dear all,
for our dear customer it was again one of those days when he should have stayed in bed....
- He thinks of no evil
- he has been looking forward to this day with us on the race track for weeks,
- he would like to do a few laps with us and, like old fathers used to, just blow his mind off again.
And so that he also has enough grip for it and doesn't fly out of the curve in the first few seconds,
he intends to mount his new and freshly baked Michelin Sport Cup 2, which still smells like the finest
rubber, on his Porsche 997 GT3 RS.
And because he prefers to do everything himself and doesn't want to annoy anyone, he bought a new aluminum car lift beforehand.
So equipped, with the wheel cross of his former 964 on his long arm, he will now change the wheels himself.
In the hotel he has just strengthened himself and after a rich breakfast he is completely euphoric, because now it is finally time to go to the racetrack.
So first loosen the rear wheels and lift the GT3 under the engine block in the middle,
that's how he sees it with his colleagues who are on the track together with him.
Oi .. sh... a crack, the jack has to be pumped up a few more times until the wheels turn freely again.
Oh, what's that supposed to be, mmm ... never mind, "I'm coming on the runway" are his thoughts now,
because he's focusing on completely different things than to take care of this "insignificant nitpick".
Nobody heard it either. So, now just balanced the front wheels on it, asked the buddy for a moment on the brakes
to traipse and everything neatly cracked with his hardware store - torque - wrench, now the mail is off, finally out on the slopes.
I'll ask around. "You all know those jets that are in drag a vapor trail behind you at an altitude of 11,000 meters"?!?
That's exactly how our dear friend drove past the start-finish after the first lap...
No, that wasn't his foggy rear view mirror, as he himself suspects, it had to be something bigger...
But shit too, that wasn't before, is there a tire grinding, or where does this sudden one come from
Stinks in his 997 GT3 RS, which actually always smells of bull leather?!?
Oh man .. first off the track to see where this sudden stench orgy is coming from ...
So much for the history..
I'll cut the story short.
What happened here?
The dear friend simply did not lift the car centrically under the engine housing joint,
but just off, at the point where the cardboard rests on the joint and so by a few centimetres
missed the middle and unfortunately hit the "soft parts of the 997 GT3 RS engine housing".
Anyone whose soft parts have been mauled knows that an engine is only human and right in
highly sensitive in this area.
Oh no, what a bummer, the jack dented the engine case, and one right there
Caused a hairline crack in the block.
A hairline crack in the block inevitably means a loss of oil. An oil leak in the middle of the engine, with the
Exhaust directly behind, now we also know what was the reason for the "contrail behind the GT3" ...
It's also a pity, the day is over, unfortunately it's no longer possible to continue operating the chic car.
Looking at it very soberly, we are talking here today about damage of at least 25,000. Euro.
In any case, the motor housing has to be replaced, that's what all his friends tell him in unison.
But is that really the case, is there really nothing left to save, or can it be welded after all?
Welding, never.... the tensions in the block are far too high, everything warps, that's here and there
today the unanimous opinion in the assembled circle of friends...
Mmmm ... but that's not quite right, my answer:
Because we have the possibility of such defects that do not take place on structural or double-walled components,
quite solid and durable to repair.
"How does that work?" you will ask yourself.
The answer is: "By laser welding"!
On the following pictures you can see how the block was processed and how it is then connected with a
laser welder has been permanently and solidly repaired again.
I'll write us a few more lines later elsewhere, because this is a really very interesting one
topic with an infinite number of applications, which we will gladly come back to more often in the future.
The story came to an end when we repaired the engine block for the dear customer and replaced it with new parts
have made the engine permanently afloat again. He still has a relatively high dieten had, but not so crazy high, as if
he would have had to buy a new engine block from Porsche. Not to mention the matching numbers on an RS die
then would have been lost.
As always, I'm happy to answer any questions.
Best regards
Jürgen Albert
master mechanic
