IPB-Autosport 996 GT3 4 Liter

[IPB-Autosport]

While many are scrambling to find an RS 4.0 allocation, we are taking a different approach. Allow me to introduce the IPB-Autosport 4 liter project.




First things first, the engine has to come out. After removing the airbox, draining and disconnecting the coolant system, evacuating the A/C, disconnecting power steering lines, fuel lines, engine harness, misc vacuum lines, etc, the car goes up in the air.



Once the plastic underbody panels are removed, we gain access to everything else that has to be disconnected: axles, cross members, sway bar, starter, ground, transmission cables, clutch slave, additional coolant lines including the tranny cooler, and of course engine/transmission mounts. The whole unit drops out.



It’s massive.



The engine and transmission is split and the clutch is removed. Stock flywheel isn’t light. An RS LWFW will be taking its place.



Clutch plate still looks good.



Two studs are pulled and the engine is secured with allens.




Out comes the oil tank and associated lines.




Next the intake manifold.






Oil cooler and cooling manifold come out.




Alternator and A/C compressor comes next.



Power steering pump and reservoir.



Water pump comes out last.



We are down to a long block.



All the parts are stashed on a cart, and the transmission sits nearby. Once the case is split and sent off to machining, the differential will be pulled and rebuilt with Guard internals.



In the engine room is a freshly rebuild air cooled engine waiting to go into a genuine 914-6. Numerous flat-6 engine parts everywhere – accumulated through years of engine building experience.



My engine is next to a 993 GT2 Evo 3.8. Cool, huh?



We need more motivation in this room. Ah yes, the Wurth calendar!



Cam covers come off with the motivation of big orange.




Out come the chain tensioners.



Porsche specialty tools are used to hold the cam gears in order to loosen the nuts.



Lifters are now exposed. These are placed into a labeled bin so that they can be reused in the same locations.



Timing chain housings and cam housings come out.



Then the heads.



Parts lay on the work table.




Cylinders slide off exposing the pistons.




Pistons are unclipped.




Time to split the case.



The engine stand is struck with a hammer to shock the case.




The internals are beautiful.



That's all for tonight - the past few days have been exhausting!

[FTS]

I have to say, love the post, pics and story development, thank you. This is pure car porn, like undressing your significant other on a pole

Thank you for the detail pictures, fantastic to see all these details.

Also, just as a note to everyone, these types of posts are very educational for most of us, and as long as vendors (who are enthusiasts like us) keep sharing technical information with the community and avoid engaging in direct sales activities, such as listing prices for products or services, or just trying free advertising, I welcome their participation in our community. It is a fine line, and we will do our best to walk on it carefully. If you have a differing view on this matter, please do email/pm me privately, at the end this is your community, we are only here to administer it for our members.

Cheers,

[landjet]

Ron, nice project. How many HP will the 4.0 yield?

Do you have any pictures of the coolant manifolds after repair using your method of welding in the stock fittings?

[TRAKCAR]

Me Likey!

Can't wait to see the progress, dyno results and laptimes. Ideally with before and after overlays. That's all.

[Trackrat]

Following with curiosity as well.

[cfjan]

The one done by Musante/EPL ended up making 450hps or so? Here's the link to the EPL website:

http://www.eplabs.net/products/porsc...onversion-kit/

[IPB-Autosport]

I will be posting pics of each step along the way, as well as pics of all enhancements to improve reliability.

[landjet]

Thanks, I will be following. Everything has to come off the top of my engine to do the coolant manifold repair.

[SH || NC]

Originally Posted by FTS

Also, just as a note to everyone, these types of posts are very educational for most of us, and as long as vendors (who are enthusiasts like us) keep sharing technical information with the community and avoid engaging in direct sales activities, such as listing prices for products or services, or just trying free advertising, I welcome their participation in our community.

+1!

Can't wait to see the next batch of updates!

[Dell]

Saw it over on Rennlist. Will follow here as well. SUBSCRIBED!

[IPB-Autosport]

Oil pump and shaft are out.




Note the dual pick-ups on the oil pump.



Crank comes out with the rods.




All bearings are pulled and a bare case half remains on the engine stand.



Sleeves are pounded out with a rubber mallet out of the cylinders.



Case and cylinders are pressure washed. Nice and shiny. Although, getting all the cosmoline off the exterior will take additional effort.




Here’s the interesting part. Note the recesses in the cylinders to accommodate the coolant. The sleeves maintain an opposite profile. When the machinist bores out the sleeve mating surfaces for the larger 4 liter sleeves (at the tops and bottoms), the rough cast surface will also need to be bored to maintain an adequate coolant passage and prevent flow restriction. The 2 rubber gaskets in the cylinders prevent the coolant and oil from mixing. An additional gasket is located at the top of the sleeve.

[FTS]

I am first to admit I don't understand engines, a big mistery to me. All these parts coming together precisely to work at 8500 RPM reliably for thousands of miles, amazing engineering. And not to mention brave souls pulling it apart to redo, my hats off to you

[FFaust]

Nice, waiting for the rest.

[IPB-Autosport]

An old 930 flywheel is bolted up to the crank so we can place it into a vice and remove the con rods.



Out they go.



Bare crank.



While we are waiting for pistons and sleeves to be shipped, we start working on the gearbox. Onto the stand it goes.




Drain plug is pulled and oil drained. Looks like it’s doing its job.



Output shafts are pulled.




So is the differential cover. LSD is out and you can see the huge pinion gear .



We are ordering LSD rebuild parts from the now world-known Guard Transmission. LSD will be rebuilt once we receive parts from Matt.

[IPB-Autosport]

Pistons and cylinder sleeves (left) for the 4 liter conversion are finally in. Mahle 105.4mm pistons, steel cylinder sleeves out of the UK from a Formula 1 supplier, stronger wrist pins, and Mahle ring sets. Pistons and sleeves were developed and sold by Wrightwood Racing in Southern California.



One look at the new piston (left) and you know it’s all business.






The 4 liter sleeves are a work of art themselves. They are finned in the cooling channels to provide greater surface area for heat conduction. More power requires better cooling.




Wrist pins are heavy duty.



Piston rings from Mahle. Only the best here.



The case and cylinder housings go for machining this Thursday at How Tek in Cameron Park. The owner, Howard, was the machinist for Comptech racing.

Meanwhile, we are waiting for new clutches from Guard Transmission to rebuild the limited slip differential.