Those are the later-style 993 head studs.

-Wayne

that's also my guess. I classic case of switcheroo. I'd ask Callas to give you the numbers of the engine that he rebuilt. He should have those noted.

Wouldn't it be easy to tell if it was the right engine by looking at the parts in it? The ebay ad is very specific on the parts used (993 oil pump, etc. etc.).

Ouch-- pwd. Still remembering those seats huh? RIGHTLY SO. Same here!

But it's christmas. We should all be nice to each other.

How is Evren?

It doesn't look like a rebuilt engine to me.

BUT - 11.5:1 compression with single plug? No one with any real sense would build an engine like that unless they were running it on 100+ octane all the time.

You said all of the cylinders leaked, and it had a bad idle - you will encounter all of this if the engine detonated and started to blow itself apart because of low octane gas. Still the ring gaps and other problems are pretty damning evidence.

I would call Mike Callas, and ask him to verify the serial numbers. Never met Mike, but I fully recommend Tony Callas (his son, I think) and Callas Rennsport here in Torrance as one of the best shops you can go to. Tony is almost OCD with respect to the quality of work that he does.

-Wayne

I went through a tranny with Mike personally last year and he was very specific on the conservative amount of sealer that I was to use. Looking at the pics show the opposite of what I have seen in his shop.

I agree with Wayne and call to confirm serial #s. But that will only show it went into his shop. It will not prove that he produced what you have in front of you. Whos to say that the engine was not pulled apart to yank goodies out and then slapped back together?

I hope you protected yourself and payed with a credit card on this transaction. Your real beef is with the seller since he advertised it as in better shape than it actually is.

Nice conclusion Wayne!
The engine was listed as a race engine was it not? It seems that a race engine needs some pretty volitile brew to run without blowing itself up. Was this such brew supplied or not? If a race engine is run on normal gas for 50 miles of course it is going to blow! And unfortunately yours certainly seems to have blown (in more ways than one)!

I think you are confusing Rennsport in Texas (who supposedly rebuilt this motor) with Rennsport Systems in Portland OR (not involved in any way). These are not the same shop.

Hi Everyone,

After reading this thread I have to agree with Wayne, does not look like a rebuilt motor to me either.....the pics show an excessive amount of red silicone....I personally say, in my own opinion....

1. I would have went over the motor with a fine tooth comb before spending the time to install it.

2. If I saw evidence of that much red silicone, I would have been burning up the phone lines asking why, getting more specific answers than "It needs a clean up"...

The thing is, if that motor was built by a reputable shop I would hope that they would have spent more time cleaning up "the little details" such as this. Another point is that "IF" this was a fresh motor.....why would it need a cleaning?.....I had my motor rebuilt, when I got it back it was ultra clean....the case was dipped, cleaned as well as the heads and so on....This would have thrown up a red flag for me. Now you have put it in the car, dismantled the motor and I'm sure no-recourse with the seller, ebay or the builder....

Suck it up and put a 3.6 in it....lol, sorry about your bad luck...

P.S. Are you sure you didnt put 87 Octane in it??.....Come on you can tell us...If you didnt someone did.....

Another clue to this whole thing is the quote "a lightweight flywheel is included, a 1000.00 value" when guys do this type of hype price quoting it usually means something is fishy. And what lightweight flywheels are 1000.00??? Maybe 500.00 but 1000.00???

I can tell you, in building my motor a very conservative amount of orange goo was/is being used to avoid those issues. It looks like someone put that on with a ketchup bottle...:eek:

Are you getting any love from the seller? You should send it back to him and get ebay involved to get your $$$ back. It's a shame to spend 4500.00 on a motor that needs a full rebuild. I'd get the $$$ back or maybe a split to go toward the rebuild. If the inners are good you could get away with a top end in the 2500-3500 range.

It's not likely that any seller would take it back. The description is vague enough and just about everyone knows that there's no warranty on race parts, particularly from a seller on eBay.

It also doesn't sound like the seller knows too much about Porsche engines:

http://contact.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ShowCoreAskSellerQuestion&requested= 2343spsb&iid=7920525459&frm=284&redirect=0&ShowASQ Always=1&SSPageName=PageAskSellerQuestion_VI

The bottomline is caveat emptor - let the buyer beware. As I say in the Engine Rebuild Book, unless there's a mountain of documentation accompanying the motor from a confirmable, reputable shop, then it can only be considered a core motor at best. I don't recommend paying big bucks for engines unless you can hear them in the car.

-Wayne

It looks rebuilt, but badly and not recently. Using all that sealant really indicates a hack job. Also, for a "0 miles since rebuild" engine, I would expect a pristine set of pistons and valves, etc. Not new necessarily, but at least refurbed/cleaned to indicate that some care, workmanship standards, pride was applied. You have been had, big time, but I would be arranging a visit with the seller, who apears to have mis-represented the condition of this engine. It's really not clear, since there are two engines mentioned, if Mike at Rennsport is truly involved with your current problem, or like you, on the recieving end of somebody making a fast buck. I'd be mad as hell, too, but I would allow Mike some offline airtime to defend himself and/or verify that the engine that you ended up with was the result of his work, prior to dragging his name down. I don't know Mike or deal with Rennsport, at all, but if they are in it for the long haul he/they have nothing to gain by this. All you have to do is search on the now infamous MM to see where shortcuts will get you with this group. Anyway, I hope your handy and have waynes rebuild book, because you just bought your next big project. Keep us posted on this story. i'd like to hear how it turns out, but I'm posting at 3:40am, so I'm easily amused. Hope it all turns out OK.

The engine in question did actually even ship from Mike Callas'es business adresse in Sealy, Texas.

And I did phone him about the things I observed when I got the engine, and he insisted of beeing rebuild and the stored.

Although I did not contact him after I took the engine apart - which was 3 days ago.

Would like to get an e-mail addresse so I can e-mail pictures.
I gues I have to call again (the 4th time then) in this regard.

Will post nice pictures from the engine restoration at work.

My last engine rebuild was a 2.7 RS engine, and the wner had it dyno'd at 270HP!!! at the wheel.

thanks, harold

Re: Look at this engine mess !!!
 

Why would anyone use silicone in this area rather than replacing the oil cooler seal? If you look inside it looks like clear silicone was also used at some point. This looks it was worked on by someone who wasn't familiar with 911 motors, didn't have access to oil cooler seals or didn't care. (AFIK, none of those things would apply to Callas.)

IMO, if the motor was misrepresented then the seller is liable for restitution (if it was an honest mistake) or is guilty of fraud (if he lied to you about the motor). It doesn't matter if it was warranteed or not.

-Chris

Ouch for Mike.

"My last engine rebuild was a 2.7 RS engine, and the wner had it dyno'd at 270HP!!! at the wheel."

Huh?

Was that after the 70 HP shot of NOS?:confused: Or after they installed the Supercharger?

Red silicone, white silicone, green silicone, clear silicone...

No silicone should EVER be used on an engine that you care about. (Well if you are drag racing then it is ok because the motor is going to run 10 minutes and then come apart.)

Silicone deteriorates in contact with oil. That is why there is always oil on the mating surfaces when you remove a siliconed gasket that has been in service for a while. You should use fluorosilicone for oil contact applications.

Not familiar with Mike Callas but if he is Tony Callas’s father then I can’t believe that the red goop came from him. Tony has talked about the care and detail that he learned from his father and seeing as he is well known for his attention to detail it just doesn’t play. (Tony prepared the 911 that won its class at Le Mans 3 years ago)

I think there is something fishy in the deal with the Ebay guy.

Wayne

Reading all your posts my thought is this (it is a possibility)....

If Mike is related to Tony Callas, the pictures we have seen are surely not the work of the Callas family.....My assumption is the seller MAY HAVE had Mike do up a nice RS motor and Harold was victim of a swith-a-roo. Mike very well could have verified the building of a motor for that seller, not knowing if the motor was in the sellers car or not....

In any case Harold doesnt seem to be too overly upset about it, I know I would be furious and this would definently warrant a trip to Texas in my book.

E-Bay feedback from hbrand to this seller (2343spsb):

"very fair and friendly person, a true asset to Ebay A+++++"

You missed an opportunity. His feedback is 100% positive, but with only 16 sources - and only two are with him as a seller.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=2343spsb

All the items he bought are not Porsche but mostly BMW motorcycle decals and helmet shelves.

He just got positive feedback for selling a Pit Cart ($3000) that looks nice but has a big BMW logo on it - he might not have ever raced a Porsche, or a car for that matter. He does say that the cart was freshly overhauled - doesn't say by whom ;).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6755&item=45044857 22

I do research like this for $20 eBay items.