[cleonard]

As a winter project I pulled the 3.2 out of my 911. It not only has 250k+ original miles but also hasn't been driven much in nearly a decade. I have it torn down to a short block (4 of the exhaust side head studs were broke) and am indecisive as to what I should do next. I want to do as much of the work as I can myself.

1) I have Wayne's book and feel comfortable splitting the case but after that any work to be done to the case, crank, or rods is really machine shop work. So should I just take it in and have them take it from here?

2) I am fortunate enough to live 15 minutes from Bob Farmer and planned on having him do the short block and heads. However he suggesting I let him put it back together, work the heads, and dyno tune it. Sounds great but 1) I am no longer getting the enjoyment of rebuilding my own engine and 2) he wants $13k to do the work! I am not sure if that includes new p/c's but I was under the impression it was re-nikasil the stock ones. Is there an cheaper alternative? Can any shop check the crank, rods, and case? He said it would be $8.5k just to do the heads/case. Does that sound about right? I know his reputation is impeccable, but I don't know if that reputation comes with a price.

3) I REALLY wanted to do a turbo conversion while I was in there. I know this creates new challenges but I have done a lot of research and it seems feasible. The plan was 3.3l p/c's, 3.2 heads/intake/cam, tec3 ecu. Oil return I would likely retrofit a 930 cam driven pump but may go electrical. Anyways, he says it simply won't work. He gave me a number of reasons (piston ring lands, 3.2 intake gaskets pushing out, etc). Should I take his advice or can I make my turbo dream a reality? I have built several turbo vehicles (Z06, Viper, even a 4wheeler) so I'm not going into this endeavor blind, but I realize a 30 year old 911 motor is a different breed.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Colby