Shrek

[Dougieboy1]

Episode 45: Engine - hearing

Been a while, have much to catch up on.

Needed to get the engine in. Figured how hard can it be, i will do it myself, i just need to give it some thought.

At the time, i I had a scissor lift, so i figured i perch the engine on the end of that





Then push the car backwards over the engine



And lift the engine into place



4 bolts, and we are done. Car now ready to be sent off for starting - never done a dry sumped flat engine before. Dont want to make any expensive mistakes. Much rather be able to shout at somewhen else when it goes wrong. Went over to Garry's gaff for fettling and starting, via Lee who was going to start it for me but ran out of time when things like the brake master cylinder started leaking, fuel pump didnt work and then when it did, it leaked.

Trailered over to Garry's, within a few days it was running and it sounded like a diesel taxi. Car was going to have the suspension set up done at Jez's near Horsham and Garry asked him to look into the curious noises coming from the engine, and the oil leak that had sprung from somewhere.

On arrival at Jez's, it looked like this.



Shortly after it looked like this



Turns out, head spacing on cylinders 1 & 2 hadnt been done properly and the metallic noises were the valves ever so gently hitting the top of the piston.

So engine apart, original engine builder not really interested in solving the issue so Jez did the work at my expense - nothing like paying for something twice.

Engine put back in and now running very sweetly indeed. It is a 2.7 911/83 engine that i bought because my car didnt come with its original engine. Indeed, i have no idea what the engine is that the car came with, seemed to be a makeweight to keep the back of the car down.

Dont know much about my engine which was sold to me as a rebuilt RS engine. It clearly isnt as the case is dated 1975 but the engine is RS spec and a 7R 911/83 case so presumably a 2.7 MFI spec block. And it runs very nicely. So engine all done.

More to come as we near the finish line.....

[jjeffries]

Question about your previously mis-assembled engine: would that lack of clearance have been felt if one turned the engine over by hand (without spark plugs), as valves kissed pistons? Just wondering because I remember that sensation when I was setting the cam timing on my SC engine...sort of a go/no-go feeling.
Really lovely car and beautifully put together.
John

[Dougieboy1]

John, Dont really know the answer to that question i am afraid. Given the contact was minimal - enough to make a noise but not enough to do any damage - i suspect the answer might be no??

The leak by the way was caused by the early cam covers flexing. So they were swapped out for later stiffer covers and the oil leak was cured.

I had also fitted a lightweight hi-torque starter, you can see it in one of the pictures of the engine. That didnt seem up to the job either so whilst the engine was out, it was replaced with an original 911 (Bosch?) starter. All of that was done by Garry who also finished the trimming which i will cover soon.

[yoda]

Shame you had to do the work twice but looking on the bright side, if they are 75 Carrera cases, you still have a sweet engine. I think RS spec engines are just about the best early 911 engine in a road car. You will love it.

[inaglasshouse]

Hi Andrew

Paying twice? Original (“big name?”) engine builder not interested in sorting out their own mess?
I feel your pain!

Public thanks to Steve Monk who rebuilt my 2.0S engine at a labour cost of zero, to make amends for the cock-up of a machining effort he had subbed out to a big name first time around.
Still cost me a lot in parts though. And Steve a lot in opportunity cost of his labour. The only one not out of pocket was the actual culprit...

Cheers, Richard.

[Mark A]

Just read this entire thread, what an incredible build. Love the colour!

Now you have me thinking, do i fit my NOS boxed banjo horns to my resto?

[Dougieboy1]

Mark, you can fit your banjo's and i can sell you another set in a box if you like

The original colour (224, Green Metallic) was the reason i bought the car.

Will update the thread shortly to bring more up to date......

Regards

Andrew

[Gary71]

Just looking back for some metal work references and realise we are missing an update or two. Are you up and running or has COVID hit progress?

[Dougieboy1]

mostly laziness on my part and other projects have gotten in the way.......thanks for the nudge, i will endeavour to get up to date.....

I have gazillions of other metalwork photos courtesy of Barry. If there is a specific area you need, let me know and i can send them to you if i have the right ones.

Andrew

[Dougieboy1]

Episode 46 'Tanks a million'....

Car came without a tank. So i explored a number of options to replace it:
1. I purchased a second hand tank whilst at a Karmann Konnection show a few years back. However, i became increasingly reluctant to fit it due to concerns on internal rust.
2. I bought a reconditioned original but when it came, i was unhappy with the quality - where the metal had got thin or perforated, it had been it had been plated and not in a way which made the repair 'invisible', it was a real Tankenstein! - so that got returned
3. I mulled over the idea of fitting an original RS plastic tank with the advantage of some extra capacity but had read concerns about the condition of now almost 50 year old plastic.

So in the end, I bit the bullet and in favour of peace of mind, I bought a new tank. I think it is a Dansk one.



It got 'wurthed' and painted whilst the car was being painted. I selected the colour from a set of colour samples and picked the one which looked closest to what i felt was original colour for a 72 car based on some extensive internet based research. I think it came out OK.



Tank fittings got, well, errm, fitted.
The swan neck i had bought some years ago from a guy in the USA as they are NLA.
The in-tank filter i ended up buying new from Porsche as getting the 8mm diameter S version proved difficult. Following the time honoured principle of buying parts before you have completed your research, i first purchased an original 6mm without mesh filter (didnt know you needed mesh), then a 6mm with mesh (i didnt know i needed 8mm) until finally i got the correct one. At some point i will have to sell all the wrong parts i bought for it!



Fitted the foam tank seal



Bought a nice new porsche marked filler connector hose and vapour tank hose, installed with newly plated original hose clips - whilst my car had no tank, all the pipes and hose clips were still there but a bit manky



Fitted the tank and plumbed it all in.



Fitted my nice newly re-plated sender protector - i had been lucky enough to get an original protector and sender unit with the correct date for the car, 10/71, which matches my other dated components and fits with the 11/71 construction date.



Et voila, one completed fuel tank set up.

Clearly it didnt all go as easily as this suggests, the tank was in and out a few times before i got everything fitted properly.


One thing on my car which i havent seen before and when he saw it, Lee at Octane agreed he hadnt either, is my master cylinder reservoir has a lid to it.

You can see it here.


and here


It isnt referenced in the parts book but it clearly made of the same material as the reservoir and is profiled to perfectly fit the reservoir. It isnt home made either.... anyway, only a little thing and totally uninteresting to anyone except me......

Will look at some other bits of the car next as i go through a rather random selection of fitting out phases.

[911hillclimber]

Hate to say this, but if you want your carpet to lay flat, the large vent tube needs to rest in the depression directly under it. Maybe just needed a stretch to get there?
Never ever seen a lid/cover like that before either.

[Dougieboy1]

thanks for the tip on the pipe, am sure a tittle tug will sort it out!

[andytat]

Iv'e seen those reservoir covers on various cars over the years
and never really known why some cars had them and others
don't.
I bet there are folks on here that know.

Andy

[Dougieboy1]

Episode 47 'Interior designs'

Starting with a green rather than blank canvas


Soundproofing - I went with Dynamat xtreme against the metal and silentcoat acoustic rubber sheet over that




Obligatory crayon of underdash vin


My original dash was cracked in the usual places so after having that recovered and not being very happy with it (2 pieces rather than 1), i went with a Lakewell replacement. I was very happy with that, to my non-expert eye, it seemed indistinguishable from the original.


Headlining next which i delegated to the experts - thanks Garry - who did a fabulous job. I used the one produced by Andrea (from Early 911S forum) in Italy. I believe it has the same (correct) perforation pattern as the factory original but is a bit thicker and therefore a pig to fit. Looks good though.





its definitely better than the original




Fitted sill to blower heater tubes with all nicely re-plated original GEMI clips






Screen fitted front and rear - again by the experts.



Fitted nicely, then had to come out again. Have had the Frankfurt radio converted to bluetooth and the wire to the microphone at the top of the A pillar needs to sit inside the seal to make it look nice. Wire installed, screen refitted.

And yes, I am leaving the BHCC sticker in place as it makes me smile. In my dealings with them, they were very straight and i got what i was looking for - a 72S in Green Metallic. Curiously enough, there wasnt a whole lot of cars for me to choose from.....


Door panels next



Didnt like this arrangement with no vertical handle on the driver side (left in my case)- hard to close the door

Given that finding one for the LH door with the vertical element is well nigh on impossible, i opted for one of the repro handles available from the USA



Very happy with the result. The apparent dent in it is an optical illusion caused by my mediocre photography

Dont understand why Porsche didnt fit these originally....

Passenger side as original


Then it was time for carpeting - again thanks to Garry for a fantastic job.

I like his attention to detail, here you can see the rear carpets in the middle of the electrical conductivity electrical test.....apparently they dont which is within factory tyolerances


Final fitting out of the dash with switches and gauges


For the inquisitive amongst you, whilst striving for originality, i have allowed some personal customisation of spec to things which suit me better - Above i showed the LH door handle with vertical element, here you can see i didnt refit the original batwing horn push and went with an original hockey puck that i restored fitted to an RS spec 380mm wheel, original Frankfurt converted to blue tooth, additional 12v power outlets fitted inside the glovebox.


And finally, the icing on the cake! The seats. The car came with comfort recaros but I know these were not original as an on-line advert for the car in 2011 showed it fitted with 1980's Recaro Idealsitz. Also, given the high spec of the car (leather interior, electric windows, fog lights, nerf bar etc), even though not specified on the CoA, i cannot believe the car wasnt fitted with sport seats from new. So i managed to get hold of a pair which i believe are from the correct year.



Garry recovered them to my spec, brown leather bolsters and a lighter perforated leather for the seat and backrest. I wanted a break from the monotony of a field of brown.

And i love them. Added to which they are really comfy!

Slowly coming up to date!

[Bootsy]

Lovely