mznbleu

My '87 has mild leaks when bought about 8-9 mos ago...knew it was going to need work soon, maybe 2, maybe 4 years....well, looks like sooner. It has never had the engine or transmission apart, and after was making a subtle sound I did not like, my guy found that a shim? Around one of pistons loose, and piston rattling with driving...not critical to fix this second, but can't enjoy until fixed. With car being 27-28 years old, gonna overhaul whole thing....question is, has anyone done recently, and what sounds like a reasonable ballpark figure. Been told 5 years ago was like half the price, but parts harder to come by and more expensive ( trying to maintain originality, unless a newer part better, and not necessarily visible)...thanks on advance fellas...happy Memorial Day to all who have served! Hal (LCDR, USNR ret)

Igooz

You should step back and decide what your long term plans are for the car before you go for the rebuild. Really plan things out on a piece of paper. Ie) rebuild the motor and restore to stock appearance, or big power? ...and while you have the motor/tranny out what else should you do? Plan it out...

You know the money seems to be in restored cars but this is your car and do what you want.

IMHO: I would put $20k aside if it were my car, and I would plan on spending around $15k+...
For reference: I bought an '87 about a year ago and the previous owner had done an engine/tranny/turbo stock rebuild (and some AC work) and I have $22k of receipts. I am facing a rebuild on a Turbo 3.6 right now back to stock and the number seems to be around $20k.

Happy memorial day!

mznbleu

Thx Igooz...picked up car and talked it over with Robert at Luftecnik, gonna set aside some time in late fall for the engine and trans/gearbox to be overhauled rebuilt. Original paint, suspension, etc...will put Fuchs back on then, so if anyone knows someone wanting a set of HRE's, can plan on...at that time he can change out fuel pump, shocks/struts, etc and it will be like brand new rolling off showroom floor! I hope! Just too nice a car in his and my mind to do anything but...they really seem to do things right with photo and print documentation, to go in big book of the car that goes back to original owner in '87, invaluable to any possible future owner...if that ever happens!

UberXY

My $6k experience with Robert at Luft on a 356 was somewhat disappointing, but in all fairness that seems to have been the exception rather than the rule. Still, you might benefit from a conversation with Glenn at Delta V before you make a commitment.

See you at Boychiks some Saturday morning. Black and loud 930.

speednme

If your going to stay with stock items, i.e. not replacing pistons and cylinders or any large items then your cost should not exceed $10k at most. Tranny may be just syncros..so than could be another $2k (depending on parts) or so. Price is low on the tranny since the the engine is already out for service/repair. Price goes through the roof when you start to modify or do custom work. Do your due diligence on a shop that is knowledgable and fair on pricing. Be mindful on the "while your in there".....be SURE(as another has said)... To properly plan out your end game..changes can cost you....

p.s. Set aside some extra cash for the unforeseen items..should they arise.

mznbleu

Thanks guys... All good points

Handy930

Not sure I understand what you mean by a shim loose and piston rattling. I agree with
speednme. If you don't replace P/C's should be less than $10K. Parts are not a problem, but shop around and try to use genuine Porsche as there are a lot of knock offs out there.

mznbleu

Let me quote the invoice, it's as I remember the conversation..."...on lift oil leaking from the case/cylinder sealing area. The copper shim under the cylinder has come out and allows the cylinder and cylinder head to not seal as it should, especially when cold. This is noise you are hearing; exhaust/combustion gas leaking from seam. The oil leak is a result of the compromised copper based shim not sealing. Cylinder 6 is the issue, checked head stud integrity and they are still intact, reinstalled covers and topped with oil. With engine above 80k miles and having never been apart, it's time for an overhaul..." I hope that clears things up a little, and happy to hear any other thoughts based on the previous....thx in advance

bfle21

Could be wrong, and probably am, but I've never heard of shims around the cylinder, and I have had all kinds of problems. Is the leak through the gasket? Have you had a leak down or ppi done? My 930 has been in the shop many times for oil leaks and rattles over the last few years. Worst case was a broken head stud. Best case was a loose clamp or crack in an oil line. Maybe a second opinion is in order? My cost for a rebuild with oem parts, or better, was just over $12k. A year later, I had the tranny rebuilt because of grinding into 3rd gear for $2400. All good since then. Just my 2 cents.

UDPride

I ended up spending about $20K when it was said and done, but that included brand new Mahle piston and cylinders ($$!!!) and pretty much any parts we took off that were performance parts, I purchased aftermarket parts to put back on the car so they were brand new and higher performance -- since there would be no extra labor to put the new parts on. One of those "well ****, since the engine is out, I might as well...." sort of things. So that meant new headers, turbo, intake, exhaust, intercooler, etc, etc. There was probably $7500 right there. I also did a bunch of other probably unnecessary but comfort-level stuff like re-conditioning the injectors, porting the heads, etc. It just depends on how far down the rabbit hole you wanna go.

So all said and done I think the $10K someone else ballparked is pretty reasonable if you arent replacing many parts.

speednme

I had some shims on mine that where on the cylinder head and the top of the piston meet. It looks like they were put there to lower the compression. The car ran well but the shims was some sort of add on that should not have been there(now gone since the full 3.4L efi rebuilt)I'm wondering if this is what your referring to?..if so then it may have been a modification that was done during a top end rebuild but if you say that the engine has never been apart then one has to wonder what part are you talking about..maybe you can link a part number.

TT Surgeon

I'm at 15k now, at least.
Don't ask me about worthless ppi's
I think the guy is trying to describe a blown head gasket to you.
C

speednme

TT these cars don't have head gaskets...metal to metal..btw sorry to hear about your rebuild...did your ppi include compression and leak down test? It really depends who is doing the ppi....I passed on a car in Brooklyn because something told me the ppi was crap...lost a few hundred bucks but oh well. Happens to the best of us. Luckily the prices are going up. Regardless use that car...don't sell it. Get your money out of it in fun with it;-)

Toby Pennycuff

The writeup the original poster received from his garage is referencing the cylinder base gasket (930-104-194-01 which is a 0.25mm thickness shim or 930-104-194-02 which is a 0.50mm thickness shim). These shims are used to achieve the proper deck height clearance so that your valves do not hit the piston top while open. The mild cam profile on our 930's coupled with the flat-topped pistons in these engines helps to avoid valves hitting pistons, but it CAN happen.

As for the original question, plan on spending at least $10K if you are NOT replacing pistons and cylinders. However, if it's true that the engine has never been opened up for 80K+ miles, I would carefully check them for wear and replace if there is any hint of a problem. This will drive your price by another $5K (and possibly more) just for Mahle pistons and cylinders.

I just rebuilt my 79 930 engine from the ground up (had a cam seize in the housing). Split the case and re-did the whole engine. Spent close to $20K in parts and machine work.

You are going to be very surprised to find that many key parts in the engine and transmission are NLA from Porsche. Stoddard will become one of your best friends. And you can still find some NOS parts on eBay. I almost had to park my car because the vacuum can on the distributor is NLA and UNOBTAINIUM. The vacuum can is unique for the 930 in that it BOTH advances and retards ignition curves in the distributor. Finally found a NOS piece on eBay.

You may want to consider having your entire exhaust system (headers/heat exchangers, hot side of turbo, wastegate, muffler AND exhaust support bracket) ceramic-coated. The heat generation is markedly reduced on my car after having this done. It was absolutely worth the $500 it cost me to get these parts ceramic-coated.

Good luck on your rebuild.