obscure 911 question
 

early_s_man recently told me my engine and transmission and a lot of other parts in a 1970 911S were "raw" casting numbers because all end in an "R", i.e. 901.101.101.5R for example. These numbers are observed on lots of parts in the car big and small and not only on the engine and transmission - but throughout the car! As a result he said, and i found i had to agree, none of the damn parts identify to the porsche parts manuals I have. my question is as follows: is a car made with these "bastard" parts worth less than one with identifiable number notwithstanding the engine number is corrent for the VIN. it certainly is weird and adds a certain tinge of excitement to a novice rebuilder.

Hard to say without more details. Describe the parts or better yet take a picture. What manuals do you have? Probably the most important number match is the engine and you said that's correct. What parts don't match?

the engine case, cam case, transmission case, fan housing, and lots of other parts ... i will take some pics tonight and post em tomorrow ....

vin is 9110300400 and the engine is 6300564 911/02

casting numbers just identify a casting before it's machined to fit a certain application. take for instance a fan housing. the same housing was machined to different depths to fit many different amperage alternators, all of which had different heights. the part numbers were all different thru the years, but the casting number stayed the same. nothing odd about your car.

R
 

Hey, how about "5R" and "7R" cases, fan bracket nos that end in "R", etc? Don't tell me those aren't "original" factory markings?

i'll take some pictures tonight showing the weird parts numbers i'm talking about and also put in links to my factory parts books pages .... then you guys can tell me what is what .... i'm puzzled by it but perhaps like john walker says - its normal - in which case i have a funky parts manual i guess

As John W said, Casting numbers are totally different than the dealer part numbers. The 7R case # that everyone refers to is a casting number, because that's what differentiates it from the other case castings. These aren't bastard parts. You don't have a weird parts manual, it lists factory production part numbers (like you would use to buy the parts at the dealer).

It's exactly the same with GM. The part number stamped into the part (big or small) will virtually never be the same as the part number that the dealer uses to catalog the parts. It's no discrepancy.

You can think of it this way. Imagine you are a foundry and you build engine castings and transmission casting for Porsche and possibly other things as well. You will assign all of the parts that you make a part number, but when you send those parts to the Porsche factory they use their own part numbers. It's pretty much the same as for anything. Shoot even regular consumer goods often come with a couple of different UPC's.

It's nothing to worry about, it's totally normal, all 911's are like that.

Yes, they are all that way - don't worry about it...

-Wayne

Pardon my asking but, do you actually think that a mismatched number on the fan housing will lower the resale value? If this is a concours condition vehicle with 5K miles on it then I can understand.

well ok ... i noticed last night they all end in "r" - all the valve covers, the engine casting 901.101.101.1R for one side 901.101.101.2R for the other, fan housing ended in 5R, valve covers numbers ended in R, cam housing, etc. makes like sorta weird ... my parts manuals are for a 1971 and i was hoping they would be good enough for a 1970 because the 911s was the same basically through both years 70 and 71 .... i'm sure not buying many new parts for the car :) but i am looking forward to getting that engine rebuild book wayne ... i have ordered it and i'm waiting for it now ..... found a 1973 1/2 911T for sale and just bagged it for 5650 ..... haven't told the wife yet ... i'll tell her its a parts car for the 1970 .. she might believe that :) ..... pics at www.invicta.org/911. thought the car was probably a good buy after talking to the old owner, identifying what rust was on it and noticing he had health food recipes on his web site! ok - i just tlaked myself into it :rolleyes:

wrong url ... should be http://invicta.org/911 .....