I recently purchased a 79 911SC and just put it in for its 180klm service. The service only cost $200.00 but I was informed of a SLIGHT problem. It seems that they had found a broken head stud which would require some major work, $12000.00 was the ball park figure given. I'm quite mechanically minded and would like to tackle some of the labour work myself to save some money as I don't have $12k and I love this car. Are there any tricky things I should look out for and what else should I do when I have the top end stripped down, ie head work, rings, hone,timing chain,etc.? Are there any good books to read regarding the 911 engine? Any help would be much appreciated, cheers from down under.

 

12k is a bit high. Our engine rebuilds start at about 7500, but usually go up a little due to hoses needing to be replaced here and there as well. Broken head studs are a very common problem on the SC. I would get your hands on a Bentley's Publishers Manual. This is a fairly complex project you are taking on. If you are going in to replace head studs, I would rebuild the entire engine. You can't do the chains unless you break the case halves open, and if you are doing that, you need to do all the bearings as well. Cylinders, rings, heads reworked, etc.

 

Thanks mate.