Upgrade to 3.7 ?

There is no doubt my 3.4 engine of my 1998 tiptronic 996 needs a rebuild. Although I was planning on selling it as a project the more I think about, the more I am inclined pay Hartec to do the work and restore it to its former self. However, Hartec also offer an upgrade to 3.7 and it seems like this may be an opportunity too good to miss. Has anyone any experience of this upgrade and if the extra £3k or so is worthwhile? And secondly, although Hartec has just told me the basic 3.4 rebuild is £12,200 + VAT, given that there are likely to be various extras required, has anyone any knowledge of what the final bill is likely to be? Thanks in advance.

no 1st hand experience but consider why you would want a capacity increase - just because you can doesn't mean you should - do you need whatever extra performance ? - and have a chat with your insurers - very different convo for "it's just had the engine rebuilt to original spec" vs "and they increased the capacity and the performance...." A mate had a 997 3.4 rebuilt at Hartech - no capacity increase - final bill when he did the whole " while we are in there " bit ( and he swallowed all the cool aid they offered him ) came to > £20K - he basically bought his car again - it's a keeper for him - and he had enjoyed the 1st life it had - and its his car/cash/choice - but I think the quoted price + 30-50% seems to be a yardstick "while we are in there"

Hi Steve, I have to say that my thoughts are very much along the lines which Paul has laid out. I think that you have to be really committed to long-term ownership of your car if you’re going to spend upwards of £12,000 +VAT on the engine rebuild, and I think it’s inevitable that you’ll have to include a number of essential or desirable add-ons. The car is now 28-years old and presumably quite high mileage, so you’ll need to factor-in other potentially significant expenses if you plan to keep it. Have you looked into the cost of a short engine or even a complete replacement engine, either of which could be a possibility? The alternative is to put the funds towards a newer car. You'll see that both Paul and I run Gen2 987 mid-engine cars which don’t suffer from the inherent problems of the 9x6 and 9x7 Gen1 cars. Unless you’re wedded specifically to 911s - maybe a 997.2? - Caymans and Boxsters are excellent drivers’ cars and represent much better value, and definitely they are not a poor man’s Porsche! Whatever you decide, I hope that it all works out well for you. Jeff

Thanks for the comments. Had the car 13 years and know that if engine is fixed i expect it to be a good one for a few years more, despite its 134k miles. Just spent over £1200 on all new brakes and until the engine broke loved it. The decision i have to make is do i spend say maybe £20k on a car i know, or spend say £30k + or much more on an unknown 997 or 991 for instance. And if £20k then perhaps another £3k upgrading it to a 3.7 for a bit more "fun". Been offered £3k for it as is which i turned down but shows I'm not going to get a lot and feels like i would be giving it away for what people will pay! May just store in garage until i make up my mind.

Have a look at 9werks YouTube channel and his hartech 996 rebuild on “little Irish” He goes through the costs and the pros and cons before embarking on the rebuild. I get the emotional attachment and there’s nothing wrong going again. Just be a bit cautious on the “while we are doing it”‘stuff. It multiplies quickly.

The 9werks channel has been very useful. Thanks for pointing me to it. As my engine still runs, albeit with a lot of noise, then clearly I haven't quite the same problems as Lee had with a broken chain and shouldn't need all the new conrods etc so my rebuild should be a lot cheaper. Nevertheless it shows the work involved and potential for "extras". I have thought about going down the route of a second hand engine and there is one advertised at the moment for just under £5k on ebay by Vamspares who have really good feedback. Apparently it has some watermarks in the cylinders from being parked with an open head port but they have a video of running it. Obviously there is some risk to this but perhaps worth taking!

I’ve not looked at that video Steve but on an engine which has done 134k miles I would think that a full rebuild would be desirable, even if it’s not absolutely necessary, including a top-end refresh and replacing chains, tensioners and sprockets; cams maybe? Who knows what will be required until the engine’s stripped-down completely? You say that it runs noisily. Do you know if that’s due to bore scoring or a partial IMS bearing failure? Either way a lot of components could need replacing depending upon the failure if there are metal particles in the system, the oil supply and scavenge pumps for instance. These are complex engines. With the engine out it would be an opportunity to replace any coolant pipes, cables, etc. which are less accessible when the engine’s installed. Add to all that your thoughts about a 3.7L upgrade and you’re looking at very serious money … to which Paul has alluded! A used engine swap is an attractive alternative, but you need to be really confident about what you’re buying and it always will be a risk. The last thing you want is to replace one problem with another! I don’t envy you the decision, but as you say you don’t need to rush into it. Good luck with whatever route you choose. Jeff

How fresh is the suspension at 134k miles?

Thanks for all the comments. Decision made and car now sold. Went very cheaply but not for parts. Just wanted to draw a line under it and be able to start looking for a replacement.