[Cairo94507]

Got some more work done Saturday. The fuel system is almost completed. Just need a fitting for the fuel filter and then have to add the clamps and that wraps that up.

Then we got one oil line finished and it came out terrific and lives exactly where we wanted it so it is nice and safe. The other oil line did not come out as we hoped so back to the drawing board on that one. Hopefully we get that sorted on Wednesday.

We also made an extension piece for our air intake to move it about 4" outward towards the driver side of the car. We should button that up Wednesday as well.

[Cairo94507]

Got the passenger side heat exchanger installed and the clutch hooked up- nice pedal. Then we completed the intake with the air filter. Got all fuel lines hooked up except the fuel filter connection- had to order a new fitting for that. We also installed a rear trunk lid shock kit as we had to remove the trunk torsion rods as we needed that space for the intake. The trunk shock kit works amazingly.

[Cairo94507]

Yesterday my brother and I went to see Chris at The Red Bard to get an oil line bent to go from the oil tank to the engine. Chris is a great guy and always willing to lend a hand. His car fabrication buddy, Martin, was there and he took the 7/8" 0.065 walled mild steel pipe and put a couple nice 90 degree bends with a 2" radius on each end. They came out perfect. We can now cut to fit and weld on some fittings and install it. That will complete the oiling system and allow us to put the driver's side heat exchanger and muffler on too.

[Cairo94507]

Got a good day in yesterday despite the heat. We connected the throttle using a Patrick Motorsports throttle cable- no issues. Then we finished fabricating the oil line from the oil tank to the engine and then took the rubber hose to get the fittings crimped on after we shortened the hose to what we felt was the right length. Then we got the driver's side heat exchanger installed and the muffler. We stopped working when the garage hit 95 degrees.

[N0tt0N]

Golden Retriever: I see your problem, Lady. There's an out-of-spec air gap between the Vulcanized Pneumatic Tori and the Altitude Normalized Grip Surface. It's going to be expensive to raise the Grip Surface on a Classic like this but any gap greater than a few thou' will have a noticeable impact on performance. You should probably take care of this before Mr? Porsche gets back from his trip or he'll definitely notice somethings up. That'll be 4 Porsche Dollars.

Incredible work, Guys! Thanks for sharing!

[Cairo94507]

Thank you very much. The Golden is a real sweetie and she loves to help out. This engine swap has been a lot of challenges but we are finally on the home stretch.

[Cairo94507]

Yesterday we took a few steps closer towards the finish line. We put 10 quarts of oil in the engine- we believe the system will hold 12-13 quarts, but 10 will be good to get it started.

We then added fuel to the tank and turned on the ignition and the fuel pump immediately pressurized the system and started to return fuel to the tank like it should have. We checked all fittings and everything is nice and dry.

I then topped of the transaxle with about 1/2 of a quart of Valvoline gear oil.

Then I thought we should install the o2 sensor in the heat exchanger. Sadly when the plug was installed in the bung on the heat exchanger, they did not use any type of anti seize so the plug came out with no threads left on it. We then ordered the appropriate tap to clean those threads for the o2 sensor.

We installed the rear shift rod and confirmed we have all 5 gears and reverse.

Then we ran 2 new lines from my charcoal canister in the front trunk to the engine bay, behind the driver's rocker cover where they share the space with the GT oil cooler hard lines. We had to order some black hose to make the connection from that to the engine.

Then Greg called Patrick Motorsports to get some clarification on the wiring harness I bought from them. After speaking with PMS, Greg believes we have the answers we need to complete the wiring.

We also installed a master power switch just to be safe and to keep the car totally disconnected when parked for longer periods.

[Cairo94507]

Time for an update. We tried firing her up for 2 work days with no luck. Power to the coils but no spark. The first thing we went after was the gap for the Crank Reference Sensor (CRS). We did not recall setting the gap; it really has very little adjustment. So we pulled the transaxle out and discovered the gap was twice what the factory wants. We set the Gap correctly but still had no spark. But at least now the CRS was properly gapped. That little event took 1 day to deal with. In our defense, we don't kill ourselves working and we always go out and have a nice lunch.

The next thing we tackled, still with the no-spark in mind, was the actual CRS plug. I installed a brand new Porsche engine harness as the '95 993 3.6 harness was the subject of a recall campaign. Amazingly, once I gave Porsche my engine number, they sold me a complete engine harness, connectors and all, for about $110. Right? That is just crazy cheap. I had also bought a new CRS as my 3.6 CRS was missing. Consequently, we had to change the connector on the engine harness to accept the plug on the new CRS.

During the break, we both noodled on it and remembered we had swapped the CRS connector. Apparently, while pinning the new connector, due to all of the frivolity, we pinned it incorrectly. To verify that, Greg called a friend who has a flared 914-6 with a 3.6 and asked him to snap a picture of his CRS connector wiring. Yup, it was different than our pinning. I ordered a new connector and we pinned it like the other car was pinned and we now had spark to the plugs. Yay! It now wanted to start, but still would not catch.

We thought about what else we had done and then Greg called a good friend of his who is a Porsche trained master mechanic. He immediately asked if my engine was a Drive Block engine. That is the "imobilizer" system that is the theft deterrent. My '97 993 had that system and I was not a fan. But when I bought this engine I contacted Steve Wong and provided my engine number and DME serial number and he told me I had an early engine and they were not so equipped. Regardless, he told me with the lightened flywheel (9.5 lbs.) we were installing, I would need one of his chips so the engine would not try to stall when coming to a stop. I bought his chip and it comes equipped to defeat the Drive Block, even though I did not have that system....

We installed the chip and after troubleshooting the initial no-start issue, (pre CRS discovery) we swapped back in the stock chip to see if somehow that was the problem. Well that made no difference and we neglected to reinstall the Steve Wong chip. Greg's friend immediately said to put the Wong chip back in the DME. We swapped it back in and the engine fired up immediately. Yay!

Now this 3.6 was removed from the 993 in 1997 with 18K on it following an accident where the 993 rear-ended someone. It sat in storage for 27 years in a temperature controlled shop.

So though it was now running, it was running rough and very rich. I had squirted a lot of Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders in the 6 moths or so that it sat in my garage as I collected all of the parts to do the swap. So it smoked like a champ and quickly fogged the whole garage. Lumpy running at low RPM but when you gave it gas and got to about 5K RPM it cleared up and sounded sweet. We decided we likely have some fouled injectors and 1 or more was probably dumping gas into a cylinder or 2 and once you got to 5K RPM the engine was able to burn that fuel. So Monday the injectors will go to a local shop to get cleaned and tested. If they can't be serviced properly, I will buy a new set. Once we get the injectors back in we will see how it runs.

It is a process and you just work the problem. We are close to the finish line. Oh, and lesson learned re the Drive Block. Apparently during the 27 years of the engine sitting, the DME got swapped with a different one. Stuff happens.

[Cairo94507]

I just ordered the vacuum canister for the resonance flap. Didn't have one, go figure...

[Cairo94507]

OK, installed the vacuum canister and got it hooked up. Then we installed the new Mickey Mouse ears on the 3.6. The Patrick Motorsports ears were never going to be the end. We then modified those and they were way better. A friend, who owns some very nice P-cars, saw the ears and took it upon himself to contact a friend who then 3D printed me a beautiful set of ears out of the good stuff that work deform, melt, etc. We installed those and they are beautiful.
Then we started her to see if anything had changed re the running poorly. Nope. So we are standing there noodling through troubleshooting while the engine lumps along and smells rick, etc., and Greg says, "Michael, unplug the MAF sensor and see if that helps". I unplugged it and the engine smoother right out and ran great. Yay!
We ordered a new MAF sensor and hadn't it in our hands within 3 hours. We installed that and fired her up and she runs great.
Quick aside, I called Porsche and they wanted $1,190 for the MAF (I provided the exact part number, so that was not an error). They also said the soonest I could get it was Monday. Greg called a good friend and we ordered it and 3 hours later we. had it. The best part, it cost me $198.06 including tax. That's correct, $1K cheaper!

So we put the seats in, (no seatbelts, back-pad or carpets) checked all fluids, lug nut torque, air pressure, etc., and took her for a ride. It felt great to back behind the wheel. Oh, 1st gear- unnecessary. Start off in 2nd and this motor has tons of torque. We drove about 7 miles and stopped and checked for leaks, etc. Then drove back and again checked for leaks and now checked the oil level. Added 1 quart of oil, now at 13 quarts to bring the level to the middle between the 2 marks on the dipstick. Temperature never got above 180 degrees. We did notice the fans had turned on during the drive- can't hear them from inside the car. We still do not have the oil cooler fan shroud on as we wanted to get it hot and make sure the thermostat opened and the fans turned on and no leaks. All nice and dry.

We took it for another ride, maybe 12 miles and Greg drove and the engine pulls strong all the way to redline. We can hear the resonance flap open at high RPMs and it is glorious. Car was running even better now that we had about 25 miles on it. It takes a minute for a motor that has been sitting for 27 years (yes, 27 years) to fully awaken.

I mean my 3.2 had torque and power for sure, but this is another level. I will say I was very surprised how quiet the engine is in the car when driving. I can't wait to see how quiet it is once we get the interior back in and take it for a ride. I have the Dansk 2-in 1-out Sport muffler in mild steel on the car and it sounds great. That was a good choice for what I wanted.

The next time we get together we have to sort a problem with the oil pressure gauge and oil pressure idiot light. We believe we have the wires crossed as the gauge pegs at maximum once running and the idiot light glows dimly. We know we have pressure, so that's not our problem. Hopefully switching the 2 wires resolves that.

The brake warning light is illuminated. I likely just need to push the reset switch on the master cylinder as we swapped to a 19mm master cylinder for a better pedal and then flushed the brakes.

Then we will install the oil cooler shroud and that will button up the front trunk.

I am so happy the engine is running great. Waking a long dormant engine is anxiety ridden for sure. When we pulled the valve covers to replace the hydraulic lifters - just to get the new style in with the teflon seals, the inside of the engine looked pristine. When we pulled the distributor to change the drive belt, everything looked pristine. So... here's hoping it just keeps getting better as we drive it.

A special thanks to Greg T. who without his skills, expertise and help, this would have never happened. Also Chris B., Steve, Clay, my twin brother Bob, our good friend HB, whose 914-6 conversion with a new SS 3.2 is next in line. That will be a cakewalk compared to my project.