Blue boxster resurrection project

[Smallblock454]

Hi,

have you measured the cylinder heads to be absolutely flat? Most times it's needed to plan the surface, because they aren't 100% flat at all. And if the surface isn't absolutely flat you'll run into problems with leaking cylinder heads (oil and water). So all the effort will be worth nothing if you miss this step.

Regards from Germany,
Markus

[Homeoboxter]

Hi Markus,

No, I haven`t yet, but I was gonna drop it off at some machine shop to have it checked. Or I`ll just place it down on a glass table and meaure the gaps all around with a feeler gauge. I`m kind of far from that stage yet though.

Best,

Greg

Originally Posted by Smallblock454

Hi,

have you measured the cylinder heads to be absolutely flat? Most times it's needed to plan the surface, because they aren't 100% flat at all. And if the surface isn't absolutely flat you'll run into problems with leaking cylinder heads (oil and water). So all the effort will be worth nothing if you miss this step.

Regards from Germany,
Markus

[Smallblock454]

Originally Posted by Homeoboxter

Hi Markus,

No, I haven`t yet, but I was gonna drop it off at some machine shop to have it checked. Or I`ll just place it down on a glass table and meaure the gaps all around with a feeler gauge. I`m kind of far from that stage yet though.

Best,

Greg

Hi Greg,

first step is always to measure all parts, especially the cylinder heads. Because this is an full alloy engine you have to check for flatness, warps and if anything is straight.

You can check the head surface by using a steel ruler. Put the ruler on the head and put a torch behind the ruler so it shines in your direction. If you can see light come through between the head surface and the ruler, in general the head needs to be resurfaced.

Now it depends how much material needs to be machined from the head and if the head is warped in any way. Most time you can compensate with a thicker cylinder head seal, but if not the struggle begins, because than you have to reseat the valves, sometimes adjust the valve length and so on. Good thing on a M96 engine is that you can adjust the cam position / timing.

So before doing anything else first step is to do measurements and check if everything is straight.

Hope this is helpful.

Regards, Markus

[Homeoboxter]

Originally Posted by Smallblock454

Hi Greg,

first step is always to measure all parts, especially the cylinder heads. Because this is an full alloy engine you have to check for flatness, warps and if anything is straight.

You can check the head surface by using a steel ruler. Put the ruler on the head and put a torch behind the ruler so it shines in your direction. If you can see light come through between the head surface and the ruler, in general the head needs to be resurfaced.

Now it depends how much material needs to be machined from the head and if the head is warped in any way. Most time you can compensate with a thicker cylinder head seal, but if not the struggle begins, because than you have to reseat the valves, sometimes adjust the valve length and so on. Good thing on a M96 engine is that you can adjust the cam position / timing.

So before doing anything else first step is to do measurements and check if everything is straight.

Hope this is helpful.

Regards, Markus

Hey Markus, thanks for the useful tips, I`ll do the measurements soon.

Best,

Greg

[Homeoboxter]

At last I found some time to work a bit on the engine. As a replacement of the original dual row IMS bearing I decided to go with a roller bearing designed for higher speeds and higher radial load. For thrust control I`ve thrown in a simple ball bearing that I had machined to fit behind the roller. It`s a 2T scooter crankshaft bearing with C3 clearance to bear high temperatures.




Together they are just as wide as the original.



I had a groove machined on the outer ring to fit the original snap ring.

[particlewave]

It’s always great to see people try new things. Can’t say I agree with using two different bearings (as an engineer, I see many issues with this...a larger roller bearing seems better to me as thrust forces in this application should be minimal), but I am interested to see how your oil gallery works out.

Of course, it will take at least a few years and tens of thousands of miles, plus pulling the bearings for inspection for a definitive answer, but I hope to be around for that.

Very innovative. I will be watching with interest.
I hope your theory pans out

[Homeoboxter]

Originally Posted by particlewave

It’s always great to see people try new things. Can’t say I agree with using two different bearings (as an engineer, I see many issues with this...a larger roller bearing seems better to me as thrust forces in this application should be minimal), but I am interested to see how your oil gallery works out.

Of course, it will take at least a few years and tens of thousands of miles, plus pulling the bearings for inspection for a definitive answer, but I hope to be around for that.

Very innovative. I will be watching with interest.
I hope your theory pans out

Thanks! I think I will have to replace the DMF in about 5-10k miles, so I`ll have a chance to inspect the bearings as well. Hopefully it won`t fall apart before that

[Homeoboxter]

Everlasting boxster project: I haven`t touched the thing for a while, and now instead of progressing forward, I took a step back and split the crankshaft bearing housing to take a peek into the main bearings. Luckily they all are in fantastic condition. Maybe I`ll check the clearances with plastigauge just in case, but there`s no apparent sign of wear.
Here are a some pictures:

[Hirsch990]

Glad to see an update. I was wondering what was going on.

[Homeoboxter]

Yeah, every project is getting delayed since the little one arrived. Hopefully the Boxster will run at least when he gets the license Thanks for keeping track of the progress!

Originally Posted by Hirsch990

Glad to see an update. I was wondering what was going on.

[maytag]

Dood.... making me itch!
Nice work. I enjoy following. I'm not sure of there's any moment quite so satisfying as firing up a motor that you've had down to its nuthin's.

Keep posting!

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[robdelorenzo]

Great thread! Very impressed with your level of detail, as I had no idea what is required to do this job correctly. I now know enough to drive my Indy crazy next time I bring him my car. Keep us posted, please.

[Homeoboxter]

Originally Posted by maytag

Dood.... making me itch!
Nice work. I enjoy following. I'm not sure of there's any moment quite so satisfying as firing up a motor that you've had down to its nuthin's.

Keep posting!

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Unless the moment when you drive a Porsche for the first time ever

[Mhunter]

Very impressive work! Great thread!

[Homeoboxter]

Originally Posted by Mhunter

Very impressive work! Great thread!

Thanks!

[Homeoboxter]

Little progress since last time. New timing chains ready for assembly.



Old vs. new chain tensioner.



Old vs new timing chain lined up. Not a super precise way to tell, but I can`t see any obvious sign of stretch.




I put a small amount of sealant onto the gasket lips for the plastic oil scraper (?) to hold it in place during assembly. They put sealant there in the factory as well.



I spent about a good two hours closely looking at the pictures I made during disassembly to find out which rod goes with which piston, which cylinder and in what orientation. I marked everything, but that was 1.5 years ago and of course I couldn`t figure out what I meant by my markings back then So I remarked everything and they are good to go.



Rod bolts, new vs old.



Rod bolts torqued to 20 Nm followed by an additional 90 degree turn. Hopefully that`s fine, as the respective line on the torque settings chart was a bit confusing.



IMS and chains joined again with the crankshaft. More tomorrow.

[maytag]

I really love this thread. I really love when guys do this in their garage.... and all the people who say that Porsche motors are assembled with unicorn dust just go silent.

Good work! Keep the pic's coming. It's the best porn.

Oh, and while im thinking about it, when you get to that point: will you please settle once and for all the question about oil level in the sump in relation to the IMSB? (I am of the opinion that when the oil level is full, with the motor off, that the oil level is still below the bearing. I get this idea from looking at photos and diagrams. And from laying on my back staring up into the dark cavities of the motor when the sump is open.... trying to imagine 8 qts of oil volume.... but i'd like to see something empirical.)

Again: good work. Well done.

[Homeoboxter]

Originally Posted by maytag

I really love this thread. I really love when guys do this in their garage.... and all the people who say that Porsche motors are assembled with unicorn dust just go silent.

Good work! Keep the pic's coming. It's the best porn.

Oh, and while im thinking about it, when you get to that point: will you please settle once and for all the question about oil level in the sump in relation to the IMSB? (I am of the opinion that when the oil level is full, with the motor off, that the oil level is still below the bearing. I get this idea from looking at photos and diagrams. And from laying on my back staring up into the dark cavities of the motor when the sump is open.... trying to imagine 8 qts of oil volume.... but i'd like to see something empirical.)

Again: good work. Well done.

Thanks, I`m glad you enjoy the build, so do I, it`s just taking a bit too long now so I`m trying not to get stuck at every single detail for weeks.

Yeah, in general, this engine is not really different than any European or Japanese engine, and I don`t think it requires more knowledge or experience than a Subaru boxer or a motorcycle engine with similar complexity. If you overlook something or you are not careful, it will blow up, but that`s true for all the others, you need to use common sense. That`s part of the game, that`s what makes it exciting. It`s very annoying though that there`s no shop manual for the engine and I have to find out everything myself. Thankfully, there`s tons of information on this forum and rennlist, just you need to filter out what`s useful.

As for the oil level, if you go a few pages back in this thread, I`m showing that when the oil level is at MIN on the dipstick the IMS is submerged into oil about halfway. At MAX, IMS is nearly completely submerged in oil.

[Gjohn3707]

Thanks for the update. I had to reread the whole story again. Awesome details and pictures. The head in the sink is my favorite so far, my wife doesn't like new car parts in the house.��

[pilot4fn]

Fantastic thread! Thanks for sharing this project with us