OK, so I got back last week Friday from my trip to the states and finally was able to call and talk to Christoph today. Well, the conversation did not go quite as planned.

Christoph sent me an email but it evidently didn't reach me, not sure why as his other emails have gotten to me in the past. Bottom line up front, he is not sure that it is worth the expense to fix the car and thinks I might be better off selling it then getting a new one.

Soooo, I will link up with him tomorrow and find out the gory details then give everyone an update. I am not sure what to expect at this point as prior statements of this nature have turned out to be relatively minor issues.

I am hoping to get a complete list of what the issues are and will submit it to the forum for a second assessment once I meet with him. Wish me luck.

Sorry to hear about your car's issues. On a positive note, if you sell it in Europe you'll reap the benefit of the dollar/euro exchange rate.

Skip

Best of.

Well of course it isn't "worth it" from a resale point of view. Thats what brings us together- obsession in the face of logic.

Take notes of all the problems, get the car back, take it to the autoshop on post and start into it! A 914 is really not much more complicated than a shopping cart, and it corners better with a load of dog food too.

I have always been suspicious of Christoph. It seems like he is either inept or a shady character. Maybe both. If he offers to buy it from you or take it as payment for his work so far, get a tow truck and remove it immediately.

Edit: If you let him do the work, demand every old part back so you can examine the condition and determine whether it really needed to be replaced.

good luck !!!









if you really would like to buy another 914 ... I would know a really nice one ... but it's expensive ...

You could easily sell it over here for top dollar. I still shop around over here and I have seen some pretty crappy cars go for a huge amount of euro. East coast people in the states wouldn't even touch some of the cars I have seen for sale over here. If it does turn out to be bad I am sure you could find a buyer, agree on a price, then write up the bill of sale for a non running vehicle to save you both some money for the import taxes.

Honestly, I am willing to bet your car is better off than this guy is claiming. I would say work on it yourself but I know exactly the type of situation you are in. I am hardly ever at home to work on my car. When I am home the wife wants to spend time with me (how crazy is that?).

Good luck with the whole situation.

sounds fishy ...
Andy

Damn, you are in top form...



Awesome saying...should go on the main page.

Rich

this should be our official motto on the homepage:


914-O-World - Obsession in the face of logic


Andy

I second the motion...

I agree with the guy who agrees with that guy.

OK, did a 120 miles on my bike this morning; there was construction on the 27 heading out to Dotternhausen and I wound up having to take a rather long detour to get there! I have some serious monkey butt! Needless to say I did get to Christophs place about 20 minutes later than planned.

First off, I forgot to ask him the particulars of the one piston, I will call him in a few minutes to follow up so keep that in mind.

Bottom line, no, HE doesn't want to buy it. He does want to do a partial rebuild and work on the rest of the cylinders and both heads. His assessment is as follows.

Cylinders need work, hone, replace rings on pistons and clean them up.
Both heads have some small cracks and possible cracks in the valve seats.
He wants to pull both heads, weld, machine, redo the seats and replace the valve guides.
So this would mean new gaskets, rings, etc.

My thougts at this point, if the offending piston and cylinder can be repaired, is to fix the cylinder, get it running and sell it on the economy. Buy another one when I get back stateside.

The problem I face is I can't just replace the one cylinder assembly because the PO before the PO I bought it from bored out the cylinders and dropped in 2.0 liter jugs. If I decide to replace the assembly I will have to replace all 4. Once I get a hold of Christoph again I will find out the specifics of the one cylinder and piston. I was a little frazzled this morning due to the rather long detour and limited number of signs telling me which way to go so, I forgot to ask.

Any thoughts from the group? Newly suggested Motto not-withstanding...

Update to the update to the update. They didn't drop the engine, they used a scope and found signifcant corrosion in the cylinder. No holes in the piston that they could see. This leads me to believe that they are 'assuming' that there are cracks in the heads.

Here's my question, mind you, I am completely unfamiliar with the 914 engine set up, can I pull the offending cylinder WITHOUT dropping the engine or is there not enough room in the bay to do this?

I think you can do this with a VW bug but not so sure on the 914 and I am inclined to say no based on my initial observation of the working room, or lack there of, on the 914s.

Still looking for recomendations.

No, you can't, but dropping the engine is ALOT easier than it sounds. Shops make easy money on the "engine drop" part.
Still, that may be premature.
Is there low/ no compression on the offending cylinder? Are the valves for that jug OK?

I would start with a few overall questions.

How is the body? Is there alot of rust and structural work needed?
How is the market for these cars over there? Can you get decent money for a car that is not running?

Can you afford to fix this (rebuilt the motor) at this time?
Can you buy a used motor in Germany?

Rich

If the cylinders are honed you need a set of pistons in the next
oversize

I don't believe you need an oversize piston nor could you get one that size. Honing only knocks the glaze off of the cylinder wall so the rings will seat properly. Honing doesn't remove enough material to require a larger piston. Boring is a different process and would require a new piston.

Concur, honed not bored. If the piston is still good then new rings and cleaning up of the pistons will work. If the piston is bad, I can replace the piston wtith the same size piston but still use the cylinder. At this point it is imperative that the correct ring size be used to ensure no damage to the newly honed cylinder.

Real question is the extent of the corrossion; if it is too bad then I will have to replace the entire assembly.

Someone enlighten me, I recall reading that the cylinder is aluminum however, it has a steel sleeve. Yes, no? How well do they stand up over time? Just trying to get an idea of how badly the corrosion will affect the cylinder.

Body is solid, little to no rust. Car was from Arizona originally and spent about a year in Norfolk, VA area.
I can probably get about 4,000 Euros which, at todays exchange rates, equates to roughly $6100. This is for a car that is not running.
If I do the rebuild it won't cost much; still waiting on Christoph's quote.
I haven't checked on EvilBay yet for motors, will do that tonight, the site is blocked at work.

Biggest issue is tools and space. Most of my stuff, lifts, torque wrenches etc, are all in storage in the states. I can use the tools and equipment at the on-post auto shop but will have to pay to leave my car there. If I had the tools I would drop the engine at my house, roll the shell out onto the street and do the tear down and rebuild in my tiny German Garage. I am still investigating whether or not I can get the tools to do this from the on-post auto craft shop.

I was actually thinking that you should call around and look for a used motor...do a simple swap to keep the car alive and running.

A motor can be shipped from the states to solve the immediate issue.
Get a real 2.0 liter so you wont have to keep futzing with odd parts.

Heck, get in touch with Gustl to see if there are any used motors in Germany, Austria or Switzerland...its alot closer and no import tax...

He knows all the local 914 guys and I bet there is a motor laying in someones stash over there...
A motor swap is a day...so it could be fast and simple.
You can rebuild the other one as you have time and money.
Rich

Calling Gustl!! Hey Gustl, got any leads on a used motor?

You could probably find a motor easier and cheaper in the states. I do a lot of parts searching over here and the prices are pretty inflated over here compared to the states. The great thing is if you buy from the states you don't have to pay import fees. Just find the customs office on one of the posts you have there and they will walk you through the process for importing goods.

If you can source a good engine here you can definitely drop the engine at your house. I dropped my engine at home in my tiny german garage.

I'll reply to your PM

Got an email back from the guy in the Netherlands, 3,000 Euro for the 2.0 that needs work but runs and 4500 for the rebuilt 2.0 with a core change. YIKES! It maybe cheaper for me to just rebuild it myself. Talked the wife into it last night so if the other guy you gave me doesn't have anything I will just bring her home and drop the engine at the house. I think I can get the tools I will need from the auto craft shop to do the initial drop. I have the right size metric hand tools at the house to do the rest of the work.

I guess this means I won't make it your way this summer...at least not in the Porsche, I might take a motorcycle trip your way though.

Yep. Full conversion has been achieved. Welcome to the cult.

Just remember, I'm lazy and don't like to read the manual so will pepper the forum with questions that I could have found out by reading!

bwahahahahahahahaha....

Steve, let me do some phone calls these days - I know 2 guys in the Munich area and maybe they could help with an engine or at least with the knowledge of somebody else having one.
I'll let you know

Gustl

Yikes! $50,000 US seems like a lot for a 2.0 that needs work!

One Euro is worth about $1.50 in today's exchange rate. Do it would be closer to $5,000.00.

That's why you should get Jake's DVD showing you what you need to do every step of the way.

Oh...

(twas a joke)

Oh... Of course.... I knew that....

Ummmmm, hahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahaha.

There....

(for future note, I'm not sure how well Euro-Dollar exchange rate jokes go over in this forum )

Given I am in Europe, I actually appreciate them more.

Wife has given in, and I didn't even have to put her in a full nelson! Ich arbeite de Porsche 914! Oh yeah, still looking at an engine swap but had babysitting duty for not just my daughter but the neighbors as well! Needless to say, didn't call the contact in Munich that Gustl gave me today. Maybe Montag. Heute Morgen ich putze das Haus. Slowly (langsam) working on my German, hope to clean up the basement in the morning so I can finish my MG motor and clear space for the 914 motor.

another guy from Germany told me that he would have a 1.7 + 2.0 for sale
if you're still interested I could give you the contact data

Gustl

[/quote]
Heute Morgen ich putze das Haus[/quote]


that suxs

i have a 1.7l that i wil sell to you for 30 euro's but it's completely dismattled.

also is there craigslist in german?

[quote name='mein_tag' date='Jun 17 2008, 10:48 PM' post='1046388']
[/quote]
Heute Morgen ich putze das Haus[/quote]


that suxs

i have a 1.7l that i wil sell to you for 30 euro's but it's completely dismattled.

also is there craigslist in german?
[/quote]

Nein, Ich glaube nicht. Gustl, kennen sie "Craig's list?" Haben dies in Deutschland oder Oesterreich?

at least I don't know of anything like this
there are some forums with classifieds and there're 2 big online market places which cover most parts of Europe, but from what I know this is for cars only ... ?

Steve, send Toni nice greetings, when you call him

Gustl

p.s. I'll be offline for the next 8-10 hrs ...

Well, after checking around and contacting various people that Gustl pointed me too it looks like tear down and rebuild time. So now comes the part that I have to figure out, where and how do I do this given my lack of equipment and space here in lovely Stuttgart, Germany.

First option I am going to pursue is to talk to Christoph and see if he will drop the engine for me, load it up into my van and then keep the car at his place until I complete the rebuild. I will of course use him for any machining work and parts IF I can get them for less than it would take to buy it and ship it from the states. I will talk to him about this today or tomorrow.

Second option. Pick the car up, bring it to the house, drop the engine and park the hull in a space at the house. Dismantle and rebuild the engine in my tiny garage then re-install when it is done.

Option one is the preferred option but totally up to Christoph on whether he will let me do it that way. Option two, while a pain in the ass is also doable. Problem with option 2 is lack of lift equipment. I might be able to beg and borrow some for the day just to get the engine down.

Unfortunately, I won't be doing anything until I get back from Oberammergau next week. I get to go to a NATO school for a week. I will be sure to take lots of pictures when I start this, thanks for all the input that everyone has had.

Special thanks to Gustl for the contacts and Jake Raby for his link to his site on doing a 1.7 to 2.0 conversion. Will drop a note when I figure out which option I will be going with.

If you decide to do this at your house let me know. I am going up to the UK next week for a training op. After that my schedule is pretty open for most of July. I could help you out with the engine drop and the teardown. It is pretty easy and I have the tools necessary to do it.

Will give you a holler when I figure out which option I have to go with. Ya got an extra stand or do I need to build a roller.

I have an extra set of jack stands my neighbor gave me when he PCS'd. I have a couple bottle jacks from work and a small hydraulic jack. I used a creeper when I dropped my to roll it out. If you have any flat pallet with wheels it will be good. I just lowered the car onto the creeper then unbolted the engine. Car back up, engine out. It went pretty smooth.

Thats a hell of a lot easier than pulling my MG engine. Should know today which option, I will head out and have a talk with Christoph this morning.

WOOHOO! Best news I had all week. Talked to Christoph this morning, he'll drop the engine for me and I'll pick it up when I get back from Oberammergau next week. He'll keep my car and weld in new points for the seatbelts I got off of Ebay.

When I need machining I will take it to him since he has the expertise and then do the comparison on prices for parts. If I can get them for the same it would cost me to ship it from the states I'll just get them here.

Once the sucker is rebuilt then I'll take it back to him to hook up the tranny and re-install the engine. I might be able to get the sucker back up and running before the end of the summer.

I will take plenty pictures as I do the work, I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions.