Documented forum build · 964 · air-cooled
964 C4 cabriolet rebuild, itemised
Not a build diary but a workshop record: the complete Ninemeister operation list for a leak-driven 964 rebuild at 113,000 miles, published with the factory part numbers that went into it.
Evidence: Opening post: Ninemeister's complete operation list · The parts invoice, with factory part numbers · Who commissioned the rebuild, and the follow-up oil system work
- Vehicle
- 1993 Porsche 964 Carrera 4 cabriolet, manual
- Engine
- 113,000-mile 3.6-litre 964 flat six leaking at the usual seals, with corroded studs and tinware found on strip → Rebuilt 3.6-litre 964 flat six at standard displacement, with a new late-style piston and cylinder set, new camshaft, new Dilavar head studs and a fully renewed bottom end
- Forum
- 911UK
- Thread author
- thesmithsUK · 6 April 2024
Vehicle and engine evidence: Who commissioned the rebuild, and the follow-up oil system work · Mileage at rebuild and the car's build and registration years · Opening post: Ninemeister's complete operation list · The parts invoice, with factory part numbers
Why it came apart
The author describes the rebuild as prompted just by the usual leaks, on the watch of a previous owner they call passionate. The operation list then records what the strip found: heat exchangers seized onto studs, corroded front tinware, a sheared bolt in the left-hand cam carrier, seized cam-case studs and corrosion in the cam cases around the through-bolt seats.
Source: Opening post: Ninemeister's complete operation list · Who commissioned the rebuild, and the follow-up oil system work
What the project aimed to do
A full leak-driven rebuild to standard 3.6 specification. Nothing in the record raises displacement, changes cam profile or adds power; the money went on renewal and on undoing corrosion.
Source: Opening post: Ninemeister's complete operation list · The parts invoice, with factory part numbers
Who did what
Ninemeister in Warrington did all of the work and wrote the operation list; the author published it, together with the parts invoice, so that other owners could see where the money goes. They are the car's subsequent owner rather than the customer who commissioned the rebuild.
Source: Opening post: Ninemeister's complete operation list · Who commissioned the rebuild, and the follow-up oil system work
The author states the car was built in 1991 and registered in 1993. The rebuild was carried out in late 2022 for the previous owner at 113,000 miles, about 1,000 miles before the thread's author bought the car; they published the paperwork in 2024.
Vehicle context: Who commissioned the rebuild, and the follow-up oil system work · Mileage at rebuild and the car's build and registration years
Documented sequence
Strip and inspection
Heat nuts to free heat exchangers seized onto the studs, then remove oil pipes, corroded front tinware, cowling, cam covers and timing covers, both sets of timing gears, rocker arms and shafts, camshafts, cam carriers, oil drain tubes and cylinder heads. Bores were inspected and measured for ovality, rings inspected and ring gaps measured, and the crank pulley boss removed to find the cause of an oil leak.
Cleaning and corrosion repair
Vapour blasting of six cylinder heads, valve heads and piston crowns; cleaning of cam carriers, covers, timing cases, knock sensor bridges and intake parts. Corrosion was cleaned out of the cam cases so the through bolts would refit, spray-bar plugs were drilled and tapped out to clean the oil spray bars, a sheared bolt was drilled out of the left-hand cam carrier and helicoiled, and seized front tinware bolts were heated out and the threads re-tapped.
Bottom-end rebuild
The bottom end was stripped fully, conrods and all bearings inspected, main and intermediate bearings removed from both case halves and all faces prepped. It was rebuilt with new main bearings, intermediate-shaft bearings, number 8 bearing and timing chains, new crank seals, new through-bolt seals torqued to specification, and conrods with new big-end bearings, rod bolts and nuts.
Top end and reassembly
Twenty-four new Dilavar head studs set to height, a new late-style 3.6 piston and cylinder set built up with new circlips, gudgeon pins and set ring gaps, new base gaskets, refaced and lapped valves, new stem seals and valve springs with installed heights reset, a new oil drain tube set, new chain guides, both camshafts with new thrust-plate gaskets and seals, and new timing and cam covers. The distributor was stripped, checked and rebuilt with a new belt and drive pin.
Ancillaries, exhaust and refit preparation
Intake manifold stripped and rebuilt with new vacuum hose, throttle body and idle valve cleaned, a very oily wiring loom cleaned and corroded earth terminals attended to. A new catalyst flange was fabricated and welded after dummy-building the system, a replacement left-hand heat exchanger was cleaned up and fitted, new fuel lines were made up, and the loom bracket was modified to accept the later-type crank sensor plug.
Named components and work
Piston and cylinder set
964 piston and cylinder set 96410391522, described as the 644-652 g weight group, six off — the late-style 3.6 set named in the operation list.
Source: The parts invoice, with factory part numbers · Opening post: Ninemeister's complete operation list
Rotating assembly and bearings
Main bearing set 96410190100 (sizes 1-8, 78-97), intermediate shaft bearing 99610143570 with two flanged bearings 99610113780, big-end bearing shells 93010314715 (six off), con-rod bolts 96410317600 and nuts 99310317402 (twelve of each).
Valve train, chains and studs
Camshaft 96410524722, valve springs 90110590151 (twelve off), head studs 99310117054 (twenty-four off), endless timing chains 99310552900 (two off), long chain ramps 96410504302 shared with the 993 (two off) and curved ramps 96410502900 left and 96410503000 right, plus camshaft vernier pin 90024300100 and four spray-bar plugs 90110537900.
Gaskets, seals and oil routing
Crankcase gasket set 93010090104 (3.0-3.8, 78-96), head gasket set 96410090200, 993-type oil drain tubes 90110735101 (four off), intermediate shaft cover O-ring 99970731540, oil breather pipe 96420732700 and Loctite 574.
Ancillaries and mounts
Speed sensor 91160621703, power steering belt 96414718703, 964 power steering tinware 96410628309, support 96410118702, bonded rubber mounting 99970326500, moulded hose 92811065205, rubber sleeves 91161232800 and 91161232700, a used heat exchanger and an engine fuel pipe set.
Reported outcomes
Reported engine status
One rebuild, not repeated
Asked in the thread whether the engine had been rebuilt and then rebuilt again, the author replied that this is the detailed description of Ninemeister's one and only rebuild of this engine.
Source: Who commissioned the rebuild, and the follow-up oil system work · Confirmation that this is the engine's only rebuild
Mileage at rebuild
113,000 miles
The author gives the figure in reply to a direct question, along with the car's 1991 build and 1993 registration dates.
Source: Mileage at rebuild and the car's build and registration years
Follow-up work
Oil feed and return system replaced separately in 2024
Cooler, fan housing and oil pipes were renewed by the same workshop after the rebuild, along with differential actuator and output flange seals. The author frames this as the next item on a list rather than a fault with the rebuild.
Source: Who commissioned the rebuild, and the follow-up oil system work
Evidence limits
- This is a scope-of-work and parts record, not a build diary: there is no stage-by-stage narrative, and the only photographs are a before and an after shot.
- No dyno run, compression test or leak-down figure appears anywhere in the thread, and no performance claim is made.
- The author is the car's subsequent owner, not the customer who commissioned the work; they are publishing paperwork they received with the car.
- The total price is described only as well into five figures, so no cost is recorded here.
- The operation list is the workshop's own summary of its labour and has not been independently verified against the engine.
- Part numbers are transcribed from the published invoice; supersessions since 2022 have not been checked here.
Access note: The thread and every cited post were publicly readable without an account when reviewed.
Reviewed source trail
- Complete 911UK thread · reviewed 2026-08-26
- Opening post: Ninemeister's complete operation list · reviewed 2026-08-26
- Who commissioned the rebuild, and the follow-up oil system work · reviewed 2026-08-26
- The parts invoice, with factory part numbers · reviewed 2026-08-26
- Mileage at rebuild and the car's build and registration years · reviewed 2026-08-26
- Confirmation that this is the engine's only rebuild · reviewed 2026-08-26