914 score of the Century, The investigation begins Options

[dcheek]

Don't shoot the messenger.
I'm just telling the story.
As far as who is at fault? The PO, the current owner, the mechanic? Who knows. Who cares? Damage done - time to move on. Lesson learned - you can never be too careful.
Dave

Engine out

[JmuRiz]

Yep, $h1t happens.
Stuff backs out all the time, my brother had some nuts back out and juuuuust miss going into the valvetrain on his 930. I had a carb bolt backout and luckily not get sucked into my 356 intake. For every one that gets down there there are probably 5 that just miss.

Hopefully it's not too bad and only needs a new plug, valve (or two) and maybe a piston.

[dcheek]

Damage to the piston.

[DM_2000]

With even coverage like that, this engine was run for a very long time. Like thousands of miles.

[raynekat]

With even coverage like that, this engine was run for a very long time. Like thousands of miles.

I'd agree, this has happened over a long period of time.

[SirAndy]

Damage to the piston.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

[mb911]

Whoa not good..

[porschetub]

Funny that it went this long,OP must have changed the plug and not worried about it,surely someone would have noticed it running on 5 cylinders...they don't run real nice ,ask me how I know after leaving a lead off one spark plug (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) .
Time to find another piston if the bore isn't (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif) .

[jd74914]

Did you find a piece of something in there? That looks like extreme detonation damage.

[DM_2000]

Detonation damage would burn away the edge of the piston / ground strap of the spark plug.

I once repaired a Buick V6 that burned only one piston. Two spark plug wires that were next to each other in the firing order were arcing to each other. I forget what cylinder but with a 1 6 5 4 3 2 firing order, when 6 arcs to 5 , the ignition timing to 5 is way early.

Were all the spark plugs same brand / number? The previous owner may have been feeding it plugs. A different brand would reinforce this.

I've repaired countless engines over many brands, this damage didn't just happen yesterday.

[dcheek]

Nothing was found in the cylinder.
All plugs were the same brand.
Replacing the one cylinder, piston and valves on #5.
All other pistons and cylinders okay.
Dave

[DM_2000]

Whatever was in the cylinder escaped shortly before tear down or fell out during tear down. Detonation won't cause the ground strap to bend.

[porschetub]

Finally got chewed up enough and passed out the exhaust,don't believe it is a recent thing,reason such a cool car got parked up,it must of sounded really horrible running surely.

[dcheek]

While the motor is out, painted the engine compartment. I love the look of the fresh Phoenix Red single stage.

Dave

[JmuRiz]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

[iwanta914-6]

Can't believe I missed this story when it was originally posted. I just read through it all and am amazed.

Guessing the PO parked it under the tree because of it running on 5 cylinders and didn't wan't to put the effort into fixing it.

Regardless of this "problem", you could invest $10K into this car and would still be a steal of a deal. Extremely jealous of the new owner, a bit sad for the original owner who would love to buy it back, RIP to the previous owner, and very happy to see the car getting another chance at life.

Thanks for sharing this story!

[dcheek]

Can't believe I missed this story when it was originally posted. I just read through it all and am amazed.

Guessing the PO parked it under the tree because of it running on 5 cylinders and didn't wan't to put the effort into fixing it.

Regardless of this "problem", you could invest $10K into this car and would still be a steal of a deal. Extremely jealous of the new owner, a bit sad for the original owner who would love to buy it back, RIP to the previous owner, and very happy to see the car getting another chance at life.

Thanks for sharing this story!

Just to be clear, to those who just tuned in, I'm not the owner of this car. I'm posting the story for a friend I met through the local VW club. If you think this is a deal he recently purchased a 71 911 T from the original owner that was parked in the garage since the '90s. for high 4 figures. It needs paint but, it's all there and very little rust, engine turns and the interior just needs to be cleaned up.

So, you must be wondering how he is so lucky to find bargains like this? He's owns a landscaping company with accounts in several towns. Sometimes the homeowner has the garage door open, or the subject of cars comes up, and before you know it, there's an opportunity to purchase something. I know a mailman that has had luck scoring great items that would otherwise never see the light of day. It's the old "being at the right place at the right time."

Dave

[Justinp71]

I remember seeing the build threads on this car here. Cool car for sure, glad at least it made it back onto the board.

On a separate but related note, I'm always worried about dropping stuff in the oil tank filler. Anything that goes in there circulates thru the engine first before going into a screen... I know on the 3.6 they replace the oil cooler with a filter, but has anyone ever put a screen on the oil filler neck?

[dcheek]

Well, this project has taken a complete 180º turn.
The original plan was to find out the history, which we did through this forum. Thanks all (especially the PO) for all the information regarding this build. Then the plan was to get it sorted mechanically and drive. You can toss that out the window. Since there was a major engine problem which required removal, the project has shifted to "as long as I'm in there I might as well........"

The following has been done while the motor and trans were out:
- Clean and paint engine tin
- Sort out wiring in engine compartment. Re-wrap harness
- Paint engine compartment
- Paint rear trunk

Future projects:
- Install new rubber where needed
- Install engine and trans
- Strip front and rear deck lids
- Fix rust on driver's side fender
- Prep entire body for paint
- Paint entire car.

There is nothing as satisfying as seeing fresh paint, especially Phoenix Red. By the way he is using single stage paint for this project.

[mb911]

I still am considering that red for my car.. It is a very nice color..