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I am new to Porsches and am considering an 83 911 coupe. I don't know the milage yet. A friend of mine owns it currently and has lost interest in it. He drove it unroll about 3 years ago. It is a sunroof coupe, 5 speed. He says that it stalls once in a while while driving, but starts right up. He was told that the carbs need synced. He also thinks that the coil could be going bad. My understanding is that 83s were fuel injected? What else should I look at when I do go look at this car ie rust areas, and any common mechanical problems? The price is VERY reasonable. Thanks
SC's are very solid cars. They were all fuel injected, but it can be temperamental and it wouldn't be at all surprising if it was replaced with carbs. Gearboxes can be finicky and hard to assess if you are not used to them. Just make sure it doesn't grind on the upshifts, and don't try to shift into first if the car is rolling without double-clutching.
Places to check for rust would be around the battery in the left front trunk, and in front of the rear wheels, corresponding to the lower portion of the door latch posts. Also the front suspension mounting points, especially on the battery side. Window seals can leak, leading to rust at the lower corners of the windshield (even under what looks like a perfectly good seal), and if the rear seals leak you can end up with water under the rear deck and accumulating in the rear seat bottoms.
Don't expect the AC to work. Check that everything else electrical functions.
The engines have a reputation for being bulletproof, but as they have gotten older they have become prone to broken head studs due to corrosion of the OE studs. You can sometimes hear it (due to exhaust leaking past the bottom of the cylinders), or if you remove the lower valve covers a broken stud will fall out with its nut.
If things look good, you should really have a pre-purchase inspection by a knowledgeable shop (including a compression and leakdown test), or maybe a local Rennlister could check it out with you. Even if you get the car for a great price, if you have engine issues it could easily cost you $15K or more unless you can do a lot of the work yourself. Gearbox rebuild could be $4K.
Hope this helps. Post some photos and we can provide better advice.
Thanks for the info. I will check all the areas that you mentioned when I look at the car. Also which is better on the car, the factory fuel injection or twin carbs? If I understand the owner right it has carbs on it right now that need synced up. Lastly, how hard is bit to sync them up?
Hi Aaron,
I have a 83 SC and agree with Mark. Really a no nonsence, bullet proof car and I just looove it. The speedo indicates 270,000 km and I can stick mine in first at any reasonable speed, without scratching or grating.
Make sure it has been fitted with carbs first. They did come out with fuel injection. The previous owner might be wrong, in any case, carbs or fuel injection, you should be able to find someone who can set and tune it properly.
My a/c doesn't work either.
Good luck and enjoy, if you do decide to buy it.
Regards
Chris
Cape Town
Thanks for the info. I will check all the areas that you mentioned when I look at the car. Also which is better on the car, the factory fuel injection or twin carbs? If I understand the owner right it has carbs on it right now that need synced up. Lastly, how hard is bit to sync them up?
You have North American thinking
it would not be twin carbs, in fact there would be 6. A carb set up would absolutely give you more power than a CIS setup , especially coupled with the correct cams and exhaust , but as Mark mentioned extremely finicky. Don't fall for the " just needs a tune up " . Get it checked thoroughly.
To set carbs the best way is with vacuum meters and a carb whisperer. This is not for the faint of heart, someone with motorcycle experience may be able to help. you have to balance 3 three on each bank. then balance one bank to the other. I will attach a pic so you can see the level of complexity with carbs.
this is a MFI engine so you likely wont have the pump , but check pit the linkages if you can see them
I echo everyone's comments. I purchased a very good 1980SC with 76k miles. I later found 2 broken head studs. Very expensive repair. As stated above, remove the lower valve covers and check for broken studs. One fell out and the other was laying in the head. Good luck.
Almost four years ago I bought a 1982 911SC from Peter Zimmermann (yes, that Peter) that had almost 204,000 miles. I wanted a car to drive. I am old (66 now and retired). I was not looking for an investment like so many folks seem to be. I just wanted to enjoy an air cooled 911 as a fun car. So far, I have enjoyed it more than I anticipated.
I did not get a PPI (Peter wrote the guide on why you should get a PPI and a book on 911s and owned Redline [ a well known P-car shop in SOCAL]). I bought the car without seeing it. Peter said the PO had lost the records, so I only have a spreadsheet of what Peter did. I bought the car because I trust Peter. I bought the car because I wanted to drive an air cooled 911. I had previously owned a Cayman and a number of BMWs (still have an E30 cabrio, had E36 and E46 cars). I have never "made" money on a car; I put lots of miles on most cars that I enjoy.
I did everything wrong when buying my car and I love it. Today it has 216,911 miles. I meet up with a group of air cooled owners every month and drive the car. I drive the car on weekday excursrions on the surrounding country roads.
Other than oil changes and valve adjustments (really just confirming within specs), the car has had a bad CV boot. That is it for repairs. A highly recommended indy shop hosed up repairing the CV boot (really), so I repeated the repair in my garage, on my back, using jack stands. I learned that these cars can be maintained, if not totally rebuilt, by their owners. That made me love the car more. I have messed with the interior, installed SSIs and a sport exhaust. I am about to update the ancient fuse panel to a modern panel. After that, I am going to install an Al K. X-Faktory EFI ITB system in place of the CIS. My car is fine with CIS, but I want to try the EFI system.
I have saved everything I have altered - original door panels, console, OEM exhaust/CAT/muffler, sugar scoop headlights. When I sell, everything will go with the car. I pulled the Carrera wing off the car, but it is safely preserved.
I don't know anything, but my advice is to decide what you want. I wanted a car to drive and tinker with. I am proud of my car's high miles. It works out to about 6100 miles per year since 1982. Car runs strong and keeps up with its peers. Makes me smile when I look at it. Not the fanciest or best or fastest, just a lot of damn fun. If you want an investment, low miles, unique color, lots of records are the way to go. But, I vote for fun.
My mistake thinking that it would have two carbs. I am trained to restore American muscle. Still waiting to hear from the owner when I can go look at it. In the mean time I've been looking for places to obtain parts from. I thought there would be plenty of places but not really finding much for it. Any suggestions? Just looking for stuff that would freshen it up ie carpet and interior, steering wheel. Thanks.
No, it would be twin carbs, but 6 venturis. See if they are Webers or PMO (a better design based on Webers), possibly even Zeniths...
Carbs will give MUCH better throttle response and a bit more power. See if it has SSIs for the exhaust - those are great if you don't need to meet pollution regs.
CIS FI (it is not an electronic FI) will give better cold starts and cold running than carbs - if you plan to drive it in cold weather, esp. as a daily driver around town, that might be important to you. It is not the best for EtOH gas mixes when stored, but what is?
Either way, the SC was a revelation when introduced and has a very strong motor. If someone started down the hotrod trail with this car, maybe your friend, then you may as well do some more travelin'
These are simple cars (except for the oil squirters in the motor maybe) and you can do nearly all service yourself with just jack stands. You will want a Bentley manual.
Find out what parts have been replaced and when - there should be a file full of receipts for the parts, even if POs did all their own work.
You will first want to bring everything up to snuff, esp. brakes and suspension. All can be hotrodded if you want. I would check the brakes, caliper piston seals, etc. and replace the brake hoses with new rubber form the dealer - no aftermarket, flush and refill with a good brake fluid like Ate. Then see if the suspension bushings were ever replaced.
Replace the tranny oil with Swepco while the butt is up in the air; change oil and filter - Look around carefully and esp. be sure the CV joints bolts are not coming loose.
Besides your local dealer, Zims is good for parts as are many others. What area are you in?
I have had good luck buying parts from Pelican, EBS Racing, Eckler, AppBiz, X-Faktory. And I have driven to D.C. automotive in Rocky Mount, NC and found some useable stuff in their warehouse. All of the above have websites.
04-24-2018, 09:29 PM
Need info about 83 911 SC.
