately.

Nice work there. I have considered a priming tank too but wonder how effective it would be priming through the oil pressure sender port. alternatively, I thought about making an adapter out of the oil pick up port in the sump to connect to the oil system. Then pump a few quarts into the engine with a drip pan under it to collect what comes back out. Or, prime it upside down on the stand.

I use a plastic bug sprayer from hardware store and cut the nozzle off and add a pipe fitting and charge thru oil pressure sensor hole, no problem reaching 60 psi with bug sprayer.

I would be *SUPER* careful about this. More than one rebuild has been trashed by priming the oil system. The oil pump can't pump air very well and it needs to force all the oil out of the galleries - with air - to prime itself. When it doesn't prime the engine gets no oil at all. If it was assembled with assembly lube it should be fine.

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Very true, after priming the engine with the bug sprayer and the location of which gallery the oil pressure sensor is located, I would use the Jake Raby method of short crank with no fire till oil pressure reading is achieved. I can count on one hand the number of engine that had no oil pressure failure from lack of priming the oil pump by the technician and oil pumps loosing prime after oil change where oil pump had to be remove and packed with white grease and be ok afterward.

I was able to get her back together, filled with fluids including good gas and cranked her over...no pre-oiling...once she started I shut her off right away...trying to build oil pressure...third time she presented 2+ bar and I started her again....she ran a little rough for 20 seconds and she began to idle nicely, oil pressure went to 4+ bar and held. After maybe two minutes of even running I went to the back to check for any leaks and didn't see anything...went back to the drivers seat and idled her at 2,500 for a few seconds and noticed oil pressure had dropped to one bar...revved her a bit and the pressure went down slightly...shut her down. I checked the dipstick and it was barely reading anything (dash gauge showed below minimum...I had filled her up with 9 quarts...I added another 1/2 quart and waited 10 min. checked the stick and oil was registering about 1/3 of the way up. started her again and still 1+ bar registering on the gauge. Went through the oil level-checking process again after letting it flow back down and had a consistent reading on the stick. dash gauge showed about 1/2 full. Started her again and still had 1+ bar pressure. Gonna call it a day and come back tomorrow. I had installed a new oil pressure sender, and electronic sensor.....every sensor is new. I confirmed the scavenge pumps are facing the correct direction. but not sure where to look next. Looking for some troubleshooting assistance from the group.

I have been thinking that perhaps some assembly lube may have obstructed a pathway. Thinking that I"ll start by changing the oil and filter and drop the pan to check the pick-up tube.

If you do pull the oil pan, be sure to remove the oil pick up tube and check the o-ring on the pick up tube, leaking o-ring can cause low oil pressure also by sucking air along with oil.

Drained the oil and dropped the pan...the only question in the end for me was, did I use too much lube on the cams and lifters. That material was very present and very viscose. The pick-up was clean and the O-ring was in place. Going for it again.

Changing the oil and the filter fixed the pressure issue. I think the filter was getting clogged as it accumulated assembly lube that wasn't breaking down. She idled well and held pressure. Took her out for a 12 mile loop...was short 'cause I lost a water connection. nothing catastrophic but forced me to stop and get a tow.

Good news.....kinda. The coolant lines will be a pita for several heat cycles. Keep checking the clamps for tight expecially in the ones u replaced.

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Roger that - Kinda good - and good tip on checking more than the one area of separation. At least the wiring harness isn't an issue! thank you for that De Jeeper!

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happy to help .

I don't think your oil filter clogged up with assembly lube, that would be highly unusual...( unless you used a ton of very thick grease, and even then the oil filter by-pass should have opened up to flow oil with just a little differential pressure).. More likely is the main oil pump by-pass valve stuck open when cold ( a tiny bit of trash is all it takes) ...then remained full open until the next cold start that flushed out the tiny trash......... Just keep an eye on the pressure for a while to make sure the by-pass valve doesn't stick again....or maybe pull the by-pass valve out and clean the bore and valve and inspect it all just to be safe.... It's very easy to R&R as I'm sure you know...

Thanks for the updates. I'm right behind you. Got my heads on and will be doing cams this weekend.

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I had a related experience on my 2nd rebuild. After 50 miles or so, my max hot oil pressure was steadily declining. At 70 miles, I was maxing out at 2.5 bar. Discussed the situation with Jake. He had me cut open the oil filter, and sure enough the pleats had collapsed. Theory is the pressure relief valve was stuck closed and high pressure damaged the filter. Inspected the relief valve, but did not find any debris or damage. New oil and filter. Haven't seen similar behavior since.

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Thank you PT3 and Yaz - that's an easy check. I very much appreciate the depth of experience you two and this community have brought to my build. I'll R&R and report back.

Just as PT3 and Yaz suggested...I removed the oil pressure relief valve and the plunger was stuck up in the bore. Got it out, cleaned it and the bore, oiled it up and reinstalled. Didn't find any foreign objects or debris, thankfully. The oil that drained out when checking the valve looked clean too.

Took her out for a couple of short trips over the holiday weekend. Oil pressure stayed at about 4 bar at RPM after fully warming up. I found leaking coolant lines and an oil leak after the first trip. The oil leak was a pretty constant drip. I took off the bumper and muffler and couldn't really tell where it was coming from. Hoping it was a cracked sparkplug tube or a crimped O ring, I pulled the #2 assembly and reinstalled with new seals - it all looked fine, 'cause it was. I repositioned the hose clamps and went back out...Sunday night I ordered several new hoses and brought the car back into the shop to prep for an engine drop to remove and re-do the valve cover seal. Ugh. On the good side, the engine runs great and there are no codes. The second drive out I went for about 24 miles - super fun even being just a little conservative driving. Hoses are due to arrive around the 9th. Gotta check my dreibond tube to make sure I have enough for the valve cover. Even with Jake's superlative tutorial, I managed this mess...telling myself to "be patient, go slowly and deliberately...this baby is gonna be awesome when she's all sealed up." Christmas present on the way - DRIVING.

When I was preparing for the engine removal I removed all the under-trays. Found that both of the front drive axles had torn/broken boots. I bought two replacement axles. Reading about that project now. Don't think I have all the tools - like a press to remove the axle from the hub. What else should I know/acquire before digging in? Considering starting that project while I wait for the hoses to arrive.

The front axles usually come out of the hub pretty easily. Unscrew the axle nut almost all the way and tap it with a heavy hammer, like 2 or 4 pounds. Have new axle nuts on hand, of course. You will find there is not enough room to get the axle out of the car unless you pop the ball joints out, perhaps the tie rod end too. You'll also need some way to torque up the axle nut to 460Nm, which is unlikely with a 1/2" breaker bar.

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two words - torque multiplier thank you for the heads up on tapping the axle out.

Thankfully I found my oil leak wasn't the valve cover - it was a plug that hadn't been tightened. Tough to reach but doable with the engine in. Circled in blue in the pic below...when it would have been so easy to get to. My other challenge was a leaky coolant hose that needed replacing. Ordered the new one #18 in the next image below - which has been redesigned and requires that you also replace the hard line around the engine. #32 I couldn't wait for the new hard-line so I "modified" the old one - dremel-ed (is that a verb?) the hard U at the one end, sanded the cuts smooth and slid the hose on and clamped...it held - at least for 90 miles so far - two trips of 40 and 50 miles. So good to be back in the car! I ordered a new hard line and it came in the mail today - I'll replace my modified line and be back on the road again in the morning. Let the break - in continue.

Good to hear its holding together so far. The bank 1 oil sender blank plug is a pita with the motor in. That older coolant hose is a common issue in early cars.

The engine has been running great. I've completed a couple of break-in oil changes and the engine is currently full of old-school 100% petroleum oil. Just passing through 1,000 miles today on a morning ride on the back roads.

SNS - Very pleased you got this motor purring. Your documentation of the journey has added some fine info for us barely capable diy guys. Thanks for that and all the best for you and your car in 2023.