Swapping engines

[LoneWolfGal]

Solution purchasers are entitled to rent installation tools from LN for the cost of shipping. Although I've borrowed an IMS Pro Tool Kit from a kind forum member to extract the old bearing, LN's $299 Supplemental Tool Kit is necessary to install the Solution's bearing. I can keep the kit for 30 days, but I'm holding off renting it until it's needed. I'm waiting now for a Ryobi cordless right-angle drill to get here. It's the perfect tool for working in tight spaces, such as creating a notch in the crankcase for the flange's oil fitting using a tungsten-carbide burr bit.

[JFP in PA]

If you are thinking about using this for the bell housing slot for the IMS Solution oil line, let me make a suggestion: WIth just the new flange set loosely in place, make the bell housing lip location with a marker, then drill a small pilot hole to start, increasing the bit size until you are at the opening size needed. Then trim away any excess material first with a fine hacksaw, and then clean up and bevel the edges with these bits.

My preferential method is to use a rotary broaching tool once the pilot hole is in place. The broach is basically a very accurate hole saw type tool that makes a very clean hole of the right size in one move, but is rather exensive for a one time DIY:

[Gilles]

When I installed a BBI small crank pulley on my '07 987CS, I used a Dremel to file down the TDC marker to make room for the smaller diameter pulley, and I was very surprised how soft the block material was, as the Dremel bit grinded way the material very quick and easy.

In other words, go slowly so you don't grind more than you intend it..

[LoneWolfGal]

Found a better burr bit, one designed specifically for cutting aluminum without clogging. Also bought full-face protection, because grinding aluminum, unlike steel, creates flying shards that slice skin like little knives, according to a metal fabricator I know.

[LoneWolfGal]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

If you are thinking about using this for the bell housing slot for the IMS Solution oil line, let me make a suggestion: WIth just the new flange set loosely in place, make the bell housing lip location with a marker, then drill a small pilot hole to start, increasing the bit size until you are at the opening size needed. Then trim away any excess material first with a fine hacksaw, and then clean up and bevel the edges with these bits.

My preferential method is to use a rotary broaching tool once the pilot hole is in place. The broach is basically a very accurate hole saw type tool that makes a very clean hole of the right size in one move, but is rather exensive for a one time DIY:

I considered drilling and hacksawing, which I'm sure can provide a decent result. However, I have some experience grinding metal from working in a body and fender shop, and I want to try the right-angle drill and burr method. The same method was used in Jake Raby's video demonstrating how to install the Solution, and it resulted in a pretty nice notch after a minimum of thrashing.

I do like those broaching tools. My metal-fabricator friend has what he calls a broaching set, but it doesn't include anything that looks like that. They're expensive, you say?

[JFP in PA]

A set of metric or SAE common sizes from Blair/Haugen is about $75 on Amazon; larger sizes can get a bit more expensive:

[LoneWolfGal]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

A set of metric or SAE common sizes from Blair/Haugen is about $75 on Amazon; larger sizes can get a bit more expensive:

I'm a sucker for new tools, but as you say, they wouldn't be cost effective for a one-off by a DIYer. Still, I might come across (or invent) other projects for which they would be the perfect solution, so I'm glad to know about them.

[JFP in PA]

They have a lot of automotive uses; if you are faced with creating an opening in a metal panel, say a bulkhead, for a wire/cable or tube to pass thru something like a firewall or bulkhead, drills tend to "pull" on the metal, distorting it, which often requires going to a hammer and dolly to beat it flat so that a cable gland can seal it weather tight again. Rotary broach tools cut a flat, undistorted opening of whatever size is required in a single move, just run a deburring tool around the hole and install the cable gland and you are ready to make a weather tight pass thru with minimal time and efffort.

[LoneWolfGal]

A little interlude while waiting for parts to arrive...

I'm a DIYer and proud of it. There was a time, however, when I was semi-pro. My brothers had a shop where they rebuilt customers' engines, and I used to hang around and help. After a while they started depending on me. "Hey, Michelle. Pull the heads off that 327 over there," or "Run this block over to J&S and get it hot tanked." At one point they started paying me for my work. A customer needed his 283 rebuilt, but my brothers were jammed up, so they asked me if I could do the honors. After I knocked out that job I did other rebuilds. Mitch & Jerry's Automotive then had three mechanics. I was 17.

Fast forward to the present day. It didn't take me long to realize that much of my experience with conventional engines was not transferable to Porsche's M96. It was a humbling realization. I'm doing my best these days to play catchup. And thank God for DIY, or I couldn't afford to drive my 986.

I saw another woman mechanic on TV. Pretty and petite, she said, "Hey... I'm a car guy. Deal with it." I can relate.

[tcoradeschi]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

They have a lot of automotive uses; if you are faced with creating an opening in a metal panel, say a bulkhead, for a wire/cable or tube to pass thru something like a firewall or bulkhead, drills tend to "pull" on the metal, distorting it, which often requires going to a hammer and dolly to beat it flat so that a cable gland can seal it weather tight again. Rotary broach tools cut a flat, undistorted opening of whatever size is required in a single move, just run a deburring tool around the hole and install the cable gland and you are ready to make a weather tight pass thru with minimal time and efffort.

Dang. 2 days ago, I’d never heard of these, and now I gotta get me a set!

Conceptually not all that different from the holesaws I use in carpentry and much quicker than what we used back in the day, which were Greenlee knockout punches (drill a pilot hole, thread the two halves of the punch together thru the hole, and then pull the two halves together).

[JFP in PA]

"Tool Time................"

[LoneWolfGal]

Been reading and watching videos about bore scoring. The prospect of it — and low-miles engines are not exempt by any means, according to... Charles Navarro, I think it was — makes my hair stand on end. I'm almost afraid to pull the sump cover and have a look with a borescope. But I'll do it. And if I see any evidence of scoring or the beginning of it, I will switch to oil with high-temperature, high-sheer (HTHS) viscosity and with high levels of molybdenum disulfide, a.k.a. Moly. Which, according to Navarro and motor-oil expert Lake Speed Jr., will tend to protect a bore's surface and minimize the scoring's effects. That said, I'm hoping the cylinder walls of my 39K-mile M96 will be stunningly pristine. It could happen.

[JFP in PA]

You need to also understand that bore scoring is almost nonexistent on properly maintained 2.7L engines, and that it tends to be more pronounced on the later GDI engines rather than the port injected versions.

[LoneWolfGal]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

You need to also understand that bore scoring is almost nonexistent on properly maintained 2.7L engines, and that it tends to be more pronounced on the later GDI engines rather than the port injected versions.

And Jack Raby says M96 engines in general are less susceptible to bore scoring, largely due to the use of cast pistons rather than forged. So let me ask you this — in view of those facts and given the engine I'm working on, would YOU remove the sump cover and scope out the bores? Unless you talk me out of it, I'm inclined to do it, because (1) the engine's out of the car, and (2) I'm trying to make it as bulletproof as I can.

[JFP in PA]

As you are in the position to be able to do it, I would go ahead and check it. If you didn't, you will always have it in the back of your mind when it is less easy to do it.

[LoneWolfGal]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

As you are in the position to be able to do it, I would go ahead and check it. If you didn't, you will always have it in the back of your mind when it is less easy to do it.

Very true. It would probably nag me. I'll save it until last, though. At this point I'm about to measure and mark the cutout, following the old adage, "Measure three or four times, measure again, say a prayer, cut once."

[tcoradeschi]

“I cut it three times, and it’s still too short!”

[LoneWolfGal]

Managed to pry the old bearing flange loose with two flat-blade screwdrivers and a lot of swearing. It was stubborn, I kid you not. What did I use to protect the crankcase from being gouged by the screwdrivers during the process? Popsicle sticks, the mechanic's friend.



The exposed bearing doesn't look too bad — so far.



Extracting it will have to wait until tomorrow, due to other demands on my time. The bearing puller is ready for action.

[Gilles]

This looks like a suspense movie, where you always want more... LOL Thank you for sharing! :-)

[LoneWolfGal]

Since the bearing I'll be removing is a factory dual-row job, it doesn't have an external snap ring. It has an inaccessible wire lock and I hear tell it requires considerable force by the puller to break it. When it happens it's like a gunshot, they say. And the bearing will likely leave behind wire-lock remnants that'll need to be cleaned out, a job for my telescoping magnet. Hey, I'm looking forward to this episode.

After I get the bearing out and the opening sealed, I need to elevate the engine and slip two 2x8s under the sump cover, which will provide the clearance necessary to get my right-angle grinder under the bell housing. Most of grinding will be done from underneath, like in Raby's PCA video. It affords the clearest view of the cutout's outline as I'm working. I plan to take photos of the entire process — at the risk of documenting "... and here's where everything turned to **bleep**." But risk comes with the territory and I'm not a scaredy cat.