944 S2 Repair

[pauly]

Nice work!

What are you doing with all those spare engine bits with scored bores etc?

Are you planning to build more engines Jon ?

[sgl1966]

Thanks Jon. One of the engines got sold on, one is in the car and the other I have had steel liners put in as the intention is to do a slow build using the 16 valve head I have. All other engine parts have been taken off and aqua blasted to give me a choice of the best bits for the new engine. I do have another spare block with scored bores, crank cradle and sump which Nick( Nickson Motorsport) is using as a dummy to make up the inlet manifold but you are more than welcome to have them once he is done as you kindly looked at the original engine bores and advised on minor wear many,many months ago. I also have the crank from that engine which you can have if you want as well, it does show signs of some wear on one of the thrust bearing sides but is servicable according to my engineer. There is only so much space in a single garage.
To bring things up to date we have managed to get the engine turning over after removing two toad alarms and the factory alarm, have a spark and fuel. I am just waiting for the modified ecu from Tom at Augtronic before getting her running. I decided to go for this ecu as I have had one of the spare blocks steel lined for some modified JE pistons(middle bottem picture) to use the 16 valve head, and as we are using the turbo bellhousing, cluctch and sensors it should be a straight forward swap with out going with stand alone engine management. I thought it would be good to see a direct comparison between an 8 valve and 16 valve turbo 3 litre turbo.
I pick the gearbox up tommorow so that will be going back in over the weekend. Unfortunatly the turbo s diff had "picked up" so I am going with the s2 diff, should make for some lively acceleration !

[PaulSmith]

I am going with the s2 diff, should make for some lively acceleration !

I'll say it will!!!

When I had the 3.2 Turbo, it had a standard Turbo gearbox and all that extra torque and power made it feel incredibly under geared. An S2 box will be even more so and you'll be changing gear all the time. I would imagine the first two gears will be redundant and you'd better pull away in third

Really great to see a good home build like this, I can't wait to see your results once it's all running. Sounds like it will be a blast

[Greggers]

CB750F....??

[sgl1966]

CB750K I have been told, not mine but Nicks who built the engine up and most of the car.
Busy saturday, collected the rebuilt gearbox with the LSD and oil cooler checked and installed and got it back in the car along with the quick shift. All the rear suspension was bolted back up and car placed on the floor to check torsion bar reindexing. We have a measurment of 160mm from the bottem of the sill to the floor with full adjustment available to us when the car is set up. This should be a good starting point.
Also fitted the longer rear wheel studs to allow use of a 21mm spacer as i am using a set of 993 winter cup wheels with a 70 et, these have been powder coated black.
Also got the manual 944 rack back from having it rebuilt. I will be giving this a go first and if the ratio is to high will use the existing rack depowered.
I need to source a gearbox oil cooler bracket urgently if someone has one available please. I went to order a new one but it another item N/A from porsche.

[Matey]

Popped in to see Paul today, top guy so my car will be going in to him as soon as I can pick up an outer sill from the OPC

[sgl1966]

I am glad my reccomendation could be of use, I'm sure you will not be dissapointed with the quality of his work. I am also off to see Tom at porsche Portsmouth this week for yet more parts !
Picked up gleaming engine block after its clean today from Modus in Kent. Freeze plugs removed/ replaced and tanked to remove all traces of oil and dirt. Great job and great price. I will post up pictures soon .

[sgl1966]

Finally we have had the engine running ! After refitting the gearbox a second time after not realising untill it was in situ with cv's bolted up, that the S2 cover end plate had been reinstalled meaning that no hole for the oil cooler so out it came again,swapped and back in. New rear discs and refurbed calipers installed (Pro Calipers, great finish) new fuel lines bolted up, the rear of the car finished we moved on to the front.
I have had all the heat shields replated so went about fitting these. The problem came when trying to refit the aos shield/ manifold bracket with the engine and turbo in place. Fortunatley managed to remove most of the nuts and studs from the turbo downpipe to slide it in without removing the turbo.
With the new ecu installed and filled with oil and water we thought we would give it a go at starting. This is without many of the vacum hoses or the exhaust connected up.
Being proper men we had not read all the instructions from Tom about connecting the ecu to the laptop which meant a good half day wasted but it did mean we carried out continuity tests on everything from the engine back to the ecu plug. Realising our basic mistake with a final look at the instructions and swapping leads around it turned over with a good attempt at starting. It still wouldnt run though and we were beginning to think it was coil playing up or the injectors. So swapped out the 55 lb injectors (secondhand uncleaned) with a set of standered Turbo ones I have had reconditioned and away she went. No leaks and 5Bar oil pressure. Got to leave it now till next weekend when everything will be reconnected and checked. Very, very happy man !

[Matey]

Thanks for the heads up on Paul's work, over the moon with what he did for me and there's another local S2 on it's way to him for a quote too.

[sgl1966]

I am pleased you are happy with his work, I certainly was. When you do your powder coating of your rear beam try Trestan in Woolston ,Southampton. They also do Aqua blasting. Charged me £35 a wheel when I had mine blasted and powder coated.
One other thing I got done the weekend was removed all the power steering rack/hoses and replaced with my refurbished manual rack with JMG steering shaft. Feels very smooth in operation but will have to wait to see what the higher ratio is like when back on the road.

[Matey]

I know where Trestan is I had a tyre and exhaust centre in the unit next door to them 30 years ago, they must have a very succesful business the name pops up on every forum for being the best in the area! My neighbour works for one of the classic/prestige dealers in the forest they do a lot of exotic 60/70's cars and they use them too.

[sgl1966]

Finally had the car out of the garage for the first time in six months, meaning we could open the doors to fit the passenger seat ! The car is starting first time every time after its rebuild, with no fault codes which is great. Spent last week fitting Rennbay balljoints and fitting them the weekend with Gaz Golds all round plus all the refurbished anti roll bars. Also fitted the Vems AFR/EGT gauge and boost gauge which are both working well, now have to fit them into the breakout box on Tom's ecu.

[sgl1966]

A quick picture showing refurbed arms, discs and refurbed MO30 brakes. Also shows a good coat of Dinitrol was applied to stop any future rot and the manual steering rack fitted with the Moog tie rods.

[Greggers]

Hiya ...

Looks like a great thread, but I can't see any of the early photos!!

I'm in the middle of a similar sill rescue job but would really appreciate seeing what you've done to yours which might help me with mine .. Any chance of a repost or links to the original pics??

Cheers

Greg

[sgl1966]

Hi Greg, not sure what happens to the previous photos after a time but I will put a few up again tonight when I get home. As has been suggessted by Matey, Paul Baker Restorations near winchester did the work to a very high quality and a good price. They take a photo record of the work as it is done.