Thanks for your participation!

There's something wrong with the poll...says I already voted, yet there are no results. Any ideas?


Charles Navarro
LN Engineering
http://www.LNengineering.com
Aircooled Precision Performance

What can I say? I'm only at the part where you take the engine apart

I like it a lot and the fact that he keeps it well updated on his website.

Also lots of pictures. I like pictures. I really like some of the avatars here

Each of the pages should've been high gloss cardboard so I could really feel like a junior Porsche mechanic ("Builder Bob's 911 Engine Rebuilding Book")

Dont need it, wont buy it.

if you click "Null Vote" to see the results it won't allow to you vote.

What was your choice Charles?

I plan on buying it. Is it any good? Do you know the author?

Won't buy it - I don't do sixers.

Wayne Dempsey is a little crazy, but other than that he's ok.

Been seeing alot of 6 cyl. "cores" for sale. Lots of 2.7 motors, some under 1K. Been thinking about it. I would like to do one with carbs rather than FI, so that puts me with the 2.2. I think I will need the book. I can look at a type IV core, and know if something is missing. I can't do that with a 6.

It has a lot of good basic information and step by step on how to rebuild.

However, it reguritates some info that is more speculative than correct (Alusil cylinders are not throw away. If you want to throw them away, send them to me!). It is also written partially, from an extreme engineer/scientist/Porsche Part selling weenie, standpoint. I will not replace items that are well within spec, just because "While you're in there...".

James

I'm waiting to find one at the used book store...

-Mike D.

I agree with James. It is a very informative book with lots of pictures...but it does seem to be biased to buying all new parts regardless. I enjoyed reading it a lot.

Great book. Best book around to learn about a flat-6, and that includes the often cryptic factory manuals.

I learned more about the flat-6 motor reading that book in four hours, than I did in three years of lurking on the 911 Rennlist.

-Rusty

It's a good book.

To me, if I get one good picture or bit of info then it is worth having, but that's just me - I'm an information hog.

It is quite a different style than the other books available on the subject, and remember, just because you read a book does not mean you have to believe every word.

specifically, it puts you at a 2,2T which is not a great place to be. there are good carb matches for just about any 911 engine - at least up to 3,2 or so. Webers work fine on 2,7's and 3,0 SC's.

most 2,2's came with MFI ...

in general - to the thread - if you think you can successfully build a 911 engine after reading exactly one book - go find your power in a V8 crate.

i really like Wayne's book, but i also like Anderson V1 and Anderson V2, and Frere's '911 Story,' the factory shop manuals, and the appropriate Haynes - accompanied by the appropriate little Spec Book.

Wayne's book doesn't cover much background and doesn't have much information earlier than the late 2,7 - early 3,0.

i'm doing a complete rebuild of my 2,2 this winter - kind of a 'minimal upgrade' approach. i think i can be done for about $5000. at those levels, buying and reading a few books is cheap insurance. frankly - if you can swing it - i think the Anderson/Woods engine rebuild class is cheap insurance - it was $600 and a week when i was there -- but i learned stuff that kept me from making mistakes that would have cost me much more... (for instance - buying expensive 4-bearing camshafts only to realise the core engine i'd purchased used 3-bearing cam boxes ...)

Im kinda surprised this thread didnt really take off..

BTW my 2.2 put out about 180 hp before I changed the cam/twin plugged/ EFI'd it.. im looking for around 200 now, ill get it on the dyno soon

Kettle calling the Pot....

it's really a niche publication, and subject.

very, very few people will ever ACTUALLY engage in a 911 rebuild project. look how few people here actually rebuild /4 engines. the few who do, do quite a few, and the ones who do it for the first time generate a lot of message traffic - but that's still not a lot of people.

i think most of the people who get into 6's "just hope' nothing big ever goes bad, or are resigned to having a shop do the work.

-------------

a 2,2S was rated at 180HP. i'm starting with an E, looking at a 0,040" bump to 2,2+ with 85mm 9,8:1 (S-spec) JE pistons. the S cams are a lot more radical and while the valves are the same size, the S ports were a bit bigger. and since i'm building a street, DE, AX car, i think i'll be happier with a broad, flat E-cam torque curve than a higher but peakier S curve. plus i donno how well an E MFI space cam would be matched to S cams, and i'm disinclined to have the pump overhauled just now.

if the car turns out to be a long-term keeper, i still have the opportunity to re-freshen it in a couple of years with Nickies (drooling but choking on $2600, a $400 exchange overbore is looking really attractive just now...), Cosworth 'CP' pistons, S cams and heads, and a MFI pump overhaul. for now, a bit of a performance bump and solid reliability is what i need...

i think with the displacement and compression bumps i should be a bit over the S-spec 180, although i doubt i'll see over 200 without a cam change.

So what about the 2.7 engines? Are they bad news because of the stud pulling issues? I guess I am just looking for the least complicated solution. Carbs just seem attactive because you don't need the brain box, et all. Can someone give me a quick estimate on what carbs would cost for an engine like these?

Oh, and another thing. I am 6'4" tall. My seat is all the way to the rear pad. How many inches of seat travel do I sacrifice if I mount an A/C compressor? It gets hot in Texas!

I just sold a cherry set of Weber 40 IDA's for $1000

An aquaintance of mine just bought a set for $700 (needing a rebuild)

Mike, please tell me that isn't you jamming your "key" in the trunk lock!


many books & experience are always good. Now about the first type 1 I blew up...

they have a reputation for being bad news because of the heat issues, so you need to shop carefully. there were some 2,4's made with the 7R case, and they didn't have nearly the same issues. but these issues are well known and there are places and tooling to deal with them. figure a 7R case will need to be gone over by an expert, such as Competition Engineering or Ollies (i'm sure therre are others, but those come instantly to mind). you'll want TimeSerts or better, CaseSavers in the head studs.

this is all laid out in the Anderson and Pelican Wayne books - so your researcj patch is clear :-)... if you want to build an 8000 rpm engine you'll need shuffle pins. if it's a driver maybe not. many options.

don't understand your question on the AC. the compressor is a pump driven from a belt off the crankshaft pulley. ideally you have two condensors - one in the back and one under the front trunk. the evaporator lives under the dash and/or in the smuggler's box (the fan lives there. mostly...) none of these parts affect seat travel...

[ occurs to me you're talking about AC in a 914 - so nevermind the smuggler's box and condensor in the tail references. there are many opinions on AC in 6's, but i don't see why it can't be mounted more or less where it'd be done in a 4. make belt changes damned challenging tho, i bet... ]

I have to admit that I bought the book but haven't read it yet...
I browsed through it a couple of times though and it looks good
The pics are excellent

I didn't buy it because I'm going to rebuild a 6 myself, just bought it to get eductated...

cheers,

Jeroen

Yeah, I was talking about putting a six with A/C in the 914. I remember seeing it done once, and they cut an arc out of the firewall to clear the compressor. I was wondering if that was the only option.

So what about the engines that have MFI. Do they require a "brainbox"? is it big?

lots of AC options now - depends a bit on what engine you choose and how big it and its supporting 'stuff' is.

not much in the way of control electronics in a MFI car - and some of that is sorta optional. but you do pretty much need to cut access holes in the firewall - adjusting the MFI pump requires l-o-n-g (18"+) tools to be inserted through and past the fan and shroud. basically impossible to do in an unmodified 914. it is worth about 10 HP tho - if you can find a pump matched to your cams...

I have Wayne's book (not the 100 projects one) and I have to say that it's not all that bad. I was expecting it to read more like a dissertation than anything else. Along with his book, I have both editions of Bruce's book, as well as both books by Spencer (356/912), and even the Maestro's little book (gift from customer). All in all, it's some good reading and a hell of a good reference library. Between all those books, I used their data to construct my 3.5 100mm (3506cc) and 3.65 102mm (3648cc) Nickies for the 3.2 (on a 3L stud spacing), since I wasn't able to locate an andial 3.5 conversion cylinder to work off of. All I have to say is that I have some happy customers now that I have these kits and I really owe it to all the literature I've accumulated, especially Bruce's texts. The only thing that I found lacking in all the texts is what the base o-ring groove looks like on a 3.8 RSR cylinder- I have the cylinders done, and o-rings in hand, but I can't figure it out. Anyone have a cylinder (or pictures of a set) that I can borrow?

Charles Navarro
LN Engineering
http://www.LNengineering.com
Aircooled Precision Performance

I've been looking for Anderson texts. I have the 911 Performance Handbook, but can't find any others. Can someone point me in the right direction?

AFAIK - that's all he's done.
there is more depth and background on the early cars in the first edition, more updated material on the newer cars (but no watercooled unless you count the 956/962...) in the 2nd edition.

mine are signed (na na nya na na na...).

That's slightly incorrect - I don't say you should throw away Alusil cylinders in the book. More specifically, re-ringing Alusils can be done successfully. Heck, I did it on the car that I sold to you. It's a gamble though, as sometimes the rings will not seat properly, and you will end up with an engine that smokes and won't pass emissions tests.

As for replacing parts that are still in spec - most people don't have the ability to accurately measure the parts (like main bearings or intermediate shaft bearings). These parts are relatively cheap when compared to the total time cost of rebuilding an engine. Hence, I recommend replacing them with new ones. In most cases, to not replace them is false economy, in my opinion.

There are many flavors of how to rebuild these engines - it's important to remember that the factory manuals only give instructions on assembling a perfectly new engine - not one that has been worn and used for many thousands of miles. Reconditioning these engines back to new is a tricky process, and information on how to successfully (leak-free) do this is not included in the factory manuals.

For more information, the Engine Rebuild Forum covers a lot of topics not discussed in the book:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/forumdispla...?s=&forumid=257

-Wayne (crazy) Dempsey

My book just got here - Thanks Mailman!