Value of 71S motor?
 

In my continued quest for the perfect car, I keep coming across things that I consider buying. The latest is essentially a barn-find - a 69T with a motor from a 71S. The car was parked 15 years ago after a minor accident, and has been ravaged by the weather over time. The seller has documentation of a rebuild and photos circa 1988, and it would appear that the motor has less than 20,000 miles since then. PMO carb conversion, so MFI is gone, not sure if the thing will run, but it does turn. I'm debating turning the car into a hot rod, but curious what the motor is worth by itself if I want to sell it off. Thanks

There might be an early 911S guy out there looking for that very motor...in order to make his car "numbers matching". IF that's the case, he'd be willing to buy the whole thing in exchange for the motor. BUT...if you can't match the engine number to a car? Maybe not so much.

I know of a guy who needs a '71S longblock, so PM me if you decide to sell. It's worth a chunk of money, and you can probably get something even more powerful to put in place of that S engine for no additional money out of pocket. Chances of finding the actual chassis where that engine belongs are slim, but the Internet makes it a possibility.

Is there a way to find the chassis number that this belonged to?

George,
Only way to know the exact car which the 2.2S motor would be belong to is a certificate of authenticity from Porsche. I am pretty sure that the only way get this is by submitting the VIN number of the car rather than just the motor number.
It is a running joke among early 911 owners that Porsche's records are well known to be pretty unreliable (many on this board and elsewhere have shelled out more than $75 for C of A's from Porsche and received ridiculously false information - such as their 1971 911T having been built with heated seats when the option never even existed back then ;) ). Even though the original 2.2S car that the motor came with may no longer exist, the motor is still worth some money to someone looking for matching numbers motor for their year and model car, which would make it substantially more valuable than just having a rebuilt S spec 911T motor or 3.0 SC motor in their car if/when they decide to resell.

If you are focused on buying a good early car, I would suggest sticking to that goal. There are lots of little deal out there to buy rusty cars with potentially valuable engines, but the trick is to find a good clean original body. There are plenty of engines out there that can be bought and sold. Finding a nice clean roller ready for a motor is much harder to find. My advice: Don't get the horse before the carriage.

Ahh...I think that's the cart before the horse.

+1 for blau911. Keep looking for the ideal. We all know of the temptations for the little deals (how many of us have thesel little deals stuck in our garages somewhere?) but try to resist and keep looking for that 72!

BTW, you're both right--Blau911 was referring to your temptation to buy the engine (horse) before securing a solid car (carriage.) You, of course, mentioned the actual adage. (How's that for mediation?)

Oh yeah, what happened to the last lead you mentioned? Obviously it didn't pan out but could you elaborate on the deal-killing parts?

Beautiful non-sunroof 72T in period color with S options that have been added by the current owner (sport seats, S spoiler, through the grill fog lights, rear wiper, S wheel-well trim), very original. Probably the nicest 72 I've seen. Also the most expensive T I've seen. Debating how much of a premium it is worth to me.

Completely understandable, especially in the current market. Keep us posted, please.