C2S went in today for suspension upgrade and Top End.

It's getting the RoW M030/Bilstein HD set up.

In addition, although my car only has 31,000 miles, I decided to have the top end done now for a few reasons. I'm burning about 1 quart or so every 750-850 miles. I think that's too much, and I'd rather have the work done in advance of any future problem. Plus, it is a fix that will last. Also, it's January now and the C2S is "in bed" for the winter, so I'd rather have it done now, than (possibly having to do it) later on when the weather turns nice. (There, I talked myself into it).

And, most importantly, I view these cars to be "non-disposable" and it's important to me to keep it well sorted and running great.

Hopefully, I will be impressed when I get it back. I will keep you all posted.

 

Rome,

Good luck with the suspension work, if your going from stock you will love it. Dont be surprised if your car continues to use oil after the top-end is done, as these cars will consume oil depending on your driving habits and climate. If your burning a quart to every 750-850 miles, I would take it that your driving the car the way it was meant to be driven

 

I average about 1/3 of a liter (1.0566882 quart) for every 1000 km's (621.37119 miles) on an engine with 185,000 km's (114,953.67 miles)
And I drive it hard.........no plans for a top end yet.

 

For whatever reason, my car seems to burn more oil during "light" use. Drive it like I stole it and oil consumption goes WAY down.

 

Hi Rome, that is one way to take advantage of the winter in New England!
Is EPE doing the work for you?

 

Yes, Jerry/EPE is doing the work. I really like going to see him. I trust his advice. He offered several (less costly) ideas before I made the decision to go ahead with the suspension work. In the end, people on this board have really raved about the upgrade, and it seems pretty clear that I will be able to achieve the more "planted" feel I am looking for. (The now 10 year old, OEM shocks give the car too much of a vague and floaty feel).

Regarding oil consumpiton and driving habits, I can't say that I drive it terribly aggressively, for the most part-- so I don't think that's been a factor in the oil consumption. I've driven it only about 2,500 miles, nearly half of which have been on the highway.

Jerry confirmed that since my last oil change I burned more than 2 quarts after only 1300 miles...so it is definitely time to replace the valve guides. I don't want to pop a CEL or have a plug problem when April rolls around and have the car laid up for service when the nice weather hits. (Dudley-- I am sure you know exactly what I'm talking about!)

(It's too bad that the need for a top end can't really be ascertained when the PPI is done, but I knew that it was a possibility, and the car was exactly what I was looking for-- C2S, mileage, color combo, location, records etc.-- and checked out well in all other respects...so I'm sure I would have made the same decision to buy it even if I knew for sure that a top end was in the cards within the year).

I'm really looking forward to to getting it back and seeing how it performs after thsi work.

 

Damn Rome. A top end rebuild at 31,000 miles is hard to swallow. Good luck with the suspension set up.

 

What can I say?...previous owner probably didn't drive it enough.

Good news is, that the car has low miles so the expense of the top end will be amortized over many miles/years to come.

 

The half-empty guy thinks "Oh the irony! I paid good money for low miles which have accelerated an expensive rebuild."

 

Right on brother...now that's a thinking man. Your mine kinda guy.

Buy them, take care of them and keep them. (and oh yea..drive them)

In the mean time read all the goofy posts about depreciation, Excellence lack of knowledge of values, blah, blah, blah.

 

+1

 

From what I understand, the need for a top end is not necessarily tied to the mileage of the car. Truthfully, I was a little disappointed that a car with low miles like mine would need one.

But, after studying the board carefully to decide what to do, and reading some of Steve Weiner's posts in particular, it was clear to me that cars with very low miles sometimes need this work because of poor factory fitment and materials.

Bottom line is that it's time to do it, and as someone said before in one of the top end posts, the 993 is one of those rare, historic cars that is not disposable and should be cared for in the right way.

 

My car's at EPE right now. I'll say hi to yours when I pick it up.

Did Jerry give you an estimate on the top end work?

Mine was done last winter -- up in NH -- because of the SAI issue, and it has not burned a drop of oil since. But I will note that two of my previous 993s went through a quart every 800--1000 miles and ran beatifully for many, many miles.

But, peace of mind has its price, which is why I did the top end after exploring various ways to trick the SAI system instead.

 

Is it the red cab in your avatar? I didn't see it when I dropped mine off this morning.

My car runs beautifully too (without having much too compare it to), although from what I'm told (and read) it will run even smoother, and stronger above 4K RPM after the top end. And, as you say, I'll have the peace of mind to know it's right.

Jerry felt it was time and I trust his judgment. Plus, the revelation that I seem to be burning a quart every 650 or so (at this last oil change) confirmed it.

I'll PM you with his quote. I suspect he charges more than the guys in NH, but is much more convenient for me.

 

Hi
would you mind sharing why you believe that "a car with low miles like mine would need one"?

Anything other than oil consumption?

Did you try the tony callas method of determining oxygen flow up and downstream of the cat's?

Did / will you measure the clearance between valve stem OD's and valve guide ID's?

good luck

Craig