March 2022 - air cooled engine rebuild estimates?

[Gendaito]

Anyone out there get any recent estimates quotes for a top-end only, middle of the road engine rebuild on a 3.2 air cooled engine? I have a 150k mile 1987 with low compression numbers on a couple of cylinders, but nothing unusual.

What's a good ballpark estimate for an engine rebuild in March 2022? 10 years ago, I would say something like $8-10k for a shop to handle it, but what's a realistic number these days?

I know it's tough to estimate something like this but would love to get some recent data points to consider.

thanks!

[Jeff Alton]

First off, why only a top end? Your engine has some miles on it. Almost guaranteed the two pairs of intermediate shaft bearings are worn. Then risking your investment on the bottom end holding fine for a while...

That said, to rebuild heads, new valves, guides, P/C prep (assuming in spec) new chains, sprockets, cam/rocker grind etc.... Do you want sheet metal restored, fan housing, what level of restoration on rest of motor?

PM or email me if you want a quote.

Cheers

[al lkosmal]

Jeff makes a very good point. At 150K.....it makes sense to take it all the way down and rebuild it.

regards,
al

[ClickClickBoom]

Originally Posted by Gendaito

Anyone out there get any recent estimates quotes for a top-end only, middle of the road engine rebuild on a 3.2 air cooled engine? I have a 150k mile 1987 with low compression numbers on a couple of cylinders, but nothing unusual.

What's a good ballpark estimate for an engine rebuild in March 2022? 10 years ago, I would say something like $8-10k for a shop to handle it, but what's a realistic number these days?

I know it's tough to estimate something like this but would love to get some recent data points to consider.

thanks!

Why?
More details would help determine pricing and extent. First off differential compression or leakdown testing is a trend tool and immediate diagnostic for valve leakage.
If your car is like many, it doesn’t get driven enough. The single worst thing for an engine is not operating it, outside of running it out of oil. Drive the car regularly for a week then have the compression checked then start a trend line. The trend will tell you where your engine is trending. Compression testing is 40% science and 60% technique.
When I do aircraft I have the engine at operating temp, and sometimes will run the engine to get the other cylinders to temp. A one time comp test is useless unless you find a leaking valve. But often the bum cylinder will give clues.
Rebuilding a 150k 3.2 is a waste of perfectly good money, unless there is a clear reason for it.

[reynoldsgwr]

$14.0000 bucks

[75 911s]

I think it varies a LOT depending on the shop you want and the choices you make. I'd say $25,000 for a nicely built engine with some good upgrades. Just a stock refresh would be much less. The more notable and specialized the builder is, then I would say that would be more expensive vs a guy you find locally.

10-15K ish to DIY , (but add 6 mo to 1 year to the timeline) and 1k for DIY mistakes. Full split, machining and replacing a lot of stuff.

[Gendaito]

Looks like I have lot of research to do. I'm not completely mechanically inept but since I'm not retired this is probably going to stretch out the timeline if I do this myself.

Appreciate everyone's thoughts.