kevincnc

This is my first, hopefully useful contribution to the archives. Maybe it will help other new owners whose wrenches have never touched a Porsche (like me.) I have learned a tremendous amount about my car from reading current and past posts, and would never have attempted this without Rennlist.

As I go, I would really appreciate any advice from the experts, like “you should check this while you’re in there” or “don’t forget to loctite this” etc.

I’ll post pictures of the re-assembly progress, and try to tell what I have learned that could be useful to others who want to do this. At this point there are lots of mystery parts to me. Rather than clog up this post with questions I’m going to ask what I need to in separate posts.

Here are my objectives:
1) Make the car as reliable as possible so I don’t have to worry about breaking down on a road-trip because of failures that you could expect from a 16 year old car.
2) Clean up the corrosion and oxidation in the engine compartment and make it look as close to new as possible.
3) Do all of the PM that seems necessary.
4) Learn my way around the engine so it’s not such a mystery.


The Plan:
1) Complete tune-up including plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter, ???
2) Replace whatever coolant hoses, vacuum lines, intake hoses, and other rubber parts that I can. Also replace the rubber fuel lines and hopefully avoid an engine fire that would ruin my life for a long time.
3) Change all fluids- Coolant (already done once), brake fluid, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, ???
4) Re-plate all of the yellow-zinc brackets and hardware, and clean the engine compartment to the point that my wife nearly loses her mind. Detailing is the objective here, not a crazy wife.
5) Find and clean my grounds.
6) Replace any parts that are not too expensive but are hard to get to even if they’re still good.

Background:
This is an ’89 951 that I found on ebay in Ohio about 6 months ago. It had 24,000 miles when I got it, and now has 29,000. I had the timing belts changed and an oil leak at the oil pump area “fixed” at a reputable shop shortly after I got it. Then I had to bring it back to have them fix the ding that they put in hood, then later to re-fix the oil leak. That was when I decided that I would not leave it in the hands of “professionals” again (not to mention the expense.) EDIT: This time I mean people that get paid to screw things up instead of the ones who do it for fun and a few beers

After putting in a Test Pipe, Vitesse chip & FPR, and MBC (and having lots of fun driving it) I thought I heard a little knock and took the advice of on of the local experts to remove the injectors to get them cleaned, since I didn’t know how long it sat without running with such low miles. Once they were out, I couldn’t stand not knowing anything about what else was in there, and kept digging. I have already found missing and loose fasteners, PS fluid leaks at the reservoir, burning wires on the exhaust (crossover pipe?) going to the turbo (not sure what the wires are yet), wires pulled out of a connector that were ready to short together, a crack developing in the J-boot, and a few other small problems.

The previous maintenance records showed that the timing belts and water pump were done 5 years before I got it, but really no other maintenance records other than oil changes.

I now have just about everything taken apart (I think) and the cleaning has begun. The first picture shows an example of the corrosion/oxidation next to a new FPR. Pretty nasty. The second picture shows the current state, after a little cleaning on top of the engine and cam tower.


I’ll post more pictures as I go.

Now, does anyone know how this thing goes back together?

2bridges

Kevin
If you have not yet I would highly recommend the "venturi delete" kit for idle stabilizer. I bought from lindsey race.
Owning a 1986 951 I now consider this absolutely essential for any 86

J

Eyal 951

he has an 89, he has "factory" venturi delete.

2bridges

OOPS - dyslexia I guess

IMB951

Cool! Thanks for the write up, I'll definitely be checking this thread often. My dad is in the process of doing essentially the same thing on an '89 951 so this should be a very good thread to get tips/ideas from. My dad's project was inspired because of turbo-failure and general ignorance of previous owners, so it has required the removal/dissasembly of the block but the overall goal is the same as yours, general cleanup while maintaining most of the original parts plus some mild performance/reliability mods along the way.

thanks again for the writeup and keep us posted!

Mike C.

I would suggest the heater control valve if it's anything like the one on the early NA. Also, the heater core hoses.

formerGMguy

Great thread, I just started the same project this weekend. I'm only replacing the general maintenance things and the coolant resevoir though.

How hard was it to remove the intake manifold? It doesn't look like much fun, but I'd like to remove it so I can remove and paint the cam cover. It should also make replacing the wires a hell of a lot easier.

wingless

Get a right-angle die grinder, assuming compressed air is available. Then use nylon mesh abrasive discs to polish that aluminum to a chrome finish. Polished aluminum looks WAy better than chrome.

Do not polish gasket surfaces.

The discs are available from McMaster-Carr in a wide range of types, sizes and styles.

Have fun.

jmporsche944

The intake manifold does not have to be removed to get the cam tower off.

-Jeff

kevincnc

Thanks guys,

Yep, only $21 total on ebay for the valve, and $122 for a nearly complete set of coolant hoses.

The intake wasn't bad, sounds like you don't need to remove it though.

I thought about that, but decided to keep it all as stock looking as possible. I may polish the PORSCHE letters though.

Below, my new Ausgleichbehaelter!

2bridges

OK I can't help but ask - whereda get the sexy coolant tank? Do I dare ask hom much $$

I am actually right in the middle of the same maintenance stuff on my 951, funny how ya kinda bond w people doing the same jobs....

Anyway mine is a bit more involved including the following:
Replace all radiator/collant hoses (13), radiator cap, thermostat,
Replace Heater hose kit and heater control valve, all needed clamps
All aluminum radiator 40% improved cooling over stock

Idle stabilizer Venture delete hose kit upgrade for 86/replace
Replace all hard plastic vac lines with silicone vacuum hose kit
Replace larger vac hoses with ¼”ID silicone hose

Replace timing belt and balance belt
Replace all belts (ps belt and Alternator/AC belt)
Bosch Ignition Cap, Ignition rotor, Magnecor 8.5mm plug wires,
Fuel injectors rebuild– professional ultrasonic clean/flow/new seals and injector gaskets.

Power steering pump
Power steering rack – rebuild/reseal

Check front wheel bearing preload
Replace front brake pads – (suspicious slight crack forming passenger side outside pad)

WHEW, alot to type, even more to do.. better get to it!

kevincnc

I got it on ebay, $142 shipped. I couldn't imagine doing all this work and leaving in the ugly yellow tank.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsc...spagenameZWDVW

I decided to stick with the hard plastic vacuum lines like original instead of Silicone. One of the guys here told me that they can get slippery and slide off of connections, especially here in the heat of a Phoenix summer. I do think the colored ones look good though.

My hose clamps looked like they needed replacing too, but after soaking overnight in CLR, rinsing in water, and drying with compresses air, they came out shining like new. There are a few different types, some have what seem to be chrome bands. I don't know if they were yellow Zinc plated originally, so not sure if I'll get them done.

Note that the CLR dissolves the Zinc plating, so don't use it to clean anything you don't want to re-plate!

The first picture shows an example of how most clamps looked, and the second is after cleaning. The bracket at the top was supposed to show the difference, but I guess I'm not a very good photographer.

The last picture (sorry for the OT, I won't do it again) is my new helper.

formerGMguy

Check out www.autopartsworld.com, I got a new coolant tank for $124, and shipping is free. They've got really reasonable prices on everything else too. I think I've purchased close to $1000 in parts from them without every having any problems.

I thought you'd have to remove the intake because the fuel rail appears to be mounted to both the intake and cam tower cover. I guess I'll have to take a better look.

CO951

I am about to start this same project (more or less) on my car, too. I bought the car last summer, and I want to make sure all of the little stuff is in order before I start doing a bunch of mods. I'm going to do the silicone vacuum lines and I was told that if you are worried about them comming off, that the small zip ties work great to hold them on.

2bridges

I have to say - the silicone lines are the way to go ... IMO

Although I am confident they will no slip off as fit is good, I have used color matched (very small) zip ties and I am here to tell you... it is nearly impossible to get the hoses off. I think I will not put the rest on very tight