Looking at a 1977 2.7S six. Asking price is 1200.00. What should I try and look for? Any obvious things to watch out for? Seller says it spins easily. It came as a spare with the 76 911 he bought and he knows nothing about it's history. Thanks in advance for the info!

If you get it, split the case and get the halves lapped and align-bored. If they leak badly, it's usually at on the bottom, closest the rear (where the trans mates up).

If he knows nothing about it's history... You can treat it like a decent core to rebuild.

Or, you can slap it in and roll the dice...

I purchased a 77 2.7 awhile ago. I like the fact that it has the oil by pass done by the factory. From what I hear the later 2.7's are the better engines to buy. I got my 2.7 for around the same price as yours. I was told it was rebuilt, put in a car, then pulled for an updated engine. The p/o said it ran but has been sitting for years. I figured I'll take a look inside and do a top end on it ( engine also turned over easy ). What I found was several pulled head studs and a damaged piston/cylinder ( pics in my blog ). From what I can tell the engine was taken apart and worked on as the p/o told me. When the engine was sitting some water got in it and caused the damage. With that said I now have about $3500 in machine work and new parts to put it all together. I would try to get some leak down #'s, check for pulled head studs, and check what type of cylinders are on it ( Alusil or Nikasil) (Nikasil being the better units) on the engine that youre looking at. Not a bad price but alot of hidden costs if it needs a rebuilt. If the condition is unknown treat it as acore and try to get the price lower. Hope this helps you out.

Thanks for all the advise so far. I know I will not be able to get leak down or compression numbers. This will be a visual inspection only. Mainly to see what is or is not there. I am told that the CIS is removed and in a box. Not sure about fan, shroud, and alternator. These engines do not come up for sale very often over here and this may be a rare opportunity to save on the shipping I would pay if I purchased one from the mainland. In the end it might be better to pass on this, pay the extra for shipping, and buy one with a known history or that has already been rebuilt.

Consider that if your core needs machining (extremely likely), you will end up shipping the motor back in pieces to get worked on. Buying a known good motor with leakdown and compression numbers and having it shipped would probably be cheaper in the long run.

I passed on it. Sitting outside on a pallet under a tarp. It rotated all the away around and you could tell that there was compression. Two busted off bolts in the crank and the corner of one of the upper valve covers busted off. Not to dirty though. CIS all in pieces/parts in a box. Did not look complete to me. No fan, shroud, or alternator. 7R case. He dropped the price to 1000.00 before I even asked if he would take less. I hope I made the right choice.

Good call. As for your intial question about what to look for when looking at a 2.7...........................................................look for a 3.0 !

3.0 would be great, except the fly wheel, clutch, and pp that I have are six bolt. So I am already limited unless I sell those and spend even more money.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a BIG supporter of what the 2.7 CAN be, but it just takes so much $$$ to get it there (correctly). Plus you run the risk of buying a complete P.O.S. when you buy one assembled and out of the car. Way to many issues with that engine to take a chance on. IMHO

I thought the 7R case was the one to have ?

Yes, the 7R is supposed to be the strongest of the mag cases. What really turned me off on this one was that it was stored outside, the damaged items I noted, and when I looked down into one of the intake ports, I could see what looked like bubbles forming as we rotated the crank. I don't know if it had water in it or what that was. Oil? Just did'nt feel good about it, so I'll keep looking.

I thought all 2.7's were 7R's? I think 7R is only special in reference to a 73.5 2.4L.

I have to imagine, the most expensive 2.7 is a cheap 2.7. I don't think I would F- with one of those that doesn't have some kind of known history.