01Nov2013
Porsche 996 Oil Pressure Issues
After finishing the big IMS/RMS/M030/Brake issues with the 996 C4, I noticed it had low oil pressure when starting, and the when driving never really got much above 3 bar. There is a common issue happening with these cars, a broken oil pressure valve spring. If the car is extremely noisy on start up, your spring may be breaking or broken. How it looked when I removed it from the engine. About as half as long as it should be! …
31Oct2013
Porsche 997TT Coolant Pipe Leak
Had this 997TT come into the shop this week with a coolant leak. While I could see the trace of coolant, it took awhile of pressurizing the system before I could get it to leak. Unfortunately, the coolant was coming from on top of the engine which isn’t good. That means we have cracked plastic coolant pipe fittings or metal fittings that have separated. Either way, I’ve got to pull the motor down to replace the plastic fittings with Sharkwerks …
31Oct2013
Porsche Boxster Alternator Replacement
Had a little boxster come in today for an oil change and voltage issue. Turns out the alternator was only charging at 11v, so a new one was in order! Access is behind the seats. It is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole! Old one coming out, and new one installed. Back up to proper voltage!
31Oct2013
Porsche 930 PPI
If you follow the blog, you know that PPI stands for PRE purchase inspection…..well this is another POST purchase inspection, aka “The Heart breaker.” This car came in for basically an evaluation of what the car needed, and what plan of action to take. I noticed the upgraded turbo was puking oil, and the intercooler was in need of replacement, but the owner said the car smoked on both start up and while driving, so I figured we had better …
31Oct2013
Porsche 996 C4 Major Service
This 996 showed up this last week to install a customer supplied M030 suspension (shocks/sway bars/springs). While I have no problem install factory parts in this case, once I got the car on the lift, I noticed we had a lot of other stuff that was in dire need of repair first. I often like to check out the car before recommending parts replacements, as some times there are more dire items that need replacement. A lot of expensive Porsche …
28Oct2013
The Current Epidemic
I’m not really sure what else to call it really. Unfortunately in the coming years, we are going to be seeing a lot of this stuff happening. This is one of the reasons I highly stress a PRE purchase inspection before buying a used Porsche, especially a water cooled one. With Boxster and 996 prices at an all time low, many uninformed people are buying these cars up without knowing the real cost of ownership and potential for major expense …
28Oct2013
Porsche 911T Progress
Well….not much has been going on with the 911T project. Machine shop is slow, so the motor rebuild isn’t done yet. I hear the lower end is together though, so we are making some progress. The car came back from paint and looks incredible. With the glass still out, I took the opportunity to pull the dash so we could replace the center speaker. In the early 70s, many of the 911’s had dash issues. The original dash had a …
28Oct2013
Porsche 911SC Project
We were down for the PCA club race in early October, and on a whim stopped in Joplin and picked up a car for a customer. A 1979 911SC that has had a lot of work put into it, was picked up at a good price. A fairly fresh paint job and engine/transmission rebuild, suspension work, etc meant a lot of the big ticket stuff was already done. We stopped in Joplin on the way back home, took possession of …
03Oct2013
Chump Car: Prepping for the Chumpianship
That’s right….chumpianship. With great finishes at BIR and HPR, Car 54 Where Are You is qualified for the Chumpianship at Road America here in a few weeks. Trying to get the car prepped to hold up for such a prestigious event isn’t easy. No one wants to haul 10 hours each way and have the car break down, so I am going the distance on making sure this thing is ready to go. One of the major issues with E36 …
25Sep2013
Porsche 911T Engine Rebuild
We hit a crossroads with the 911T the other day. Since we were doing some paint work to get the body looking good, we decided to drop the engine out to also paint the engine bay since there had been a color change previously. But then we had this disgusting motor sitting on the table with a little low oil pressure when really hot, unknown history…..you get the picture. Poof. Magic. Out comes the engine. Yuck. Double Yuck. Triple Yuck. …