Ed Hughes

But that is the point.....the "WYAIT" aspects are often prudent when it comes to 911 engine rebuilds. Harry summed it up above nicely-"why wouldn't you WANT the motor to go another 200K"? It was also stated that the most expensive rebuild of a 911 is the low cost one. 911's don't suffer tightwads kindly. That is why I amended my post about the $20K cumulative total I have in my rebuild. I fully think $14K would've been the number for a no-holds-barred stock rebuild that included cosmetics and a fair amount of $ for shipping. Have you ever shipped an engine case or P's and C's 1800miles? How about a crank and cams? That cost adds up quickly. I tended to over-crate and I tended to "over insure"

BTW, 6" PVC pipe makes a nice cocoon for a crank. I think I used 2 1/2" or 3" PVC for the cams. Made a nice plywood "nest" for my cylinders.

Doug, your point is how MotorMeister makes a living. There's a lot of stuff not "absolutely" needed to rebuild a motor and fire her up and have it run. That, and substituting others' used parts in a warped Ponzi scheme, and you too can be in the rebuild biz.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Very true, and I'll give them an honest assessment about longevity. I will also consult about how the car will be used: street, some track, racing to offer the best advice about how to proceed, what needs to be done, and what parts should be used.

Yessir, absolutely true, but one should never lose sight of the context about what kind of use will the engine get and how long everything is expected to last.

The Lion's share of any rebuild is the parts list and in the vast majority of cases, determines the lifespan of the job. Further, there are now wide discrepancies in the quality of parts and that too, helps determine the success of the outcome.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Boy, howdy!......Truer words were never spoken,...

I've seen far too many painful examples of that over the past 35 years.

Shannon123

While I'm new to the 'Porsche scene', I have personally never owned a car for more than 50k miles, therefore, I can only suspect that there are plenty of owners who don't care near as much about their cars as Rennlisters or Pelicanites and would opt to 'just do enough' to get it to the next owner in the event there were additional 'while your in there' fixes.

Thats just my street sense....

Ed Hughes

That may've been true up to the last 5 years or so, but I think that mentality is weeding itself out as these get longer in the tooth. I think most that keep these cars are going to be more conscientious.

Amber Gramps

Ed, conscientious is one thing, but taking the car to your level is 1/1000. It takes a certain level of love or nuts that most don't have to do what you have done. Name 5 things that you didn't do while you were in there or are not on your short list of things to do.

Ed Hughes

I probably can't, but that is why I revised downward $6k on my estimate of a total rebuild.

Amber Gramps

Can we agree that most 911's of our vintage will not need the case opened for a very long time. With preventive work to the top end and nothing too radical done to induction the motor will long outlive many of us. Now, pushed to the point of needing ceramic coated pistons, that optimism needs some revising downward. In other words a well cared for stock engine is a good engine.

Ed Hughes

There is no doubt a well-founded original engine is desireable.

But, I think the question posed in the title is what we're discussing?

Amber Gramps

Oh ya, Why so bloody expensive? Because we are all trying to keep up with guys like you...

clutch-monkey

i'm not going to lie.. as a newcomer to the scene the figures thrown around in this thread have me a little worried..

Amber Gramps

don't look at the pelican site then. Ed's right...3.4l is into the stupid money range.

Joe6pack

Really didn't know when I posted this was going to get this much response. As a relative newbie then, let me ask this question as a follow up. Why would I need a bottom end rebuild? What things go wrong? Obviously, broken parts - rings, connecting rods etc. But, in general, at what point is it just wear and how do you know? My car has 150,000 on the clock, pulls strong and does not smoke. It really doesn't even leak. As a convertible, and given its general condition, I don't think it has ever been on a track either. How many more miles do I have assuming I never track it and take care of it (as I do all my cars).

whalebird

There was a thread not long ago addressing expected longevity. I've seen stock Carreras approaching 300K and running strong. The bottom end of a carrera is pretty robust. General maintenance and repair keeping the combustion process intact: head studs, valvetrain, and proper tuning of the injection go a long way. Basically keeping a good motor in keen tune and repairing things as soon as they are found is all it takes. Oh, drive it - often (sans abusive behavior).

g-50cab

At a 150K you probably have some valve guide wear - and you most certainly have layshaft bearing wear (and showing copper)

That said - I've seen Carrera engines go 300K miles without opening up.

Anything over 80K and you should probably replace the lower end bearings and seals. It just makes sense if you are that far along (assuming you have the top end to do) I'd also recommend replacing head studs. The 3.0 have suffered this - and age and cycle wise the 3.2's are getting to that magical time frame.

And of course - if you go into the bottom end - replace the 3.2 connecting rod bolts,