3.6 conversions- have you had to do any major work after-the-fact?
 

Those of you who have done conversions, have you had to do any major work after you've put some time/miles on the car? it seems like a leap of faith to buy a used 3.6 and stick it in your car (to a certain extent). I don't recall seeing any posts from people who found major problems when done. What are your experiences?

Ed, are you being 'tempted' by the '3.6 side'?? Don;t resist just go with the flow!!

Good question btw..

Hi Jordi! I'm really getting wishy-washy in my old age, I cannot decide whether to rebuild or convert. Pros and cons to each side. If I were betting today, I'd say the 3.6 is the favorite, but this could change by tonight.

I'm really curious as to how dependable the "average" motor with 30-80K has been for converts.

Being the poster child of bad luck, the 3.6L I bought was a 'rebuilt' POS - from a "reputable" vendor on Rennlist, no less, and I immediately had to rebuild it properly.

I bought my engine from Steve Timmins and have had no major issues at all. I've done about 8 DE weekends since the swap and about 2000 street miles. There were a few minor tweaks (throttle cable connection at bell crank, larger oil cooler install, etc.), but absolutely nothing even remotely major. Honestly, I expected more problems.

Rationale for the swap was to gain substantial performance and still retain factory reliability. I strongly recommend this swap if your rationale are similar.

Mine is from Harald Ulicher (Speedster84).

It's been in over a year. I run it pretty hard. It runs FLAWLESSLY.
Starts immediately, never stutters or hesitates. Perfect.

I also have a Harald motor and the Timmins kit. Mine goes back to 2000, without any problems. It's had pretty extraordinary use, too -- 20-30 track days a year as well as regular street driving.

I know of two instances aside from Widebody's where a used 3.6 has had issues, though. Those guys might sound in here.

I wonder if the percentage of problems is higher or lower with rebuilt motors versus used? There are certainly big risks, either way.

Then again, the rewards are pretty awesome.

I purchased my engine from LA Dismantlers (911pcar.com) and haven't had any problems since I installed it last winter. They gave me a 1 year warranty, and supposedly did a leakdown & what not before sending it out. I had my shop inspect it & do a leakdown before installing it.

I bought mine from David Valliere aka Mifintifin. He used to post on here but have not seen him around for awhile. My engine is a '89 964 3.6 with the head gasket and distributor upgrades. I have had ZERO problems since installation. I've put around 15000 miles on and done 6 DE's or so. I too expected more problems and have been pleasantly surprised.

Great info guys, thanks. I guess I've not paid attention prior to this, but does Harald or LA Dismantlers have 3.6 motors for sale regularly? If I'm going to go this route, I need to start looking for motor sources with good reputations. I'd obviously rather find one in TX, if I'm going to convert, but quality and selection may dictate otherwise.

I bought 2 good ones, the first from the same source as Thom but several years before and one from Steve Timmins, who I believe got it from Harold.

If you are going to do this I would highly recomend a ROW 993 as the best place to start.

Has anyone done a 965 engine conversion? It would seem obvious, yet I don't know of any offhand. I know of a couple of 993TT (what's the 9-number for that?) conversions, but those engines are close to the same price as my house now.

I purchased my engine from Harald,and the kit from Steve Timmons. So far it runs great. The engine harness was toast, but this was discovered before the engine was installed. I would plan on replacing all seals and gaskets. Dan

How does one get hold of Harald?

Secondly, does Timmins really check his motors out before shipping to his customers?

Lastly, Bill, I thought there was an issue with running the ROW 993 motors, something to do with diagnostics (OBD) compatibility or something?

Actually just the opposite, ROW are all OBD1 and have no SAI so no issues w/ the worst of US cars problems.

Harald Julicher is a member of this forum. His username is speedster 94 I believe. Dan

I forgot to add, Harald is in Germany.

I did my conversion earlier this year and bought a kit from Timmons. Timmons was really good with phone support when I ran into installation questions. I have had no problems and am happy with the result. I did have one breakdown related to using my heater and having the heater cable puncture the DME harness - easy fix - and more related to not seeing the cable was too long during the install. All in all the conversion was well worth it in terms of performance, reliability, and maintainence. Even though it can be a little costly I think it is well worth it. The other plus side is that you will get alot of info and help from this board. Without this board I probably would never have done the conversion - the knowledge and support hear is incredible!

Timmins has a seriously deep bench
 

as his testbed. MANY cars in the shop parking lot with and without engines - all his. I've bought most of my conversion needs from Steve, althought I did buy the engine from Harald (via ebay). Steve has been _very_ helpful and a great source of experienced suggestions.

Without Steve I would have still been able to do the 3.6 swap (I've done 3.2 swaps into early cars with no help) but it made things a lot easier and faster, and gave me more confidence when the key was first turned.

Chris

Hey Ed,

One thing to think about if you buy from Harald is that the Euro is going to kill you. It's about 50% stronger than when Jack bought his engine in 2000. It will probably be cheaper to get one from the US, but then it will be OBDII if you get a Varioram engine.