I have an '87 3.2 that I plan on selling this spring as I will be in the market for a 993. I had the top end rebuilt @ 85,000 miles by a Porsche certified mechanic and I have 89,000 on it now. The car runs excellent, no oil leaks and burns very little. If you were in the market for a G50 3.2 would a car with a top end rebuild be a positive or a negative to you?

 

When I was in Cali and looking for a car, an old school pcar mechanic felt it was a negative. He just felt you can never be sure how good a job it was... but I suppose if you have references from the mechanic who did the work that would be a good thing.

 

Assuming it's done by professionals, no doubt: a big plus.

Doyle

 

I had a top end rebuild on my '85 911 at about 85k miles due to valve guide wear almost 10 yrs ago.

now with >120K miles, and a lot of them track DE miles. runs strong and still uses very little oil and no leaks. the mechanic who did the work is considered one of the best locally.

YMMV

 

positive

 

I'd consider it a positive if the work was fully documented (detailed parts list, machine work performed, etc.) and performed by a reputable rebuilder. Otherwise, I'd rather buy a car without a rebuilt engine so I could choose the rebuilder and decide exactly what work should be performed and which parts to be used. Apparently not all mechanics agree on the definition of a top end rebuild, and I'd want to know exactly what was and wasn't done to my engine during the process.

 

I guess there are several reason you might need to do a top-end rebuild. Why did you have to do one?

If a top-end rebuild is deemed necessary because of worn valve guides and it was done correctly, no reason it should be seen as a negative. It is well known that some of these cars came with poor quality valve guides. If this is the case, you might want to do an oil analysis to "prove" the engine is in good condition.

If on the other hand the top-end was redone because of poor maintenance or abuse from a PO, then this would not be a good thing. One might wonder if there was anything in bottom end that might soon fail.

 

Depending on who did the work and precisely what they did, it would be a definite plus, along with the normal PPI and leakdown test.

 

I had the rebuild done because of worn valve guides. I'll scan in the repair bill and send it to whoever wants info on it when it's time to sell. That way they can see what was done and what parts were used. The guy who did mine is a well known Porsche mechanic around here (Rylands in Marietta, GA). I've heard that top end rebuilds are occasionally needed on 993s too so when I'm looking for one I will consider it a positive. I don't want to pay for a top end again.

 

What did it cost if you don't mind me asking?

 

It was about $7500.00.

 

When I was looking for all of my Porsches this was something that I wanted to see on the list. On my 88' 911, my 83' 930, and now the 84' 911 I made sure that the top end was done. On all three cars I talked to the mechanic that did the work, and all three were well known in their area of the country.

I see it as a positive for sure. When I was looking at 993's I was also looking for top end if they were close to 100K miles as well as a clutch.

GLWS!!!

 

positive

 

As a buyer, a top-end rebuild or "valve job" is the FIRST thing I look for on 87-89 or 1995 911 that I am considering. I 'm sorry but my worst nightmare would be to buy a car for 13-18k and then have a bill for 7-10k on top of that. In the ideal case, I want to see a receipt for the work- so I can see what exactly was done, and who did it. If there is no receipt, and the person who did the rebuild is either retired, deceased, or cannot be otherwise tracked down - this is considered an "undocumented rebuild" and it is either neutral or slightly negative - since you don't know who did it, what they did, how qualified they were. In all cases I'll want to do a leakdown / compression test just to protect myself.

 

A definite plus. Performed properly, it is a costly expense that you have avoided, and should add value to you as the beneficiary.