Did my 1st 914 engine "drop". Not hard at all, except for the stubborn bolts. Gonna do a rebuild on it with new gaskets and stuff like that. Dunno if I should split the case and do the rod bearings. Should I? I know everyone is gonna say "yes" to this question. I am having trouble unscrewing all the engine sheetmetal screws. I've been using vice grips on most of them, but some are hard to reach. any suggestions on removing them? Anything else to watch out for before I tear the thing down? Thanks!

Terrance

Cool.. you made it over.

Take the biggest flat blade screw driver you have and place it in the screw... tap the end of the screwdriver with a hammer. This will help loosen the threads. I also use screwdrivers that have a place near the handle for a wrench. This allows me to really crank on the screw.

Between those 2... all mine come out.

B

Terrance,

I tell you what I found works great! I had one of those stupid hit-and-twist bolt/screw looseners in my toolbox. I tried that on the last engine sheetmetal and it worked great. You can pick them up at any autoparts store in the tool section. I'll try to see if I can get a picture for you.

milt mcpherson

never_2nd, you mean an impact driver... hehe. I thought I lent mine to a "friend", but this was 4 years ago. I should call him up. Funny thing is, I hang out with him every week.

Quick question, what is the sheetmetal for? I'm guessing it has something to do with the engine cooling. If it's useless, It'll be out of the engine bay for me.

Its for cooling...

one function of this is to direct the fan air over the heads... (there is even a thermostat in there to open/close how much of this air gets directed.)

another function is to separate the top (cool air)... from the (bottom hot exhaust air)... and that is why the factory put plugs/grommets/seals in all of the little holes...

leave it unless you only race.

brant

Soaking overnight in a good rust penetrating fluid also helps.

Make sure you use a good quality "big screwdriver" when wacking the bolts or you will split the handle on it (went thru 2 from flaps, got to love "Lifetime guarantee" tools")

Change the screwhead bolts to normal ones when puting them back on. Will make removing them much easier next time.

ok, got all that sheetmetal off the engine now. they are a mess, along with the engine. There is soo much shit on the engine. Looks like 10 years of oil leaks resulting in sticks and leaves sticking to the engine. Any good way to clean this off w/o destroying my garage floor? I'm actually thinking of painting my floor to make clean up easier. Also, anything i shold watch out for when I take it apart. I'm not splitting the case since there isn't any leaks on it or anything. Looks fine.

Stuff rags in the intake and exhaust ports with rags and pressure wash it. Clean off all the gunk off the long block and the tin.
A clean engine is a happy engine and runs a lot cooler!
Geoff