Sorry for your bad luck.

If it was me, I would just do a top end. You bottom end should be good for 200k+.

Depending on what the mechanic finds, you may be ok just repairing/replacing the bad cylinder.

At least you know for sure. In a way, the worst is now over.

This is a DIY forum, but I'll just chime in that there is no shame in having a pro do the work. You just need to be clear on your goals. It is common to see projects that get stalled for 3, 5, sometimes 10 or 15 years. I think people get stuck, then they walk away, leave it in pieces, and ignore it until they are near death. If an engine rebuild isn't something you truly crave doing, consider the labor charge as a fee to avoid having your car in pieces for a very long undetermined time, and potentially done wrong.

FWIW, I had a pro do mine. Well worth it in my book. Took care of all sorts of details and kept me from spending on dumb things.

Drop the engine in 20 mins?
95% cleaning?
Actual wrenching is pretty minimal?

I've never seen a Pelican thread where so many people trivialize engine rebuild such a trivial.
You make it sounds like he's changing the oil!

Man, I would kill to be able to watch an engine rebuild.
I wished I lived near people who knew how to do this stuff.

You guys are brave.
I wouldn't dare attempt something that huge alone with zero experience or assistance.
2.5 years into my 911, I still haven't worked up the balls to try a suspension refresh.

^^^ This +10

The other dilemma is, with the engine out it's probably the wise move to take care of aging synchros at the same time. Then what about new fuel lines? Rear suspension? Clutch? The rumbling I hear from the back end when accelerating at low rpm? (CV joints?) One piece at a time, right?

I'm wondering how much brake cleaner you inhaled during the overhaul that resulted in your "remembering" the process in this manner?!?! :D

Sugarwood,

Suspension is easy (compared to a motor). Take the worn parts out, put in less worn parts, button it up, send to the chassis guy for corner balance and alignment.

Not nearly as detail oriented as an engine rebuild. If you are handy with a wrench, I'd say go for that.

The engine does come out 2 hours. And then 40 hours of disassembling and reassemble. You need some special tools. The broken head studs may give you a fight but it will come out. I would say the degree of difficulty is 8 on a scale of 10. Not for the faint of heart, but so many people on here have gone down this path that it is no longer a black art.

No offence to the guys making time-to-do estimates, but how long a job takes is very dependent on a person's level of experience, ability to read and understand directions, available equipment, work standards (aka - level of analness), how damaged and corroded various fasteners are, etc. For example, some will take two hours lifting and positioning their cars for an engine drop, and then two more reading printed removal instructions ten times over before crawling under the car.

Sportin'aWoody's "pre-drop-checklist-questions" post would take him more than two hours to type, and he types fast!!! :D

Ninety five percent of the job is cleaning?!?! Maybe if one goes about it with a tooth brush, a shot glass of lacquer thinner and no other gear to get the job done expediently . . . :)

I lied earlier, it was Sept 24 2011 to Nov 8th 2011 for my engine refurb. It just felt like 3 months as that was how long the car was on the lift.
I had the engine out already for oil leaks and clean up when I found the broken head stud.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/621680-finally-back-game-2.html

Not trivial and I never said 20 minutes or 95%. What I "did" say is that the the two items that you may not think of with engine rebuilding is that the acts not involved with taking off and putting on parts are what are very important and not always thought of. Scrubbing, cleaning, keeping the work area neat, keeping organized, shipping/receiving, etc are very important and time consuming. Re-assembly is the enjoyable part and there are only so many parts so my memory is that's what goes quickly. I am very respectful of possibility of dropping the car so I take a careful few hours to jack and support it at the beginning and end of the process.

Hey man, my time estimates are for me if I worked on that car. I have done enough to no longer need notes or take pictures and I have all the right tools. Your mileage absolutely and totally may vary.

Go on youtube...

Lots of videos from shops doing a step by step engine rebuild on a 911...

Watch the videos to see what it takes, and get Waynes book...

When you watch the videos, it will likely make you 10x faster, when you see how quickly the disassemble a long block... The pros fly through it...

It might have been me that said it's 95% cleaning and I will stick with that.
I am not saying that the engine teardown and rebuild is trivial. It is not and is very time consuming.
Everything should be super clean. The engine bay and both rear wheel wells took hours and hours.
The transmission took hours. I cleaned the case for hours until there wasn't any grease.
My engine cleaning started with a scraper!
Maybe I was anal about it, but I feel this is the way it needs to be done. Almost as good as when new.

this was me exactly .. I hd done lots of mechanical work but never an engine .. tookmy engine out even had a dedicated place to work on it and life got in the way .. 18 months later I finished the job and put it back .
I will say it is not difficult with the right tools , but does take dedicated batches of time when you can really concentrate , double and triple check your work without interruption.

I was very glad I did mine and I also squeezed a divorce in there and the car so far runs well albeit with a couple of oil leaks I couldn't fix , nothing major.

+1

It is very doable if patient.

I had rebuilt lots of American iron before my 911 so I wasn't skeered. :D

However, when I got to the cam tower torquing I found I wasn't working with cast iron. The "free" cam would freeze in the tower bores (finger spinning) with any increment over 5 lbs. Frightened me to death.

Walked away and came back using three pound increments across the pattern. Fifty sqillion bolt pattern circuit repetitions and all was well.

As to 40 hours engine rebuild. Yes if you are a pro because you do not have to reference a thing. You have already done that.

DIY guy possessing favorable analness (butt of course), 150 hours (includes reading).

Here is one thing I have wondered.
When you drop the engine, what part does all the weight rest on?
I have B&B headers, and it looks like those heat exchangers are at the bottom.
I'd think they would just crumble under the weight like tin foil.
Once they cave in, all the weight is on the headers, which could just rip away from the exhaust studs?
Or do you remove the exhaust before an engine drop?

http://i60.tinypic.com/15rlj51.jpg

Engine is probably due for a refresh anyway given the #3 leakdown.

If you plan to DIY, doing it quickly should never be a priority. Assuming this is not your daily driver, who cares if the rebuild takes 1,2 or more years as long as you enjoy the learning experience ? You might even do a better job than many of the shops around.

The weight of the engine will rest on the headers on the way down and they don't collapse.