Porsche 924 white

[colino]

I think the valve adjustment on these Porsches is very weird and if the valves and buckets have been swapped around, they will need set.  There is an adjustment screw in the side of the bucket that ramps the bucket up or down fractionally to provide adjustment.

OP, with a skim, I'm surprised that there is still a gasket/sealant mark on the far right of the head, not a compression issue, but I'd certainly be sure of using plenty gasket sealant in that area.

If your car is a later model without the allen screw gubbins, ignore me!

[xtriple]

Good work, but fuck me those buckets were 'proper fucked'!!!!!!!

 

Yes, check and adjust all the valve clearances before you stick the head back on (easier on the back!) you could be spending MANY a happy hour with shims... bikes are often done that way and when you drop the head and all 16 shims end up on the floor (bedroom carpet - no damage to the head!) it is a labour of love setting it all up again

[the judge]

Top work. Keep plugging,and you will have it running ace. Nothing more satisfying

[daveb47]

Look to be the same as vauxhall/bedford cf slant engine adjustment.

There are no shims,you turn screws 1 complete turn to adjust clearence by set amount.

For those engines you can get oversize/undersize screw,dunno about porche ones though.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Look to be the same as vauxhall/bedford cf slant engine adjustment.

There are no shims,you turn screws 1 complete turn to adjust clearence by set amount.

For those engines you can get oversize/undersize screw,dunno about porche ones though.

 

 

Yep, the method was originally done on the 1967 VAUXHALL* Victor FD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*See, they're not shite.

[Parky]

He has done a nice job of that head, looks very clean and tidy. You will be amazed at the performance difference from a decoked head as all the various gases will be flowing properly now.

 

Without retracing the whole thread, what brand of replacement gasket did you get, and have you got a nice new set of bolts for the reassembly??

[inconsistant]

The gasket set is the OEM brand, Victor Reinz. I have lovely new head bolts and a set of new sparkle plugs too.

[billyboy406v6]

Top work, good to see this progressing so well !!

[inconsistant]

What happened next?  It's time to have some fun* putting it all back together. Weekend was cleared of all other non head gasket related activities as I mentally prepared myself.

 

Car ready:

 

 

Gasket set ready:

 

 

 

Gasket sealer ready (for the other ones, not the head gasket). Too much choice in the shop for my lack of experience. I selected the green one:

 

 

I did a bit of reading up and discovered that I should really refurbish my WUR while it was off the engine. Except the mesh in mine looked pretty clean so instead of dismantling it I cleaned it. The WUR is the warm up regulator. There's lots of TLAs (three letter acronyms) in my engine. WUR, AAV, TTS, CSV, FPR and they all sound awesome, but I've no idea what they do. What I do know is that they're all dirty. Except my WUR, because I cleaned it in a plastic container with some Muc Off that I was coerced into buying at a bike shop about a year ago and had never used.

 

 

Be impressed by my WUR: 

 

Turns out it's great for cleaning engine bits. The WUR came up so nicely that I decided to do the intake manifold:

 

 

then the distributor housing:

 

 

Then scraped the old gaskets off the things that bolt onto the head after a soak overnight in water and my trusty wide plane blade with a masking tape handle, and a bit of petrol for the final bit:

 

 

and cleaned them up too:

 

 

I got some high temp paint from Frosts and painted the exhaust manifold, heat shield and inlet manifold support:

 

 

 

 

 

And then I started refitting all the bits to the head:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The vacuum hoses came up nicely too:

 

 

I got so obsessive compulsive cleaner with everything that's as far as I got on the Saturday. Sunday was moore fun* because I got to put the actual head back onto the actual block.  The engine in the standard 924 is non interference, so the valves and pistons don't ever occupy the same space. This meant I didn't have to worry too much about getting the pistons and valves set to TDC before as I could do it with the head on. Although I didn't because I wanted to be able to see what TDC meant and looked like, because I'm a beginner and I'm learning. Yesterday I didn't even know what TDC was, but today I'm semi expert.

 

This set to this:

 

 

sets piston 1 at top dead centre:

 

 

and this set to this:

 

 

sets the cylinder 1 valves to TDC.

 

Head ready to go on:

 

 

New head blots ready:

 

 

head bolt tool ready:

 

 

Head even more ready. next to car on wooden blocks:

 

 

Head gasket on block ready:

 

 

Exhaust gasket masking taped onto down pipe ready:

 

 

Surfaces cleaned up one final time with carb cleaner, all tools to hand, and I'm ready to go.

 

And I struggled and failed. I couldn't position it properly without jiggling it about because the exhaust downpipe was getting in the way of the head locating on the block. Thought I probably needed another person underneath the car who knew what they were doing to poke the bolts from the exhaust manifold into their holes in the downpipe so the head could get into it's correct position.  

It all felt a bit critical and I desperately didn't want to damage anything having got so far. It was impossible to get the exhaust manifold bolts into the downpipe holes (blind) on my own while holding a heavy, delicate head over an expensive head gasket and not jiggling it across the block to locate it. I tried 2 or 3 times and it got more difficult each time instead of easier. The problem was that the downpipe was in the way of getting the head located accurately. And also that I'm a weakling with weedy arms.

 

I really didn't want to start taking the exhaust off, I was working well outside my comfort and my experience zones, and In really, really wanted a bit of help from someone who knew what they were doing, so I suspected I'd reached my 'throwing in the towel' point. Just in time for lunch.

After a break for lunch and a good old think I got a couple of bits of stainless rod from the shed, ground the ends smooth so they wouldn't damage anything and bent them so they would hook over the block. The plan was to lay these on the block, (avoiding the valves) as they were slightly bigger than the locator pins and they would allow me to rest the head on the block while I went under the car to look at the exhaust. I put a blanket over the wing, which I should have done at the start so I could rest the head on there instead of trying to go from floor to block in one lift. That bit worked:

 

 

I was ready with some plywood spacers from the shed and wedged these between the head and the inner wing/firewall to hold it in roughly the right location:

 

 

I went under the car for a look. The manifold, gasket and downpipe were all misaligned and wouldn't move. I started wiggling and got the gasket to start moving and gradually got it to the point where it would pop over the manifold bolts into position, which was encouraging. I couldn't get the downpipe to move at all, but then by feeling around I realised that it was wedged hard against the cross member and inner wing, and would only move in one direction. With a very, very gentle upwards push on the manifold/head combo it slid into position and up onto the bolts. I could have cried with the relief, but instead I thought I'd better get some nuts losely onto the bolts before they moved, and have a cry later. Or a brandy. Or both.

I then carefully lifted the head slightly and slid one rod out and then the other, locating the head on the pins at each end. I removed my wedges, and put all 10 head bolts in until they were finger tight and popped the cam cover on to keep it all clean in there.

 

 

In comparison with what I'd just had to do, fitting the two connectors onto the notoriously difficult to get at oil pressure sensor (with a tiny 7mm spanner and fat fingers) inconveniently located in the narrow deep dark canyon filled with hoses between the back of the head and the firewall, was an absolute breeze:

 

 

I then plugged stuff in, reconnected hoses and retraced my steps through the photos I took when I was undoing stuff, except this time I started from the bottom and worked my way up, and generally knew what stuff was, which gave me a warm feeling.

 

Put some copper grease and some stainless studs on the down pipe/manifold joint:

 

 

Got the intake manifold on:

 

 

Under the bonnet is getting fuller and my bench is getting emptier:

 

 

It was a stressful, maybe even emotional afternoon. Definitely well out of my comfort zone. So what did I learn? With anything practical I'd say optimism isn't useful, especially without experience. It's funny how lifting something off can be really easy but positioning it back on can be a nightmare. It's a bad idea to feel like what I'm about to do 'should' be fairly straightforward, because it probably won't be. It's also funny how all the people who said 'give me a shout if you want a hand' were out/at work at the point I really needed help, but that's life. Also a deadline adds so much unnecessary stress to a job knowing you need to get to a certain point by a certain time. We were invited out to tea, and got there an hour and a half late. Oops!

 

The head is back on though, and I reckon it's time for a massive brandy.

 

More to follow...

[inconsistant]

The people who said they would be able to help finally came home, so I borrowed their torque wrench to do up the head bolts. 65nm +180 degrees. I did the first stage then blobbed a bit of tippex on them because I didn't trust my memory or ability to complete the task without visual guidance:

 

 

Then another 180degs:

 

 

And the head is sorted. Bit scary though... they're stretch bolts and it felt funny tightening them, like that moment just as a bolt starts to sheer. By the time I'd done all 10 I was shaking, sweating and needed a big poo.

 

 

And the cam cover is back on. Feeling confident, I replaced the standard m6 nuts with some polished dome nuts:

 

 

I connected up some other stuff, then did the cam belt. Having now done it, I'd say it's an easy job to do the cam belt on these engines. I put a new one on, (£16) and it took about 10-15 mins to do. The most tricky bit is removing/replacing the alternator belt (also new, £4). Having said that, I did struggle to tension the cam belt using an allen key, until I found some circlip pliers in my tool box that worked a treat:

 

 

 

Cam belt done:

 

 

Alternator belt done:

 

 

New crush washers for the fuel pipes:

 

 

Fuel lines reattached to fuel distributor:

 

 

new seal for the thermostat as the old one was a bit crusty:

 

 

 

fuel line reconnected to CSV (cold start valve):

 

Vacuum hoses back on, etc etc...

 

 

Throttle cable back on with brand new nylon grommet, because I can afford to:

 

 

 

Dist. & Coil back on:

 

 

And we come to a SIGNIFICANT MOMENT: Back on four wheels for the first time since before Easter:

 

 

YIPPEE!

 

AAAAAAAAAND, DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

 

 

DONE!

 

Then filled it with Motorworld Caterham's finest 10w40 oil, and then filled coolant, and then connected the battery, and then got in, and then turned the key, and...

[tooSavvy]

Would two 'old head bolts' - with head cut off & a screwdriver slot cut in - screwed loosely into the top of the block, thus locating the head 'loose' in place, have helped....???

 

 

TS

[Pillock]

Have a massive virtual pat on the back. Sounds like you've properly pushed yourself there and come out WINNING.

 

I remember similar feelings fitting a gearbox to a Golf on my driveway. Why am I doing this, will I die afterwards, will it ever work, frustration at learning on the job. Then massive relief when it does work.

[The Moog]

Top work. First time is always the scariest...

[worldofceri]

... and... and...

 

Best thread on the forum right now, this.

[stripped fred]

So, did it start? Please put me out of my misery...

[Angrydicky]

Great work Rich! It'll soon be back on the road.

[garethj]

You da man!  Very well done!

[Dave_Q]

I R suspense! Please tell us it fired up OK. Autoshite gold star waiting.

 

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

[dome]

I have every confidence that hes currently hooning about in the sunshine in it...

[inconsistant]

 

 

 

No.

[worldofceri]

I like this one better!!

 

 

Edit to add:  Embed your original video with the link below.  (Just remove the ... between you and tube.)

 

https://www.you...tube.com/watch?v=ie2yeovNZ1g

[inconsistant]

^^^ you're spoiling the story. 

[garethj]

Yay!!

[inconsistant]

No. 

[Danblez]

Fantastic!

 

Is it running? Can't watch the video!

[garethj]

:-(

[Danblez]

When you replaced the dizzy did you make sure the motor was set to tdc and the rotor arm pointing to number 1 plug lead? Caught me out when I did mine.

[twosmoke300]

Good idea with the two rods to rest the head on

[bigfella2]

I thought this might have happened.

[inconsistant]

So it wouldn't start. I tried 10-15 times and it just turned over but didn't fire. Battery and oil light on when I turn ignition. In the absence of mechanical knowhow or problem solving ability I kept going back to it every few minutes thinking it might have sorted itself out but to no avail.

 

Received various suggestions from the Owners Club forum, which gave me a steady stream of things to check or confirm as working or tested.

 

I'd put the distributor on wrong. Spent the evening reading up about it and watching awesome youtube vids about setting up distributors, and realised my mistake. Next morning I went out, re-fitted confident that was the problem, but it wasn't.

 

I was getting a spark from all plugs, tested on the cam cover, which was a new trick I learned. I pulled out the injectors and could get them to squirt into a bottle giggity by pushing the air metering flap up, but when I turned it over and then checked the plugs they were dry, and when I pulled an injector out, put it in a bottle and turned the engine over it didn't squirt giggity goo. Bridged the Fuel Pump Relay, and proved that the fuel pump worked ok, and undid the fuel line connections from the fuel distributor and confirmed fuel was getting that far.

 

3/4 of a tank of fuel, battery charged, brand new plugs, brand new injector seals, crank and cam set at tdc and rotor arm pointing at plug lead no1, checked and double checked everything. Turned over easily, but not even a splutter.

 

Mechanical friend who said he'd help popped by and went over everything I'd done and it all looked ok. He thought the spark was weak, so we put a spare coil on that he had in his van but no better, worse if anything. It started to rain and was getting dark so he left, and I got in the car, shut the door and sat there cranking it thinking I'd just keep going until the battery was flat and it started. And I got excited, and I videoed it:

 

 

And then after about a minute loads of smoke came billowing out of the engine, there was a funny smell, and I panicked, and turned it off. Not sure if smoke is normal and is just stuff bedding in, or if maybe it's the exhaust manifold paint smoking as it cures from the heat (manifold definitely got hot enough) or something worse, so I thought I'd play it safe and turn it off.

 

Tried a few times to start it again so I could see if the smoke returned and to get a vid of it, but it wouldn't go and I pretty much ran out of daylight. At least I know it WILL run.

 

Next day I popped out there but t didn't start so I jump started it and it ran for a while, about 15 mins. Enough time for the smoke to die down (it WAS the paint) and for the engine temperature to get up to normal and for everything to settle down nicely.

It's idling quite fast, about 1500rpm, and once up to temperature the exhaust is reassuringly steam free. I went to drive it forward to park and it stalled, and then I couldn't start it. I tried jump starting it again but it wouldn't go, so I left it for the evening.

 

The thing that was adding loads of pressure was that there was a Porsche 924 Owners Club get together at Brooklands on Saturday (6th June) and because Brooklands on New Years Day was where I broke down and things started to go wrong, I really really wanted to have it running by then so I could go back with it working. I'd booked an MOT for during the week, but it wasn't looking hopeful...

 

Having jump started it, my handy mechanical neighbour, who had been following my progress with interest, had offered to pop over with his timing gun to get it running nicely so I could get it round the corner for it's MOT the next day. But we couldn't get it to start. Nothing worked. We were out there until about 11.30pm just trying to work out why it wouldn't run. We went methodically through many, many checks to see what was up. My neighbour saw it as a challenge to get it going and very reluctantly gave up when we couldn't see what we were doing any more.

 

 

So I called the MOT off, did some more reading up on the owners club forum, and found out that I'd fitted the distributor wrong again. Finally understood properly what I was supposed to line up with what, and the next morning went out there before school and fitted it properly. But definitely properly this time.

 

 

I had to line these two notches up and line up plug 1 at tdc. Derp. Idiot. But it still didn't start. Also got a new rotor arm just in case, but no change.

 

Wouldn't fire with me turning over the ignition, wouldn't start being jumped from other car, wouldn't start with the Fuel Pump Relay bridged. As before, getting sparks, but plugs dry. Fuel pump noises when bridged so pump works, but no pump noises when ignition is turned on. Fuel is getting to the fuel distributor. I'm getting pissed off with it all. Can't believe that the most difficult bit of doing a head gasket is getting it to run afterwards!

 

Saturday morning came, and in a last ditched attempt to get to Brooklands, I had booked an MOT for 11am, and a helpful 924 owner/guru who was coming past on his way popped in ridiculously early to try to get it going, so I would get it round to the garage, fingers crossed , they would issue an MOT and I'd be Brooklands bound. That was the plan...

 

He got it to start a couple of times, but it wouldn't run for long, then it was difficult to start. He worked out pretty quickly that the 5th injector/Cold Start Valve/CSV doesn't seem to be working. We checked the Thermo Time Switch/TTS and it's connected OK, so he earthed the red/white wire into the CSV (which I think was to bypass the TTS) and that got it to start a couple of times, but it was hard to keep it going for long. The mixture and idle speed, along with the timing is out and it's affecting the running. Unfortunately he ran out of time, and had to head over to Brooklands. On his own. And I popped around to the local garage to cancel my MOT. And bought a donut from the bakers to cheer me up. But it didn't.

 

I'm in a bit of a catch 22 in that it won't stay running long enough to warm up so we can adjust the idle & mixture, which will make it easier to start. Anyway, I missed Brooklands so there's no rush or pressure to sort it. I've been reading up on the 924OC forum to try to understand better what the WUR, AAV, TTS, FPR and CSV all do and how they work. It's becoming clear that I'm not the first person to experience this sort of thing. I've been out this evening to run some tests and I've pretty much confirmed that the Cold Start Valve (which sprays extra fuel into the intake manifold to aid cold starts) isn't working, which is why it won't start. This is known as the 'cold start problem'. That's all for now. I've run out of ability to sort it myself. It's really frustrating because I know I'm SOOO close. 

It's been a disappointing week and a bit. Also gutted that I couldn't get to Shitefest because it looks like it was awesome. Really want to go next year. Might be running by then...