Engine build:What would you do?

[robert moglia]

Hi all, opinions sought.
Maybe I’m getting ahead of my self here.
As I restore my A (Bob's 356A project) I’m starting to think about my engine build.
I have a happy dilemma, I have the original # matching engine AND a spare 1600. Both need a rebuild.
I’ve never built a 356 engine before.
I did rebuild my 2.4 L MFI 911 engine (and it ran well).
So what do you think? Rebuild the # matched engine as stock vs hot rodding the spare.
I don’t see rebuilding both I ain’t getting any younger!

[Jason Laster]

If you know you will not undergo a double rebuild on both engines, perhaps just keep the original and then sell the spare to help fund quality parts for the OG engine rebuilt. If the spare runs now, run that while you rebuild the OG and then sale the spare. Either way, sounds like a good problem to have

[Doug McDonnell]

When I bought my 64 C the original engine came inside the car in the front seat passenger side area. Installed was an AT numbered engine that the 2nd owner had purchased from Stoddard back in the day when they sold complete engines ready to install. I rebuilt the original numbers matching engine and sold the AT engine to someone with a C that had a VW engine. Paid for some of the rebuild I did of the original engine.

[Kevin Wills]

I got a really nice low mileage C case and I am working on collecting parts to build a second engine. My original S90 engine will get pickled as a longblock. I am having the C case and my new heads machined for 91mm nickies, so I am building another engine to avoid modifying the original case. S90 heads are, of course, not of much use with the machine in Nickies either...

[Matthew Devereux]

I would be concerned about using 60 year old A rods in a matching numbers engine. I would look into upgrading those.

[robert moglia]

A big part of my question is: is a matching # engine too “valuable” for an amateur rebuild?
I did my 911 and only used the best resources, Ollies, Pacific FI, Eurometric..., but that was before the car was “valuable” and I was naive.
Gosh, I hate that word “valuable”. It’s not what I’m about but I’m also a realist.
I do have the Pellow books and CDs as a resource.

[Dave Wildrick]

If you rebuilt your 911 motor successfully by yourself, I see no problem for in rebuilding the 356 motor, especially if you follow Pellow's "Secrets of the Inner Circle." I did the same with the matching engine in my 65C coupe. I also got advice from my buddy Jim Learmonth, who had rebuilt his 65C motor twice before, and I got considerable advice from experts here on 356 talk. I also phoned Jack Staggs in San Clemente, CA, for advice, and I FedExed him the key engine parts (crank, cam, rods, case, flywheel, and heads), which he had checked out and machined, where necessary, by the several machine shops he works with in California. I drove to Staggs' shop from Houston and retrieved all the parts, brought them home, and reassembled the motor in my garage. I now have over 30,000 miles on that motor--still going strong.