[Walt Fricke]

Were this my car and I was on a rather strict budget and wanted to drive it (not having a good substitute), I think I would clean it up and put it back in and start driving. Monitor the consumption of the new oil carefully, look at spark plugs periodically, maybe repeat the leakdown after a thousand or so miles. See how things are going. Stop if problems emerge, or it won't quit smoking when driving, and so on.

I don't think the engine leaked a gallon and a half of oil out into the right side exhaust headers! The sump of the 911 engine holds quite a lot, and the oil tank has to retain oil at least up to that level. Of course, if the car was parked on a slope with the right side down, that would exacerbate things. Still, a gallon and a half of oil is a lot to find on the garage floor, or blown out the exhaust.

On the other hand, if you are up for it and have time for sweat equity, you can pull the motor down, clean and inspect everything, get (most likely) new bearings, new rod bolts, buy a gasket kit, and put it back together with a gasket kit (or even a very reduced kit, depending on the status of various of the gaskets and seals, some of which can be reused), and not have too awful much money in the job if you do the work yourself.

The kicker is what you find and how the mission enlarges - while I am in here, etc. Are you going to re-ring it? Carefully measure the cylinders for ovality and taper, and the piston ring lands? What if you find they are out of spec? Are you going to have the rod big ends measured and perhaps resized? Rocker arms and rod small ends rebushed? At least this is a '73T, so it ought not to need head stud replacement. The case is still a magnesium one, though. Do you measure the main journal bores to see if parting line shaving and then line boring back to standard is needed? Pull the valves and regrind them and the seats?