[Marc A]

This August with the help of many, I transplanted an '89 3.2 w/22k into my '77. The first oil fill was with 10w-30 Penzoil which I drained after a couple hundred miles in favor of Mobil 1. Prior to the oil change, my engine was dry except for a valve cover stud that was leaking slightly.

After a couple of weeks, I started noticed drops of oil under the oil return tubes on the head side and on both banks. The oil leaks stopped shortly after the car was turned off.

I replaced the oil return tubes, even though they were not leaking as the originals ones were in place.

I continued to drive the car until right after the Nov. fun run. About a week ago I pulled the motor and removed the valve covers. What I found were 3 rocker shafts that had backed out of thier journals about 1/4"

The better part of 4 hours were spent removing each shaft, cleaning them and installing RSR seals. The seals are available at Dulles I'ntl. They were not installed on production motors.

I posted pictures on Pelican and recieved some good information, which included this article: http://www.competitioneng.com/WaltsPage.htm

Walt Watson is of Competition Engineering and highly regarded in 911 circles (so I'm told).

The moral of the story is don't ignore oil leaks unless you are sure of the source, and sure that the leak is not engine life threating. One of the rocker shafts in my engine was about 1/4" from coming out completely, which, of course, would not have been a good thing for the motor.

Hope this helps, as I was very fortunate to have caught this when I did.

[Charlie Stylianos]

Marc,

Thaks for the tip and good catch!

I will definitely check the rocker shafts for migration when the engine comes out this winter. So, the RSR seals will help prevent oil leaks and increasing the torque values from 1.8 to to 2.5kpm will help prevent the shaft slippage? If done, this should e a 2 part repair/checklist i'm guessing. Was your 3.2 was rebuilt and the builder used the factory torque specs on the rockers? I'm just curious as my engine (3.0) has not been apart and wondering if it could be suffering from shaft migration.

-Charlie

[Marc A]

Charlie:

The only thing that I am certain of is that someone tried to seal the rocker shaft journals with black permatex (bad bad idea), and probably used the factory torque spec, as the allen heads turned without much resistance.

The guys at Dulles said tighten them until you can't any more using allen wrenchs rather than any type of socket. You tighten with the 5 mm and hold with the 8mm. I cut down an 8mm standard allen wrench to fit into the ends of the 4 shaft where clearance is a problem.

When you pull the valve covers to adj. the valves, you can check the shafts. If they are not leaking, they are not migrating. I wouldn't mess with anything unless it is clear that a problem exists.

[RoninLB]

Originally Posted by Marc A

Walt Watson is of Competition Engineering and highly regarded in 911 circles (so I'm told).

I'm relatively new to 911s for my age.. so when deciding what was going on with this stuff I took notice of the guys who were around when this all started.. guys like Stoddard, Anderson, etc.. and the Competition Engineering guys were all part of the same small group.. don't remember their names, but would recognise it.. and Walt Watson was literally born into the CE business.. he's 2nd generation of his family's business.. so he was raised into the culture.. IMO, it's like he knows what a 911 engine is supposed to do. and he knows how to build them to make it do its "thing".. like you tell him the kind of track you want to run on and he knows where to get the torque applied to the right places at the most effective rpm.. that's the beauty of Walt riding shotgun.. anyway, because I want my 2.7 to be great fun I want PMOs and E-cams.. the car is in process to be worthy of the cams, that are brand/Stoddard/new sitting in the closet.. but I also want it to be able to clock 10k miles on the kind of rides I do without any BS.. so when deciding on the cams and piston CR I was in contact with a few old timers from the Stoddard group.. it was very cool.. this group had a lot of experience with carbs and high overlap cams.. and I know when they're gone Walt will still be here.. so I do take seriously building an engine the way Walt says it's supposed to be built .............Ron

[targa911man]

Marc--

This is solid info. I will be doing a valve adjust within the next month and will definitely check this out.

[Marc A]

Motor is back in and was run at idle for 20 mins to check for leaks, none except an oil line that needed tightening. After sitting for a couple of days, fired her up and went for a 30 min. drive. Not a drop of oil anywhere.

I would highly recommend installing the RSR seals if there is any oil dampness in those areas between the heads and outside of the rocker shafts, or in any event if the engine is out of the car.