356/912 Motor by Harry Pellow "The Meastro"

[kpick]

Hello All,

I'm a 911 and 912 guy. I just came across a 68 912 for sale I'm going to pick up tomorrow.

I'm told it has a brand new (15 miles) 356 motor that was build by Harry Pellow "The Maestro".

I will admit, I had to Google Harry Pellow.

They tell me they have all the paperwork for the engine to verify the purchase.

My question is:
Is this something special and if so how special? Any ideas on the value? Since it's not the original motor to the car I had planed on swapping it out for a 911 motor.

Can you educated a non 356 fellow?

Thanks in advance,
K.

[wgwollet]

To some the 1968 912 is the odd ball, the interior is for one year only, the 1969 912 shares interior with the LWB 911, no big deal but to some worth less.

The 912 is like the 911, it must have a matching engine and no rust. If so most sell over $20,000 some good colors up to $30,000.

I owned at least 7 912 cars, have a 1967 912 now. Great cars but most of the engines have Solex carbs and run like crap... So the 356 engine hurts the car a lot, installing a 911 engine is not that easy....just get it for a good buy to not get hurt, otherwise it's not worth big dollars not matter who rebuilt the engine.

[aircool]

I used Harry's DIY book and VHS videos to rebuild my 356 engine a decade ago. The engine is still running strong and the car has made trips from El Salvador to Guatemala, Nicaragua and all the way to Panama. Harry was very meticulous (sp) and detailed in his work. It would be a solid engine, but not a "special" engine. As wgwollet correctly states, the 356 engine might affect the value of the 912. NOt a lot of difference, but I'd sell the 356 engine separately and find a cheaper 912 engine to replace it.

[Yorkie]

I think (but might be wrong) that the 356SC motor and the 912 motor are pretty much the same so it depends upon which 356 motor is installed. If its a good A or B motor then I think its good advice to pull it and sell it to one of the 356 Faithful otherwise run it with the C/SC motor. I definitely would advise against the 911 swap as you will be reducing the value of the 912. Long hood 911s are dragging up the value of good 912s and they are a really nice car on the right roads.

[CountD]

I think you hit the jackpot with that Pellow motor. The guy was the standard in 356/912 rebuilds, his work was fantastic, and he won't be rebuilding any more since he has passed. Every Pellow motor I have heard/seen has been rebuilt to or beyond factory specs, and they ran really, really well. Forget about numbers matching, bla, bla, bla...you should be stoked you got a Pellow motor and leave it at that. No need to worry about it probably for the next 10 years if driven daily and maintained. No need for the 911 swap which would be insane right now.

It would be the same as getting the 911 equivalent motor hand done by Bruce Anderson or Wayne. That's the game.

[mpetry]

He was a master of the type 616 4 cyl motor, left lots of books and an engine building video that is a hoot. If it really is a Maestro motor and the serial numbers match the paperwork, you have a genuine find.

Be careful on startup! It has been sitting a while since he built his last engine in 1995 I think. I'd be sure to turn the engine over very gently using a wrench on the generator, and then turn it on the starter with the coil wire disconnected until you are sure you have oil pressure.. Use a guage if there's the slightest doubt about the oil pressure light. Don't crack a ring on first start up and give it plenty of time to warm up. Check the brakes too - a car sitting that long may require some sorting before it's safe to drive.

[69 Soft Targa]

If you can post the engine number we can narrow down what you have.