996 engine rebuild

Hi all, I received all my parts from my OPC today and am picking up the stripped engine on Thursday as well as the replacement crank and IMS. I will be calling in to see Hartech about doing their liner mod due to the mileage of the engine as I am sure there will be some ovality in the bores. Been browsing various forums and searching for what to do about the special tools. Looks like I can make most of what is required so hopefully should not need to buy any from Porsche. Alasdair

Did you find this one?. Rebuild 3.4 It was the one I was referring to in your other post but I may have mis directed you? I think I said Rentech sorry. I Hope you've got a camera? [ ] We want pics too.

Rebuild

Yep, have seen that and been in contact with Logan about various aspects of the rebuild. Alasdair

All the new goodies! Alasdair

That's a whole lot of goodies. What was the cost?

Maybe not your top priority right now Alasdair, but it would be worth putting a new AOS on it before you put it back in. Let's have a few pics of the oily bits when you start the rebuild.

I have asked my OPC for a print out of all the service details to see what was done. There was a £4600 service in May 2007 so want to know what was done. i am going to check the AOS part numbers and see what version it is and what it is like. All the OPC parts were about £1200 so far. That is for a pretty comprehensive list of replacement parts. the engine should be as good as new when finished. Alasdair

£4,600 service?? Oh dear. I hope that included a big bag of bullion!

Picked the engine up in pieces today and also the replacement crank, cage and IMS. Dropped off the crankcases at Hartech. Measured the bores and 2 liners were a bit oval so getting all of the liners rerounded and the spigot rings pressed in. Also getting them to do one of their IMS upgrades as well, had a good chat about the IMS problem. They showed me a 2007 on 997 IMS, the bearing is about 50 % larger than previous, it is possible to retrofit a later IMS to an earlier engine. I think the $800 for a ceramic bearing is way overpriced. You can strip the whole engine and replace the bearing for less than that. Should get the cases back next week. Need to get cleaning and measring. Alasdair

I reckon they were corroded before they left the factory or they got them off the Mary Rose. Seriously what bolts arn't rusted on these things!.

Crankcases and overhauled IMS are back from Hartech. My new con rods turned up Monday so split the old ones off today and started cleaning up the pistons. Will check the rings for wear and see how they look. The crank, front pulley, clutch, flywheel, pistons and rods are going in for balancing on Friday so will hopefully get them back in a week or so. 2 broken studs to remove from the crankcase which hopefully will be ok and then I can start to think about getting the crank in the carrier and in one side of the cases. Alasdair

Picked up my nicely balanced crank assembly on Wednesday. Also picked up my repaired crankcase and overhauled cylinder heads today as well. I have also had the crank polished so all parts will need a good clean before the rebuild can commence. I still have the 9 broken exhuast studs to drill out which should be fun. Also have a couple of M6 studs in the crankcases to get out too. I will be trying to get a start on getting the crank into the carrier next week. Alasdair

Pics of the bits I picked up on Friday. Just need to clean it all down now. Guy made a nice weld repair of the crankcase. Head nicely skimmed (equal deck height both sides!) with all new valves. Need to get the 3 exhaust bolts out 1 side and 6 on the other, this weeks job. Crank all balanced and polished, was only 1.3 grams out standard which is very good. all nicely polished but needs the journal drillings well flushed out. Pic of the repaired case with the Hartech ring mods shown. The cooling mods to the top and bottom coolant passages can also be seen. Hope to get started this week, will be nice to convert the 4 boxs of new parts into a usable engine! Alasdair

Looking good Alasdair. Keep the pics coming as it starts to go back together.

Finally got the car on my ramp. I removed the front bumper in order to get it repainted as it is very stonechipped. The drivers side air con condensor looked pretty past it. The right hand radiator bracket was also looking rather tired. I took the decision to remove all the radiators and brackets to clean them out properly. The right hand bracket after removal was found to be rather shot! The wheelarch liner was cracked at the bottom allowing water in to the back of the bracket. After removing all the parts, rust was found around the seams the radiators cover as in the picture above. After a good wire brushing, my favourite POR15 product was applied. One coat on and then another after about an hour. In the time between coats, I painted the scondhand brackets I received on Friday. Both water radiators are quite new looking and the left aircon condensor was very serviceable so I only needed a new right side one. This was bought from ECP at £89 plus VAT which is not bad. Will be put back together in the next couple of days as I am off from work. Alasdair

Great thread about 996 restoration. Your 996 is going to end up in better condition/better protected then when it left the factory!

I am quite surprised just how rotten some parts of the car are. Certainly built to a price compared to the older models and the finish is definitely not as good as well. Alasdair

There are bits of the Titanic that have less rust than a 996!. Actually metal doesn't rust underwater but a 996 probably could.

Ferrous metals will rust underwater.