Home Engine Rebuild?

I have read much about companies that focus on rebuilding 911 engines. I consider myself mechanically inclined, extremely patient, and have an attention to detail that gets me into trouble. I have rebuilt American and Japanese engines. If I were to purchase the factory manuals, why could I not rebuild my SC engine myself? Granted, after purchasing all the special tools and stands I may not be ahead financially, but I would like the satisfaction of doing it myself. Thoughts from both sides of the issue?

Rich

I was also intimidated about working on my SC after 1st getting it(my second 911 the first a 75S I did no work myself) I was lucky my PO was a fanatic and had the shop manuals The engines are very different than all others but are relatively simple and straight forward to work on I actually enjoy working on my 911 due to the quality of build and design.When its time to rebuild I will do it myself If you take your time have the proper tools and manuals,recheck everything I believe you will have a much better rebuild than any shop can do because its your car and you will care more about what you are doing than the shops which are in a hurry to get it done and out the door, not to mention all the money you will save

That was what I was thinking. If one is patient, one can triple check everything, make sure everything is perfect, and put it together exactly as the factory describes. I am working on a report I have been contracted to write and I am not stopping to fix the lines on the tables because I need to get it finished this week. Now if it were my resume or my sales packages, I would make it perfect.

Rich

I also haver rebuilt engines, even air cooled engines...but would not consider doing a Porsche engine. Can you magnaflux at home?

go to the Paul Weir website www.paulweir.com.

You can't do that at home. Course you may be able to do as good a job as the greasemonkey down the street.

When I lived in Seattle I used Paul Weir for servicing my 75S At that time he worked out of his home rebuilding and servicing 911s.His remark the the typical home mechanic will have little success rebuilding a 911 motor is typical of many shops and Paul in particular that will try to intimidate you into believeing it takes a Porsche wizard to work on them Thats why they get away with charging 6-12k for a rebuild Most owners are too scared to work on them.Case reconditioning ,head,camshaft, crank work would all of course need to be done with a competent machine shop familiar with Porsche .

[This message has been edited by jryerson (edited 10-19-1999).]

I have been to the Paul Weir website and even talked to them by email. That is really what prompted my question. I have worked with mechanics who raced Mopars and they were great at tuning them. However, I felt I did a better job rebuilding my own engine because I was willing to take whatever time was necessary.

I don't know anyone who can do their own machine work out of their garage. But why would I have to pay someone to rebuild the engine when I could just take the parts down that needed machine work?

I appreciate the feedback. I know this is not an issue that is black and white.

Rich

I would recommend purchasing the factory manuals either microfiche which are cheap or the actual volumes, my SC has 7 .They go into detail concerning engine breakdown/rebuild procedures, afterlooking at them it will help you decide if you will rebuild yourself Even though they are expensive $400.00 ,they have saved me much more in repairs I can do myself even if you decide against a home rebuild.

[This message has been edited by jryerson (edited 10-19-1999).]

As many of you have replied to this topic, I would like to make several comments.
1. The factory workshop manuals were written for factory trained Porsche technicians. They leave a lot of simple steps out because they assume you (The factory Porsche technician) already know them.
2. There are many tricks of the trade that can only be learned by experience. No amount of patience or attention to detail can teach some of the finer points of Porsche engine rebuilding. Most of the technicians that make a living rebuilding Porsche’s have spent the better part of a decade honing their skills.
3. A large portion of work is done be a machine shop, hopefully that has lots of Porsche experience. Knowing what questions to ask them and what work should be performed on which part also comes from years of experience.

I am not telling you it can’t be done in your garage. I am simply stating that you get what you pay for in life. Do you want motor to last 50K or 150K ? The steps to rebuilding the engines are the same, it the experience that makes the difference.

Good Luck,
Lee

If you have a good degree of mechanical competence and are in no hurry, there is absolutely no reason why you cannot do it yourself. There is in fact, no rocket science involved. A horizontally opposed air cooled six pales into insignificance when compared to engines from the likes of Ferrari. Attention to detail is the most important factor and if you have the tools and space, work to the tolerances then you can indeed do it.

I must agree with Bonnie. I rebuilt a Lamborghini engine with no experience on such a complex engine. The rebuild cost that I was quoted at the time was around 30K and I had all of the parts. It took me about 6 months to do the job and about 25K in phone calls, but I know that engine better than anyone else since it took me so much time to do the job. I wonder, however, if I saved any money... loads of fun and a great learning experience..... never again!

There is a book on sale currently at any good book store called (I believe) "Porsche Performance Handbook". It goes into great detail the do's and do not's of engine building, step by step. I don't see why you couldn't do the job, especially if you did your homework before hand.

The 'Porsche 911 Performance Handbook' was written by Bruce Anderson, technical editor of 'Excellence' magazine and formerly associated with Garretson Enterprises, as editor of their newsletter, and staff member of their racing program in the '70s and '80s. His hanbook has much info taken from the newsletter days, as well as info from his series of engine & transmission rebuilding and tuneup classes/seminars started during the Garretson days, and continuing to this day. His web site URL is: www.911handbook.com

The BIGGEST issue regarding a home project is where you get your machine work done. Assuming no lost shipment problems, there is no reason any competent owner/mechanic can't get the same results as Bruce Anderson or Jerry Woods, if, and it is a big IF, you know which parts require machine work, and if you get that work done at a competent shop. Machine shops that do routine work only on small-block Chevy and Ford engines NEED NOT even be considered!!! You MUST do your homework on who does your machine work. The seminars Bruce Anderson teach, good notes, and a few good questions to Bruce about reliable Machine shops he would recommend, should enable the competent owner/mechanic to do a reasonable and competent job! By the time you buy all of the required tools, the factory service manuals, and proper quality replacement parts, you may not save any money, net, over a quality shop rebuild, but you will be well-prepared with tools and reference material for the future after you are done with the project! And, I suspect 99% of individuals that complete such a project will be happier afterwards, for the effort spent.


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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

My dad and I rebuilt our 73's 2.7 with CIS. Of course he just completed a week course with Garretson enterprises. I think the class was about $700 not including his hotel stay. We had a local shop magnaflux and Zygloo (as appropriate) the parts/heads.

We simply tore it down, and had parts conditioned minus the case. We honed the P/C at home. We spent about 3K in parts and tools, little less than $500 in machine work. This was in '86. I was 15 at the time.

What a great "Father-son project" that was. I spent about 5 months pulling/cleaning, disassembling the engine.
I think the best info we got from Garretson was regarding using certain lock-tight, gasket material, and gasket compound in certain areas was invaluable.

This was a blast, and I have been loving the 911 series ever since.

Anyways, you can do it, you just need time, a clean garage, and do a lot of homework. Find out what the pro's use when assembling P/c to the case, to the heads, and what to put on the gaskets for the chain housing, etc. This is NOT a V8, I have done a chevy V8 in about a week, including waiting 2 days for a machine shop. I was working during this week.

WOW I wish I had my '73 back.. :-(

Nick
nhromyak@yahoo.com
'85 3.2

I just finished rebuilding my 1978 911 3.0. I have rebuild the standard block engine and was concerned when I decided to do the porsche engine. The engine had 81000 miles on it and had a knock. What I found out later that it was one of the cylinder studs that had broken and was rapping everytime the piston would fire.

As far as rebuilding the engine the only special tools I needed was a dial indicator to set the cam. I had everything else I needed to do the job. To remove the cam nuts I used a crows foot on the cam and used a 16 crescent wrench to remove the nut. Worked out great.

As far as rebuilding goes, the engine is different. I purchased the Hayes book on the engine and it was a great help. I also purchased the porsche tech spec book for about $6.00

As far as disassembly was concerned if you have a mechanical ability, you can do it. There is nothing tricky about it. However, if the engine has a problem - then that problem needs to be addressed.

Otherwise, if you check the tolerances and they meet the requirements, then you can start the rebuilding process.

The only problem I had with my engine was the valve guides, and I purchsed them and had them installed by a machine shop.

The cams were not worn, no scoring on the cam shaft, the mains were a little worn and replaced, the pistons were in good shape, the cylinders were checked, they were ok, the gears for the oil pump and distributor was checked for wear - none apparent, the timing chain was replaced, new main bearings, new rings, connecting rods were ok, new main bearing bolts, and new gaskets and "O" rings.

Use the Hays manual for reference, along with the Porsche 911 performance handbook, and of course the Porsche technical specfications hand book.

If the engine parts have to be machined, then make sure the shop you have doing the work knows what they are doing - especially with machining the valve seats.

If you are meticilous and pay attention to detail, along with having the mechanical ability to understand what has to be done and in what order, than rebuilding the engine won't be a problem.

There is nothing mysterious about rebuilding engines as long as you have the technical data available to you to do it. They all have tolerances that they are built to - Porsche engines tolerances are a little tighter and balance is important - don't mix up the cylinders and pistons - they have to go back where they belong. Mark everything take videos or pictures - I took video's to refer back to.

Take your time and if you are not sure about something - ask someone who knows and your efforts will be worth it.

Regards

Steve

Hi,Last winter i rebuilt my 78SC engine due to broken head studs.I have rebuilt other engines and found this one no harder to work on ,better even due to the build quality.i managed without buying any special tools (borrowed dial guage),just took pleanty of time,labled everthing and kept everthing spotlessly clean.I followed the Haynes Manual and took advice from the PCGB when needed,i had no problems.I think if you take your time, keep things clean and follow the books you can do a very good job.After all it's your baby your working on!