tscanlan

Hey folks.
I have a family member who has a nice 911SC 78. The top end was rebuilt last year. I have a newer 911 so I don't know much about the SC. What in addition to the top end rebuild (mechanically) are we looking at in the future with respect to cost and scope?
Transmission rebuild cost?
Worthy upgrades?
Bottom end rebuild?

The top end rebuild was circa $10K

Thanks.

Ed Hughes

Spend some time searching on words like Upgrades and such. I'd just make sure it is well sorted, and drive the **** out of it. You'll learn soon enough what you may want to change or what others have changed. A stock and sorted SC can be a great car by itself. A trans can be exchanged by some with an allgedly rebuilt trans for less than $2000. But, as Pete Zimmmermann points out in his threads here on what it really costs to rebuild a trans, that should cost at least $3500.

These cars are pretty damned robust, if it is taken care of, and the miles aren't ludicrously high-you may never have to get into the bottom end. A full rebuild at a shop would be somewhere around $13K+, IMO. $10K for a topend is pretty high, unless they changed a lot of parts, which isn't bad for you, unless the owner is trying to recoup his/her cost.

Usually, suspensions and brakes are what needs to be gone through, if they haven't been already.

masterdave

Ill speak more to the upgrades and modifications,

Depending on how may miles are on it you should take a good long loot at the suspension. New bushings, new T-bars, and new struts, then a good corner balance, this will make the ride much smother and more enjoyable. There are also a lot of options here if they are looking to stiffen things up for either track days if they do that or just tighter handling. You dont need to spend a fortune on this stuff either the stock rubber bushings will do just fine.

A new stereo. If the car has the original blankpurt and they like music I say put a new unit in there. I love music so a good stereo is a must for me.

Headlight relay kit, makes a huge difference in brightness and is a cheap upgrade.

New fuel and break lines. If you are pulling the engine and you have all that time bet new fuel and break lines in there. They wear out over time and its better to replace them early than wait for them to go bad and have serious issues.

Rebuild the break calipers along with the lines the calipers can go, again its a while you are in there situation, you can even paint them a cool color.

New shifter bushings and or coupler. This can make a big difference in shifting quality, they may also want to consider the seine shifter gate mod if they dont like the lack of a 3/4 shift plane.

Cleaning and powder coating parts. This is purely aesthetic but if they are in to clean engines and clean looking cars this can be a cool thing to do, especially while the valve covers are off for a top end job.

Pick up wayne's 101 projects for your 911, its a great book and has a lot of projects that will spark your imagination.

I think I just inspired my self to do many of these things to my car.

Regards
Dave

theiceman

Well to start off if the top end has been done the cars hould be in pretty good shape. As Ed mentions the bottom end on these are pretty robust. I would just double check for broken head studs as these should have been changed if the cylinders have been off. Check for that in your 10K

other than that what a lot of Dave mentions is in my mind good maintanance .. with exception to the suspension as you can go crazy with that stuff with bushing and allignments etc. A lot will depend on how you are going to use the car so think about that first.

As fas as what is in the future ? 1st 2nd gear synchros are fairly common and are not THAt expensive to repair, esp if you can R an R the gear box your self ( btw get used to the lingo . we dont have transmissions .. we have gear boxes )

But yes the 915 gearbox is pretty robust if it is looked after but will cost a few bucks if you have to go in there.

you want to make sure you have hydraulic tensioners and that BETTER be done .. i would consider it an " upgrade" as it never came with the car but it is really PM.

As far as performance upgrades go you are very limited to an SSI set up with an aftermarket sport muffler , maybe rip off the emissions but that is about it .

But in its stock form its a good car .. I too have a 78 and have no real desire to modify it .. just keep it well maintained , keep it stock .. and keep on driving it .

Peter Zimmermann

Without knowing your mileage, it's not possible to guess at needs or costs. A $10K top end will almost certainly include con-rod bearings, rings, valves and valve springs as necessary, Carrera oil-fed timing chain tensioners, maybe even re-ground/new camshafts. To be sure, check the invoice for the work.

Regarding the transmission, it's all about mileage. You might get away with $1800, or it might cost you $5K.