Pulling motor and refresh suggestions

I have a couple more thoughts. IF you do decide to the head gaskets, soak the head nuts in PB Blaster occasionally while disassembling the intake, cam towers, etc. When you are ready to loosen the nuts, use a 1/2" drive impact and a quality 19mm deep impact socket. I DO NOT recommend using a breaker bar and/or chrome socket. This is how good blocks get ruined. Don't be afraid to hold the trigger down on the impact. Even if the nut doesn't turn after 10-15 seconds, the heat that the impact is putting to the nut will help free it eventually. If there are some that are that stubborn, proceed to a different nut and wet the problem hardware again with PB Blaster. Obviously, you'll need a 18V or stronger cordless impact or a good air impact and strong compressor for this purpose.

There is a water passage at the rear of the right side cylinder head that is unused. Don't waste your time trying to replace the gasket there, unless it is leaking. I can virtually guarantee you that you will break the bolt heads at the cover, thus resulting in thread repair to the heads.

In my opinion, it is easy enough to remove the engine that I wouldn't include a head gasket job as a good WYAIT preventive maintenance duty. Also, a head gasket job is one of the hardest a DIYer can attempt because of the tools and resources doing the job correctly will require. Too many problems can result from using the incorrect tools.

Here's my reasoning on doing the head gaskets: Okay, you reseal the whole rest of the engine, you reinstall the engine. It starts and you drive it. You drive it twice after doing all that work and you find that the head gasket has begun leaking (either oil bubbling out of a head bolt, the car getting hot, oil in the coolant, coolant in the oil, or just a loss of compression.)
What are the chances that you are going to want to spend all that money and all that time all over again to pull the engine, replace the head gaskets, and re-reseal the engine again? Probably not good odds there.
So what happens to most cars of this ilk? They get sold for parts.

Don't sell your car for parts. Do the headgaskets while you are there. It is not brain surgery.

Definitely hypothetical situations worth considering, John. How convenient it must be for Michael to have at least two different perspectives to consider with regard to head gasket maintenance. I suppose I adopt the approach of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Obviously, that philosophy is the exception rather than the rule as it concerns 928s.

There aren't too many areas of the car that I'd offer similar advice.

No one has mentioned the con rod bearings, but those would be worth doing if it were me.

Good thoughts gents. I believe I will stop short of the heads. We will get a better looks once it is out as well.

Kiln_Red;13543 wrote: No one has mentioned the con rod bearings, but those would be worth doing if it were me.

LOL! Austin, we definitely do come at it from different philosophies! I wouldn't mess with the con rod bearings at all. I have replaced 3 sets so far. And each time, I was sorry that I did. All 3 engines had well over 100K miles and all the existing con rod bearings were virtually perfect upon removal and inspection. I was already into it, so I went ahead and finished the job, but I could've/should've used the money spent for new con rods for something else.

Head gaskets, though: 'nother story!