[JD159]

Hi all,

Winter is finally coming to a definite end here in Canada. Gone on for far to long. As some of you might remember I posted a while back about my engine damage. My engine has had lots of performance mod's done to it, including the head and cams. Plenty invested, only to have it seemingly disappear when a lifter noise turned out to be so severe that I wore a hole through the lifter. The damage destroyed my cam lobe, scored up the head and cam's and brought me to the brink of parting out the car. I had enough. My mechanic helped me out, pulled some strings, and for a great deal had the same head and cam's reused. The high spots on the head were ground down, and the cam lobes re-machined to the previous spec. They still have a few deep scores, but as long as they aren't raised, they just fill with oil and from what he and the machinist said is perfectly fine. Performance loss = negligible, and my car, engine and money saved, mostly.

That was last winter. I drove my car that entire summer, racking up a few thousand miles, and it ran AWESOME. Lots of power, no problems at all. I did run into a few issues with the OPRV valve, and posted the images. Pieces of metal, presumably from my lifter and/or head jammed the valve. TWICE. Obviously not good. My options when the failure happened were remove the engine and rebuild COMPLETELY, or act under the advise of my mechanic, patch it up and hope the oil filter does a damn good job. The first option was not in the budget, so I had to take my chances. I know its not the "right" thing to do but the budget isn't bottomless.

Now, I just finished university, will be working in the fam business, so should have some income. I also purchased a honda as a secondary car that got me through school in the winter. Honda drives great, but have been thinking about the Porsche.

What I am thinking, is now that I have another car to drive, more time, potential income, and less commuting, now might be a good time to finally pull the motor. I can change the bearings, change the seals, clean out the metal that has contaminated the oil, and replace anything that having the engine out gives me easy access to, including the clutch.

I can't decide whether I should pull the motor now, or drive and enjoy the car for a couple months in the nice weather, and pull it mid summer to have some ample good weather time to work on the motor. If the winter next year is anything like this past, it might be too cold to get some serious work done in the winter. Or, should I not even turn the key again until I have everything inside cleaned up because I'm doing far more harm then good!

Cost wise, what am I looking at, minus the clutch, to do the recommended maintenance with the motor out?

Rod bearings. Main bearing. Piston rings? Seals? Maybe my oil pump if it is scored up from the metal?