Rebuilding a Porsche 911 engine

[VintagePhilippe]

So my work colleague found a 1970 Porsche 911 that I am considering purchasing. Originally a California car; now based in NY.

I need some advice from you guys. I read that rebuilding a Porsche 911 engine is neither impossibly complex nor in any way counterintuitive. I do have some time in my hands, especially on weekends and also some weekdays.

I have some experience restoring old cars. A few years back I helped my dad restore his 1961 Chrysler 300.

How difficult in a scale of 1 to 10 would be to rebuild a Porsche 911 engine?

Thank you for your help

Philippe

[mreid]

Finding a qualified machine shop to prepare the case and rebuild the heads may be the biggest obstacle. Get Wayne's book on rebuilding and I'd say it is a 6 when you have all the special tools, a good machine shop and good mechanic skills. It is a 10 if any of the three are missing. Get Wayne's book and answer for yourself.

[VintagePhilippe]

Thank you mreid. Do you know the link where I can get the book from?

Thanks again,

Philippe

[ajwans]

There are plenty of folks on here who can offer advice if you get stuck with something. With a 1970 911 the engine may not be your biggest problem. The engines are pretty durable, the bodies are prone to rust.

andy

[ajwans]

Pelican Parts.com - How to Rebuild and Modify your Porsche 911 Engine

andy

[VintagePhilippe]

Thanks ajwans

[304065]

Phillippe:

WELCOME to the forum.

Rebuilding a 911 engine does not take a Ph.D.

It does not take cubic dollars, unless you want it to.

It does not take too many special tools.

It takes three things that are very, very important.

It takes patience.

It takes the discipline to follow discrete instructions.

And it takes love. If you don't love doing it, you will quit early, or cut corners.

If you have all of these things you will have a great outcome and a great experience.

There are many friends here who have gone this way before.

When do we start?

[Spenny_b]

Originally Posted by 304065

When do we start?

Yeah agree with all of that....you MUST have patience...if it's getting the better of you, you have to walk from it and not persevere.

A pal of mine who lives nearby has a '72 with engine problems. He's mechanically fairly knowledgeable but not a spanner monkey...and has trusted the wrong shops to rebuild. He's now on attempt 3 after I pointed out some key things that I'd picked up along the way, and pointed him in the direction of a reputable engine builder here in the UK.

What went wrong the first time?....corners were cut, the mag case was not inspected, corrected, etc, and it's bitten back.

Do a YouTube for "Peter Morgan" and "Nick Fulljames". There are dozens of videos on the whole car resto, similar vintage to the one you're looking at doing. A good dozen or so engine specific episodes. They're not great quality but very informative and will give you a good feel for what's involved by somebody that knows what they're doing. As with everything, some folk will have different views on doing x/y/z, but I found them very good.

Mines not a mag case engine project, but to give you some idea, I'm a 911 engine newbie (although like you have done numerous other car projects)....working on it in the evenings and weekends (project creep has been monumental!) and I'm just over a year into it, probably a few more weeks of plumbing, wiring, finishing jobs, then I'll turn my attention to the engine bay and other chassis stuff. Its the time taken to measure, drive stuff around to get it machined, plated, powder coated, and so on. The assembly bit is straightforward!

Anyway, nuff typing....get to it squire!

(and welcome)

Cheers
Spencer.

[VintagePhilippe]

Thank you 304065 and Spencer for your feedback and warm welcome.

Patience is one of my virtues and so is passion to do stuff I love.

Honestly, I am concerned I may be unable to find a trusted machine shop to prepare the case and rebuild the heads here in Montreal. As Spencer rightly pointed it out, it is important to find a trusted shop to rebuild. Thank you Spencer for your suggestion. I will watch the videos you mentioned.

Looking forward to starting a new project in my life.

Philippe

Originally Posted by 304065

Phillippe:

WELCOME to the forum.

Rebuilding a 911 engine does not take a Ph.D.

It does not take cubic dollars, unless you want it to.

It does not take too many special tools.

It takes three things that are very, very important.

It takes patience.

It takes the discipline to follow discrete instructions.

And it takes love. If you don't love doing it, you will quit early, or cut corners.

If you have all of these things you will have a great outcome and a great experience.

There are many friends here who have gone this way before.

When do we start?

[Spenny_b]

You're welcome, looking forward to your build thread.

Meant to say, it was Waynes book that I also got hold of, read thoroughly and then worked out the likely cost (a lot of man-maths needed, just to self justify the project....it never works out!)

IIRC, I got the book from Amazon in the UK, but very much worth getting...there were 2 publishings, both essentially the same but the later second version has some additions and corrections, which make it easier than having to manually update stuff.

[Trophy]

Hey Phillippe,

I am rebuilding my engine at the moment and have found that here in Canada it is not so easy to find qualified shops to do the machine work etc.

I have ended up sending parts to different places in the US for the work, it's not as difficult as it sounds and actually doesn't add too much to the cost of the rebuild.

If you are close to the US border it is worthwhile packing up everything ready for shipping and drive across the border and send it from there. Also check at your local border town if they have a package storage facility like this At the Border Storage in Montana. I ship everything from the US to this US address and then every so often drive down to pick it up. Save's a bunch of money and gives you access to all the great machine shops etc in the US without breaking the bank.

For example. I sent my heads to Steve W in Oregon. Shipping total there and back to the border was about $120, if I was to ship to and from Calgary, it was going to cost over $600 (heads are heavy).

Good luck on your quest, lots of support here.

[Trophy]

Here is a place in Champlain NY that does border storage for you.

BORDERMAILSERVICES.COM

[al lkosmal]

What model is your 70. T,E or S?. If E or S, does it still have the MFI system in place? After rebuilding an 2.7 or two, i rebuilt my 71E engine. Fairly straight forward engine rebuild, but the MFI was new to me and required a bit if a learning curve. As with the engine rebuild details..the MFI knowledge is all available and there are definitely experts out there that can help.

For MFI systems, I recommend Mark Jung (356RS)

If you have a T. Also nice, but with carbs.

For carbs, I recommend Paul Abbott (1QuickS)

regards,
Al

[VintagePhilippe]

Thanks for all your replies Spencer, Steven and Al.

Steven, in the last couple of days I have been speaking to a few people who told me the same thing you are saying about Canada. I thought about sending parts to the US already but imagined it would be overly expensive, so your comments and suggestions are very helpful.

Do you know of a qualified shop in upstate NY?

Thanks!

Philippe

[Trophy]

PM Sent....

I would talk with Geoffrey Ring, he is NY based and would have a number of contacts.

[VintagePhilippe]

Thanks Steven, I just sent you a reply.

Philippe