cylinder question

[stack]

It looks like I will be getting my engine rebuilt this winter (2.4S), and I will probably need new pistons and cylinders (the old ones still need to be measured but they seem, well, old). New ones are expensive (I have heard $4000 for a set?). Has anyone got any experience with using (and trying to find) good used ones (perhaps from a seller that did a performance upgrade)? Or is new the only way to go?

[tfiv]

I believe they are less than $3000. Personally, I wouldn't go to the trouble and expense of a 911 engine rebuild without putting new Mahle pistons and cylinders. Also the new ones will be Nikasil, which are lighter and superior to the originals. Your S deserves it!

[Steve@Rennsport]

Tom:

FYI,....new Mahle 2.4S (8.5:1) or 2.2S P/C's (9.81:1) are much more than $3K now,...

I'm with you; I would never rebuild an engine with used P/C's unless they were literally like new, otherwise its truly not "rebuilt".

[Bobboloo]

I rebuilt the motor in a 72' 2.4T with used piston and cylinder set. They were pulled from a motor for a performance upgrade. They spec'd out as having no discernable wear (like new). The beauty of it was I got them really cheap, $200 for the set, and I didn't have to break in the motor. Just fired it up and it ran like a champ.

That being said they were 2.4T P+C's. (It's a buyers market for those things, no one else wanted them.)

Your chances of finding serviceable used 2.2S P+Cs are nearly impossible with the chances of finding 2.4S P+Cs slightly better at slim to none.

You do have another alternative. You can have your cylinders bored out to 85mm and put in some JE pistons in the CR of your choice. These will give you a larger displacement. You'll have a real 2.4 liters as opposed to the 2.34 liters that you now have.

The downside is the JEs won't last nearly as long as the Mahles and considering the JEs are aluminum alloy and your cylinders are Biral (iron cylinders with aluminum jackets) you might need to allow for additional clearance which could lead to piston rattle when the motor is cold. Ideally if you went this route you should send off the bored cylinders to JE for best fitament.

[rick2]

I have a set of very low milage Nikasil 2.7 cylinders from a RS that went to a lager displacement early on in it's life if that helps you out but you will need to get pistons and have your spigots bored. Not exspensive and you will probably have the usual upgrades done to your case anyhow.
Rick

[OliveR]

We can provide great P/C's, ask for details!

[spydr32000]

The other option that has not been mentioned yet, is the Nickies Billet Aluminium cylinders with JE pistons. These are a work of art and are available from LN Engineering or check them out here http://www.lnengineering.com/index.html
This site also has plenty of good info as well!

[kstens]

.One last alternative is to have your cyls rebuilt. There is a company that used to advertise in Excellence that does this. They recoat the inside of the cylinder back to new spec. This has been done to aircraft cylinders for many years and it works great. The use a a couple of types of coatings that are very much like nikasil. You can Google cylinder rebuild or aircraft cylinder rebuild and find many companies who do it.

[pu911rsr]

I think what you do depend on what motor is going into. If it is going into a pristine S than it should be built with as close to factory spec parts as are still available. If it is going into a hot rod of some type you have a lot of fun choices. At the very least I would go with 2.2 S Pistons for the C/R increase.
Phil

[WCB4]

One of the companys that relines cylinders is U. S. Chrome in Wisconson. They advertize doing Porsche cylinders. Being in the motorcycle/snowmobile service for the last 30 years, we have had a lot of experance with other companys but US Chrome is the best! When I first started with cycles the only bikes that used lined cylinders were race bikes. That was back in the Seventies. I can rember when Porsche started using lined cylinders on the street I was impressed.Now everthing uses a lined cylinder. We hardly use the bore machine for anything but a hone these days. They can also repair the cylinder walls if damaged more than relining. Dealer cost is less than $175.00 per cylinder for relining repair is extra. I dont know what a set of JE piston and rings will set you back.They will need the new piston and clearance specs. So that the cylinder and piston tolerance is perfect.

Five years ago I paid over $3300.00 dealer for a set of 2.7 10/1 euro spec pistons from Andial. They were the last set at the time. So I'am sure it more for a set of 2.4's now.