my DIY engine rebuild

[flaps10]

Well I'm back at it, finally. I still feel like I came up short in a knife fight but I'm able to work for short periods of time and I gather a little more strength every day.

Two steps forward and one step back.

The night before my surgery I was in a hurry to get the engine shoved up inside and the front motor mount bolted in. That way I would be faced with hooking up connections and other light duty work until it came time to do get the transmission up there.

I didn't write about it at the time because I was so dumbfounded by what occurred that night, but it turns out that both of my two lower engine mount bolts were stripped. When I took the car apart I found one that was undersized and looked like someone had stuck some silicone on it to fake the job. Seriously, who does that? I had no reason to think the threads were toast, just that they must have lost the correct bolt and were trying to cover it up.

So there I was on my back late on a tuesday night trying to set the torque on those big bolts when I realized how bad it was. The bolts threaded in just fine with my fingers but when I went to put a load on them I could just feel the torque rise slightly and then begin to fall off. F.

I obtained a Helicoil set so I could do the thread repair but at that point I knew I was dead in the water until well after surgery. It wasn't until two days ago that I was able to pull it off.

I was really hoping that the tap would be long enough that I could perform the job without having to remove the oil pump housing. It wasn't, and Helicoil taps are so odd ball (by necessity) that you can't just go buy a long one.

I lowered the engine about half way back to the ground, pulled the a/c compresser back out, relieved the tension on the top cam chain tensioner and removed the oil pump housing. I got the Helicoils in while wishing I knew more German, or at least some good German profanity. These are not the only fastener locations I have had to do inserts in. It would appear the castings on this car are actually made of silver cheese and not aluminum. Seriously, how does a bolt that you torque to 7.5 ft lbs ever strip out? I go years without buggaring a bolt hole or snapping off a fastener.

Laying on my back while tapping the hole for the Helicoil I had that brief image of me snapping the tap off flush with the bolt hole. That would have really made my day. Needless to say I was super careful and in the end the job went fine.

I had to buy new gaskets for the oil pump housing of course. It is actually an oil pump housing gasket and then a waterpump base gasket that you snip loose. Since I was on a roll I decided to just head down to my local Porsche dealer where I had to pay $35 for the gaskets that are under $10 for the pair had I ordered them from Pelican or Auto Atlanta. Same gaskets, not OEM copies. They didn't even kiss me first.

Once satisfied that my engine wasn't going to fall out I installed the front mount but noticed that it seemed a little jiggly. Yep, the rubber was torn. Now that is totally my fault as it is something I could have added to my shopping list months ago. I swear I looked at it and decided that it was fine.

I sourced the press in part locally for $55 and then yesterday I had a machine shop press out the old one and install the new one. The mount is back on and I've now raised the engine back up. A/C compressor is on and torqued.

I am seriously considering ditching A/C all together. That is some heavy crap right there, and mine doesn't blow cold anyway (probably vented to the atmosphere by a previous "mechanic"). I live in the PNW and have ZERO use for A/C. None. I'm a hard core convertible guy. Anything this side of light rain and my top is down, regardless of outside air temperature.

I know some will argue that having it removed would hurt the resale value. I can assure you that if I ever sell this car A/C will be the least of the bargaining chips.

As of this morning I'm starting from where I thought I was the night before surgery. I should have the front mount bolted up and the majority of top side connections performed by the end of today (fingers crossed).

[78F350]

Best thread ever.

I am seriously considering ditching A/C all together. That is some heavy crap right there, and mine doesn't blow cold anyway (probably vented to the atmosphere by a previous "mechanic").

I bought one of these by accident and I can confirm that it fits a 2.5 perfectly as an A/C-delete belt. I expect it's the same on a 3.2.
Amazon.com: Bando 6PK1930 OEM Quality Serpentine Belt: Automotive

[flaps10]

Originally Posted by 78F350

Best thread ever.



I bought one of these by accident and I can confirm that it fits a 2.5 perfectly as an A/C-delete belt. I expect it's the same on a 3.2.
Amazon.com: Bando 6PK1930 OEM Quality Serpentine Belt: Automotive

F350,

Well aren't you the steely eyed missile man. Since my a/c is bolted up I'm going to save that tidbit about the proper belt to run an a/c delete and work it into "chapter 2, how I built a motor correctly for once"

I had various family events that took priority over working on my car yesterday, but today I was back at it.

I got the engine raised to where the four studs/nuts that hold the front motor mount yoke to the body could be threaded in and torqued. It almost went too smoothly to trust it, but there it was.

I followed that with reconnecting all the coolant lines from below, the P/S pressure line connection and most of the connections on the left side of the car. I still need to hook up the fuel line, install the clamp on the P/S return line and install the metal clip which helps some of the above mentioned hoses behave during maneuvering.

Up top I got the SAI air hose hooked up, engine compartment fan connector, the pressure side fuel connector, the oil filler tube and something else that escapes me at the moment.

Too late, I realized that my starter ground cable (the one that people occasionally find disconnected and start threads about) was routed incorrectly. It needs to slip between two tubes of the intake manifold if it has any hope of attaching at the front edge of the SAI bracket.

I don't know that there is a correct wrench that will get that starter bolt off. In the end it was tiny movements with a box wrench and finger dexterity that got that starter bolt off and the cable rerouted. To get it back on I had to devise a way for me to lay on top of the trunk face down over the engine. Mission accomplished. I also had to temporarily remove the AOS flex hose and the oil filler tube.

Also on top I got the PS reservoir installed and clipped into place, the battery junction box installed and the positive cable bolted up.

Basically I hooked up every damn thing I found sticking out. By the time I was worn out for the afternoon I had a few places that I was thinking "I know there was something here I had to do", so I broke out my old checklists and the manuals

Sure enough I missed:
The single wire connector for the a/c compressor
The C shaped clip on the vacuum booster hose
SAI connector plug

I also made notes to check that I properly installed the AOS flex hose (I know I got the filler tube back on correctly).

I've got a fresh set of check lists to complete all tasks and I'm down to 32 steps including filling and bleeding fluids.

It will actually be sort of weird to sit in this car let alone turn the key.

[flaps10]

I had a good day yesterday and this was the result



I intend to drive this car by the end of the day

[flaps10]

Well it ran. This is the car on all fours for the first time in months. I pushed it out of the garage to fill it with fluid and install a brand new group 48 battery.



No ugly mechanical sounds, knocking, tapping,etc. But it is not running on all six cylinders. It seems like an induction leak or crossed plug wires (not really possible on this engine)

No codes. I was really beat when I even pushed it outside and didn't have the energy to keep it up. I'll give it another look tomorrow after work.