I finally broke down and bought a new oil bleeder / filler / breather. I had really hoped to restore an original. Not only did I hope to stick with theme of using original correct for the car parts where possible, but also save several hundred dollars.
I had two candidate parts that appeared to be in very good shape. Both with minor leaks I assumed could be repaired with a little patience.
Long story short, I made five trips to two different shops with trained welders. They held promise they could braze the leaks so the parts were oil tight. Each time I was told they were good. Each time a brief water test proved they were not. A waste of a lot of time and money.
The only other options I can think of to save them is to try soldering it myself. Seems unlikely I’d have success where trained welders didn’t. Or slap some JB Weld on there. Ultimately, I just got tired of fucking with it.
I guess the good news is you can get new Porsche factory parts for this application. Bolted on just fine. No risk. They are visibly different in a couple areas as you can see in the photos.
P.S. I won’t even get into the risks of someone having bead blasted the inside of an an oil component as “a favor” without telling you. Seems odd that a place specializing in auto performance would do that, unless the old-timer stories of despair from destroyed bearings are blown out of proportion. In any case, it is a moot point now. One less worry for me.
