GTgears

Good Morning,

I'm talking about a known runner out of a wreck. I'm comtemplating a project and just wondering what kind of budget I am looking at. I would be talking full longblock engine plus all the intake and exhaust plumbings, etc including turbos and intercoolers? I know I can just go look at LAPD inventory but don't really consider that a true representation of what people pay.

32krazy!

12 -20,000$ for a full engine.

Macster

No experience having to buy a 996 Turbo engine and I hesitate to mention this because it wil read like some kind of unicorn story...

A few years ago -- I can I think provide more particulars than I did when I mentioned this back then -- a senior tech at a nearby Porsche dealer offered me an either new or very low miles (I can't recall now but it was one or the other) Turbo engine for $5K. I don't recall the MY of the engine but it was for a 996 Turbo.

This guy said he had it on a pallet wrapped in plastic stored down in the LA area.

He told me the head gaskets would need to be replaced. I don't think the engine was available because of any engine problems -- I seem to recall it being new -- but simply because the engine had sat so long I guess the head gaskets would be questionable. (He was a senior Porsche tech and very knowledgeable about these (and other) Porsche engines so I would have heeded his advice.)

I had no need of a Turbo engine and no place to store it so I asked if he minded if I posted the info here and he said ok. I did but didn't post his name/email. He wanted to use his private email address not his work email address. I asked him for this along with some other particulars and he told me he would give me this info but he never did and after a time or two I just stopped asking him.

Turns out he was going through a divorce. Then he was gone from the local dealer having I was told moved to the LA area with his GF/or new wife. Regardless I lost touch with him once he left the Porsche dealer.

I have found him via a google search. Apparently he's in the Orange County area. I will send you a private email with his name and some other particulars.

I do not know if the engine is still available. Since I didn't buy the engine I don't if that "$5K" price I was quoted would have been honored. I expect so for my dealings with this guy always left me with impression he was honest (and a darn good Porsche tech).

Private email to follow.

32krazy!

if it needed head gaskets then you can be sure it needs all new bearings both crank and rod. if its been sitting for yrs in this condition then theres a good chance the crank will have pitting in the journals and need replacement. this engine can become a money pit very quickly. i sold my turbo motor from the heads down to the crank for 10,000$ kept everything else. sort of a long edition of a short block.

trendy996

The tools alone to set timing for this motor is a pretty penny from what I've heard.

GTgears

Thanks guys. Bump for more thoughts...

As I told Macster privately I am just spit balling. Trying to decide if I go buy an GT3 Cup engine for my 997 Cup or convert it to a turbo car like Zwart, GMG, and others have done.

Berra

Turbo, because NA is basically a Miata...

LoL

mffarrell

deleted

Macster

What you say is certainly a possibility.

Had I been in real need of a Turbo engine I might have done the deal and rolled the dice that except for the gaskets the engine was ok.

z06801

I would go for a turbo motor. I think it would be great with the sequential box in a 997 cup. You could also stretch out the hours between rebuilds a bit. Are you trying to classify to the car to race? Might be hard to fit in other than unlimited classes like GTSU. Would be fun for sure!

32krazy!

your missing the big picture. if the gaskets were bad then the contamination has already occured. as the motor sits the moisture in the oil pits the crank pistons rods everything. yrs go by things start to bind together and you have a huge mess on your hands. head gaskets are about all that keep the major fluids apart

32krazy!

theres a gt3 motor for sale on the parts forum

GTgears

I can get an actual Cup engine for that guy's ask.

GTgears

Car is a toy. I doubt it will ever race again. If it did it would be in something like AER or Thunderhill 25 where class doesn't matter so much as getting to the end. It's one of the first 50 2005.5 997 Supercups then it came to the States in 2007 and ran Grand Am for a bit. No interesting provenance and thoroughly molested.

32krazy!

you asked for cost comparison. thats real life asking price. no idea if he will get that price but it represents what he thinks its worth. the mezger engine is quickly becoming one of the most coveted engines to have. they wont get any cheaper while the car may the engine wont