namasgt

Hello

There is a white 91 coupe for sale that the bottom end is damaged. the owner wants to part it out. I want to save this car if the body is in good shape. it had head work done a few thousand miles ago.

what would be a reasonable price considering a need for a 3 litter short block ?

AK

xsboost90

$3000-$5000 - remember a good 3L crank goes for $1k.

Tom R.

if it has low miles, is fixed up an running with recent belts, a new clutch and excellent interior it will be lucky to fetch 7500 in todays market. start there and work down.

Potomac-Greg

It's also a perfect starting point for someone doing an LS1 engine swap. It's got the drivetrain and brakes; and bits of the motor can probably be sold for head start money.

namasgt

Thanks for the replies.

I got an email reply today from the seller that he will let it go for $3500, he said he does not think it broke a rod, but the piston rings might have seized because of fuel washing?
For some reason he wants to keep the oil pan but then again will let the whole car go as complete if need be.

What kind of rods does the S2 have? Are they similar to 944 turbo rods or 968 1R rods?

namasgt

I talked to the owner, the car has 171000 miles on it,
He said the engine shut down when he was driving it, then it locked up when he tryed to start it. head work was done before he bought it because of a T- belt failure, but was not sure if the chain tensioner was changed. interior is good and the driver seat was recovered.

after reading about the 16 valve cars, Im kinda worried, never heard of a chain tensioner breaking on a 32 valve 928 S4 engine, very few people change the tensioner pads.
what am I looking at changing at this milage, is the price good at $3500 with this milage?
with the description he has given me, Im hoping that its an easy fix, Im already too busy and out of money rebuilding my S4 engine.

Thanks

Jfrahm

Once or twice the 928 tensioner pads have worn out and failed but the valvesprings are less stiff in the 928 and there is probably less heat in that area as well, except in the supercharged cars.

If it ran and was pretty nice it might be worth $5000-$5800 at that mileage IMO. If it's only decent, $4500. A motor can be scrounged for $2000-$2500 or a head for $900-$1500. If you time is worth anything figure that in and do the math. Personally if I liked the car and had a line on a $900 S2 head with good cams I might pay $2500-$2700 for it.

Wiggle the centermost bolt on the cam cover with an allen wrench and if it's loose the tensioner has ripped off the head.

-Joel.

StyleLab

I can sell you four S2 rods for $50 if it helps.

-Nick

odurandina

I had foot in mouth before... I bleeped right over the photos.... that car is beautiful.

yeah buy this car [I agree with J-Berk @ $2,500 if the owner will accept] -- and go big.

the 944 is my favorite car of all time...I had an '87 944s in Guards Red... visiting my women in Odessa on a quick haul from Austin TX... I Blew a main seal going 135 on I-10 between Kerville and Junction, Halloween, 1994... the saddest day of my life.


Take a look at what decent running n/a 944s are selling for these days etc -- with, what by modern standards are pretty so-so engines that require half an arm and your leg to maintain every couple of years if you do not work on your own car -- really not so great -- when changing the timing and ballance shaft belts and H20 pumps can run nearly half of what the car is worth -- and even then, you are talking about cars with seriously, aging components in the lower engines and powertrain.

When I ride the New Jersey transit down the Coast Line, or Trenton to New York lines I see a dozon or so 944s in the back yards of all the auto repair shops... To the owners of these places, they are now, interesting, novelty cars in fading guards red, white and black from the 1980s that nobody from the general population can ever seem to justify fixing. Wonder why...


We may have been better off if these cars had not been coated in galvanite and they had just rusted away. Instead we see what can be made to look almost new with just a hose, soap, and polishing compound, or even less -- next, we picture a good going over inside, fresh, leather seat covers, and think of all the money that was just spent upgrading the suspension -- and all of this blinds us to the serious issue of what these cars are selling for these days -- and the timebomb that awaits under the hood.

My favorite quote of all time is from Dave Ward:

"as you may be able to tell, I'm not all that keen on the design the Porsche engineers came up with here. And then to use a belt they can't guarantee for any certain mileage - [GOING IN]. DUMB! Oh...I almost forgot...if you don't really know the mileage on these two belts, I wouldn't drive the car one foot without re-newing them both!"


The stock engines are extremely stong by 80s standards, and I constantly state that going big horsepower with a Powerhaus/Lyndsay type setup is fine, but the engineering flaw still remains as a glaring defect,

But, I know what I will be doing when my 968 engine finally goes POOF --

A good running Chevy Ls1 v8 and 250-300 K of reliable miles can be had for about 12-15k. I am going to use an crate LS2 with Fast intake, ported heads from T.E.A. in Ohio, and a mild cam... But any such motor will be working at only fractions of capacity during its servicable lifetime, and likely, outlast us during the process.

some great thoughts about V8 design vs 4 that everyone should read:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/v8s...35&PID=3196529


Here's Tony G's amazing 944.

http://www.tonygarcia.org/944V8/

they forgot to put Tony's car in the war of the worlds shootout, but nevertheless, here he destroying all of them on the California Speedway Roval...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pADH2G9ung

12-15 k + donor car $$$ really is low budget for what would be coming out--

There isn't much justification for these low-pony 944 swaps or rebuilds any more.

Not for this kind of money and aggravation, nixed with low, future reliability, and cars that no one will offer much money to buy... You guys are really the ones who know better but I just wanted to throw in my 0.02

alxdgr8

I wouldn't pay more than $1500

namasgt

the reason I wanted to buy this car is so that it wont get parted out, The add says he wants to part it out.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/pts/1431309201.html


Im very suprised at what Im reading, looks like 16 valve 944s are not reliable.
Im going to go look at it next weekend.

And I understand why some put LS engines in their car, but I just cant do it. I have a friend that is doing such a swap with his red 87 turbo that blew a head gasket.

J Berk

If the rest of the car is in good shape...eg: it's been maintained, then I'd pay around $2500 for it.
1991 S2's are rare.....and you can find 968 motors for in the $2000 to $3000 range....which you can drop in fairly easily (see other threads here on this...specifically it's easier on 91's)....then you'd have a 3.0l motor with more hp and variocam in a nice car....and if you do the labor yourself you might have $7 or $8 k into it...which is about what it would be worth running.

Don't part it...save it.

Jfrahm

They are actually very reliable. The timing belt is better than the 8v 944 and if you keep up on that and change the tensioner pad every 100K or so, maybe a clutch, it'll easily go 200-250K. Great daily drivers too. the trouble is that some people ignore the tensioner pad or when the belts get done they do something wrong (timing belt set too tight, not properly retensioned, rollers neglected, etc.)

One of my S2's came to me as a non-runner. At 135K it had a near-new timing belt and a torn-off chain tensioner. I also found that the shop that did the timing belt, water pump, and rollers only actually did the belt. $200 worth of maintenance parts would have kept that motor together to 200K easily but...

-Joel.

J Berk

+1

Think I have already mentioned...but I've got 202.xxx miles on my car....I have brought it up to par re: maint. items and change the oil very regularly....and I track it !

Photodan

My S2 is actually more reliable than my Camry. It's kinda funny having to go and pick up my wife who's stranded somewhere, seems it should be the other way around. Good maintenance pays big dividends. I do the tensioner pads when I do the belts, all done and no worries. Overall, I think the S2 is a great car with a great engine, I've just hit 140K and it's as strong as ever. Asking $3500 might be a little steep though, I'd probably pay $2K if it was accident free. What options does it have?