PCA Chesapeake Region Patter - March 2018

Chesapeake Region
Engine Build
hole to weld to it. Ultimately we removed the remaining
piece of the broken tap very slowly by
grinding it with a carbide burr, diamond coated
abrasives and breaking it into small chunks by tapping
on it with a hardened punch. We benefited
from some metallurgical knowledge and counted on
the tap breaking apart due to it’s brittle nature. An
E-Z Lok thread replacement insert saved the day and
allowed us to continue the reassembly with the oil
pump being mounted to the block and torqued to
spec. Confident Sean had salvaged victory from the
jaws of disaster, we completed assembly of the
bottom end, top end and the laborious task of
routing wiring harnesses, vacuum lines and various
hoses all while working with cleaned and in many
cases, bead blasted parts.
20
One of our last tasks before we could palletize the
engine for shipping was verifying the camshaft timing.
When Porsche designed the 16 valve engines
for their S and S2 models they made the camshaft
timing mechanically adjustable in relation to the
crankshaft. Naturally, in order to properly install the
cams, check and set the cam timing Porsche specifies
multiple special tools. Over the years I’ve acquired
very nearly every Porsche special tool for the
944/968 and I brought almost all of them with me!
TSA wasn’t amused however and when I opened my
checked luggage I was greeted with a card informing
me they had conducted an additional inspection. At
least they were kind enough to tape my box of carefully
wrapped tools closed again so my socks and
irreplaceable wardrobe of Porsche themed T shirts
did not serve as padding for the delicate tools while
being tossed from conveyor to baggage cart and
back. With the proper special tools arranged we
were perplexed when the cam timing appeared to
be severely retarded, nearly at the end of the adjustable
range. Sean’s engineering prowess answered
the question when he pointed out the head’s thickness
was now slightly less than new and it therefore
affected the valves in relation to the pistons. Our
concerns of a poor installation of some unknown
part allayed, we completed final assembly and started
a wood project Bob Villa would be ashamed of.
What is to be expected of a couple of car guys with
limited carpentry knowledge.
Armed with a pair of
old cast away pallets
and a sawzall, we
disassembled one
pallet to use as
blocks and mounting
to support the engine
during
transport. I can personally
attest from
first-hand experience
with enough wood
screws you can hold
anything together.
Eventually our engine
cradle took
shape and once we
were satisfied the
engine wouldn’t
crush the oil pan under it’s own weight we secured
the whole thing in place with ratchet straps connected
to eyelets installed on the pallet. To stave off the
possibility of damage or missing items, we wrapped
the engine in hundreds of feet of cling wrap, building
a buffer between the refreshed engine and
whatever came its way during shipping.