I'm just glad it's being done 20 miles away so I can't hear the cussing...



But seriously. It's sort of nerve-wracking. I completely trust my mechanic; I'm not at all worried about his ability to do the job. I'm just worried that my heads won't be rebuildable, or that the problem will turn out to be something more heinous than valve guides, or that a bolt of lightning will come from nowhere and zap the whole thing into a worthless pile of metal, or that my mechanic will have a nervous breakdown...ok, ok, I know I'm being over dramatic. It's all going to work out just fine, because these things always do.

Still. I can't help being worried about it.

Someone tell me it's gonna be all right!

Take a valium Quennie.LOL. Your car will love you for taking care of it.

That's my philosophy too ... expect the worst and you won't be too surprised when it comes true. That's probably not very reassuring, huh?

It could be worse...you could be doing it yourself!

Actually, it's more reassuring than you might think. I mean, the worst thing that can happen is that my engine turns out to be completely worthless (which is HIGHLY unlikely, as it's fully driveable even though it burns oil) and I have to find a new one. I could do that if I had to.

On a few other posts (one a serious blast from the past, the other pretty recently) I have found myself -now- wondering about the quality of my Mech's work.

The great thing about this board is the amount of experience shared by many of the members, however, one frightening thing about this board is learning how much needs to be learned by newbies -like me.

While most of us have been driving our 914s for a while, few of us have actually done the type of work that is discussed on the board -some of us may quite simply be incapable as well (as I've state before, I know where the KEY should be placed, and that I can put my top in my trunk ) oh, and how to check/refill change the oil.

SO, without ranting too long on Queenies post (by the way, I really hope everything turns out fine -I just had an engine placed into my car and am waiting to hear if all is well. -yess MikeD-, the engine is still being PUT IN, but the valve compression test came back super duper -so I know its fine (not to mention, I would take a bad engine from you and be in better shape than most -you do care about these cars!), is it possible to have some sort of group related approval for various mechanics in different cities/states/regions -without badmouthing other mechanics?

The goal is to keep these cars running with some sort of anthropoligical respect, however without knowing how to do the work and having to pay to have the work done -it would be nice to know if the work is being done well, or at least decent.

Is this worth discussing, or has it been discussed? -New Post?-

Yes, valium would be good...four for me, two for my mechanic

I've just been through enough engine rebuilds to know that you open them up to do one thing and find six more things that need attention. And I want it to go smoothly for the Boy, since he's doing for nearly free.

I don't know...my ex-husband is doing it for me. That's almost as stressful as doing it myself, 'cuz I still have to deal with the whole interpersonal relationship aspect of it. If I were just paying my regular mechanic to do it, all I'd have to worry about is coming up with the cash.

I reckon I end up paying either way

Are you sending your heads to RIMCO for rebuilding?

No, I'm having them done locally. I have a very limited period of time in which to get this job done.

I have a set of 2.0 heads that will eventually need to be rebuilt and I'm curious to know how much it will cost. The sodium filled exhaust valves alone are not cheap.

I was quoted $467 for the rebuild & valve guides, barring any additional parts. The job should be done early next week; I'll let you know what it ends up costing when it's done.

well, I could tell y'all a story about my 912 engine (1600cc type 1).

It was a fearsome power plant, it pulled strong. I did 110 mph in my Ghia, with the bug transaxle, and the top down, and the car loaded with camping equipment (back seat FULL). But I could never get the dang thing to idle smoothly, and it did a lot of backfiring. (little soft coughs, not pops). When I had finally satisfied myself that I had done all I can to quell vacuum leaks, distributor problems, clogged jets, etc. I looked at the only remaining possibility. I bought a compression tester and checked it out. It was in the neighborhood of 60 lbs in one cylinder, and 70-80 in the others. This engine needed a top end badly, at the very least. But I'm tellin ya, it kicked that car all over the road. I drove with it like that for a year, because aside from the idle problems and backfires, I was just happy with it.

I hated taking it out. . .

But it just goes to show - you sometimes can't always tell by how strong it runs whether you're looking at expensive trouble.

Amen to that. You can't actually tell ANYTHING for sure until you pull the engine out and look right at it.

But for whatever it's worth, I had a compression check last year when I had it smogged, and it was good.

I've put a lot of miles on it since then, though.