hawk911

Thank you EVERYONE for the thoughts, and for what I'm sure will be a shared experience. If I do this myself, it will ONLY be thru the help of you folks. I'm hopeful that Ben and I can make this happen, and that when all is said and done, it's a positive outcome minus a few bucks from my kids' inheritance.

Porsche964FP

Hawk, best of luck with it all.

Courage!

race911

I'm just kind of jumping straight to the end here, but for the hell of it I did a quick leakdown this AM on a stock 3.2L that's been sitting nearly 5 years, replacing a 3.4L that's destined for my old '73 faux RS. Under 5%, all cylinders. Which isn't abnormal from what I've found over the years on my other mothballed 911 engines.

Oh, and for doing a top end, sub-$2K. I guess. But start with what a PROFESSIONAL like Steve Weiner will do your heads for, the top end set, and other consumables. Then add in any/all valves you're replacing. Adds up. That's as bare bones as you'll get. Sure, you can do your heads yourself, but why? I've done maybe 50 sets, and no way no how is it worth the headache in today's world--even at twice the price as Steve, or another experienced 911 machining professional, will charge you. Beyond that, assembly is just a matter of diligence and cleanliness.

hawk911

We don't even have a game plan yet. I want to do what makes the most sense given the budget (none) I have to work with. I won't skimp on this, and I'm going to document as much as possible too. I'll be going over the other rebuild threads for info and ideas. Nothing crazy though... no 4.0l build or anything

mb911

I have Craig Garret do severl sets of heads and also Henry at supertec do a couple I would not do them myself either . I would suggest sending those out the rest is fairly easy. I would expect $350 for gaskets, $550 for head studs, Rings $250 and what ever heads/labor costs

J richard

Hmmm.....

Theres a ceramic liner in the head in the exhaust port. Pretty common for them to fracture and end up in the exhaust. Could be defined as shrapnel... It does not affect the motor and not worth tearing it apart for. I've had a few 911 motors that sat and had bad leakdowns afterwards. After getting them running for a few weeks the leakdowns dropped back down to normal. Flat sixes are really susceptible to cyl/ring gumming and valve seat contamination particularly the exhaust valves as they are on the bottom. Running them clears a lot of things up. Provided there is no mechanical binding I'd get it running and do a leakdown afterwards.

mb911

All good points and Agree with them all

hawk911

then this mechanic is hell bent on a rebuild. I absolutely refuse to do anything without a second opinion. Not at the risk of a $7k expense, or even a $2k expense.

FeralComprehension

Good. There *has* to be a discoverable reason a well-functioning car suddenly stopped working. Basic principles, please: verify fuel, compression, and spark.

Earlier I asked about fuel at the rail and I think I'd be happy with what you found so far as that was concerned. The next thing would be to verify injector function, either via electrical means, by trying to listen for the snap of injector cycling.)

Compression seems adequate.

Have you verified spark? I can't recall...

hawk911

I swapped coils with an older set. I have a yellow spark, not a nice blue spark. What bothered me though, was the no volts at the coils. But that was before the new flywheel sensor was properly installed. No idea now.

J richard

I'd put good money on this being your problem. I've had several die sitting for extended periods. The little pump section on them is amazingly small for the volume they put out, it doesn't take much to kill them or gum them up.

Also there is a big flaw in the mech's thinking, if the motor doesn't run and you go through all the trouble of a top end you're still going to have to find out the reason for it not running.

The only potential mechanical failure I could see as a result of sitting is the remote possibility that a chain tensioner bled down and upon starting jumped a tooth when you went to start it. That would be easy to check the cam timing to confirm.

And you're sure your son didn't accidentally stuff it in second being unfamiliar/nervous about driving it?

Richard Curtis

If you don't have a blue spark, you have a coil(s) problem. I've had experience with cars not starting if they yield a yellow spark.

hawk911

I'm disappointed the mechanic seems to be closed-minded and not willing to get these other issues addressed first.

BigMikeATL

Is your car still there? Why let them make more money off of you if you don't agree on an approach. Most shops hate internet forums too but in my experience, there is more collective knowledge on a forum then most shops.

trophy

This is a good time to get the car from the mechanic and start some of the items mentioned above (Spark, fuel) yourself and go from there. If you are not comfortable with doing this yourself, find another mechanic.

Your mechanic is seeing $$$$$ for a rebuild, clouding his better judgement.