When you FINALLY find your engine number...

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Jim Nelson
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When you FINALLY find your engine number...

#1 Post by Jim Nelson »

...and get a line on it, only to find out that the number that's listed on your COA is also listed on the other guy's COA !! And he doesn't have the motor, but he knows where it is, but it's in France..

Argh. Kardex hunting time.
Even though it is a bit disconcerting to see both, it's also a little funny...

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Doug McDonnell
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Re: When you FINALLY find your engine number...

#2 Post by Doug McDonnell »

Post a followup it will be interesting to some of us.
1965 356C 2000 BMW 740i Sport 1967 Honda CL77 There is never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over.

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Wes Bender
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Re: When you FINALLY find your engine number...

#3 Post by Wes Bender »

Get the Kardex Jim. One or both of those COAs are wrong. They're just about a total waste of money.
Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.....

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Jules Dielen
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Re: When you FINALLY find your engine number...

#4 Post by Jules Dielen »

I've seen a few Kardexes with the same engine number listed for different cars. Yes, typos did happen even in the 50s and 60s. So both Kardex AND COA would both be incorrect.
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C J Murray
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Re: When you FINALLY find your engine number...

#5 Post by C J Murray »

Will the correct original number engine make the car more fun to drive?

You have every right to obsess over anything you wish but there are 3 big problems that keep me from caring about engine numbers. 1-the data from Porsche is suspect. 2-engines were commonly, regularly, often changed before even the first owner got the car and/or in the first few months of ownership. 3-many engines have been re-numbered already and there are people with some excellent number stamping sets willing to re-number more in the future.

Correct cheesehead screws, now that's a serious issue!
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Jim Nelson
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Re: When you FINALLY find your engine number...

#6 Post by Jim Nelson »

I have no doubt that the engine that is in the car now is, in every way, superior to what it came with. On the other hand, buyers (especially the Europeans) are obsessing over the "matching numbers" cars to a significant degree. I'm happy to include a case if I can find it, because the gap between numbers matching and those that don't seems to be a deal point in some cases. The $$ difference seems to be growing.

Having said that, it's a little surreal to look at both COA's and see the same number for different cars. Kardexes are en route, and Porsche says in a day or so they will confirm one of them. Personally, I think its our car (built 9 days earlier than the other car), as it was registered by the engine number in Washington State in the '60's.

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C J Murray
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Re: When you FINALLY find your engine number...

#7 Post by C J Murray »

It seems to me that very few people are successful at acquiring their original engines. I get the feeling that there are a bunch of frustrated people in a state of depression like having a family member that is a missing person. Too much stress for me. Porsche didn't bother with that obsession either since they moved engines all over the place like a game of musical chairs with the cars that they used.

I do confess an obsession with original and unmolested bodywork but the body structure is the essence of the 356. Any correctly rebuilt engine will do but the body that exited the factory will always be superior to the body structure that has had to be rebuilt.

I guess we all have our hang-ups.
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M Penta
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Re: When you FINALLY find your engine number...

#8 Post by M Penta »

I don't understand the hang up with #'s matching either, but obviously I am in the minority. I like good cars, with good engines and parts, have never really cared much about #'s matching with the various cars I have been into.
With that said, matching #'s seems especially important to the value of these cars so I am definitely mindful of that and will keep everything together, especially those correct cheesehead screws!

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Jay Wiener
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Re: When you FINALLY find your engine number...

#9 Post by Jay Wiener »

Isn't it amazing that some dealers have about 95% of their cars as "numbers matching" while the majority of the population doesn't or have discovered flaws in the original documentation systems

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Jim Nelson
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Re: When you FINALLY find your engine number...

#10 Post by Jim Nelson »

FWIW, Kardex in hand confirms ours as the right chassis/engine combination. Porsche confirmed over the phone as well. Personally, I don't care--I'd rather have a big-bore 912 engine with the right bits in it, the last iteration of the 356 line. I don't get the obsessions of the buying community, but they are the buying community, and if I can make it significantly more attractive in the aftermarket by having the original case as a spare, it's money well spent.

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