alee

After searching several months for a 911, I finally found a 1987 Targa (65k mi) that actually warrants a PPI. If all goes well, this could be the one!

My only concern with the car is the potential for valve stem/guide. Did this problem effect many 1987 911s, or just a minority? Would I be better off with an SC reliability-wise or am I being overly paranoid about the issue? Please note that I plan to drive about 8,000 to 10,000 mi/yr, and don't mind the pre-G50 transmissions.

Is there anything else that I should be particularly careful of with the 1987 models?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Alex

Jeff Curtis

All 911 motors have valve guide wear issues...it really depends how you drive/maintain them that decides when they will experience significant wear.

Case in point, I had an SC for 7 years...I modified the engine quite a bit, even had a supercharger on it at one point. The first engine rebuild, prior to the supercharger setup, that I did involved a FULL valve job, 3-angle on the valves, checked for valve stem wear, spring test, re-gound the valve seats, new guides...the works! I drove for years on this engine, the whole time it went through several transformations.

Then I became a track junkie! I was very confident in my engine, it never failed me...but, when I went to sell the car, after three good years worth of events, about 25 weekends to be exact, a leakdown test revealed some interesting results - while the pistongs/rings/valves were okay, I had experienced substantial valve guide wear in just a few years time...the car was still running well too!

I had a potential buyer who was very concerned about some leakage in two cylinders. After losing that buyer, I decided to invest some time in the engine to investigate. Investigation revealed that everything was okay, just needed to take the heads in for new valve guides.

I scotch brited the cylinders and rings, snapped the rings back onto their respective pistons, cleaned everything up real good and replaced all necessary gaskets/seals during assembly.

Wouldn't you know that I had a significant gain in "umph"??

The whole time I thought this engine was toughing it out, it was, what occurred was reasonable in my book. I broke the engine in and after about 200 miles on it, I attended a high-speed autocross...I have NEVER done well at these, but >almost< got FTD!

Well, I sold the car about a week later, reluctantly - the only thing that salvaged the sale was my urge to move onto "bigger and better" things.

So, to make my long story short...a 65K 911 will eventually have some issues. Get it checked out, pay for a leakdown test...this will be a great starting point for identifying any potential problems in the near future. If it checks out okay, buy it!

You won't regret going with the G-50 gearbox either...believe me, I thought I wouldn't give a hoot about it, I'm a believer now.

r22tek

As a pre G50 carrera owner, I can tell you that you won't miss the G50 tranny. I've had both. My present 915 shifts well with driver involvement. Translation: you can't just get into a 915 tranny and start speed shifting, you must LEARN the ART of shifting a 915. It takes skill and driver feel to shift a 915 well. You have to ask yourself," are you a driver, or is the car driving you?" That being said- the G50 is a smooth, easy shifting, and long lasting tranny. It makes for a very good choice for daily commuting in traffic. Plus, your wife/s.o. won't complain too much about driving it. The 915 is also a strong, long lasting tranny. With the proper linkage adjustment, it is a smooth shifter and offers much more "feel" to the driver. A good analogy, if you know anything about golf, is comparing a "cast" iron to a "forged" iron: The cast club allows for more mistakes, while still being fairly accurate. The forged club offers more feel, is basically intolerant of mistakes, but, hit it right, and you can't beat it!
As far as the valve guide issue, as Bruce Anderson has stated, this IS NOT a frequent problem in the 3.2 engine. Yes, it happens, but there is no evidence that the problem is common amongst certain years. A PPI will reveal a problem like this, and if it does-count on a $5,000.00 repair bill to correct it properly. If the PPI DOES NOT reveal a valve guide problem-don't hesitate to purchase based on "what if" I have a valve guide problem. You could pick and probe at just about any car and the problems associated with that particular car-THEY ALL HAVE SOMETHING OF CONCERN!!! Find a well taken care of car of any make, minus the real piece of $hit cars, and you cut the odds considerably of having any major problems in the near future. On a car that is 15 plus years old, there should be several records of repair and maintainance to support the condition of the vehicle. Even low mileage cars like mine, had 39,000 miles when I bought it a little over a year ago(85 Carrera Targa), should have a long list of replaced and repaired items- mine did. Parts get old, it's as simple as that! Keep that in mind when considering a pre-90s car.