Swapping engines

[JFP in PA]

I agree, but make sure you have new sealing washers for the hydraulic tensioners and make note of where they came from as they are not all the same.

[LoneWolfGal]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

I agree, but make sure you have new sealing washers for the hydraulic tensioners and make note of where they came from as they are not all the same.

Noted, thanks.

[pilot4fn]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

I agree, but make sure you have new sealing washers for the hydraulic tensioners and make note of where they came from as they are not all the same.

I agree that more we elminate the risk of messing up the cam timing the better.

Anyhow, what I mentioned below is same as the Pelican Parts advices on their technical article regarding removing the two tensioners (I remebered wrong the locking of both vs. only one exhaust cams - both is the right answer):
"With the camshaft timing properly marked and the intermediate shaft secured, it's time to remove the two tensioners that pull on the flywheel-end sprockets of the intermediate shaft. The first one to remove is the tensioner for cylinders 1-3, which is located to the right of the flywheel area and is shown in Figure 77. Next, remove the tensioner that tightens the chain that connects the intermediate shaft to the crankshaft, located to the left of the flywheel area (see Figure 78). Be sure to have an oil catch pan ready when you remove these two tensioners, as oil will spill out. Next, remove the center nut from the bearing. "

Link here to the same article:
https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/14-ENGINE-Intermediate_Shaft_Bearing/14-ENGINE-Intermediate_Shaft_Bearing.htm

Interesting is that this above is seen as not a good practice

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by pilot4fn

I agree that more we elminate the risk of messing up the cam timing the better.

Anyhow, what I mentioned below is same as the Pelican Parts advices on their technical article regarding removing the two tensioners (I remebered wrong the locking of both vs. only one exhaust cams - both is the right answer):
"With the camshaft timing properly marked and the intermediate shaft secured, it's time to remove the two tensioners that pull on the flywheel-end sprockets of the intermediate shaft. The first one to remove is the tensioner for cylinders 1-3, which is located to the right of the flywheel area and is shown in Figure 77. Next, remove the tensioner that tightens the chain that connects the intermediate shaft to the crankshaft, located to the left of the flywheel area (see Figure 78). Be sure to have an oil catch pan ready when you remove these two tensioners, as oil will spill out. Next, remove the center nut from the bearing. "

Link here to the same article:
https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/14-ENGINE-Intermediate_Shaft_Bearing/14-ENGINE-Intermediate_Shaft_Bearing.htm



Interesting is that this above is seen as not a good practice

You need to be aware that when IMS retrofits all began, Pelican published "their" procedure designed to save the DIY market money, but the end result was a disaster, with far too many retrofits that went bad due to their "special procedures", some of which required engine disassembly to repair. Jake Raby developed a proven method which is the only one LN Engineering recommends to this day. We have used that exact procedure on innumerable retrofits, and never had a problem. Stick with the LN procedure and ignore Pelican.

[LoneWolfGal]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

Stick with the LN procedure and ignore Pelican.

I reached the same conclusion after encountering the contradictory information. I have come to view Jake Raby as the authority when it comes to IMS bearing replacement. However, Pelican has some useful information about other procedures.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by LoneWolfGal

I reached the same conclusion after encountering the contradictory information. I have come to view Jake Raby as the authority when it comes to IMS bearing replacement. However, Pelican has some useful information about other procedures.

Jake and Charles Navarro invented the sport, encountering multiple ways not to do a retrofit before they found the optimum solution to the problem that even Porsche originally said was not possible. Several others, including Pelican, tried to come up with simpler or cheaper DIY ways to address the problem, all of which cut corners and led to problems, some fatally. The problem for the indie shops doing retrofits was always the teary-eyed customers that flat bedded their cars to the shop after screwing up the project, only to be told that their engine had to come out and apart to fix what they had done to them with these simpler and cheaper techniques.

Probably the dumbest was an early (Wayne Dempsey days) Pelican procedure that did not use ANY cam holding tools, but instead used Allan head set screws threaded into the back of the engine case thru the IMS flange bolt holes to try and hold the chains by putting pressure on the gear on the rear of the IMS shaft in a vain attempt to lock the chains. Unfortunately, that rear gear is pressed on and slip prone, resulting in that gear being pushed forward on the IMS shaft, and the shaft suddenly jumping upwards and to the right due to the tension on the chains. When this happened, cam timing was lost and there was no way to reposition that gear without taking the shaft out of the engine. We probably encounter a dozen or more cars in this condition that were brought to the shop.

Long story short, there are a lot of wrong ways to try and attempt this retrofit, and one proven right way that now even Porsche has adopted. Do it right and you do it once; do it wrong and you will be spending some serious $ to get out of the hole you created.

[LoneWolfGal]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

Probably the dumbest was an early (Wayne Dempsey days) Pelican procedure that did not use ANY cam holding tools, but instead used Allan head set screws threaded into the back of the engine case thru the IMS flange bolt holes to try and hold the chains by putting pressure on the gear on the rear of the IMS shaft in a vain attempt to lock the chains. Unfortunately, that rear gear is pressed on and slip prone, resulting in that gear being pushed forward on the IMS shaft, and the shaft suddenly jumping upwards and to the right due to the tension on the chains. When this happened, cam timing was lost and there was no way to reposition that gear without taking the shaft out of the engine. We probably encounter a dozen or more cars in this condition that were brought to the shop.

Yes, I read and reread and reread yet again Pelican's description of the set-screw method and it seemed flaky to me, so I'm relieved that I'm not alone in that assessment.

Long story short, there are a lot of wrong ways to try and attempt this retrofit, and one proven right way that now even Porsche has adopted. Do it right and you do it once; do it wrong and you will be spending some serious $ to get out of the hole you created.

I think I'll be fine if I follow Jake Raby's method to the letter.