1964 engine, what would you do?

[kouwenhoven]

Question: two weeks ago I discovered that the early 901/1 engine in my '68 S Porsche is even older then I thought. It's from 64 (number 900327) and therefore interesting for a few people with a 1964 body but no engine. What would you do?

1. Put it in a box and only open it when your retirement is there.
2. Sell now, because who knows how many engines from '64 will show up later.
3. Try and buy a 1964 body, put this engine in and restore it.
4. ... ... .... ...

Greetings from Holland

Erik Kouwenhoven

[naparsei]

I would think the first step is to try to the engine together with the car it originally came in.

[kouwenhoven]

I did already. Problem is that it's not registered and so the body probably doesn't exist anymore. Only fifty or so '64 cars are left worldwide from a total of 235 I believe.

[EA911]

I would go with a combination of option 1 and 3. Store the engine for now and look for a 64 body. I would also exhaust all avenue of looking for the matching car.

[davep]

So the engine was in your 1968 911. Does the transmission match the engine (early also) or does it match the car (1968)? Can you trace the ownership of the car to see when it got the 1964 engine? If so, can any info be found on where the engine came from, and what happened to the original car?

I think that there is a smaller chance of finding a suitable (1964) body than finding a buyer for a 1964 engine. I would be inclined to keep the engine as long as possible, cleaning it up as best you can, in the hopes of finding a body to put it into. However, keep open the option of selling it in case a buyer has a strong need for such an old engine.

[kouwenhoven]

Thanks Dave. Believe it or not, but I did not have time to look at the gearbox number yet. I bought the car, put it away and haven't visited the garage since. This weekend I will check it and make some photos.

[Kjell]

Better have deep pockets if planning to buy any 901, even missing engine!

[kouwenhoven]

Here's a picture of the 1964 engine

[Paul Henninge]

I have a similar situation, I have a 1968 police engine, with matching transmission and all original paperwork that went with the car, including the original German title: Kraftfahrzeugbrief stating the delivery of the car to the Mannheim Police, 1960s German engine rebuild papers, a photo of the car from the US service guy who bought the car from the police, with the insignia on the door faintly showing through white paint. The chassis was totaled in 1974. It was a sunroof coup.

I have a 1968 non-sunroof coup I was going to install this in....after special rebuild

But, here's the question:

1. Should I work a sunroof into my non-sunroof 68 (pain in the butt)

2. Should I buy a '68 donor chassis, sunroof coup....(not so easy to find) ...chassis transplant

3. Look for a police chassis without a motor, probably stored in the same barn as the 901 without a motor LOL!

I've collected a couple of correct police items, such as the Bosche blue light.

Paul

[Rick Cabell]

Paul,
Or sell it to me for a song.