986 3.2 home engine rebuild

[OldManMo]

I know, this will only be my second post and it will be about a full tear down and rebuild of the engine in my 2001 Boxster S....at home in my garage..in the UK.

Must be a madman

So, this is not my first full engine rebuild, Ive done many though admittedly only on Mercs, BMWs and Audis, though a few of those were also performance engines. So lets put some context the insanity. I owned a 2000 Boxster S from new and loved it, then marriage came along, as did the sensible cars, then divorce and then thought, wouldn't be great if I could get a S for my sons first car (he s currently 11) and he can work on it with me restoring it, learning and feeling responsible for it

So last Aug, I bought a 2001 S with 70k on the clock, but I could see it needed lots of TLC. Got it home, drove it for a couple of months and then in the garage, gearbox out and IMS fixed with new flywheel, clutch, complete rear suspension, brakes refurb, cats, nuts, bolts, clips, washers, power steering, air con, front rads, air con rads, etc, etc. redone all the soft touch paint, double din stereo, dyed the leather, etc, etc

Basically almost spent the cost of the car in parts for the rear end, but I looking at the learning and memories with my son which are priceless. So between my son and I we took the car from this as am example








to this








The car was so much better and we enjoyed for the summer and even though it sailed though its MOT with low emission values, something wasnt right, there was a slight rubbing sound (I dont know how to describe it ), So I checked the timing and it had a -12 deviation, I adjusted the timing (stupidly with the engine in the car) and got it down to -8.4. It also felt low on power and a few drops on the curve and the fumes smelt wrong.

So loads of research and might be the chain guide, might be valve seals, might be rings, etc

One thing for it, engine out and tear down and what I discovered was wow, not a really bad wow that many have shared but still, wow.

And this brings us to this thread, I would like to share the experience with you all as it may help others, ask for you to look out for me in case you spot something I miss or I am about to balls something up

Thanks in advance and here we go...BTW the engine is already almost torn down so no turning back now