Another 944 Turbo Engine Rebuild Thread

[dlknight]

I then turned my attention to the cooling system and another bit of surface rust on the rear valance. Started with mechanical rust removal using my Black and Decker sanding file and a drill with wire brush attachments. Then cleaned it up and used the Bilt Hamber Deox Gel to remove any remaining rust chemically.

I filled the block up with coolant by sticking a hose into the outlet and filling till it reached the top, the refitted the hoses and filled the coolant reservoir until it came out of the bleed screw, managed to get 8 litres in this way, so hopefully only half a litre or so will be needed to top it up.

I pressure tested the system before I filled with coolant and managed to find a few leaks, one of them necessitated a new hose from Porsche (odd shape and tapered - £30). I did this again once the system was full of coolant and found more leaks which were fixed by tightening hose clamps. Eventually I got it to hold 15 PSI over a couple of hours which was good enough for me.

 

[Kongsodoken]

Looking good - the last bits are the most satisfying

 

[scam75]

I had to replace that hose too after my rebuild. I ended up ordering a silicon hose with the right size ends and cutting it to suit.

 

[dlknight]

I had to replace that hose too after my rebuild. I ended up ordering a silicon hose with the right size ends and cutting it to suit.

I actually did that, but I wasn't happy that the silicone hose was as secure as the rubber one.

Another update from me! almost there, I think I should be at least turning the engine over on the starter to build up oil pressure in the next week or so!

So next steps from the last update was to get the fuel tank fitted and plumbed in. I used some butyl tape I had purchased a while ago to reseal the taillights, (another job for the list that I haven't got around to yet). Then refitted the carpet and seat belt, I thought the seat belt was broken but after doing some detective work, didn't realise it had a tilt mechanism inside it. Once it was properly installed the seat belt started working again, saving me the £100 or so for a new one from Porsche (which I thought was quite reasonable, considering the prices of some of the aftermarket belts from rennline etc.).

I painted the DIY fuel tank strap I made from aluminium strip (unfortunately I had to modify this again later as I'd made it slightly too long and therefore it was a bit slack). The transmission oil cooler also got a lick of new paint.

Meanwhile the heat shields and exhaust had been with Matt at MB Engineering. I had the shields vapour blasted, and the exhaust tailpipe needed welding as it had split from the silencer. Got a bung welded into the exhaust downpipe as well for my wideband sensor.

Started looking in my parts boxes for the exhaust fittings and noticed that the silencer hangers were not in the greatest of condition (even though I'd had them powder coated, I think that was all that was holding them together). After seeing how much Porsche wanted for them, around £30 per hanger (4 of them), I searched the web and found that 944online had new ones for a fraction of the Porsche tax and came with new rubber blocks (my original ones though are still good) for $91 including delivery to the UK (£67 after exchange rate).

 

[dlknight]

Something that had been bugging me for a while was that some of the interior had overspray from when I had the car resprayed. So I got some white spirit (which didn't work) and then tried some xylene thinners I had for my epoxy paint. This worked great and removed the overspray making the trim look like new. I then immediately washed the trim and treated it to some Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care. The other trim pieces that had overspray were the left side door panel and the centre arm rest. I think the bodyshop must have left the trim pieces somewhere where they got sprayed by accident...

I then began gathering the parts for the next job, fitting the transmission!! Trying not to injure myself whilst moving the transmission from the utility room to the garage was interesting, I split it into a two-day activity, moving it to the front hall and then moving to the garage the next day.

Installation was fairly easy; the plastic selector protection tube wasn't too difficult to install. The main issue was trying to fit the transmission between the bell housing and the spare wheel well.

I then completed the Buchanon Automotive gear shifter mod (see the 944 FAQs - https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/threads/the-ba-gear-stick-upgrade.104615/). The shift feel is amazing like a bolt action rifle, can't wait to try it out on the road.

When attaching the shifter rod to the transmission I found a weird modification that must have happened at some point (but not by my hands). Someone had drilled a hole straight through the shifter rod and secured it using an M8 bolt and nut, instead of just the M8 pointy shaped bolt. I also found the hole had an M10 thread, so found an M10 bolt, cut it to size and ground the end into a point to fit in the divot on the shift bar. Drilled the bolt for safety wire and secured it with Loctite.

I took the vapour blasted heat shields to the electroplater and got some yellow zinc plated and then refitted them, looking good!

A little evening job was to make up some new PTFE fuel hoses for the fuel pump and fuel filter.

And finally last job was fitting the wastegate.

Next job will probably be the starter motor, then we can try connecting some power!!!

 

[Kongsodoken]

Fantastic work takes me to when I did mine

 

[blade7]

I'd have chopped out that tatty old catalytic convertor, it's probably rotten inside.

 

[dlknight]

I'd have chopped out that tatty old catalytic convertor, it's probably rotten inside.

It is only temporary, until I can afford a full system (probably off the chap who made David's). I had a good look inside with a torch and have shaken it several times to get any loose bits out. I'm happy that it isn't blocked so should be fine for now, some bits have broken off and come out when I was shaking it.

 

[TTM]

Great work, that all looks fab. Pleased to say I can see the pictures now for whatever reason.
There is a very simple way to bleed the coolant circuit with no tool and that is to fill up the tank and blow air with the mouth at the opening, which will force the liquid to go everywhere it should be, until seeing coolant come out at the bleed screw.

 

[dlknight]

Back once again!

Next up the messy job of rebuilding the rear axles and CV joints, grease everywhere!

After looking everywhere for a bellville spring washer for the inside side of the CV joint, it turns out that the late turbo / S2 axles don't have one. The CV joint butts right up to the lip on the inside of the axle and is held in place with the circlip on the outside which is a very tight fit.

I continued on with the jobs, next was to fix the broken stud on the rear lower splitter. I tried to drill out the remains of the old stud which didn't work out very well but got rid of most of it, I was then able to use a dremel cutting disc to remove the rest of it. Looks like the stud is welded to a metal brace that is embedded in the fibreglass. I chose to repair the splitter by using a bolt of suitable size and then epoxy it into place with some JB Weld. This worked out quite well and seemed solid enough when mounting the splitter to the car!

 

[dlknight]

Made up some custom PTFE fuel lines for the rear.

Finished fitting the wastegate, and started fitting the exhaust, it was then I realised that the downpipe would not fit with the clutch guard plate in place. I'd hazard a guess that the guard plate wasn't fitted to turbo cars for this very reason! Oh well it was only about £20. Note the new wideband sensor installed, perfect placement by my mate Matt at MB Engineering.

Cleaned the exhaust back box, used a clay bar and some methylated spirits to remove the contaminants from the surface and then polished it with some Autosol metal polish, shiny!

Filled up the gearbox with Mobil's finest...

 

[dlknight]

Then it was a very long couple of weeks, I managed to crank the engine over and build up good oil pressure! A mission to Tesco then to get some Momentum 99 and then I found a small fuel leak at the fuel rail damper line connection. Looks like the zinc plating treatment damaged the surface of the connection. Luckily, I had a few spare fuel rails so took one to MB Engineering to get it cleaned up less aggressively.

My daily drive BMW X3 decided to throw a spanner or two into the mix, 2 year old Lemforder control arm ball joints failed. Not happy, so ordered a couple of replacements and decided to fit the new shocks and springs I'd had on the shelf for a couple of months. Then whilst doing the job found that the front discs and pads also needed replacing!!!

 

[Kongsodoken]

Nice and Shiny great work

 

[MarkK]

Some epic details here !!!!

 

[dlknight]

Replacement fuel rail installed, last weekend, then I couldn't get a spark. Scratched my head for a little while and read through the Clark's Garage no-start troubleshooting guide. Printed it off and got my multi-meter and ventured into the garage. Then noticed the speed sensor plug was loose, clipped it back together and, well you can see for yourself below!

Note that the lifters were noisy at the beginning but soon settled down as the engine warmed up. The balance belt was slightly too tight as well, so I've loosened it a little and re-adjusted the balance belt idler roller so it is barely touching the belt as per the workshop manual (0-1mm deflection). Sounded much better, will record another video after I've completed the initial drive and run-in, scheduled for Monday on the way to the MOT station...

 

[scam75]

Awesome work and a happy day indeed. You better get some petrol........

 

[dlknight]

Awesome work and a happy day indeed. You better get some petrol........

Yes another trip to Tesco for some Momentum 99