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Documented forum build · 964 · air-cooled

167,000-mile 964 3.6 full rebuild

A leak-driven 964 rebuild booked as a menu top-end job that became a full strip once a damaged cam lobe and a tired bottom end were found, followed post by post from the empty engine bay to a run-in road report.

Evidence: Opening post: reason for the rebuild and menu scope · Scope change to a full rebuild and the damaged cam lobe · Engine refitted, 30-mile test drive and the complete list of work · Road impressions and the author's conclusions

Vehicle
Porsche 964
Engine
167,000-mile 3.6-litre 964 flat six with leaks at the timing chain covers, power steering pump, crankcase nose seal and cylinder base gaskets → Rebuilt 3.6-litre 964 flat six at standard displacement, with new camshafts, valve guides, valve springs, piston rings, cylinder studs, oil through-pipes and main bearings
Forum
PCGB Forum
Thread author
Steve Brookes · 17 February 2010

Vehicle and engine evidence: Opening post: reason for the rebuild and menu scope · Engine refitted, 30-mile test drive and the complete list of work · Road impressions and the author's conclusions

Why it came apart

Multiple small oil leaks in the places the author calls usual for an ageing 964 engine — timing chain covers, power steering pump, crankcase nose seal, cylinder base gaskets — plus leaks from the breather pipes around the inlet.

Source: Opening post: reason for the rebuild and menu scope

What the project aimed to do

Book the workshop's menu top-end rebuild to cure the leaks and refresh a high-mileage engine, keeping standard displacement rather than chasing power. The scope grew to a full rebuild once the engine was open.

Source: Opening post: reason for the rebuild and menu scope · Scope change to a full rebuild and the damaged cam lobe

Who did what

Unit 11 in Warrington, with Danny and Jonny named as the technicians, carried out the strip, machining and reassembly. The author states plainly that they are not competent to do this work themselves; they documented the project, photographed progress on visits and published the workshop's own photographs afterwards.

Source: Opening post: reason for the rebuild and menu scope · Strip complete, parts sent for measurement and powder coating

A 167,000-mile road-and-track 964. The thread does not state the model year or the C2/C4 variant. Air conditioning was removed during the rebuild, which the author reported took 28 kg out of the car.

Vehicle context: Opening post: reason for the rebuild and menu scope · Engine refitted, 30-mile test drive and the complete list of work · Road impressions and the author's conclusions

Documented sequence

  1. Removal and strip

    The engine came out and was disassembled quickly. The author photographed the empty bay, the oily and split engine cowling, a rusty crankcase breather hose and a clutch slave cylinder, hose and fork already identified as needing replacement.

    Source: Opening post: reason for the rebuild and menu scope

  2. Scope change from top end to full rebuild

    Within days of the strip the author reported that the crankcase had to come apart because the bottom end needed refreshing and a camshaft needed replacing — a single damaged lobe on cylinder 3, suspected to follow a lubrication blockage. Other forum members immediately pointed out that a cam cannot be replaced or reprofiled on its own without also doing the rockers.

    Source: Scope change to a full rebuild and the damaged cam lobe

  3. Inspection, measurement and cleaning

    With everything apart, the barrels and pistons were sent away to be measured and came back within wear tolerance. The author noted copious sealing compound on the barrel O-ring seals, which they attributed to an earlier minor rebuild, and sent the good and new tinware away for blast cleaning and powder coating.

    Source: Strip complete, parts sent for measurement and powder coating · Reassembly: measured barrels, new guides, polished crank

  4. Reassembly

    Reassembly began once the parts arrived: cleaned barrels and pistons, new little-end bearings, heads and valves de-coked with valves reseated and new guides fitted, a polished crank, and new valve cover studs and re-tapped inserts where earlier damage was found.

    Source: Reassembly: measured barrels, new guides, polished crank

  5. Refit, test drive and run-in

    The engine went back in with a cleaned gearbox, a new shaft selector seal and a new clutch slave, hose and hard line. After a 30-mile test drive the author photographed a dry engine underside, and the car was waxoyled before collection. They then reported first impressions on the road with revs held to 5,000 rpm.

    Source: Engine refitted, 30-mile test drive and the complete list of work · Road impressions and the author's conclusions

Named components and work

Ancillaries and finishing

New starter motor, engine temperature sensor, power steering feed pipe and pump belt, flexible heater hoses for the heat exchangers, rubber intake stacks, distributor caps, engine cowling, flywheel and clutch bolts, a cat bypass pipe, and powder coating of the tinware, valve covers, engine carrier and fan. The heat exchangers were split so an aged gasket and corroded bolts could be replaced.

Source: Reassembly: measured barrels, new guides, polished crank · Engine refitted, 30-mile test drive and the complete list of work

Reported outcomes

Mechanical noise

Distinctly less noise at idle and through the rev range

The author noted the engine had become clattery at high rpm before the rebuild, and allowed that this could simply have meant the tappets needed adjusting.

Source: Road impressions and the author's conclusions

Owner-reported power change

No perceptible increase below the 5,000 rpm run-in limit

Asked directly whether it felt more powerful, the author answered no, and read that as evidence a 167,000-mile 964 engine still had most of its original output before the rebuild. They call this their backside dyno.

Source: Road impressions and the author's conclusions

Evidence limits

  • No dyno run, compression figures or leak-down numbers appear anywhere in the thread; every performance statement is a driving impression.
  • The road impressions were formed on the first drive after the rebuild, with revs limited to 5,000 rpm for running in.
  • The author declined to publish the cost in the thread and offered it only by private email, so no price is recorded here.
  • The model year and the C2/C4 variant of the car are never stated in the thread.
  • This is a workshop rebuild documented by the owner, not a do-it-yourself procedure, and several measurements were reported to the author rather than taken by them.

Access note: All four pages of the thread and every cited post were publicly readable without an account when reviewed.

Reviewed source trail

  1. Complete PCGB thread · reviewed 2026-08-26
  2. Opening post: reason for the rebuild and menu scope · reviewed 2026-08-26
  3. Scope change to a full rebuild and the damaged cam lobe · reviewed 2026-08-26
  4. Strip complete, parts sent for measurement and powder coating · reviewed 2026-08-26
  5. Reassembly: measured barrels, new guides, polished crank · reviewed 2026-08-26
  6. Engine refitted, 30-mile test drive and the complete list of work · reviewed 2026-08-26
  7. Road impressions and the author's conclusions · reviewed 2026-08-26