Thanks again guys!

Yeah, I have to decide whether or not to part the car out of just sell it as is. I can remove most of the parts myself although I don't have all the tools necessary for removing all parts worth offering.

Can anyone give me an idea of what an actual engine rebuild my cost? Perhaps a place that does good work as well? As I stated in an earlier post the place who did my clutch wanted nothing to do with it. Not that I would give him the business anyway. Lastly, any opinions on what course of action to take? I'm sensing cutting my losses and looking for another 996/911 with IMS done might be the way to go. I like the 993 a lot too but they are hella expensive it seems.

Cheers!

 

I'm very sorry to hear this. What to do next depends on how attached you are to the car. You can look for a used engine, have the engine rebuilt, part it out, or sell it as a roller.
Only you can decide which path to take.

 

Hi Bill,

I too am from Metro NY (Queens originally). Also a Metro PCA member. I'm pretty bummed about this and need to decide what to do. As stated in above post, there are a lot of extras in the car and there were many costly mods on it when I purchased it back in 2008. It was quite literally one of the best cars I've ever owned mechanically....until this!

My dilemma is a tough one. On one hand I spend the money sourcing another motor. On the other, I cut my losses and sell it as a roller and buy another one with upgraded IMS or get it done as a prophylactic measure. Not even sure how to sell this one as is although I'm sure I can post it on this forum and see what happens.

Thanks for the response.

 

Sorry to hear. I hope it ends up not being as bad as you might think.

If it was my car, I would first figure out what exactly is wrong with it. If the engine is not fixable, I would consider a Boxster 3.2L engine as a replacement. Pretty cheap and is not that much less powerful as the 3.4L when coupled with the 996 intake manifold and TB.

 

There are many threads on the cost of a rebuild here and they vary in price. You may be better off buying a new short block from Porsche and swapping all the other parts? If it were me I would scour the country/world looking for a cheap running motor. Most salvage yards will stand behind them for 30-60 days so if you get it and there is an issue its returnable. I would replace a few parts before install like IMS, AOS, Cam guides etc. I would send someone to the yard at my expense to drop the sump and check fore bore scoring. This wouldn't be 100% fool proof to get you another 20 years but its also the cheapest way out. Its a risk vs money thing to me.

 

Here you go, a very comprehensive thread on the subject.....Grab a coffee and a chair because its a long in-depth informative thread

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...e-rebuild.html

 

^^ Seems to me the best thing for you to do is take a deeeeeep breath, and do some real reading and research - had you done this before and learned more about the M96, you may have avoided this situation all together (but there's no sense crying over spilled milk). Of course, maybe not - but you certainly would be better prepared to deal with it. Coming here and asking for opinions is just going to get you a bunch of scattered noise that may or may not pertain to your personal needs. The upside is that you've got options, the downside is that they'll all cost you in the long run... Good Luck

 

This rennlister has compiled a good spreadsheet to give you an idea of the various engine rebuild and replacement options and price points: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...bs-vertex.html

Figure between $6k for a high mileage salvage engine, to mid 20's for a high end rebuild with increased displacement.

If you don't have the tools to part out a car, I'm guessing you don't have the tools to do an engine swap. Plan on a few thousand dollars of labor on top of whatever engine you pick for removal and reinstallation. (And a few thousand more for while you're in there stuff like IMSB, AOS, RMS, clutch, etc if you buy one of the lower end options like a salvage engine).

I imagine if you posted the roller for sale here, a bunch of us would be interested.

If you price it fairly ($4-6 depending on condition), it'll sell. You may feel shocked that it is so low, but the problem the buyer has is the same one you are facing - it requires a lot of cash to bring these back from the dead. The engine is the most costly part on these cars now, and you can buy entire cars from the mid teens up...

You could also eBay it, or sell it on Craigslist. Many enthusiasts scan those sources for rollers.

 

I drive a 996 with a 3.2 swapped in; the engine was $3,000 had reasonable miles and a recent IMS replacement. If you decide to go this route; feel free to ask questions.

 

I suspect this destroys any future resale value, but on the up side preserves the ability to drive a 911 chassis.

Reminds me of the old 912 that Porsche sold, sort of a neutered 911.

I cannot imagine wanting less power than the 3.4.

 

Definitely not good for resale, but not everyone needs a good resale value. If you are planning on keeping the car, that is an extremely cheap way to go about solving your problem. Even if its a "short term" solution. Maybe 3-5k gets you back on the road, and you can address an high end rebuild later in life???

Or just throw a small block 350 in it and callout a day lol

 

A friend of mine had this exact IMS problem, oil came pouring out of the engine.

1. We bought a used engine, and found one cylinder had zero compression. It went back. Lesson is don't buy a used unknown engine.
2. We then bought a long block, rebuilt by a racer out of Florida, for $10K ish. Swapped everything over. It cost him under 15K, and I thought that was as low as it could get.

If you enjoyed the car before, fix it. If you are sick of it now, sell the roller for $5K and put it toward a 997.

 

Yeah; resale value is probably squat on a 3.2 swapped car(I suspect I’d get base boxster money if I tried). But I actually got the roller cheap with the intention of doing this swap. At the time I was driving a base 944 so even with it’s neutered power it felt like a big step up. I hope to someday to put a fully rebuilt engine in to restore it to its former glory but honestly I enjoy it a lot.

to be clear though; the reason to do this is because it costs about 1/3-1/2 of a comparable 911 engine and about 1/4 of what a Chevy v8 swap costs.

 

Again thanks for all the advice and suggestions. Special thanks to Horsepwr and cds72911 for the threads and links.

The rebuild is quite extensive and, IMO, not cost effective considering time and money. At a quick glance the cost of parts, tools and shop repairs looks to be in the $11,000-$13,000 range. That's not calculating the time it takes to do the rebuild. As much as I would love to undertake that project I simply don't have the time nor am I confident enough in my mechanical ability to do it. There are simply too many variables.

Swapping a 3.2 Boxter motor is not the solution for me. Albeit it is the less expensive solution, however, I just can't justify doing that. I'm sure the car would drive just fine if I went that way but for several reasons I would not.

I contacted a friend who has been in the Euro car business for 30 years (mainly MeBe and BMW) and he is going to try to source an engine for me. It would be best for him to purchase the engine on my behalf as he has relationships with these salvage yards for years and would be much less likely to get screwed. If he can't locate the engine I think I will sell as a roller and buy another car. I'll just wait and see what he finds. I really hope he can find an engine as I really love this car. It has treated me well prior to this happening.

Ill keep the the thread posted. Thanks again to all!

 

Best of luck. You may have mentioned this and I missed it but is it your daily driver?