[TD in DC]

After unsuccessfully searching for books on rebuilidng 944 engines, I bought a book today entitled "How To Rebuild & Modify Porsche 911 Engines: 1965-1989" by Wayne R. Dempsey. Although a 911 engine is obviously very different from a 944 engine, I thought the descriptions of the basic procedures would be helpful. Do any of you have this book? If so, what do you think of it?

I also bought a more generic book called the "Engine Builder's Handbook." Probably overkill, but I find it helpful to get my mind around the basics like what I am looking for and the cleaning and care of the parts during dissassembly and reassembly.

[Charlie Stylianos]

It is the 911 engine rebuild BIBLE. Well supplemented by the Bently and Haynes (and the factory workshop manuals if you can get $$$) for their diagrams and 'filler' information.

The specifics will do you no good, but the disassembly, cleaning and inspecting chapters have good generic info that can be used for pretty much any rebuild project.

[TD in DC]

Originally Posted by Charlie Stylianos

The specifics will do you no good, but the disassembly, cleaning and inspecting chapters have good generic info that can be used for pretty much any rebuild project.

That was my assumption. Leafing through it quickly at the book store made me think it had a lot of very good generic information.

Also, a buddy sent me the factory manual on CD rom! That should be pretty helpful.

[Noah]

That's a great book, and does indeed have good info, as Charlie mentioned, about cleaning, inspection, etc. There's also a lot of good info on more general engine topics, such as hi-performance mods, machine work, etc. Spending some quality time with it will be very informative for you, but it'll make you want a 911.

You might also look in the acknowledgements in the beginning of the book and see where a certain Dorki is mentioned by the author.

[TD in DC]

Originally Posted by Noah

You might also look in the acknowledgements in the beginning of the book and see where a certain Dorki is mentioned by the author.

LOL You're even more famous than I thought you were!

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by TD in DC

LOL You're even more famous than I thought you were!

A legend in his own mind.
Notice it didn't say what Wayne was thanking him for!! :P

[Vicegrip]

Originally Posted by VaSteve

A legend in his own mind.
Notice it didn't say what Wayne was thanking him for!! :P

Yea and I bet he does not even have pictures of his car in the book ether!

[Andy Clements]

Todd,

Although I'm sure there is plenty of good generic info in the 911 book, as you mentioned the engines are obviously very different. I've skimmed through several similar books in the stores, and there are a number of ricer and American iron type engine books. IMHO our engines have more in design elements in common with a Honda civic than they do with a pushrod small block chevy OR an air cooled 911. Most of them will be of little specific use for your project, but every bit of info and pictures you scrounge up is food for spotting problems and figuring out what you are doing.

The factory manual you already have will be crucial during the rebuild. Other very helpful volumes include the Parts & Technical Reference guide, and don't underestimate the value of the good 'ol $15 Haynes manual for certain photos and hints. The PET CD is handy to have in certain instances as well, and I can help get you a copy of that if you need it (Shhhhhhh).

Andy Clements
'84 944 (list of winter projects is growing quickly also)

[Jazzbass]

Don't listen to them, Todd. The 911 book will be fine for you. Just take a pen and cross out any references to "cylinder 5" or "cylinder 6", change references to "cams" to the singular, replace "chain tensioners" with "belt tensioner" and "scavenge pump" with "water pump" and presto - you're set. You can thank me later.

[}{arlequin]

LOL.... todd, much of everything on pelican has been based on the foundation of that book..... call it "tabula raza"

i agree that a 2.0 liter honda book would be just as good for your rebuild as any other porsche book

if you want a bit of an unfair advantage, look up DPR (Dan Paramore Racing)- they do magic w/ head flow which is where most of inline 4's power seems to come from (aside from 'illegal' displacement bump)