Silber’s 2002 Boxster S Engine Build

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by Silber

That being said, My plan is to:
- Measure main bearing clearances in old carrier with plastigauge
- check rod tolerances of old rods with plastigauge
- check main tolerances with new bearings in new carrier with plastigauge
- check rod tolerances of new rods with plastigauge

Silber, I am not a professional engine builder by any means.. but to build a performance engine that will last a long time, I would suggest sending the parts that you want to measure to a professional engine builder (or a specialized engine machine shop) that use precision measuring tools that will give you 100% accurate readings, I strongly believe that the cost would be cheap compared with a no so good build due to questionable measurements.

Please don't take me wrong I have used plastigauge in the past on a few engine builds (air cooled VW's, Alfas, Chevys, etc.,) and I feel that got lucky perhaps because the tolerances on those applications were not as critical) but after attending the Flat6innovations M96/97 engine building class, IMHO would not do it on a Porsche engine with very tight tolerances..
.

[Silber]

Originally Posted by Gilles

Silber, I am not a professional engine builder by any means.. but to build a performance engine that will last a long time, I would suggest sending the parts that you want to measure to a professional engine builder (or a specialized engine machine shop) that use precision measuring tools that will give you 100% accurate readings, I strongly believe that the cost would be cheap compared with a no so good build due to questionable measurements.

Please don't take me wrong I have used plastigauge in the past on a few engine builds (air cooled VW's, Alfas, Chevys, etc.,) and I feel that got lucky perhaps because the tolerances on those applications were not as critical) but after attending the Flat6innovations M96/97 engine building class, IMHO would not do it on a Porsche engine with very tight tolerances..
.

You bring up some good points. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Probably my best plan is to measure both ways, Plastigage and traditional measuring tools. I will have to buy a bore gauge and Mics, but those can be had somewhat reasonably nowadays. Always better to check and doublecheck, I don't want any surprises when I turn the key.

I am taking my crank to a specialist to get Magnafluxed, found a great shop about an hour out of the city. I will have them measure as well as do so myself. If I have any doubts about my measurements of the bearing carrier, I'll find someone to double check my work. There are a couple Porsche shops in town that might be willing to do that if I asked nice and paid for the service.

Silber