Holytin

Drive it yourself or have it shipped, either way, you'll be saving somewhere close to $6K pending on what else will be required to get the job done. Nothing to sneeze at - do the whole engine or get a transmission regear or...

As mentioned previously take your time and do your due diligence.

goofballdeluxe

Yeah, that's IF everything goes perfectly.

Now, if you have any problems and it needs to go back, there goes all the "savings".

Personally for a big engine job, I see much wisdom in doing it locally, regardless of a few thousands of savings that could quickly go south should it turn out the car needs to go back to the shop for any reason.

goofballdeluxe

Wow.

My SAI ports were clogged too many years ago. My mechanic cleared them with some caustic chemicals, a drill and some guitar strings for a few hundred bucks. Many years and many tens of thousands of miles later, SAI problem never came back, and I've never had to do a top end rebuild in that time.

You do know that SAI clogging and top end are completely and totally unrelated.....right?

Rockit

I have a 95 that was leaking like a sieve. I have 180k what leaking on mine was the lower valve covers, I replaced them with Rennline aluminum ones,very common.

Also timing cover leaks common.
http://www.jackals-forge.com/lotus/

The worse leaking and it was on and off were the steel oil return lines from the head to the pan, they make collapsible ones replacements so you don't have to remove the heads.


My engine was out and they found the rear main seal leaking as well.

I get slight smoke when first stated other than that its fine and I'm sure yours is too. You talk to the average guy and they go right for the top end needs to be rebuilt. I'm going to do mine at 200k regardless.

When I do mine I will have the 3.8 conversion done. I did not price them out but heard its like 13K

I was told by an old timer mechanic the boxer 6 engine can go 300k before an overhaul. 99% of owners have less than 100K.

Holytin

Sure, choose a local shade tree mechanic w/o doing your due diligence and you might be toast.

There are some very knowledgeable engine builders out there with an excellent reputation. And they will do anything to maintain this reputation! How can this be a concern? My indy is 8 hours away...

Holytin

Really?

Anchor2

Thanks for all the responses.

Quadcammer

not really

Kika

I had my ports cleaned out about 7 years ago, with the bass guitar string /drill method. that cleared up the SAI CEL for a while. while it can clean up the passages, it does not address the real problem of valve guide wear that is allowing crud to pass by the exhaust valve into the SAI port, and clogging it up.

If the guides are worn, the ports will eventually clog up again.

I started getting the SAI CEL again about 3 years ago. I planned on dong the top end at that time, but put it off for a variety of reasons, until now.

I plan on keeping this car for a long time, so I wanted it fixed right. Yes, an option is to "get around" the smog check every 2 years and keep on driving it, but that is not the path I wanted to take.

my opinion is that there are too many different conditions to point to a particular mileage when the ports will clog (type of driving, type of gas, maintenance intervals, type of oil used, ambient temperatures etc...) but that doesn't stop everyone from asking.

Likewise there are many variables that influence the cost of a top end.

JUST replacing the valve guides and NOTHING else could be an $8K (So Cal) job.

In my case, the cam gears got backdated, all exhaust valves were out of spec, and I decided to replace all the lifters and through bolt O-rings. I also added a Rennline engine brace and new sound pad while the motor was out of the car. My clutch has been hanging also, so I had the slave and master cylinders replaced.

I did the clutch and LWF 3 years ago, so I didn't have to worry about that, but had I not, now would have been the right time to do it. That would have added significantly.

My recommendation to anyone thinking of having the top end done, shop around, talk to various shops, get a feel for the type of work they do, their experience, etc...

NO shop can predict what they will find when they open up the motor. They can quote costs assuming they will find nothing, or they can quote you an estimate assuming the worst.

In my recent experience cost quotes I received ranged from $8K up to $15K. If there are lots of issues, and big ticket items: broken head studs, cracked cylinder heads, damaged pistons... costs could sky rocket. although if your motor is THAT bad, you should have some indication.

I would budget $15K (not including clutch and flywheel) and talk frequently with your mechanic as the motor comes apart so you know what is being found. hopefully there aren't any surprises and the cost should go down from that point.

NYC993

My SAI was cleaned out in 2007 and again in 2008, due to bad first job (under PO). Alsmost 10 years later still going withoug SAI code. I'm at 93k miles and use about quart of oil per 1500-2000 miles, which btw improved with going to v-twin from 15w50.

Anchor2

Update...After doing a leak down and compression test all was good. Pulled the motor for a find a load of oil leaks from every direction. After a complete inspection of the bottom end everything looked great. Did the valve job, new timing chain, tensioner, guides, wire set, gaskets and some other minor items $7400...car runs great, no leaks and I’m very happy with results. Thank you for all the help and imput

JZ98-993

Can you provide the labor costs specifically to do the top end? Assuming this was an independent? thx

pp000830

Make sure you really need a top-end rebuild as high oil consumption, a check engine light related to the secondary air system, poor idle have lots of reasons unrelated to the need for a top end work. Compression tests are highly variable and suspect as a definitive reason to crack an engine open. If you car runs well and holds idle well be suspect of suggestions of the need. Also some owners find that if they put a little less oil in the engine their oil consumption drops significantly suggesting overfilling oil can appear as oil burning. Having an engine top rebuilt I believe not a forgone conclusion for these cars.
Andy

PS: The cost of a top end rebuild is ZERO if you don't need it.

Anchor2

pp000830 - Hard to check oil consumption when you are leaking like a sieve. So the value covers were not leaking, the timing chain covers are not leaking and the rear seal appeared fine. I had to pull the motor to find the exact leak. With 129k miles and the exhaust smoking a bit at high end shifts my guess was the top end was the right thing to do. Based off the look of the valves when the motor was opened I was right.

jskylarwilson

+1 for Pat Williams in Memphis.

I know Pat Williams well. We've spent many weekends together at race tracks, and he knows his $hit from racing to road cars. He loves air cooled 911s, and I would fully trust him to do a great job with a rebuild at a fair price. When my car needs it, I'm taking my 993 from Salt lake to Memphis to have him do the work.