Project S2, it's a biggun!

[bertelli_1]

I've been fortunate enough to have driven all variations of 944 & the S2 has always stood out as being the most rounded & useable (although I'm sure some of you will disagree). The only thing that has stopped me buying one is funding, or lack thereof until an opportunity presented itself recently. If you've been to promax in the last couple of years you may have noticed a a very sorry looking white S2 parked right round the back, sandwiched between the very rusty van and the Rover SD1. Well this is 'project S2', its a very solid car but comes with an engine in kit form due to a cam tensioner issue (the chain had worn through the slipper pads & was running on the tensioner, ruining the tensioner & filling the engine with swarf). Knowing how expensive an engine rebuild will be I looked around for a complete lump & settled on a fire damaged but complete red S2.

Having got the car home the first thing I did was a leakdown test on the engine (as this is the only bit I want), unfortunately cyl 3 was showing a 40% loss. At this point I was a bit gutted but the air seemed to be leaking into the coolant system which, since i'd be replacing all the gaskets anyway, wasn't a big issue - if your 944 hasn't had a headgasket yet it will need one soon, they seem to rot away after 20 years.

With the engine out I could give it the once over, you can see the fire damage & lack of oil filler!

I removed the cam cover to check the state of the chain & tensioner (which look ok), the watery oil would suggest a headgasket issue.

A quick peek in the belt cover revealed a horror, the balance idler seems to be missing the outer roller & the belt teeth are worn to nothing! A result poor workmanship.

But the worst horror was the cylinder head. A fracture between cyl 1 & 2 is a serious problem, however the cause is a mystery at the moment. It appears to have been caused by something coming up and cracking the material but it is positioned right between the cylinders, above the water jacket. I'll pull the head in the next couple of days & have a closer look.

 

[Suffolk944]

Blimey - you're not kidding ! I remember that white car, its great to see that hopefully it will be back on the road (eventually !)

 

[Tam Lin]

If you need an S2 AFM and any bits and pieces let me know, I seem to have 1/2 a garage of, erm, "spares" from my own S2 project... Good luck!

 

[bertelli_1]

Thanks for the offer. The project will take a little while to complete probably because of funding more than anything else, the more parts I can sell the better! On a side note regarding the fire damage - as I was stripping the car it looked like the fire was deliberate. I'm sure the previous owner sorted it out with the insurance company (and I haven't shown the car's reg number anywhere) but there was evidence of fire damage at the front of the car, limited to the fans & a few other plastic items around them yet I could find no cause in that area. At the rear of the engine it's difficult to say as the wiring is completely gone, the fuel lines over the cam cover appear ok (although have been fire damaged) but one of the unions was loose on the fuel rail..... This is, of course only my opinion but it wouldn't be the first time someone had an expensive fault with a car & took the insurance money rather than fix it. This had occured to me before I even bought the car but I decided to take the risk & judging by the condition of the engine this decision could be about to bite me in the ar5e. But it gives me an excuse to spend more time in the garage...

 

[Tam Lin]

In the first picture, are you using the tequila for cleaning or medicinal purposes?

 

[tref]

May I ask what the motivation is for using these two particular cars? What are the assests of the white car that make it a worthwhile exercise? I understand entirely the desire to do it "because you can"... but if it is already a tired car... and it sounds as if you are on a tight budget... rebuilding an engine a lot of components you just can't re-ues and are expensive to buy... I would have thought far cheaper to buy a running engine (he talks from bitter experience!).

There are cheap, basically sound S2s around... I paid £1500 for mine a couple of years ago... running, with a years MOT... scruffy yes. From a purely financial basis (and don't get me wrong, if we did things from a purely financial perspective none of us would be driving 944s), would a better option be to break the two cars you have and buy a cheap altogether S2?

If the white car is sound, obviously a different kettle - an engine swap is relatively cheap - it is just the engine rebuild which most certainly isn't...

 

[bertelli_1]

The motivation is to own an S2 without the financial outlay. The white car was someones pride and joy before the failure & is a sound basis for the project. The red car is being used purely for its engine, the rest will be sold / scrapped. The two cars owe me just over £1k for the pair (plus some of my time). Obviously the parts I sell will come off this figure. I'm aware of the cost of an engine rebuild which is why I wanted a sound engine to use but cest la vie!

 

[tref]

Yeah ok, that's cheap!!!

 

[sulzeruk]

Got a nice pressure tested head here if both of yours are U/S. also have a good tensioner assembly (somewhere in the garage!)
Alasdair

 

[morris944s2john]

I think this is a great project! I'd much rather see you save one of the cars rather than just scrap both and buy a better one! After all that is what restoration is all about, saving a car from the scrap heap and putting it back on the road.

Please do keep us posted, and post more pics!!!!

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I think this is a great project! I'd much rather see you save one of the cars rather than just scrap both and buy a better one! After all that is what restoration is all about, saving a car from the scrap heap and putting it back on the road.

Please do keep us posted, and post more pics!!!!

Couldn't have put it better. Look forward to the progress reports.

 

[NeilW]

What condition is the cylinder head on the white car in? Could you swap the cams, tensioner, etc. from the damaged cylinder head onto it? I understand that the white car had its own drama re the chain tensioner that caused the engine to expire, but perhaps the basic cylinder head structure is still sound. Good luck, looking forward to reading your progress.

 

[ronald smith]

Looks a great project-keep us all posted withupdate and pics of work done.
Good Luck
Cheers
Ron

 

[bertelli_1]

Yes, the head from the white car is good apart from the tensioner so I could use this. It all depends what I find when the head is off, if the block is scrap I'm back to square one.

 

[bertelli_1]

The head is off and its good news (sort of). The block & bores look absolutely fine.

With the head off I could have a better look at the damage

I decided to chisel the damaged parts out so I could get a good look inside, the head is scrap anyway.

I'll spend more time inspecting it tomorrow but my initial thoughts are that the coolant has frozen and caused the cracking (anyone have any other thoughts?). Confusingly, however this seems to be the only damaged area. Coolant must have literally poured into the engine from the crack giving the same symptoms as a (very, very bad) headgasket failure. I still haven't found the cause of the poor leakdown result from cylinder 3, but the headgasket is well past its best...

 

[Northern924]

Ooh thats not what its supposed to look like!! Good news about the block though, those bores do look in excellent shape

 

[944Turbo]

Interesting project - keep us updated!

 

[frankydoom]

I love pics - sounds plausible with the frozen coolant damage. - keep us posted

 

[bertelli_1]

Quick update - another small issue, one of the balance shaft pulleys has been damaged. Its not the end of the world & probably wouldn't cause a problem but that doesn't make it right!

I pulley the water pump off, the bearings sound a bit noisy & there was a puddle of oil inside! However the front of the engine is reasonably oil tight.

The car has had a new clutch (invoice shows around 20k miles ago) but it had rusted to the flywheel and looks almost worn out. The next step is to take the sump off and have a look at the big end bearings. As long as they look ok I can start cleaning and reassembling the engine.

 

[bertelli_1]

I've mostly continued with the red car stripdown as I want it off my driveway now. I did pop over to grab a few bits from the white car today (this car will be the recipient of the engine) and took a few pics. It looks rough but trust me, its actually quite a good car.

And a pic of the engine in the boot... (complete with its own foliage boot spoiler)