Timing belt back on.

Almost there.

Some hoses, 4 belts (one crucially important, one really important, one important, and one "good idea,") the rest of the intake, put the covers and fans back on, reattach the starter, put the battery back in, put the plug wires and distributor cap back on, cross fingers, and turn the key.

Might get done tomorrow, if I'm as productive as tonight.

Rebuilt fuel injectors

New spacers, o-rings, and vaporizer tips. This should help with both power and mileage.

Intake Manifold

Now we're cooking right along

It's a nice, cool night. The first of them at the end of this summer. It always seems to work like this - October 1 rolls around and the weather just gets nice. June 15 it gets unbearable again. Three and a half months of mind-numbing heat, followed by eight and a half months of mostly wonderful. Not a bad deal.

Cam shaft tower

Cam shaft tower torqued back on. It's starting to look hopeful again. At least it says "Porsche" again...

"Birdie Golf" teeing off

Well.... so we're not really looking at the LPGA as a viable career option here. I've "really" golfed exactly once. It didn't go so well. I think I lost something like 5 balls. Dad was a bit upset. I was... 14? 15? Haven't golfed since.

"Birdie Golf"

Kid B entertaining herself with a few rounds of "Birdie Golf" around our large (for Phoenix) back yard.

Torqueing the head back on.

20NM of torque, in the correct sequence, then two 90 degree torque turns, also in sequence. Each sequence followed by 30 minutes of "adjust" time for the head gasket material.

Rust Drying

Here's the problem area, cleaned up of loose rust and dead waterproofing, Scotch-brited a bit, and drying in preparation for the POR-15. Funny thing about POR-15; you don't want to get rid of ALL the rust. Just the loose flakes. The surface rust is what the POR-15 "works with" to form the oxidation barrier.

Funny how I decide I'm going to do this job "as fast as possible," then take the time to fix all the myriad "while I'm doing this..." stuff. Ah well. That's why it's a "hobby" and not a "job."

The Hidden Enemy

As many people know, Porsches don't rust. Starting in 1978, Porsche hot dip galvanized the entire bodies of their cars. An expensive process. May people talk about the "value" of cars, and this is one of the reasons Porsches cost more. The extra effort pays off in longevity.

That having been said, Porsche, while being known for fantastic engineering, has also been known to make some significant boneheaded design mistakes. Some examples are: The "oil" fill door on the rear of the 1973 911, which many owners confused with a fuel fill door, and filled their crank case with gasoline. Or the mid-1970's 911 with the 2.7 L engine, which had an engine case that underwent thermal expansion faster than the head studs, thus making the studs pull out of the engine, and causing it to pull apart or "grenade" (a sickenly accurate term.) Then there was the early 944 water pump, which allowed the timing belt to pass my itself at less than 10mm going in opposite directions, leading to it hitting itself, the belt falling apart, and destroying the head. Or the timing belt itself, which "required" a prohibitively expensive tool to "tension" until 1987, when they built in an auto tensioner.

And then, there was this (see picture.) This is a rust free car, all over. But, there's a catch... Porsche engineers put the battery in a little compartment just in front of the windshield, right over the passenger side footwell. Batteries contain acid. The acid leaks in very small quantities. Rain or even water from washing the car washes the acid off the battery, and down under the battery. Add to the problem the fact that the drain holes usually get clogged with leaves and gunk and dirt, impeding the drainage. So, there it sits, where it slowly eats through paint, waterproofing, zinc from the galvanization process, and finally metal. This eventually causes a hole in the metal, and whenever it rains water runs down into the passenger side footwell. In the early 944s (up to the 1985.5 mid year change,) this is not a huge deal. It's a mess. It looks bad. It makes the car smell musty. But it doesn't have an immediate effect on the car RUNNING. Until, that is, 1985.5 rolled around, and some genius at Porsche thought it would be a great idea to reloacate the DME (the computer that controls the engine) to... You guessed it. The PASSENGER SIDE FOOTWELL.

So, we have... Battery. Battery contains sulfuric acid. Acid leaks. Water washes the acid away. Drain holes get plugged. Acid eats through paint, factory waterproofing, galvanization, and metal. Acid water leaks into passenger side footwell, and drips into DME computer. Computers + weak molar concentrations of sulfuric acid = computer that looks like someone was growing rock candy inside of it = non-running Porsche.

I always check this. On this car, the rust is already there, and is pretty advanced, but still water tight. So, I clean the area up, clean out the drains, and use a Dremel to expand the front drain hole (which they plugged in 85.5 models), apply POR-15 (a polymeric isocyanate that converts ferrous oxide to a non-reactive molecule, essentially making the rust into rust proofing,) then top coat with black asphalt repair compound (available at Home Depot in a squirty bottle.) After it's dry, I dust the area with calcium carbonate (baking soda), and reinstall the battery. From then on, when I change oil, I rinse the area, check the drains, and pour a little more baking soda just generally "down there." The baking soda is a base, and neutralizes the acid from the battery.

So, a little redesign and maintenance prevails.

(Post game comment)
This was SUPPOSED to be an easy ASU win. But they lost in overtime by three points. The UNLV kicked it in at the end of the 4th quarter, and really made it an exciting game (unlike what happened with USC vs. OSU - I bet there were some saaaaaaad Buckeyes last night....)

Weird.

The picture isn't clear enough, but in the background, you can see Papago Park and "Hole in the Rock" (we were there 2 weeks ago, and could see South Mountain from there,) and South Mountain (we were there one weeks ago, and could see Papago Park and "Hole in the Rock") Now we're at SunDevil Stadium, and we can see Papago Park and South Mountain all at once!

Pregame. Waiting.

At the ASU vs UNLV game.

You can see the ASU Sundevils warming up in the background.

This was Kid B's first football game of any kind. We were in the highest seats you could possibly get, but on the 50 yeard line (Rich and Patti got tickets to the Diamondbacks, and gave us their seats here.) We had the same vantage point as the press box, across the field. Kid B was really impressed that her Grandpa is the announcer for the local High School football team in Michigan!

Porsche 911 engine fan.

What's in YOUR dish rack? ;-)

Sleepy.

Friday night asleep on the couch.

Meeting at GCTS

Work, and then..... more work. After this, I'm picking up Kid B, going home, eating, and.... doing some work.

No Liberal Bias Here!

"US" Magazine claims there's no bias in this cover. How, exactly WOULD "US" Magazine show bias? Photoshop horns and fangs on Sarah, and put the "Mark of the Beast" on her baby's forehead? From the polls and Obama's inability to hold it together, we're looking at the next VP. The media needs to show a little respect and focus on the facts.

Girly Stuff

Which hair clips? Decisions, decisions... (she picked the hair bands)

Kid B and Sprig the Turtle

Test

Got the video working.

Off to school.

Kid B heads off to school on her bike Wednesday morning. The neighbors across the street (landlords, actually) are fixing up the house after the family of five boys and a single mom moved out after 6 years. I talked to the home owners - the place was trashed. "They set a few fires in the back yard, but... boys will be boys. We're just lucky it wasn't the house!"

Rain and Sun - sunset in the Sonoran Desert

On the way to buy fishy little "victims" for Sprig the Turtle, this was the scene over the Estrella Mountains as a light, warm monsoon rain washed over the Southeast Valley.

At the doctors office.

She has a cough that wont seem to go away. Shes had it since July. We are a bit concerned.

For when your rhino needs wiped.

The "well" at Scorpion Gulch

Kinda cool looking fake well. Nothing in it - filled in with rocks.

"Scorpion Gulch"

Part of a cool and interesting group of abandoned buildings at the base of South Mountain.

South Mountain Park, Phoenix

Siannan and I on top of the summit of South Mountain, this area overlooking downtown Phoenix.

You can't see it in this picture, unfortunately, but Papago Park and the "Hole in the Rock" are in the background. Last Monday, we took a picture of ourselves from "Hole in the Rock," with South Mountain in the background! :-)

Kid B, Helping Out

She may be the only girl at her school who has helped tear down and rebuild a Porsche.

She really was a help here - she supported the head, and held the valves in place, and put the springs on while I got the valve spring compressor locked on. This would have taken twice as long without her, and I might have dropped the head! Good kid! :-)

Bent Valves - The *CORRECT* way to do it!

The broken belt managed to bend all 4 exhaust valves, and even kissed the intake valves. The core head looks quite salvageable though. Time to look for some new valves and a good deal on Yet Another Bunged Up 944!

Kid B loves the "S" shaped valves. She's taking them to school for Show and Tell. LOL!

Kid B and I at the Porsche Shop in Tempe

Pulling the valves and springs from the "good" head to replace the valve stem seals. One of 'em came off in my hand, so I did the right thing in replacing them.

Urban Hieroglyphics pt. 4

Urban Hieroglyphics pt. 3

Amazing what strange talents bored people present...

Urban Hieroglyphics pt. 2

Urban Hieroglyphics pt. 1

Found on a concrete picnic table in the waiting area outside "Will Call" at a Phoenix Industrial Metal Supply shop.

Kid B the Spider Monkey.

She climbed up there all by herself. In bad shoes!

Inside the "Hole in the Rock"

Phoenix and South Mountain in the background. We can see our house from here! LOL!

Hole in the Rock

Back side of the Hole in the Rock, Papago Park, Phoenix. We just finished a small picnic.