john walkers workshop

i charge about $3K for a complete VG in my shop, with all new valves and guides, and all tuneup parts and oil. it's an honest 30 hour job. rings add about $350 more for parts and labor. if you oil foul a plug, it's time to do it. there's obviously loose guides and worn out stem seals, and the car will run so much better. $5K is too high.

david benett

first of all, thank you all for the quick replies. as far as sending my car to andial, that sounds nice, but givent the fact that i'm back in school and am on a limited budget i think that isn't going to happen.

i guess i'm going to try speaking with the shop in campbell and see what they think.

are there any relatively cost effective things that i can do while the heads are off to increase the performance/reliability a bit? howard mentioned racing valve springs and retainers. what are the advantages of this? does it allow me to safely bump up the rev limiter? any other suggestions?

db

Tom Pluth

I'm curious. What shop is this? Have you gotten a second opinion?

ken louie

I would also agree with zcat on bring it down to Ct automotive. I've had very good experiences with don. He seem to be very upfront and straight forward. I probably would still bring my 2 porsche down there except that the commute from SF to Campbell is too much for me in the morning. Good Luck

ken
79 930
86 951

pig4bill

Really? Wow, Porsche mechanics work cheap. My BMW mechanics charge me $120 an hour.

ZCAT3

David - Don at CT tells me that his advice was to continue to run the car as is - so it looks like you save 5K (at least until the engine needs to be rebuilt completely).

david benett

that's pretty much what he told me too. he said that given the mileage of the car, if i do a top end i run the risk of tightening things up too much and hurting the bottom end in the long run. he basically categorized it as a $3500 crap shoot. looks like i just will continue to drive it while perpetually thinking about a rebuild (or a 3.6 swap upon hitting the lottery ).

db

t.p.

I agree w/ the last approach too. If it starts and runs satisfactorily strong, drive it. 5k is a lot to spend. Especially if it might exacerbate lower component wear. Just make sure there's oil in it and go. This is the approach that has allowed me to enjoy my car. I got damn tired of worrying so much about keeping my 930 tip top all the while forgeting to enjoy it. Drive your cars people!

Hugh

David,

I think I might have been the guy who posted a response saying that my estimate had been about $3K. Well, that was the estimate. After the engine was apart, further wear from previously cruddy valve adjustments (not the job to skimp on, folks) became apparent and soon I was in for all new valves, all new rocker arms, reground cams - very similar to what Howard mentions in his post - now to the tune of nearly $5K. But on top of that I'm also adding a lightened clutch, B&B exhaust and porting. Oh, and the cams were re-ground by Elgin for more sustained lift. I'm excited to feel the new feel!

The car has been out of my hands for a total of three weeks now and I miss the hell out of it. It's due to be finished sometime next week and I just can't wait. I'm dying to DRIVE. True, the job is costing me more than estimated. But I wouldn't have gone into it without some serious contingency planning. That's just how this car is.

Find out exactly what the 5K estimate includes. If it includes all new valves & rocker arms, then it's comparable to mine. If it doesn't include at least that (not to mention the cams mine includes) then if I were you I'd get another opinion. FWIW, I like my mech. Bill Eason very much.

More when I get the car back...

Cheers,
~Hugh

MichaelW

Do you accept engines shipped across country? There is not a reputable place to have major engine work performed on my 87 3.2 within 150 miles?

Michael

R22tech

Michael- Not 150 miles but doable: Jack Lewis Enterprises in Atlanta- Best Porsche Repair on the East coast...by far!! Look in Pano. for his ad, or see him on the track... he is also a top Porsche racer.

JDaniel

That's a good question.
Does John Walker accept "shipped" motors ? I live in Vermont, and there are NO reputable shops in my state, or even within a resonable driving distance.
I'm contemplating a Top-End in the near future.
Any recomendations in NH, or MA?

david benett

so i've spoken to a variety of people at this point and there seems to be a divergence of opinion. the gentleman in cambell, don at ct automotive (who seems like a real good guy) states that he thinks by doing a top end and shoring up that part of the engine, it will put additional strain on the bottom end which could result in a failure of the rod bolt bearings(?) which may make me throw a rod. a couple of other mechanics have told me that the 3.2 bottom end is "bulletproof" and that it would be very unlikely for something like that to happen.
any thoughts?

db

JDaniel

IF you trust Bruce Anderson, then the decision to rebuild vs. top-end has to do with mileage.
My car has 59,000 miles and is suffering from what I believe is premature valve guide wear. A top end at 59k should be fine.
At 155,000 miles your car is not suffering from any wear that could be called premature. While you could possibly get away with just a top-end, it would end up being more cost efficient to do a total rebuild (in the long run). I have repeatedly read that on higher mileage motors it is not wise to throw in a bunch of new parts, without shoring up the old parts.

texas chris

I've been following this thread with interest. My 911SC just turned 100K miles and still runs strong. However, a rebuild is on the horizon. Honestly the costs thrown around here scare me- $10K rebuilds? $5K valve jobs? Yikes! I just was looking at the Motor Meister page (from the sponsor's list). They advertise basically rebuilding a 3.0 engine for $3600 and a 3.2 for $4000. Basically you ship them your motor, they do the work, detail it, test it and ship it back. Even adding shipping costs and a few added parts/work the tab would still be far less than $10K. Has anyone had experience with them?