Honey I blew up the car

(For the record this is all from the perspective of a wife who is not even slightly a car person)

So – most folks know that my husband has a serious car hobby.  Like really, quite serious.

One of my husbands toys is a 1984 Porsche 911 – at 34 years old, its older than any of our children.

Now normally his hobby results in weekends off to track … events which are run by a car club and called Drivers Ed (I guess that’s true, he is an instructor….). 

Now missing a fairly important piece

This year however was different.  After 15 years and many kilometers on the track, the engine and transmission were showing signs of wanting some TLC. So, instead of the budget going to gas, tires, brakes, hotel rooms, etc. it would be spent on a rebuild.

To rebuild an engine requires that engine and transmission be removed from the car and held by a specialized rack. Normally removal involves a floor jack, but Bob has a Kubota and so why not use that?

 

The All Purpose Kubota to the Rescue

On the Rack

It also requires every darned piece to be removed, cleaned and measured.  And there are hundreds and hundreds of parts in an engine.

As a result, our garage, which is large, has been turned into a rather customized engine shop.  This includes the previously mentioned rack to hold the engine, a solvent cleaning bath, a sand blasting set up (loaded with various kinds of particulate), a computer station to look stuff up, including manuals and of course many, many bins, containers, bags and storage tools to keep the parts separated, and most importantly identified.

Many of the parts are small

Beyond this there is a host of new measuring devices, some purchased and some crafted.  (Sometimes it seems like this is more an excuse to get more tools and gadgets than to rebuild the car). 

The goal of course is to measure each part and determine if it is okay to go back into the engine when rebuilt.  Now the car is old so every single part has some wear.  But – is the wear getting close to where one would need to replace the part?  How much life is left in the part and is it enough to get to the next rebuild? If replacement is required what is the best way? (Oh the drama!)

Of course, the easiest way is to order a lot of new parts from Porsche (Hell one could order a new engine if that was the plan) but that is neither cost efficient nor very interesting.  Apparently parts are available from Porsche or from a variety of other sources, so many hours are spent agonizing over the best choice. 

No idea what this is, but it looked cool

At the moment the vehicle is still in (many) pieces although it looks like some of it is being reassembled – guess that’s progress. Not sure if it will be back together this fall but in any case it is proving to be a perfect retirement project, capable of consuming all of Bob’s free time.