Hello out there in Early S Land.
I am coming to the community seeking help with a problem that is too far away for me to handle in person.
A few days ago I received this completely random PM on the Pelican Parts forum:
Dear Marco,
I was browsing the internet and read that you are searching for engine *907495*. I am rebuilding that engine to specs w/ the "necessary" mods. It might be available if you are still in search? One way or the other I would appreciate a reply so that we know that you read this message before we move on.
Best regards,
Ben in Holland
Here is my response:
Hello there, Ben.
Thank you very much for reaching out to me.
That is the matching engine case to my 1966 911, and I am very interested in reuniting it with the chassis.
I purchased the car approximately three years ago as a project for my father and I, and over the past three years I have been looking to find the car's matching number case.
According to the Kardex the car was originally sold by Pon's Porsche in Holland which is probably why the engine case is still there.
As I am a Porsche mechanic I am not in the market to buy a complete, rebuilt engine, but I would very much like to discuss with you a way for me to acquire engine case 907495. And seeing as how you reached out to me, I believe that you'd like to see the case reunited with its original chassis as well.
Please feel free to email me directly at blahblahblah.com and let's see if we can find a way to make a deal that is beneficial to both of us.
Again, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for reaching out to me. You have absolutely made my day ... just knowing that the original case is out there makes me very, very happy.
Warmest regards,
Marco Gerace
www.tlgauto.com
His response:
Dear Marco
It would be cool if the engine can be reunited w/ it's original chassis since it would make your car "complete" but I don't know if we can realize it. Besides that it has to be beneficial for both parties are there issues like the costs of shipping, taxes and duties that all add up and is there the fact that I am not interested in selling the case by itself (unless your offer would be one that I should consider seriously).
A possible better an easiest deal would be the trade in off another standard, no issues / no modified aluminum 2.0L engine case + cash. There are three engine case number series that could work for me:
- an engine case in the 907001- 907500 range so that the dated parts from 907495 will still be correct.
- engine case 900686 (this complete engine was sold in a 912 about 1.5 year ago to a person w/ a surf school in Malibu. May be you know him??).
- an engine case up to no. 900500
Other engine cases could may be considered, I guess it all depends.
I have attached a picture of your engine number.
I look forward to your reply / thoughts.
Regards
Ben
And my reply:
Thanks for contacting me, Ben.
When I said that the deal has to be beneficial to both parties I was implying that you should not have to come out of pocket for any sort of costs associated to the import, export, packing and shipping of the engine case. All of those costs would be covered by me.
As I said in my previous message, I have been searching for the matching case to our car for about 3 years now. In that time I’ve managed to acquire case number 907433 and case number 907600; both are original, unmolested, no issues, unmodified engine cases. I would be willing to trade either one of them to you along with some money for engine case number 907495. Exactly how much money would, of course, still need to be discussed.
If this is agreeable so far then perhaps we should move forward with a trade of a few photos of our respective engine cases. Let me know which one of my cases you are interested in, and I will provide you with all of the photos of the things that I am interested in on case 907495. That way, each of us can see things like casting numbers, pairing numbers, case numbers, external and internal condition, etc.
I’m also curious how you came to acquire 907495. Any history or back story on the engine’s life is of great interest to me.
Best Regards,
Marco Gerace
Everything looks good so far, right? The seller appears to be open to the idea of selling/trading as long as his terms are met. I agreed to his terms, offered a case that met his criteria, agreed to pay for all shipping and import costs, but I did not state an additional dollar value that I would spend on the case as that is still open to discussion.
This morning I received this response:
Dear Marco,
Being so far apart causes too much costs, risks and time. I don’t feel okay w/ that and have decided not to continue w/ this process.
I am going to rebuild the engine as planned.
As for a little bit of history on it, many many years ago the chain tensioner went soft and the engine was pulled.
Regards,
Ben
What happened?!?! Where did I go wrong?
What I need is someone in Holland who knows this gentleman and is willing to go talk to him on my behalf. I don't understand why this specific engine case is so integral to his project ... nobody else in the world NEEDS the case as much as I do. Building his motor on another 1966 2.0L engine case will not affect the resale value of his engine, but having the original engine case in my car will ABSOLUTELY effect the car's value.
But in all honestly, it's not even about the money with this deal. To me, the history and the story are FAR more important than the dollars because I have ZERO plans to sell the car...ever. I have pieced together a pretty good oral history of the car, and getting the case back pretty much makes that oral history tangible.
So, if there is anyone out there who knows Ben M. the Porsche guy in Holland, PLEASE contact him and help me restart this deal.
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