Carrera GT - Eight year engine out service (Pic heavy)
Discussion
Just over eight years ago I took delivery of my Carrera GT. It remains my favourite car; it has done nearly 20,000 miles, and every single one of those has been memorable. It has been to France, Germany, Belgium and Italy. It has been on the Nurburgring, and here at home it’s been to Bedford Autodrome.
The service schedule calls for the engine to come out every four years, in particular to allow for the valve clearances to be adjusted. My understanding is that this can, in fact, be done with the engine it situ, but it is a no brainer to follow the recommended service schedule and allow the car to be fully checked over.
As ever, the chaps at Porsche Reading could not have been more accommodating and professional. I was able to visit the car mid disassembly, and also arrange for Richard from Refined Detail (and his colleague) to detail the car down to its last fastener whilst it was in a state of undress.
I put up a similar post four years ago, and people seemed to enjoy seeing detailed photos of the car and the amazing engineering under the skin. So, I hope you will enjoy these photos as much as I do.
First, the engine:
Inside the engine “cradle” with the engine removed:
The lacquered carbon fibre was cleaned and polished:
Wheel arches and liners were cleaned:
The wheels were given a fresh coat of paint and lacquer. As they are magnesium it is important to keep a good protective coating on them, as the metal would otherwise oxidise.
All the undertrays were removed and cleaned:
Some of the wishbones were also removed and cleaned up:
I had the wings behind the front wheels removed and repainted, as these do suffer from gravel rash (even with paintfilm protection). Other parts of the car, like the roll hoops were also removed and cleaned.
For the first time, I had the front clamshell removed so that the area around the inboard suspension could be cleaned. We also replaced the follower springs on the front suspension, and lubricated the joints. The pushrod suspension is a very cool feature of the car – pure race car.
The front suspension and brake set up is also engineering art in my view.
Other areas were also cleaned up:
Old paintfilm was removed and renewed:
The engine was refitted:
The seats were removed to give a good clean to the interior:
Two generations in one photograph:
The finished car:
And in its natural home:
Hope you enjoyed.
The service schedule calls for the engine to come out every four years, in particular to allow for the valve clearances to be adjusted. My understanding is that this can, in fact, be done with the engine it situ, but it is a no brainer to follow the recommended service schedule and allow the car to be fully checked over.
As ever, the chaps at Porsche Reading could not have been more accommodating and professional. I was able to visit the car mid disassembly, and also arrange for Richard from Refined Detail (and his colleague) to detail the car down to its last fastener whilst it was in a state of undress.
I put up a similar post four years ago, and people seemed to enjoy seeing detailed photos of the car and the amazing engineering under the skin. So, I hope you will enjoy these photos as much as I do.
First, the engine:
Inside the engine “cradle” with the engine removed:
The lacquered carbon fibre was cleaned and polished:
Wheel arches and liners were cleaned:
The wheels were given a fresh coat of paint and lacquer. As they are magnesium it is important to keep a good protective coating on them, as the metal would otherwise oxidise.
All the undertrays were removed and cleaned:
Some of the wishbones were also removed and cleaned up:
I had the wings behind the front wheels removed and repainted, as these do suffer from gravel rash (even with paintfilm protection). Other parts of the car, like the roll hoops were also removed and cleaned.
For the first time, I had the front clamshell removed so that the area around the inboard suspension could be cleaned. We also replaced the follower springs on the front suspension, and lubricated the joints. The pushrod suspension is a very cool feature of the car – pure race car.
The front suspension and brake set up is also engineering art in my view.
Other areas were also cleaned up:
Old paintfilm was removed and renewed:
The engine was refitted:
The seats were removed to give a good clean to the interior:
Two generations in one photograph:
The finished car:
And in its natural home:
Hope you enjoyed.
I should have added to the first post that the only thing the car needed was a new oil seal around one of the oil pumps. The clutch remains as strong as ever - still around 30mm (new 31, finished 28mm), and the wear rate has slowed considerably.
The car is now on Michelin SuperSport tyres which are a big improvement - as many have said - over the original PS2s.
I tend to agree about a high water mark - certainly for analogue super sports cars. The over engineering, the simplicity and the sheer driving involvement are close to peerless in my view.
Cheers
The car is now on Michelin SuperSport tyres which are a big improvement - as many have said - over the original PS2s.
I tend to agree about a high water mark - certainly for analogue super sports cars. The over engineering, the simplicity and the sheer driving involvement are close to peerless in my view.
Cheers
To those wondering what the bill was, it was just under £10k. That included some elective work (like refurbishing the wheels, a new battery, replacing the helper springs on the dampers etc.). The intermediate services (e.g. last year) are typically less than £1,500. It's a big number, but I think really good value compared to the bills from some marques.
The detailing was another £1,200 on top of this, and fresh Paintshield a further £3k.
I took the car out for its first proper run of the season this afternoon. By heck, it's good! Roof off, that lovely V10 howl chases you down the road, and I'd forgotten just how well this car turns in - especially in higher speed corners where the aero starts to work. The brake pedal feel is also perfect - strangely I don't any PCCB equipped car post the CGT has had such a good pedal feel.
The detailing was another £1,200 on top of this, and fresh Paintshield a further £3k.
I took the car out for its first proper run of the season this afternoon. By heck, it's good! Roof off, that lovely V10 howl chases you down the road, and I'd forgotten just how well this car turns in - especially in higher speed corners where the aero starts to work. The brake pedal feel is also perfect - strangely I don't any PCCB equipped car post the CGT has had such a good pedal feel.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I think your last sentence has it spot on. There is a balance, and I could have chosen not have the engine removed because it is possible to adjust the valve clearances in situ. But I do have a lot of faith in the techs at Reading. The guys who work on the CGTs (and now 918s) are part of a small team that mostly work on just those cars, so they are pretty used to this sort of work. Put another way, there are around 70 CGTs in the UK, I am led to believe. Each car by now will have had 2 engine out services (assuming they follow the regime), so that's 140 such services performed over the last 8-9 years - so certainly more than 100.My car really does get used properly, and so its good to get things likes hoses, belts and seals checked and replaced as needed, particular as the car is approaching 10 years old. And for me, at least, I like every four years bringing the car back to as close to new as possible. But, as you say, there is a balance so now I hope to have four more years of just driving it!
Cheers
JonV12V said:
Stefan,
Interesting write up and photos.
Out of interest, have you fitted front axle lift? Interested in your views, given the mileage you've driven in your CGT?
Also, hadn't heard about respraying the magnesium wheels - was this something recommended by the Tech team at Reading given age/condition ?
Jon
I haven't had the lift kit fitted as I prefer to keep the car entirely standard. And I've got used to the technique of approaching ramps and speed humps at an angle to avoid grounding the car. The front splitter does take some punishment, but it is not an expensive part and I've only replaced it once.Interesting write up and photos.
Out of interest, have you fitted front axle lift? Interested in your views, given the mileage you've driven in your CGT?
Also, hadn't heard about respraying the magnesium wheels - was this something recommended by the Tech team at Reading given age/condition ?
Jon
Re the wheels, there were just a few small places where the lacquer had lifted (on the inside edge of two of the wheels), so we agreed it made sense to refurbish. It only cost £100 a wheel (we did all of them to ensure a good colour match), so a sensible precaution given the wheels cost over £5k each.
Glad you (and everyone else) has enjoyed the photos. I am putting together into a photo book to keep with the car.
Cheers
Emeye said:
Great pics, and got me wondering - how many man hours work involved in taking the engine in and out, and also, due to the race car style design, does this speed up removal of the engine and other major components compared to your usual road going Porsche?
I am not sure exactly, but I suspect it is fewer than one might imagine. I know a lot of the time is spent removing the dozens of fasteners in the undertrays - once the undertrays are off the engine will drop out fairly easily once driveshafts, air intakes and ancillaries have been disconnected. 
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