Value of an '83 944 w/a bad head

[jphillips-998]

Hi All,
My father just called and said his 944 quit. The shop says it needs a new head and Dad thinks he'll sell "as is". The car is white w/black interior. It is a one owner ALL original car in very good condition. I'd guess there are about 150,000 miles, maybe a bit more on the engine and drive train. All the work has been done at a dealer and on schedule. I don't know how the valves bent, but that's the story.

What do you think for a value? How big a job is buying a used engine and replacing with that? If replacement is the route, what engines will fit w/o any fabrication?

BTW, he is in Michigan and 80 years old so he's not going to do any work on the car. I am in Chicago with 4 cars and one garage, so I don't think I am going to do any work. If a swap could be done over a weekend, I may give it a shot if the car were worth the money.

Opinions appreciated

[AFJuvat]

Unfortunately, a non running 944 is worth $500 all day long.

If he did bent the valves, you could have the head rebuilt and have the engine running in a couple of weekends fairly cheaply if you do most of the work (aside from machine shop)

AFJuvat

[SoCal Driver]

I've laped new valves in saving the cost of a machine shop. Depends on the milage and valve guide wear.

[jphillips-998]

Does $1,500 sound reasonable to spend on a rebuilt head replacement? That would include labor. Are these cars worth putting that kind of money into?

[TCMdocs944]

They are worth it if you like them.

A well sorted model will sell for over 5k and seems to be climbing (from ebay and autotrader).
The problem is getting them sorted. If a shop does it $$$$$$$. Thus the accurate $500 non running quote.

Resale ..no.

The parts and machining of the head run $500. Since mine is an 83 I chose to send the head to a machine shop..175 and the thing looked beautiful!

On the plus side, once done you will have lots of peace of mind. I would get the belts, waterpump and front seals all changed at that time. Oil cooler seals too if it has been a while.

[todd84944]

If the car is in good shape I would fix it. If it needs the head replaced, you can get them on e-bay sometimes pretty cheap. Or you can find someone like my self that buys wrecked ones and parts them out so cars like your Dad can continue to live.