I am reading about if you do it yourself you still need 9-12g in parts and close to 40-55 hours.

can someone explain why its so many hours and why so expensive in parts?

when I got into 944's. I was told same idea lots of money to do and lots of hours. but when i rebuilt my 944 turbo engine it was nothing like how bad guys said it would cost.

as for the hours. 40-55? is that sandblasting and painted of parts in those hours too?

I would do all work my self.
car in question is 3.0 911sc

 

Since you can buy a nice 911SC around here for ~$15-$18K, why would anyone spend $10K in parts to rebuild an engine?

It all depends, of course, on the condition of the engine that is to be rebuilt. The hours required depends on the talent and experience of the mechanic.

 

There are a lot of parts and a lot of sealing to be done, for starters. Case halves joined, cam towers sealed to heads, timing chain boxes too. Lots of machining too. Just assembling the intake and other topend parts can take a day, your first time. Loading the cams and the 12 rockers takes a bit of time, as does cam timing.

Parts are expensive, and the weak $ doesn't help much. Price a new set of Mahle pistons and cylinders for starters. It goes on and on. I did my first build for about $10K reusing P's and C's. I tore it down again and put larger bore versions and twin-plugged it for another $8K.

I've seen people say they rebuilt their motors for $5-7K, but they cut a lot of corners.

You can always call MotorMeister, if you want to go the cheap route. I say that in jest. IMO, there is no fallacy in the high cost of redoing a flat 6.

 

If you have the "right" car, and it needs a rebuild-why wouldn't you spend the money? These cars are special, and if one only drives it 5K miles a year, you'd probably never need to do it again. It's one less thing to worry about, if you have a car you love.

Building a Porsche motor is an experience you will never forget, and one you can be proud of, if you choose to DIY. Some, myself included, feel the price of admission was warranted.

 

Because the flat six is over invested and over engineered in a wrong way. Air cooled doesn't work (it works in aviation technology, because ...? Figure it out yourself.) In fact, Porsche finally realized that was a wrong idea until the year of 97'. Porsche 959 was a complete failure enginewise, it never made it because engine is sitting in the bavk and it needs to breathe better to cool down. Regardless of how much money and time you put in it, the most gentle using mileage you can get is 40k-60k. Not mention if you abuse it, it won't last that long.

The conclusion is, you either have money to play or you don't or go different route by swapping different engine in that thing.

 

Hahaha this should be good...

 

Huh? One of the primary reasons they went to water cooling is because of noise regulations that they couldn't meet with the air-cooled motor. How can you say air-cooled doesn't work?

 

That's what I'd expect from someone who puts the word "newbie" in their name.

 

No kidding. Another reason for liquid cooling was to gain the efficiency of a production quality/consumer ready 4-valve head.

As to why it takes so long/costs so much, consider your job and expertise. Do you do things half-assed? Maybe, maybe not. But you probably damned well know what can come back to bite you. I've done all manner of 911 engines over the past 30 years. Some with everything replaced, some basically recycled from several engines worth of used, but serviceable, parts. (Always new guides and bearings. No point in shortcutting there.)

So basically if you want to do it yourself, you can rush through one. But the downside is so great relative to the upside of "saving" 5-10 hours, what's the point?

My funny story is that since the initial engine I rebuilt was a 911 when I was 18, that on my second one--a Datsun L-series 4-cylinder after I was hired as a mechanic--I asked the shop owner where the other 1000 parts were.

 

This is such low hanging fruit, I can't resist.

So I'm looking over my shoulder at a 3.2L that was rebuilt at ~175K. Original owner engine, and from Day One on delivery it was used as a time trial/autocross car. (Came out of Hank Watts car, author of Secrets Of Solo Racing.) This engine was shown no mercy, ever. But it was maintained religiously. Bob Grigsby (RMG in Sunnyvale) finally tore it apart. Full, 100% rebuild. Oh, except the P/C set was so good they reused it. Not even ring land wear. Awhile back I bought it after the car was wrecked, and it will be plugged into Ed's "Ruby" so that nifty 3.4L he referenced above can go into the '73 faux RS shell.

 

I'm wondering if I should put my rebuild off another year on my 400K miles stock 3.2 aircooled motor.

That new guy is an idiot.

 

Wow, good thing it's April 1st.

 

thanks for the info guys

 

April Fools issues aside, my engine got rebuilt in my garage, with the help of a longtime friend who happens to also be the person I'd have rebuild my motor if we weren't friends and money was no object. When you put together everything that's involved, the amount of labor it requires is HUGE. I didn't powdercoat or fancy up anything.

 

Having a Tyson around has to be worth a few more ponies, all things being equal.