by earossi » Fri Jun 07, 2013 2:30 pm
This is my maiden voyage on Steve's new forum! My caveat is that I am not a professional. But, I have messed around enough with Porsches for the last 25 years to get into a lot of trouble. Which brings me to the 993, which is my 9th Porsche, and probably my last one. I was fortunate to pick up a 98 C2S in my favorite color, Arena Red, about two years ago. Cosmetically, the car is nice. Its a driver, so not concours quality, but a nice car with no damage history. But, it did have high mileage. So, at 107k miles, it failed to smog out here in Chicago. I had been looking for an excuse to get into this car, and I thought that doing a nice upper end rebuild would be the ticket. I had anticipated a valve job, if you will. Well, the car went up on jack stands a year ago, and is slowly going back together today. So, since this is Steve's forum, I don't think he will mind if I share with you my budget......but more importantly, how I arrived at the budget.
These are my opinions, but I have been educated by a number of folks including Steve. First, for a 993, there is not much you can do cheaply to the engine to get more power. Porsche did a nice job on everything from twin plugging to the exhaust system. When I first talked to Steve about doing a valve job, I arranged for him to do all the machine work on the heads. At the same time, I had a discussion not unlike the one you are stepping into with him. Steve's advice was that the biggest bang for the buck to be had for a 993 was to regear the tranny. As you may be aware, the tranny is geared to make the car go something like 180 mph. I was told that the gearing was chosen so that the car could achieve the fuel economy needed NOT to be labeled a gas gussler by the US EPA. So, at 80 mph, you are loafing at bout 3000 rpm. The problem is that the transition between gears is huge. Driving around town requires no more than the first 2 or 3 gears. There is also a huge gap in ratios between the 1 and 2 gears. So, regearing the tranny for closer ratios will feel like you just picked up about 50 hp, according to all that I discussed this with. Steve can do the regearing, or you may get lucky, as did I, and stumble on a Motorsports gearbox that not only has the more useable ratios, but other niceties such as LSD and other internals that make it a nicer box. I was able to find a box that had just been rebuilt for $7500 (which is close to what it will cost you to have your car's tranny regeared ). I then sold my old tranny for $2500 which gave me a nice gearbox for $5000.
My valve job has mushroomed into a total engine rebuild, due to damage discovered as I tore the motor apart. I needed cams and new P&C's. I decided on Web Cam RS cams. I then had Steve upgrade the valving to RS specs to take advantange of the cams. I now have all my parts back from Steve, and all the new hardware needed, and am in final assembly. I was also lucky to find some nice used P&C's (a new set will set you back $4-5K). So, I can tell you that I now have about $13K in engine and transmission hardware including all the machining costs. I am doing all the assembly work myself, and I work cheap! I've had discussions with others of the man hours required to do a rebuild if you have a professional do it for you, and you are probably looking at 60+ hours to do it right (not including the machine work). So, for engine and tranny, you can easily spend $20-25K. Incidentally, the upgrade to RS cams and valves, along with a reflash of the computuer to tie it all together, will add less than 20 hp to the motor, so horsepower is not cheap on these motors!
Sorry for the long email, but this is my maiden voyage on the Rennsport forum! But, that is about where I am today. My car already had an upgraded suspension, which is another area that the 993 can greatly benefit from. You can spend between $3 and $5K on suspension work, but it makes a huge difference in the way the car rides. Hope that helps you on your new owenership. I truly believe that the 993 is the epitome of the 911 design. So, enjoy your car......it will only appreciate with time.