nlinesk8s

Hi All, I'm a newbie here, considering buying a 944. I'm not looking for anything pristine, but something of a driveable project; not an expensive garage queen. I've done a lot of mechanical work on other cars, so there's little that would scare me off from a car. However, I've promised the wife I won't bring home any more strays, and that whatever I buy will be driveable.

Here's the situation tho': I found an 89 with a very nice body and interior, and reasonable price, but with a broken head. I assume this is probably a tensioner failure, which appears to be the default failure on the 2.7l engine. I've found used engines for $2500, or a refurbished head on Ebay for $2500. As this is a one-year engine (?) there appears to be no heads out there that are not so expensive, that buying the car and having it fixed is a reasonable proposition for my budget. [I'd fix it myself except for the promise to the wife to have it driveable when brought home]

What do you do when you have an '89 and the head goes? Are there companies that fix those heads? Do some people do engine swaps for something less rare? Or do I just go look for another model year?

thanks in advance. Sean

V2Rocket

Is the head actually broken or does it just have bent valves? "Tensioner failure" tends to be the problem of the 16-valve cars with a 2.5 or 3.0L engine. New valves are available but are pretty expensive - with some minor modification you can substitute the valves from a Chevrolet big-block engine. Most machine shops should be able to rebuild the 8-valve head for under $200.

Darwantae951

There have been a few on here going for ~$600. Don't pay $2500 for one.

MAGK944

No affiliation, used these guys in the past and they can fix almost anything Porsche. I've seen warped heads with cracks that I would have scrapped been restored by them: http://www.xtremecylinderheads.com/

FRporscheman

2.7L cylinder head? That's Lustium diWantide. It's not only a 1-year-only part, but it's also the only head that can be used to build a 3.0L 8v engine, which is hot in the 944 turbo world. There are ways to modify 2.5L heads for a 3.0L build, but it's not popular.

First off, the heads themselves don't break very often, especially the 8v heads like the 2.7. It sounds like you're saying the timing belt broke and the valves got bent from hitting the pistons. Worst-case scenario, you can buy new valves and have a machine shop put it together. The exhaust valves will be dirt cheap on ebay or anybody parting out a 944 (any year). The intake valves are 1989-only so they're expensive, but available. If you're lucky, only a few of the valves are bent. If you're SUPER lucky, only exhaust valves got bent and the intake valves are OK.

The other thing you can do it just remove the 2.7L engine and put in a 2.5L. The 2.7 doesn't make that much more power anyway, and 2.5 engines are pretty cheap and abundant. Then you can sell the 2.7 for parts - just the block should be worth like $500, last time I checked. Even the head with bent valves should be worth at least $100.

J1720

I'm going to have a 2.7l engine FS soon.

nlinesk8s

Thanks for the notes and responses! Let me rephrase the question a bit. Best case: the head is saveable by using some modifed valves. Worst case, the head is trashed. Best case, what's a good estimate to have a shop repair the car? [I think worst case an engine from an '87 would be a better answer so I won't even bother for that one.]

Tom M'Guinn

A used 2.7 head costs more than other 944 heads because it is a key part of many/most 3 liter turbo conversions. It is the only head that bolts directly to the big bore 944/968 blocks and allows all the 944 turbo intake and exhaust parts to bolt right up. If the timing belt broke, then most likely your worst case scenario is some bent valves, which can be replaced and fixed right up by any competent local machine shop. It's also possible you could have damaged pistons when they hit the valves, but that's pretty rare too. If you did, it will be obvious when the head comes off. And, if so, you're probably better off finding a good used motor. I bought a 2.7 motor complete for $1500 last year, though I suspect that was a pretty good deal and hard to replicate. I've never seen or heard of a head that cracked or was otherwise broken beyond repair due to a broken timing belt -- though never say never. In the very unlikely event the head is broken beyond repair, another option would be to use a 2.5 head and have it modified to fit the 2.7 motor. Lindsey Racing offers this service for a few hundred dollars. If you are paying a shop to do this work -- as a ball park -- I'd say 10-15 hours labor (at say $80/hr depending where you are) plus head machining and parts (say $700), plus rollers, waterpump, HG set, seals etc (say $1000) -- so all in say $3000 at a reputable shop. It can be done cheaper for sure, but that's probably the retail price plus or minus a thousand depending on shop rates and the quality of parts used (and whether you re-use parts like the waterpump etc.).

nlinesk8s

Thanks! That's the kind of informed answer I was looking for.