So, I've got an 06 997S with almost 70k on it. I love the car and have had very few problems with it. I've been doing about 6 DE weekends a year the past few years and would like to keep it up. I've thought about trading up to a GT3 but the fact is I'm not sure I wasn't to sacrifice street ability. I've thought about reading up to a 997.2 but the cost delta doesn't seem worth it.

So lately I've been thinking about building my current car up a bit and having the engine beefed up for a more "bullet proof" DE machine.

I know that Jake Raby is very reputable but I'm wondering if there's anyone on the West Coast that can achieve the same thing. The shipping will add several thousand to the cost.

These engines are well made but there's always room for improvement and long term build parts that were cost prohibitive from the factory.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

-Mark

 

I had my engine rebuilt by UFO motorsports in lower CA. I did lots of research first and could not be happier. Tim is the man. He used to work with Jason who just started 9xx motorsports. Give both of them a call.

 

I would suggest contacting Flat6 direct because they have contacts throughout the country. Callas Rennsport in (Torrance) http://www.callasrennsport.com/ has been mentioned by Flat6 as shop where Jake's classes are held could be a place to contact as well. My car is at Flat6 getting a 4.0 and I won't have it until March 2015. Keep in mind the wait started in July 2014 and the closer March gets the tougher it is for me. Call Jud at Flat6 for info. They are great to deal with. Good luck with the search!

 

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i've been thinking about a preemptive engine assault myself...only i am on the east coast. wish we had as many well-knowns as you all have out there. good luck.

 

The components and engine combinations that I have developed, are my own. Off the street, other shops or individuals might be able to build an engine the same size, but not the same way. I have locked in my own ring packs, clearances, head work and etc and have been careful not to share any of this, with anyone. This is the benefits I have from assisting in the founding of LN Engineering, and also through never ending development. We don't just do the same thing over and over again.

Others will tell you that they use the same things that we do, but trust me, they don't know, what they don't know.

1,800.00 round trip at our broker pricing. I have tons of west coast cars on site now, and just shipped one home. The other option is to have Callas Rennsport in Torrence Ca pull the engine, and ship it to me. Tony Callas is my Co- instructor in the Porsche M96 engine mechanical classes and I trust his team to install my engine. I don't say that about anyone else, anywhere else.

If the car is shipped, we can dyno, and I will perform all initial break in procedures, so you receive a flawless vehicle back off the truck. Jud, my General Manager, handles all shipping, all you have to do is meet the truck and pay. We allow you to pay the driver, so we don't mark shipping up at all. Our current W coast hauler is running the route every 3 weeks for us, picking up and dropping off cars.

Email jud@rabyenginedevelopment.com for a PDF that was shared by a customer who kept up with every phase of the preemptive reconstruction process. This is a real eye opener as to the sort of intense effort thats required for us to process an engine.

 

without wanting to spend 10's of thousands are there any key pointers to adhere to?

i already have a gt3 center rad and all the correct gt3 ducting and bumper

anything else to help these motors healthy?

 

Your engine has years and tens of thousand of miles left on it...including the 6 events a year. Anything you do to the engine is going to effect the street-ability of it, and the car will no longer be balanced, meaning the motor will be beyond the suspension...so then you'll have to do some more work there and 1, 2, 3...you've taken the long way around the block, and probably spent more money to have an "almost" GT3. But the GT3 will be better and more complete. If you really feel a need to go faster, buy the faster car. I have always taken the position that only when I can't find another tenth of a second out of the car I've got, will I start looking for more motor and suspension.

 

I'd love a GT3 myself but for some people the GT3 will lack the back seats, sound insulation and additional creature comforts that come with the standard car. Plus, GT3s are snapped up pretty quick when compared to regular 997s.

I don't think he's looking far a "Track Monster", just a better engine with the M97's failings covered.

 

I also have an '06 S. But mine has 113k miles on it, and I do 10-12 track events/year. Have had axles, bearings and suspension replaced/upgraded and a new clutch. Have to say, she's been very good to me. No engine issues. But I am nervous.

Should I:

1) pre-emtively rebuild?
2) ignore till there's an obvious issue? Any advantage to rebuilding before it destructs?
3) kiss-off what I've sunk into it, sell for what I can get and put the funds towards a 997 GT3?

 

If the car is used for track activities, its days are numbered- like all other track cars.

If you ignore it, that obvious issue could cost you 5K+ more, especially with an S. I have two 997S engines here now (out of 34) that we can't assemble, because we can't find good core parts. When these engines fail, collateral damage can take out many parts that are typically retained. The "Big 6" are the crankshaft, carrier, block halves, IMS, cylinder head castings, and camshafts. If these components are wasted you'll have heel trying to source them good used. I have these two here now that I have had to bump in my schedule twice, because we cannot find cores at all.

HELL YES!!
1- You can schedule the build!! If not, the car could be down for a year (If going my way)
2- The process is much more straight forward and has absolute known pricing, without variables!
3- We extend discounts for preventative builds. All year in 2014 we've done TWO preemptive builds, the rest were all from failures. I have no problem knocking 1K off the top of an engine if I know we don't have to expend critical man hours trying to "miracle" parts into the system.
4- With a failure there are no discounts, it will only COST you more money, more time, more heartache and etc.

And hope that engine doesn't break, and that you don't crash the car!

 

Jake,

I think I know the answer but can an M97 be built (preemptively) to address all the risks - cylinder scoring, rod bolts, tensioners, etc., so that one can have a worry free engine?

 

That's what we do about 50 times per year.. The reason we research is to identify weaknesses and develop around those.

I have had two warranty repairs of street engines, and two on track failures since the beginning of this program. One of those track engines had 150+ hours on it. What killed it was a failed AOS at 7,000 rpm. The other failed years ago when an oil pump drive(stock part) snapped in half. That led to the development of the billet oil pump drive.

Those are the facts. It takes time and money to create such an engine, but that's all we work to create. This work never stops.

 

Jake, I'm not sure if you've been asked this before but since there is so much machine work done on these engines, has anyone asked to have a traditional oil dipstick installed in an M97? Would it be way more bother than it's worth (it's worth it to me...)?

I have no problem with the oil level indicator in the dash, I just really like having a visual look/smell at the condition of the oil.

Thanks

 

Yep. We do that all the time. I don't even charge extra for it.