912 Targa : A slow restore / refresh

[neilbardsley]

Ok new clutch, oil cooler & exhaust going to be ordered. Since I have euro style heater the exhaust needed is different so a search is being done!

However, this is all starting to get a bit close to CLM and our Thur eurotunnel booking!

I did consider not having this work done until after CLM but given that I now know the oil cooler was leaking murphy's law dicates that if we haven't had this work done I would be staying beside a toll road in France with a car that had lost all of its oil!

As another aside, before finding this oil cooler issue, I had considered the next upgrade to my car was a full flow filter. There is a nice system by Precision Matter which attaches a filter directly to an adaptor on the oil pump. Looked to me like a good solution that doesn't need any new oil lines / remote filter attaching to the body of the car etc. I didn't want to spend anymore money but since we had everything off I thought that maybe it was an improvement which would pay for it's self.

However, I got 2 schools of thought on

1)
-> Because mine is a well used engine the full flow filter isn't as useful as on a fresh engine. Perhaps that is code for your engine about to go so wait for that to happen before doing anything on it?
-> The adaptor is too close to the exhaust and the filter can be like a radiator heating up the oil more?

2)
-> filtering all the oil regardless of the age of the engine is a good idea
-> The filter has a heat shield which stops it getting hot

Anyway I've decided not to go with it.

[neilbardsley]

bum. The exhaust is a special order 10 day wait so the 356 will be traveling to Le Mans!

[mycar]

Back in 2008 when Mr Shave was nobbut a lad he did ask some questions about the full flow oil filtering.

The discourse was pretty comprehensive.

http://forum.porsche356registry.org/vie ... hilit=kits

Shame so many of the links are now defunct.

Regards, Mike.

[neilbardsley]

Thanks for the link Mike. An interested discussion on if removing the standard oil filter will reduce the oil temp or no reminds me of something a clever ex colleague told me he was taught in one of his first maths lectures (he got a 1st). The two great falsehood of logic!

1) It's true because it has always been done that way
2) It's true because someone important says it is

(I'm sure someone that know latin will come alone with the correct wording)

While on the almost the same subject during my one of my first lectures the lecturer wrote on the black board KISS : Keep It Simple Stupid. Perhaps Einstein said it best "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." That has always stuck with me and must been of some use because I also got a 1st. However, less remember past glory and back onto my Targa.

It recently returned from Max at Revival Cars for that I thought was the oil cooler seals going. This started with my noticing a leak from the right cylinder head. Which with Chris Turner's help I replaced the grommet and added a breather pipe to the bottom of the oil filler canister (which had been removed). Next I added a 123Ignition dizzy to help with the torque at lower revs and replaced oil sensor switch as the old one was leaking. However, I was still getting oil now from the leftside of the engine into the bay. Next I had the generator rebuilt and noticed that the oil cooler looked very dirty. While I had the generator out to be rebuilt I have the oil filter & filler canisters cleaned and I painted them.

I dropped the car off at Revival with the remit to check the oil cooler seals, since I suspected they were the cause of the leak, and look at the clutch since the engine was out.

A day, or so later, I got this photo



Then the information started to come

Oil cooler beyond repair!
Clutch gone and seal gone!
Pulley seal also gone!
Lots of cleaning solent used
Pushrod tubes need replacing which means heads off
Unfortunately the exhaust probably will not survive

I thought for a moment about just getting the oil cooler changed and continuing to run the engine as is but decided to try and make the car good. Now I know that Targas and 912 aren't for everybody but this is an early one so should be looked after.

The first issue is that I have euro heater so the exhaust was a special order from European and a minimum 10 day order. This meant that CLM was impossible.

However, it arrived and looks great




It certainly sounds a bit more throaty?

It turns out that I had 44 weber carbs on with 55 / 170 jets which was putting too much petrol into the heads and creating quite a bit of mess!



The head were cleaned



then left overnight with oil in them for a wet test of the values



Next the cylinder crowds were also cleaned. Notice the helpful arrows which tell you which way to install them





Max said something about clean crowds helping to prevent detonation

The car also had 356 manifold gaskets which where too small!



Two pitted Rocker arms were also replaced



The engine back on a stand for a test before going back in



Max also noticed that the exhaust fixings needed repairing



One of only things that confused me was that because the car has an electronic fuel pump the mechanical one was removed and a back plate put in. However, as I was leaving Max said that loads of the electronic ones fail so a job for another time would be to go back to the mechanical fuel pump.

When the engine was back in Max still wasn't happy with the way the engine was running and realised I had 44 and suggested moving to 40. I'm not sure I would of agreed initially but in for a penny in for pound!



Filters to be changed to K & N at some point in the future when Mrs B forgets about the cost of this!

I will be trying to sell the 44s to get some money back!
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=49533

I got a question from Max when he come to set the timing the car as he could only get 20 degrees of advance! He had changed the curve from 5 to D. However, this was the only time that I know more about 912's than him as D is the setting for the old VW 123Ignition dizzy while 5 is the correct setting for the 022 curve in the Porsche specific one which has a spacer to fit correctly into a 616 engine.

New ignition cables as well



I'm sure there is more that I've forgotten about.

On the drive back into the office and then home the car ran more smoothly and torque as lower rpm. I even starter in 3rd by accident! It also not idles at < 800rpm where before it used to be 1200/1400rpm!



The real test will be the run up to the Highlands! However, the Targa is resting before a blast up/back to Northamptonshire this weekend.

[Bootsy]

Sounds like a good comprehensive bit of fettling! Hope it runs well this weekend and looking forward to seeing it in Scotland

[hot66]

Sounds like max has got things sorted for you. I'm also looking forward to seeing the soft window ... Let's hope the weathers good so we can see it the targa without roof or window

[Darren65]

Car has come a long way Neil and done well….great job

Shame I won't be in Scotland to see it, hopefully Classics.

Cheers,

[neilbardsley]

Not the way I saw Friday evening going! Driving along and a loud knocking suddenly came from the engine. I did a few basic roadside checks but nothing obvious. Hopefully we might have some answers later this week.

It's not much fun this classic car game

[911hillclimber]

they certainly have their highs and lows.

I'm down there with you too at the moment.
Rare occurrence my 73T/3.2 has ever naffed me off!

Good luck and I hope it is something and nothing for you.

[mycar]

Bugger.

This thread on the Registry is quite timely, let's hope it's something simple.

http://forum.porsche356registry.org/vie ... =1&t=36350

Mike.

[hot66]

That's a shame Neil . Hope it's something simple

[Bootsy]

The Porsche gods are testing you Neil, hope you get it sorted

[neilbardsley]

Engine out of the car and on a stand. Unfortunately still nothing obvious. The strip down begins on Thursday. Max still suspects the crank area! Puzzled at what happen. I didn't think I had an engine that was about to fail and Max is struggling to see what has been done to cause this problem. Hopefully, the strip down will provide some answers and we can agree a way forward. I'm still quite stressed about the costs involved and it has serious made me consider if I'm cut out for this classic car game. Especially as I'm not having any luck on any front at the moment. Seeing that I finally got the dyno back after having it rebuilt back on the 356 (following the wrong boss trail). Pulley nicely align. Super strong charge coming from the dyno but the wrong sound from the fan area. I took the fan belt off and ran for 30 seconds and the noise went away. Took the dyno/fan off again and the fan was loose. Tried to tighted but no luck. Hopefully it will be back in time for the Highlands trip but it's going to be tight.

I'm trying to remind positive about all this but, as Boosty said, I'm being tested. I'm spending too much time playing with these cars and it's making me unhappy. Taking me away from the family and I'm not enjoying it at the moment.

However, on the otherside at least I know enough now not to take the 356 out with a loose fan and cause serious damage. I'm now an almost expert at getting these on/off in super quick time. Although the nut at the back of the fan housing still isn't fun.

With the 912 I'm stressed about the cost but not about Max as I believe I'm in capable/honest hands. After reading on here about some of the engine builders just walking away from a failure it could of been much worst. Then again although I'm having to liquidate some assets to pay the initial bill and their isn't an indication on the final cost yet (that is the really stressful bit). However with an unknown engine a rebuild would be on at some point. However, I had hoped it was 10+ years away but once finished I get to use with confidence and enjoy now.

As my Mum once told me almost all trouble in life is sex and money! At least the sex bit is going well.

[Lightweight_911]

As my Mum once told me almost all trouble in life is sex and money! At least the sex bit is going well.

Great to see you're retaining your sense of humour Neil !

[Bootsy]

And retaining a healthy sex life! Made me laugh out loud the last part of your post.