Ex gaskets heart failure
 

I knew Porsches were expensive but the cost of exhaust gaskets for a 79 are out of sight. $72 from Performance, $52.50 from Pelican (plus UP$ shipping).

I want to put on a cat tester (for testing), repair a leaky cross over pipe, put in exhaust port plugs and decided that the fastest way, if not the only way, to do it was to drop the exhaust system. Then I looked up the cost of heat exchanger to head gaskets. In the 80's we bought nice copper/aspetos gaskets for a buck a pop. These prices are crazy.

Questions"
Are they reusable? (Never been acceptable proceedure to reuse exhaust gaskets in the past, but Porsche may be different.)
Why are they stainless steel? :x

While I do try to give PP as much business as possible, check out Vertex. By far the cheapest parts seller around. They carry the good stuff too.

I looked in their on line cataog - no joy. Regular catalog - no joy unless I want to buy a engine set.

John,

If you call Chris at Vertex he may be able to find what you need. They carry a lot items that aren't necessarily in their catelog. I did this with my brakes, etc.

Speaking of brakes, Charlie is coming by my house around 6 to bleed the lines the old fashion way. Brake peddle is still soft after the TOTAL rebuild. Also we're going to look at some CIS maintenance. After the Fabspeed cat by-pass and the B&B Triflow Muffler upgrade and a new CO sensor, I was looking for a little more HP and better performance.

Ken

The peddle might be soft FROM the total rebuild. New seals will cause the pistons to retract more than when set in. This will cause the soft peddle for some miles.

One trick you might want to try is to pull a set of pads out and pump the peddle once or twice to push the pistons out past the now empty pads space. Then carefully push the pistons back just enough to snugly slip the pads back in. Do this one wheel at a time. The theory is that the seal is now preloaded to not pull back on the piston. I have found that just driving for a few days will alleviate the soft peddle. Some driving will also help work air to bleadable points as well.

This is exactly what I did when we put the calipers back on. After the first drive, we bled again, and there was more air in the lines. My guess is there is more air, although I've never seen a system need this much bleeding after a rebuild.

Thanks for the advice...Charlie had to cancel on me yesterday - so I had to drink his beer for him :wink:

I've put about 300+ miles on the brakes and they're still soft. Charlie had suggested bleeding them the old fashion way.

I'm away this next week so we'll take a look the following week.

Ken - I'll be working on my car all day tomorrow. Stop by if you want - we can bleed your brakes the old fashioned way. Do some leg stretches first :).

John, I might have some of the gaskets for you.
I'm pretty sure the 3 or 4 gaskets for the exhaust came in the head set. I didn't use them because I put on SSI's . I might have the 6 heat exchanger gaskets. Actually I do think they might have stainless in them.
I also have the pullers, inserts and tap you might need if you end up breaking or stripping an exhaust stud.

Let me know, If it doesn't rain I'll be comming up your way for Christopher's Lacrosse practice.

Ken, I had my brakes blead at the last tech inspection. They were different after. I wouldn't say spongy, but they didn't do anything for about the 1st inch pushing on the pedal. After that 1st inch they were hard. Finally after about 2 weeks it fixed itself. I think that one of the check valves in the master cylinder may not have been sealing completly.
Kinda like when you refill an empty windex bottle. Untill you get it all full of liquid, the pump only works after it goes down half way.

I definately think that bleeding them in the normal may help solve it.
While your at it you should go ahead and do what Kurt suggested.

I bought mine through directpartsonline.com. If you know the part numbers they are usually the cheapest and you get the correct part (ie: mann filters). I bought my exhaust gaskets through them. BTW if you can wait, I am doing a top end on my car (unexpected) and may ahve most if not all the gaskets you need when I am done and will sell for a lot less! Direct parts drop ships which means they are regularly nest day and if the order is over $50 (easy for us!) the shipping is free!!