Well, it looks like my motor finally gave up the ghost...

Intake leaks, etc, etc. It hasn't been rebuilt in 70k+ miles.

How much would you all think a total rebuild would run on a stock 2.0/4?

Thanks...

Euro-stock, $5-6k.

That's 45 hours of labor you are up against.


M

are you going to rebuild it yourself or have a shop do it? redshift's price is right for a shop, but you can do it yourself for about 1/2 that... hell, for the 6k, you can get a Jake Raby 2270!!!

Everyone who dumps so much time and money into one of these old cars to fix it up should get some kind of medal.

I was looking at having a shop do this work. I am no mechanic. Yeah, I can bolt things on, do some brakes etc but no way could I do a rebuild....

you might be surprised. mostly it's about being careful, following instructions, measuring carefully, following instructions, patience, attention to detail, cleanliness, and following instructions.

we had a guy on Rennlist who did a full rebuild by asking a day's worth of questions, going off to do the work, repeat as needed. oh yeah - if you can actually follow instructions you won't have to backtrack and re-do everything a few times until you believe what people told you to do in the first place...

you do need a place to have stuff spread out for a while, and neighbors and famly members who won't complain too much during the process. even if you just R&R the drivetrain you can save a bunch of money, but don't go so far in disassembly that you're in "basket case" territiry - shops hate dealing with those ...

Hi Jason,

Sorry to here about your engine problems. Who do you currently use for mechanical stuff?

There is a shop on Stone & Blacklidge called Radmacher Porshe Service. The guy used to specialize in 914's. It's a small shop, just him and one other mechanic. He is a wizard w/ D-jet & L-jet problems. You might have him diagnose the problem, shouldn't take more than a couple of hours in labor.

Over the last 5 or 6 years (while lurking on this and other sites) I have completly rebuilt my `72 914 S,including the engine,(IT`S NOW A 2.56L)and I`m no tech just a parts replacer.I read every thing I could find, took pictures and asked questions.To have a car like this you need to know how it works,my budget won`t let me take it to a shop every time something happens.

your car looks great, (maybe a little too high though)

when you rebuilt the motor, how much of the process did you have to farm out? What steps involve machining?

thanks,
david

Thanks for the replies...

Mark.. thanks, the car is at his place right now. He was the bearer of the bad news. I'd trust he would do a good job given his experience. Hell, he had two other 914's in the shop while I was there.

I am not against trying this myself but given my knowledge, lack of good tools, etc... it would take me forever and a day.

Anybody else have experience with a shop rebuild? Price?

6-7K in this area. Full legal stock race prep injected 2.0 (115hp) runs 7k. Stockish rebuild with Euro P+C's is around 6k. Less "care" is taken during the assembly of a "street" engine.

Most of the cases need line bored now.. most of the heads need new seats..balance everything.. powder coat all tin..



B

Dave should be able to give you an accurate estimate. He is not cheap but he does a good job. Mine had to be line bored, new Web cam, he used sodium exhaust valves. The list of parts is 3 pages long.

The alternative is to buy some kind of rebuilt crate motor. At least if it is done locally you will have a local warranty, and you will start with your original motor as a core.

unless it needs to stay stock for autox... I think 7k in Georgia at Raby's shop would be the smart rebuild... 150+hp instead of 115hp.

am I missing something?

Yeah.. it's carbed.

Jakes 150 is a smoking deal. I'm surrounded by racers and purists..that need SCCA/PCA/POC legal engines. Or smog legal injected engines.

You need to stop talking yourself out of one of Jakes engines and just send him a deposit (and me 20$ for my consulting fee). I am the Tony Robbins of 914's.


B

LOL!!

believe me Bro, I wish I could... maybe if I win the fat fantasy football our office has going... until then, I'll just keep giving Jake free advertising, and rolling pennies.... I seriously hope to get him building my engine next spring or fall... the little woman will have some say in that decision though... she makes about as much as I do, and if she let me manage all the dough we'd have to live in a hut... a hut with a four car garage!!!



I forget about smog-legality... but Jake does build FI engines... has them on the site... it may be a 2056 instead of 1971cc though...

just send jake a little at a time and tell him to start once he has enough dough. She won't notice a thing!

jason,

what happened... ouch

brant

Injection

... let me further that.

Factory Injection, and originality.


m

I bought Jake's video and he walks you through every step and explains everything out, Hell my wife could have done it!!!

as much as I like the idea of a greased up woman... wait I forgot what I was going to say... nevermind, must not have been important...


oh yea, I remember... I'm sure she could... if Jake puts forth the effort and level of explaination in the video that he does on his site and forums... I'm sure someone could do it blindfolded...

yea, I figure she won't miss the money around income tax and bonus time(spring) so Jake may get a little scartch on the DL...

Brant... intake leaks, cyl1 up to 28%, cyl4 was bad too. Couldn't even get the car to idle without tricking the CPU to rich it up.. Burnt exhaust valve, etc, etc. Might as well take the opportunity to do it right and rebuild the whole thing.

Its a bummer but I figured I may have to do this considering the car had been sitting for some time. I'd hate to do 50% of the work at 75% of the cost only to discover there are additional problems...