Cylinder Scoring Repair cost?

Apologies if this seems redundant, but couldn't find an answer in the multiple threads around the issue. What's the cost of fixing scored cylinders, assuming one does most of the work. aka sending the naked block to LN or whoever performs the repair. Plus the cost of a new set of pistons, presumably. But no fancy 4.0 big horsepower shenanigans. Just back to stock.

https://lnengineering.com/products/w...1997-2008.html

Deepens on how deep you want the rabbit hole to go. But anywhere between $15-17K Canadian. and $15k is skimping and re-using parts.

Takes a special kind of stomach to walk out of the Porches dealership with a $2800 bag of bolts.

Only one thing to say http://rndengines.com/

3.6 LNE nickies and piston kit: https://lnengineering.com/products/watercooled-cylinders-pistons/porsche-boxster-cayman-and-911-model-years-1997-2008/36-911-nickies-inc-96mm-fsr-je-piston-set-inc-rings-pins-clips.html 3.4 nickies and piston kit: https://lnengineering.com/products/watercooled-cylinders-pistons/porsche-boxster-cayman-and-911-model-years-1997-2008/34-boxster-cayman-911-nickies-inc-96mm-fsr-je-piston-set-inc-rings-pins-clips.html

Highly depends on what else you need and want to replace. e.g., timing chains, chain pads, scavenger pumps, all the plastic parts, etc. but in general LN NIckies + piston + ring package is $5k. Then $2k for head machine work, then $7-8k for parts including IMSB retrofit/IMSS. All US dollars.

An alternative to what most talk about here is US Chrome ($1,500] for boring and nikasil plating and $1,000 for Wossner pistons (includes rings, clips, and pin). Several off-the-shelf piston sizes. Check the Wossner catalog offered in Europe. For some reason the US catalog has not worked for a while. Or call John in CA or Ralph on the east coast. Millenium is another option for repairing the cylinders (probably a little less). But people I have come to trust say US Chrome.

Keep in mind that cylinders fail in more than one way... Scoring is just one problem. The second problem comes in the form of a crack that forms in the cylinder. Some have mentioned having plating processes applied to the original parent material of the cylinder. While this does solve the scoring issue, it does not strengthen the cylinder wall. This means the probabilities of the cylinder cracking are not addressed with the plating process. LN Engineering Nickies couples a stronger cylinder, with superior Nikisil plating, addressing both areas of concern.

Provided you can find a machine shop in North America that is well versed in Silicon/Aluminum cylinder bore refinish., here is the official repair guide from the inventors of the Lokasil process (Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG) which is used on the M96/M97 engines exclusively.Hartech accross the pond is versed in this repair and has the equipment to restore the cylinder bore finish to factory spec.The shipping accross the ocean would be costly, also the availibility of oversize pistons require that the bore remain factory size so that the factory pistons can be used. Hartech also has a cylinder strengthening service that re-rounds the cylinder and installs a retaining ring to keep cylinders round which is a BIG issue on m96 engines.Cost is about $100USD per cylinder. It should be something just about any quality machine shop should be able to perform. So there are other potentially available ways to successfully repair the block/cylinders of the m96/m97.But if you want increase in displacement or performance the LN Nickies and compatable pistons are the only way to go.

I've been asking the OPs question to myself as well. Does anyone have a "ballpark" cost for ONLY the Nickies cylinder replacement process assuming the engine has been taken apart and shipped to them for the work. Not including the myriad options like increasing displacement, etc.

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I just did one 3 months ago. $6,000 for block machining, new pistons, new rings, and shipping both ways You need to replace seals and gaskets, one-time used fasteners, head gaskets, chains, ramps, tensioners, to the tune of $6,000 Probably need to do a valve job: $1500 Special tools: $1,000 Fluids, starter, alternator rebuilt, misc: $1,000 Labor: any where from free if you DIY, or $6,000 for a cheap mechanic. $15,000 if you did it yourself.

6,000 INCLUDES the pistons? That seems MORE than reasonable to me. Is it a given to replace the pistons if you've had bore scoring? I rebuilt the engine on my '88 Carrera and enjoyed the process but I had several things done by professionals such as measuring cams, crank, pistons and cylinders. I also had the cylinder heads rebuilt by CE. I'm comfortable with engines but I also know my limits. I like to take things apart...getting them back together is something I'm learning to love...

You send them the 996 case halves, empty and void of all removable pieces (dowels). They send you back the two case halves, the pistons, the rings, wrist pins and clips. You have to assemble the engine from the ground up. It's not a complete assembled short block. There is a lot of work involved. Is it a reasonable deal? Well, let's just say many people elected to pay it. As for assembling the engine yourself, if you have not done something similar, don't assume that a $600 DVD set makes you an instant expert at engine building. It won't. The air cool 1988 Carrera is way different from the 996 engine in terms of build and process. You should plan on $5,000 to $10,000 labor cost to assemble the engine depending on what the hourly rate is. Dealers won't touch it but indis will.

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That also includes resurfacing of the deck which other places don't include. We also measure the deck height and supply the appropriate thickness head gasket so that you don't have to worry about piston to valve or piston to head clearance issues (this is equivalent on an aircooled engine of having to mock it up to shim the cylinders to have the correct deck height). As far as the pistons, for the 3.4, 3.6, and 3.8 engines we're now supplying custom Mahle Motorsports pistons, so they are as good if not better than the original forged pistons. We do enough volume that we could justify for these engines having Mahle make up pistons to work with our Nickies set up with the right rings and clearances. Since it costs the same to sleeve the block to stock versus going oversized, it is a no brainer to go bigger. And since the pistons are almost always messed up from a bore scoring failure, the cost for a whole new set of pistons is almost the same price as a single replacement piston and a set of piston rings from Porsche. In fact, I'd wager in all these years we've probably only done a handful of blocks to stock bore size, mostly for PCA Club Racers. Everyone goes big. Considering we're doing about 250 blocks a year, we've always got sleeves on hand and have one dedicated CNC mill set up just for M96 block work. We're turning blocks out quicker than we ever have and that also includes our QC work that goes into the blocks before shipping that includes pressure testing and measuring the bores for ovality, taper, and surface finish. Pretty much all you have to do is clean everything, gap the piston rings, and then assemble. Yelcab also mentioned shipping -we do a prepaid shipping option where we send out a box with custom foam inserts to make shipping the block easy. That way we prevent unnecessary damage from mispackaging that happens much more often than I would like to see. We try to make this process as easy and straightforward as possible. Plus everyone loves working with George (my dad) - he retired from the Aerospace industry and came to help me with the business.

Your Dad George is nice.

From Australia I did the LN 3.4 to 3.8 electively and the LN deluxe kit. The rest is stock The engine purrs, with a mild growl via the top gear mild exhaust. https://www.facebook.com/groups/591859944843493/user/1751375424 Brandon G Clarke offers the UK Hartech solutions. These are Rolls Royce level engineering and I suspect prices from Oklahoma. I'm very satisfied with going up in displacement with LN's long track record and great supply. .

I apologize in advance if this question was answered in the past. when going with a larger displacement does it require any modifications to the heads? I assume at least different head gasket, but is that only it?

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The larger bore size really makes these 4 valve heads very happy. While head work is not required for a happy engine, proper head work can give huge gains without any losses of manners. What makes these engines next level is nailing the combination of displacement increase, head work, compression ratio, and cam timing alterations. Just going to a bore size increase will work fine, but you'll leave quite a bit on the table and never know it.

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Cam timing, I assume you mean changing the computer program for a different cam timing activation and duration? Because static cam timing at assembly is not changed if you use the factory method. I remember one of the selling points of LNE larger bore is that it "does not require software changes." Nothing ever was said at time of sale that "you would be leaving quite a bit on the table..."

Thanks Yelcab and great info from Charles, I have a highly regarded local Porsche shop I'm planning to have do the things beyond my capabilities. One one the reasons I decided to rebuild the engine on my '88 was that a HUGE amount of the work is very doable IF you are reasonably competent, comfortable with a wretch and truly enjoy the process/work. On the other hand, some things take highly specialized equipment or skills. The trick is knowing the difference. I need projects like this...my wife only lets me in the house so many hours a week.

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I was referring to mechanical camshaft timing alterations. FSI engines (as an example) do not utilize factory camshaft timing procedures in most cases. This is one way that much different results are created between FSI engines, and what may be a confusingly similar engine of the same displacement built by another builder. Factory camshaft timing tools are not generally used with cam timing procedures with FSI engines except to baseline the procedures from a TDC overlap setting. I was not referring to cam timing changes in regard to software manipulation.

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Interesting. I bet that is not common knowledge and the information/procedure for the altered cam timing specs are not for public consumption.

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We had custom head gaskets made up for the larger bore sizes and also have them in different thicknesses to accommodate variations in deck heights (and how much ends up needing to be taken off the block when resurfacing). Another question often asked is if you need to do custom tuning to the ECU - as long as all your sensors are in good shape (MAF, primary o2) the ECU will adapt.