Top-End Rebuild on '76, Starting T-E rebuild on my 66k original miles '76 Options

[dr914@autoatlanta.com]

yup installing the rebuilt engine in our front engined 914(the hammer is for a bit of persuation!! (LOL)

[Gatornapper]

Ordered new heads & 96mm Biral P's & C's from AA Performance Products today for my 2.0.

Can't wait!

Discovered that the jugs had been removed before on my 2.0 w/60k miles on it (why?), and wrist-pin circlip on #2 was not seated properly. Result was clip riding against wall of cylinder and ruining it. One other cylinder scored, so new will be good.

Heads look good, but need to blast them to look for cracks. Will put them up for sale if they look good.

GN

[Gatornapper]

Phil -

Sorry I missed this - heads already ordered. Decided to take the risk - figured if George sells them they can't be bad. Read critiques about their weaknesses, hope I have no problems. Liked that SS valves & springs are already in place.

Tried to order them through Auto Atlanta but AA PP would not respond to their requests, so I ordered directly and had no problem doing so. Not Albert's fault. He tried hard for several days.

Missed Rich's contact info.....did you PM it?

GN


hey there GN! i have the AA heads built for 96's and running the D-jet tuned , running great as you know. if you can find the raw heads have someone build them , dont use the parts that come from AA on them i have heard they are not such great quality.
the new castings are available from a lot of venders, otherwise check with Rich i sent you his contact info.
- good to see you getting so close to getting that on the road again, you should set a goal to bring it to Okteenerfest in Sept.

Phil
[/quote]

[Gatornapper]

George -

If mine ever needs the engine pulled, I'll be selling it! Easy on a 914, but above my pay grade on a 928! And more work than my almost 78 yr. old body can handle.......

Yes! Squeeze is so tight it's hard to believe it fits!

GN

yup installing the rebuilt engine in our front engined 914(the hammer is for a bit of persuation!! (LOL)

[930cabman]

Should I post a thread on the story behind the 928? It is really interesting and unusual......I had given up on finding one 2 years ago.......only ones I found were automatics, too much $$$, or needed work........this one came out of the blue and nailed all 3..........

GN

Funny how things just happen to work out!! Great project can't wait to see hot rod 914

[Gatornapper]

TECHNICAL QUESTION:

I understand that Type IV's do not use cylinder head gaskets - how they get by with none is still a mystery to me.

I'm getting the Biral 96mm P's & C's and understand that the outer diameter of the cylinders is the same on the 94's and 96's. The 96mm cylinder walls are just thinner by 1mm radius.

This means that there is 1mm less steel surface to seal between the heads and the cylinders.

As the 914 world has been using 96mm P's & C's in 2.0's for decades, are there any expert tips for me to make sure I get the best seal possible between the heads and cylinders?

TIA,

GN

[mepstein]

3.2’s don’t use head gaskets and they seal fine. Even when you use a 96mm cylinder to bump it up to 3.4. Some later engines did, some didn’t. Not an issue if your machine shop does their job.

[Gatornapper]

Lost me....."3.2"? "3.4"? This is 2.0.

Just found this by Jake Raby:

"Jake Raby

Nov 20 2014, 12:23 AM

I haven't built a single engine with head gaskets since 1997. I've never had an engine come back to me with a head leak, either.

The key to keeping the heads sealed off is controlling expansion, and the key to controlling expansion, is directly related to thermal control.

To me, the part thats not there, can't fail... I'd pull them out even if I never saw the VW bulletin."

Good 'nuf for me......

GN

3.2’s don’t use head gaskets and they seal fine. Even when you use a 96mm cylinder to bump it up to 3.4. Some later engines did, some didn’t. Not an issue if your machine shop does their job.

[Gatornapper]

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/lofiversion/i...hp?t245617.html

[Gatornapper]

For first time today really looked closely at the cylinder heads. Soda-blasted them and they look great - want to sell them.

PO who did a prior top-end rebuild messed up. They had used cylinder head gaskets/rings. All 4 cylinders were leaking at the heads to varying degrees.

So glad I'm doing this rebuild with new heads and new 96mm P's & C's. They arrived today.

But the tranny rebuild comes first - and the rental tools for that also arrived today - so it has priority - starting tomorrow.

GN

[Gatornapper]

YESTERDAY:

Received tools from Mark Lindner for rebuilding tranny. Thank you Mark! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

Received new Heads, 96mm Biral P's & C's from AA. Boy are they all beautiful! Cannot wait to get them on the engine.

TODAY:

Focused on tranny dis-assembly. Completed dis-assembly with no problems. Improved on a few of Dr. Evil's tricks as I have some tools most shops don't have. Tons of thanks to my good friend (and local Porsche encyclopedia) Rick Berkowitz (RickB45) for doing at least 50% of the work with me - if not more. Dr. Evil's video invaluable. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) Funniest part is where he shuffles all the parts and says there is no sense in organizing them as they will only go back together one way!

Really good news: All gears & bearings look like new. Dog-teeth? Not so much. Good news is no major gear replacement needed. On to diagnosing what I need in next 2 days. Some pics below.

Also pulled clutch - looks brand new! BUT, still think I'll replace it with a heavy-duty one. Flywheel & pressure-plate can use some cleaning up.

Found rear main seal to also be new. Oh well - had bought new one so replaced it anyway. Now I'll have a spare. ;-)

Making progress.......

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/hosting.photobucket.com-21449-1679533118.1.JPG)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/hosting.photobucket.com-21449-1679533119.2.JPG)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/hosting.photobucket.com-21449-1679533119.3.JPG)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/hosting.photobucket.com-21449-1679533119.4.JPG)



GN

[Gatornapper]

QUESTION:

Starting on installing new 96mm Biral P's & C's next week and new heads in my original '76 2.0, and this question came to mind......

SHOULD I INSTALL HYDRAULIC LIFTERS to replace my original solid ones?

I know the purists will howl about keeping original, but my good friend Rick B (RickB45) has one of the sweetest almost Concours 914's I know of, and his rebuild 2.0 engine has hydraulics in it.

What are the real, logical reasons to stick with my solid lifters, and same for going with hydraulic?

Even though I have a full shop and lift, I would love to not have to adjust the valves as often as the Type IV needs it.....AND I do have my other old P-cars to maintain too: '81 5-spd. 928 and '87 944 S........

TIA to all who care to advise.....

GN

[Gatornapper]

FINISHED REBUILDING TRANNY!

With the great help of Rick B all the way, today we finished rebuilding the tranny. Many thanks to Mike Lesniak's great videos, answers to personal emails, Mark Lindner's tools that he rents for a small fee.

NEW AND REPLACED: 1st & Reverse Sliding gear, 1st Gear loose, 1 synchro ring for 1st and 1 set of dog-teeth for 2nd gear. About $900. All other parts of the tranny looked brand new. I can't wait to drive the car as much for the tranny as the engine.

I had no synchro in 1st gear, and an occasional unavoidable "crunch" going into 2nd, so having those issues gone will be wonderful.

Also along the way: new throw-out bearing, renewed faces of flywheel & pressure plate - both looked good. Clutch plate was new from PO thicker than original. Also new front and rear main seals installed.

Hoped I could get case cleaner than I did, but it's the best I could do. Some pics along the way after ones above......

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/hosting.photobucket.com-21449-1682205294.1.JPG)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/hosting.photobucket.com-21449-1682205294.2.JPG)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/hosting.photobucket.com-21449-1682205294.3.JPG)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/hosting.photobucket.com-21449-1682205294.4.JPG)

Cleaned all this area up after pic, so grease & all is gone now....

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/hosting.photobucket.com-21449-1682205294.5.JPG)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/hosting.photobucket.com-21449-1682205294.6.jpg)

Next week - on to putting on new top-end on engine!

GN

[Cairo94507]

Great job and nice progress. You should be behind the wheel pretty soon. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[mlindner]

Looks like a lot of fun GN. Did you put a dime under the cup on the tranny fork. I had to so engagement was proper. Best, Mark

[Superhawk996]

Hoped I could get case cleaner than I did, but it's the best I could do.

GN

Eastwood makes some really nice polishing kits (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

Good job - almost every tranny I’ve taken apart has worn 1st and second gear dogs. Should be much nicer for you now!

[Gatornapper]

Mark -

I did not! No idea what you are talking about and have a feeling I'm pulling the gear cage out of the case tomorrow!

Which fork? There are 3. Cup? What cup? Was this in Dr. Evil's videos? If so, I missed it! Got any pics?

GN

Looks like a lot of fun GN. Did you put a dime under the cup on the tranny fork. I had to so engagement was proper. Best, Mark

[Gatornapper]

I first pressure-washed exterior of case, then soda-blasted it, keeping soda out of inside.

GN

Hoped I could get case cleaner than I did, but it's the best I could do.

GN

Eastwood makes some really nice polishing kits (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

Good job - almost every tranny I’ve taken apart has worn 1st and second gear dogs. Should be much nicer for you now!

[Gatornapper]

Is there a way I can test the shifting of the tranny before I mount it on engine?

Can I safely do it w/o oil in tranny case?

GN