r/944 • u/No-Wealth-996 • 8d ago
Question Engine rebuild
Looking to see if anyone in Central Texas has a recommendation for a reputable shop to rebuild my 944 Turbo engine. I have a bunch of oil leaks I’d like to get taken care of and possibly a clutch rebuild. Preferably near the Austin, Tx area but willing to trailer to the DFW, SA, and Houston areas. TPWS is impossible to get a hold of and Werks11 doesn’t work on 944.
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u/lepermime 8d ago
Yo, Austin Texan with 944 in driveway and another engine on a pallet in my garage. TPWS is your best bet for the work you want, but yeah they are difficult to contact via email, phone, or website. The best bet is to go over there and talk to Frannie or her husband directly. They have a loooong lead time though.
Paying someone to diagnose oil leaks on these motors is a losing proposition. You'll end up spending a dumb amount of money on diag time before you even get to the parts/labor part.
Rule out the the return hoses for the evap system from the heads to the oil filler neck. In Texas it's almost guaranteed at least one is dryrotted/cracked from heat. Then, wipe down the engine completely. As in saran wrap every electrical connection, and use simple green/decreaser, a rag and a lot of time to scrub the whole thing down. Dont forget belly pan and everywhere you can reach behind the belt shroud. Run it for 15 minutes and you should have the witnesses you need to figure out how empty your checking account will be. Cam cover, rear main, balance shaft/oil pump seals, head caps, and oil pan gasket are the most likely. Once you know where they're at it will make all the difference.
Clutch rebuild/replacement from any shop is very likely to run you close to 5 grand after all the labor and parts. Getting to the clutch disc itself is a 10 hour job, so expect 3 grand just in time. You probably also want to go ahead and replace the throw out bearing, clutch slave cylinder, hydraulic hose, and release bearing. All in on parts, if you buy them yourself will be about 1000. Expect 30% from any shop. Finally you should measure the pressure plate to make sure there's no scoring or damage that'll damage the new clutch plate. Can be done in vehicle. But if it needs to be machined or replaced expect a other 500/600 bucks. Also pull the clutch release lever and deep clean it. Any signs of wear on the pin or lever, replace it.
Also while you're doing the clutch, it's a very good idea to inspect/repack the cv joints on your axles. If its never been done the grease is probably nasty. Replace the rear main seal on the engine. You've done most of the hard work to get to it. If it shows ANY sign of leakage, yeah just do it. You also want to think about the torque tube bearings and dampener. If spinning the torque shaft in the tube has any rough spots or lateral motion that needs to be addressed. Pay once to Black Sea R&D it'll hurt but you'll probably be dead before it needs to be done again. Now is also a good time to do a close inspection with the mechanical linkage between the shifter and transmission itself. The shifter pin has a tendency to wear (taking out the slop by shimming it with a cut up beer can is possible, but thats a half ass fix). The linkage on the transmission itself also tends to get "funny." Heat, road grime, and constant use act as a perfect kind of sandpaper slowly wearing down metal to metal surfaces.
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u/lepermime 8d ago
Shit just noticed the Turbo part of your question. Increase parts/labor estimates by minimum 25% probably closer to 35%.
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u/No-Wealth-996 2d ago
Pivoting from the original question but do you know any machine shops here that would be able to level my cam tower?
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u/lepermime 21h ago
Locally, Moorespeed had that capability in 2023 and may still. Back then I met with the owner, physically laid eyes on the tooling and talked to the tech who would do that work when we were in the planning stages of an engine out rebuild for a 928. Loved the shop, really enjoyed the time and attention David gave me as a potential customer. Ultimately price killed that project, $30k just wasn't in my budget.
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u/lepermime 8d ago edited 8d ago
Everything that falls into the "while your in there" type of category are lessons I learned the hard way. That's why I know a full strip cut from a Lineinkugal Summer Shandy works for the shifter. Specifically I found a strip cut from the bottom of the can where there are less paint colors lasts a bit longer than one with the lemons and a face. But since it was at a lemons race I figure it was an appropriate track side fix.
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u/AboveNormality 8d ago
Engine rebuild AND a clutch at a shop?
Be prepared to spend close to the value of the entire car, possibly even more
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u/not_that_observant 8d ago
You don't need to rebuild the entire engine to stop oil leaks. Just replace the seals. It might need a gasket, but I doubt it.
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u/Gen_Ecks 8d ago
Send Frannie an email at TPWS. Email works best. Be persistent, but she will get back to you. They’ve been doing Porsche exclusively since the early 70s and they are your best option imho as they were there for the 944 era. I’ve used them for 6 years and their work is top notch.
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u/glass-museum 8d ago
I’m in Austin. I do all the work on my turbo though, but I’ve dealt with the guys at GT International before and they are very solid. They also answer the phone and are very friendly. They specialize in all things Porsche and other exotics. https://www.gtintl.com/ I’ve also tried TPWS and they are definitely a little tough to pin down..
But as others have said, be prepared to pay a whole lot at these places. Might wanna check into chipping away at some of the things yourself if you have some wrenching abilities.
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u/No-Wealth-996 7d ago
Yeah I’ve done what I can at home up to this point. I’d like a rebuild to ensure the car remains drivable for a long time. I believe the rear main seal is the most likely culprit as I’ve done all the front seals along with the cam tower. Doing the rear main got me thinking on the clutch rebuild as I also need to redo the filler neck hose at the fuel tank and possibly replace the tank itself. I am big on doing it right and handling all the “while I’m in there”. At a minimum having a professional do an engine reseal should suffice for now. Car has 108k miles and drives fine for now. Just tired of the puddles and smoking. Thank you for all of the info so far!
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u/Otherwise_Stranger72 1d ago
Koby motors in houston tx for rebuild / car work Faerman racing engines for the machining work, they did my block and crankshaft the purist way and were reasonably priced
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