Hulley

I've been hunting for a 911 for a few months now, doing a ton of research here and on PP. I kinda had it in my head to go with a SC or later G50 model but anywhere I can save a few bucks would be nice for future maintenance and upgrades.

The car is a 1977 911s, GR, 2.7l that had a top-end rebuild recently, 915 that was rebuilt in 07' with new clutch and a glass out respray (original color) in 07'. $35k. Car is local so I like the idea of not having to buy sight unseen or spending the additional money on airfare and/or shipping. 122k miles





I've seen this car in person and it's pretty nice, I didn't give it a real close look because of thinking I wanted a SC, but this car is pretty sharp and fits the bill nicely. I have some ideas in my head for "My" 911 and this car would work. I'm really wanting to build an Outlaw style car but everything would be bolt on so that I could restore to original when I wanted to. I like how this car has a COA. And honestly, I could leave this car the way it is and enjoy the hell out of it.

What says RL?

r911

the good news is somebody painted over the sugar scoops!

Calif. mid-year cars (except IIRC the '74) had thermal reactors on them and the engines often need expensive machining

tho maybe that has already been done or it was not imported thru a Calif. port - you can run the VIN to find out

a '74 is my fav middie year due to lack of thermal reactors and being lighter - they used to be overlooked sleeper cars for lower prices

I had a cherry '75 that was imported into Oregon and never had any thermal reactors on it, but you'll need to check re the '77s

a '77 will have most or all of the special rust-inhibiting treatments on the body; a '74 would have less of that, they gradually added to the panels that were treated over the years

the critical thing is a GOOD PPI by a mechanic knowledgable about old 911s

911Dave

As long as the upgrades to the fan (11-blade), chain tensioners (pressure-fed), and exhaust have been done (SSIs, ideally), there is no reason to stay away from the 74-77 cars. The bad rep they have is due almost entirely to the aforementioned engine design shortcomings, which in almost all cases have been already rectified by now.

Hulley

Sorry for the dumb question, What are thermal reactors?

Hulley

The ad states chain tensioners have been upgraded. Don't know about the SSI exhaust, not completely sure what that is, I thought that was a style of muffler but I guess I'm wrong.

Hulley

Ok, after some searching, I now know what Thermal Reactors and SSIs are.

Hulley

I'm guessing it still has the Thermal Reactors.

sugarwood

$35k for a mid year isn't exactly a deal you can't refuse.
I personally would wait and expand your search radius to 4 hours.
You can see a car on a weekend day.

How long have you been looking?
For $35k you should be able to find an SC/Carrera

Freddie Two Bs

Middies are wonderful cars. I would never ever trade mine for a 3.2.

r911

Partly true. The big issue is that the thermal reactors increase the heat. The case is Mg, which is lighter but much more deformable than Al.

Let me quote the great departed Bruce Anderson:

"Mg is like congealed butter."

This means that you may find the case needs to be align bored -- and etc. That is expensive.

OTOH, you may find one - esp. a 49 state car - that runs fine for 200k miles.

So there is some risk. Consider that when pricing. The goal is find something that is mis-priced for the risk premium. That used to be easy - you'd just buy a '74 for $4k. Now, more people know and prices have risen.

grgallo

Hulley, just checking, maybe none of my business, but I recall you may have been looking at an "87 in Oakwood, GA, that seemed like a very nice car, did it not pass PPI? the current car you are looking at should of course have a PPI by a mechanic that knows the mid-70's cars, from what I see here posted it may need a lot of work, and very important : do you have a good history on the car and knowledge of the recent owners, it's been noted by some here that in addition to buying the car you're buying the owner(s) (honest/trust/knowledge)

Hulley

Yes and no, I looked at an 87' and the car got sold. Another guy here looked at another 87 but it did not pass PPI. I had offered to look at it for him also. That car was $48k. The car I looked at did not seem to have good power but it was probably due to how I drove it.

mpiffaretti

As stated above, once its fully sorted and its shortcomings (as listed) are addressed, the 2.7 is a fine running engine. Personally I think 35K for that car is too much for that car, I have seen comparables going in upper 20's. If you really like the car and can negotiate a better price, please bear in mind that it would be best to get rid of the thermal reactors ASAP as well as adding a secondary oil cooler. I track my 2.7 fairly often, and its been a lot of fun not to mention quite reliable so far.

Hulley

Thank you, I spoke to the owner of the shop today, the price has wiggle room but he seems to think the reactors can stay. This is a consignment car and I'll go drive it this week. I'll update the thread when I do. He has all docs going back to the 80s.

Hulley

To clarify, if I were to get this car, the first thing I would do is replace the reactors with SSis and a new muffler. I spoke to Graham Everett Motorsports this morning and he said the same thing, he will do the PPI if this is the one. He is next to Road Atlanta and I live a few miles from there.