Hehe, I am not an insider just yet, im only a 22 year old who is just getting into it. My guess is that the bottom line is that water cooled engines are more reliable for daily driving and just flat out more efficient engines. I'll ask my boss what his thoughts are though just for your piece of mind By the way, I was looking on pelican to see how much tools and stuff cost. It seems that the first rebuild would be the most expensive because I dont have any good tools and an engine stand or anything like that. Anyone have an estimate as to how much their first rebuild cost them? Or how much all the tools and stuff cost?

 

Cost? Oh we don't want to go there. If you have a garage, do it right and get quality tools. All Sears Craftsman tools are lifetime warranty except their torque wrenches. The engine stand is cheap from Harbor Freight. 40 bucks. Tools probably 500-1000. My philosophy is that tools are in the long run cheaper than labor at $125/hr. I haven't done a rebuild, but close and it is fun. Fun, fun.

As for the rebuild cost, Wayne's book says $2900 for parts, $3300 for machine shop costs. You will save $2-4000 labor (40 hours). You asked.

 

I rebuilt my engine without any P experience, and I work in IT.


With the confidence of the internet behind you - go for it.

Cheers,
Simon

 

Not only do I not have any P experience, but I have no car experience lol.

 

Just remeber Oshin11, once you make the non-recurring investment you don't have to generally speaking keep spending on it, and you'll know the quality of the work performed because you did it and, you'll have most everything you need to do the next one (trust me there will be a next one). Porsches are addictive, bet you can't own just one.

With your background I'm sure you can rebuild an air-cooled flat-6 boxer engine. Just make sure as previously stated you have the few special tools required, take your time and have several good references like you've already discussed. Each Porsche mechanic has a few "tricks" regarding how they do a rebuild. But in my experence its best if you do it exactly like Porsche says do it.

If you plan any mods, make real sure you've done your homework and have selected every part so that it fits your overall goal and is compatable with the ther parts you've selected. Imagine Auto is a great source of help and knowledge in this regard. I don't think there's much those guys don't know about Porsches.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

triple the time allotment of 40 hours. I spent probably 40 hours on just cleaning and scrubbing and getting gaskets off (carefully) ...

 

Right. It depends on how **** you are, but I scrubbed everything down to the bare metal and even performed a paint job on the Chevy 400.

Oshin11, all you need are the right tools and right book. You can rebuild NASA's Shuttle if you have the right tools.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I dug my engine out of the ground in a farm in Missouri. There was a lot of cleaning, boiling and pressure-cleaning inside and out, not to mention using a micrometer on everything.

A true rebuild should take less time, especially if the engine was previously running.

 

I would go for it. I am planning on doing it myself one of these days....but I am going to wait until something major breaks on my car first. Everything is running great right now.

 

Oshin11,

You have received some great advice from folks here. I am actually looking forward to doing mine, and I am slowly gathering all the right quality tools for the job. The 'How to rebuild and Modify Porsche engnes' is in fact a priceless tool. There are a few Porsche specifc tools you will need to get (like the camshaft timing tool) which you'll need, however, some folks on here have made their own. I'm not sure about that class though, I have heard some controversial comments about this. Read the book a few times first, it's only $30 or so and then you can make determinations as to some items you need to pay special attention to (I would say 1.Cam chains being aligned on the sprockets 2. Cam timing 3.Valve adjustment 4. deck height are some of the items that require special attention), there are numerous ones, but the bottom line is that it is in fact an engine. Many folks have done it themselves. I'm more curious about the heads.. are folks rebuilding that themselves as well?

Best of luck. If it wasn't so expensive to rebuild, I think more folks would do it!

 

Damn I wish I lived in the States....

 

I won't pull this thread too OT with too much rambling, but those older air cooled motors would never meet modern emissions regulations or, more importantly, emissions regulations that are yet to come. I believe the valve train/top end just couldn't take any more development in the 993 motors due to heat that was being generated from that larger 3.6 motor. Water cooling was inevitable in order for Porsche to make more power without forced induction.

Also, noise regulations come into play and these water cooled motors run much quieter with a water jacket and no fan whirring around back there. The 964 started the trend with a fully enclosed (from the bottom) and insulated engine shroud. The fan was redesigned as well for the 964 models for quieter operation. Porsche was well aware of noise regulations for years and that fan was a source of noise.

New Porsche car buyers probably don't care all that much anymore about water cooled verses air cooled. A modern buyer's focus is more about a high performance car that is easier to drive fast with less outside disturbances.

 

That air-cooled sound, raucous and guttural, keeps me coming back for more. The sound of the modern cars just doesn't strike the same chord within me.

 

Those liquid cooled engines still sound as good as the air-cooled ones, IMO.

 

Yea I agree, its not the same sound, but still just as great. I think that a lot of 993s are overpriced because of the notion that they are "better" than 996s. Yes the 1999-2001 engines had a lot of problems but I see people paying the same price for low milage 993s as you would for a 2003 996. That just seems downright silly to me unless YOU REALLY HATE the look of the 996. The engines of the late 996 models are inherently better no matter what any 993 enthusiast will tell you.

 

Agreed, I believe the late 3.6 996 & 997 engines are more reliable than the early 3.4 and Boxster engines. I call it "teething," and give Porsche some leeway with engine failures due to a new design.

I look at the quick depreciation on the 996 and see opportunity instead of it being a problem. It just means that the used ones are more affordable to me.