Ready for a charge

Right. Finally there was a break in the snow and I got to collect my alternator from Power Components. It seems almost criminal that some companies are charging almost as much for a replacement voltage regulator as Roger is for rebuilding the whole alternator - with new bearings too! It just goes to show - I could be spending a heck of a lot of money getting this 944 on the road if I wasn't prepared to get my hands cold & dirty, and make a few phone calls.

It's also great to know that there are people like Roger at Power Components in the world who don't feel the need to rip people off.

The bracket is off the alternator but the pivot bolt is seized in the bracket. So I popped round a local garage who have a hydraulic press and they've pushed it out, as well as drilling out the pivot bolt hole so a replacement will fit easily. £25 well spent I'd say.

So far I haven't found a bolt to use. It's 130mm x M10 shoulder bolt. Neither Porsche nor VW (it's the same as an 80's Passat uses) have any - they're on back order even in Germany. Shiza. B&Q maybe?

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Bellhousing & Clutch fork removal

Removing the bellhousing from the Porsche 944 engine is not as complicated as it may seem - such as in this situation with my replacement engine. When I removed the original engine I detached it from the bellhousing in the car and removed the clutch pressure plate bolts through the starter motor hole - see my other post for details . In this case I decided to remove the clutch fork pivot shaft bolt. Begin by removing the four 17mm bellhousing bolts - you'll find that the bellhousing doesn't detach completely from the engine. It'll feel like its hooking on something. That something is the clutch fork pivot shaft inside the bellhousing. The bellhousing will be loose enough to rotate - turn it 180 degrees and peek through the access port which is now on top - this is what you'll see: If the engine is still in car you'll be looking at this from underneath. The pivot shaft needs to be extracted from the clutch fork. It's held in place by a small bolt on the...

HT lead order effects idle

When I fired up TheHoff after fitting the exhaust it was very obvious that the engine was not running as it should. It was a relief that it was firing up but being so close and not having a smooth running engine after all the hard work is a little discouraging. I videod the engine running and sent the clip to Jon Mitchell at JM Garage to get his views. He suggested it was either spark related or at worst cam timing being off. I spent a lot of time trying to ensure that the timing pulleys were aligned correctly during the rebuild and I'm confident it isn't the issue - but then again... So I began problem solving with the HT leads and spark plugs. Each of the plugs were extracted, cleaned (they were dark from all the firing and refiring I guess) and then connected to an inline spark tester to check if they were in fact getting a spark from the distributor. Thankfully they all were. Next thing to check was the order of the HT leads on the distributor. The 944 has a firin...

Engine out the top - Easy Peasy

After reading numerous posts, the Porsche workshop manual and Clarks Garage step-by-step engine removal guide - I felt confident enough to tackle the job. But I wanted to remove the engine from the top. As I discovered, it was pretty straight forward even for a novice! Result. I wanted to avoid removing the cross member and disturb the front suspension to do something I was convinced could be done easier from the top. Posts such as this one convinced me to give it a go at least. And I'm glad I did. In summary I was able to remove the engine from the top without needing to remove the bonnet/hood; torque tube; transaxle; bellhousing; clutch; clutch slave cylinder; cross member; front suspension; and radiator. Contrary to many so called internet experts opinions and many confusing threads this was painless and without dread. All that was necessary to remove was the starter; power steering pump and alternator (I figured to make the bottom of the engine narrower); intak...

Living with a Porsche 944

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