Doug&Julie

...saaaayy...Julie and I are vacationing in Portland in a couple of weeks....hmmmm.....

L8 Apex

Well, I'm having a PPI done on it today, if I don't buy it I'll be happy to forward the PPI to you.

A guy called me last night that I had talked to last week about an '84 Carrera, he's very anxious to sell and came down from $12,500 to $10,500 in a matter of minutes. It could use an interior resto but could probably get away with seats, headliner, and floormats. But none of it would really need to be done right away.

So if I don't like the way the PPI goes on this '70T then I'll probably pursue this car. It would make a nice daily driver I think but the 129k worries me because I don't want to be the owner that has to replace every component as they fail one by one slowly draining my checkbook and time. Does anyone have experience on the Carreras with this type of mileage? What types of failures would I soon be looking at?

Doug&Julie

Oh thanks, I'm only dreaming right now. I would love to buy a car and drive it home cross-country. That's on my list of things to do before I die.

FYI I've owned an '84 and an '88 Carrera and I LOVED them. The 3.2 motronic motor is a terrific balance of daily driver and raw 911 sound/power. There's a lot written on these boards about them and their reliability, etc. But overall I'd say look for valve guide wear as the biggest concern. Otherwise, along with the SC motors, they've proven to go major miles without major service.

L8 Apex

Well, I was going to buy the black '70T that is pictured above and was for sale on the Pelican site. The pre-purchase inspection was Thursday and guess what? Compression test came out at 130, 60, 130, 125, 135, & 55psi on cylinders 1-6 respectively. There was 12% leakdown on cyl 2 and 14% on cyl 6. The valves were adjusted 5k miles ago, the seller didn't know the car had this problem and the mechanic even said it drove good and the engine pulled well so he was surprised at the results. The seller said he could let the car go for $10,000 but I passed. I'd still have to spend $950 to ship it back. So, no, it doesn't look like I'll be buying that car.

I'm in Santa Fe right now and i'm trying to contact the seller of the '72S project car. I talked to him last night and he said he had someone coming to look at it first thing this morning. I might end up hauling it back to Arkansas with me, who knows. The '72 S is what I ideally want so if I had to spend some money on it the next few years to bring it up to my standards I would be ok with that because it's a car that I would potentially keep for a long time, possibly until I'm old and gray. And any other S that I would look at under $12k would still probably need a repaint and some cosmetic attention in the near future, so I may as well buy a cheaper example and bring it up to how I want it. As long as the rust isn't serious I might just do it. The interior was recently reupholstered, the problem is that I don't like it. Salt & pepper carpet and black vinyl seats with gray velour inserts. But it is new so it wouldn't need to be redone any time soon and I could live with it for a couple of years.

I've considered the SC's and Carreras, and while I do like the amenities of the newer model years, I just like the early models. So that's what I'm going to end up going with I think.

Anyway, I'll keep posting to let you guys know what I end up with!

r911

early models....

There is nothing like them. And they are out there so keep looking.

BTW, the best amenities from a Carrera are the engine, suspension and brakes -- find one that was rolled and build yourself a hot rod...

Volney

L8,

Good luck with it all. That PPI you did on that T was the best money you have spent in a long time!

Vol

JCP911S

L8... so you're back to the S again, ehhh? FIrst, if you REALLY want an S and you settle for a T and are going to kick yourself every day, then the T is not a bargain.

First, the PPI was a good idea.... sure the car can "drive ok" with low compression, but you are still looking at a top end rebuild...$3-4K if you have a shop do it

IF the S is a legit documented car, and just needs work, and you are committed long term, and don;t expect to have a daily driver right away, then it is not a ridiculous thing to do.... an S is probably the only small bumber car that you can reasonably restore without losing you shirt... it costs just as much to redo a T as an S, but the end car will be worth twice as much.

If the car drives, and does not have much rust, then it may not be unreasonable... just make sure you are totally committed to taking it the whole way... you will sink well over $25K into it best case, and if you try to sell it in mid restoration, you'll probably get about what you originally paid for it....

IF you are comfortable doing alot of the mechanical work, it definately makes more sense.

Also, plan to resore it back to origional spec... if you hot rod it, you will have a neat car, but will probably not recover as much of your investment.

Good luck

Carrera51

129K on the 84 Carrera is nothing (if its been properly cared for). My 84 had 149K on it when I bought it in 1999. Now has 174K (converted it to a track car in 2000, so it hasn't scene regular street duty since then so most of those 25K miles I've put on it are from DEs and Club race. The motor doesn't burn much oil (last race weekend, maybe 1/4 of a quart).

10K for a clean 84 would be a steal if the car's maintenance was up to date. Has the 84 had a repaint? If its original, then I would take a hard look at it.

L8 Apex

BOUGHT THE '72 S for $6200! I think it's in pretty good shape, it just looks rough. I think with a paint job alone the car will be worth $10-12k. The interior is fine for the next few years but it needs a repaint and some body work when I get it home. The owner, an older guy in his late '50's probably, seemed really honest and the car seems to have been very well maintained mechanically. It has carrera tensioners, turbo valve covers, and weber carbs on it right now but he had all of the MFI components. He traded the deep dish (7"?) forged fuchs to a guy for a set of the alloy fuchs off of an SC but has the original 6" fuchs from the front of the car. So I need to find some of those. The power windows work and the power sunroof TRIES to work but it needs some attention.

Overall, I'm happy with my purchase and I know it's a car that I'll be happy with for many years to come. I'll post some pictures when I get back to the good ol' Ozark mountains. These Rockies are gorgeous but I'm ready to get home and get to work!

Anyone know how to obtain a Kardex that I hear about so frequently?

JCP911S

L8... congratulations. I bought my S 14 years ago and have never regretted it one day. It is the one car I own that I will never sell. Post some pics when you get home. I'm sure you have already done this but check out the Early S Registry site... lots of info there as well as Rgruppe.

As far as I know the S came iwth 6" wheels front and rear... not 7s. 7s will fit, bit you may have to roll the front fenders.

The Webbers will be fine for now, but if you plan to re-do the MFI (and personally I think it is is the best induction system ever... fantastic throttle response when properly set up). Pacific Fuel Injection is usually cited as a good specialist to re-do the pumps. Plus you need to find a really good Porsche guy to set it all up... not just anyone can do it.... i'd plan on $1,500-2,00 to do it right...but you can sell the Webbers for $1,500, so that isn't bad.... but there's no rush.

Have fun.

Volney

L8,

Congrats! That's a great entry price for car with good long term value. Most importantly, I think, it's the car you have the most passion for and will be happiest with long term! Just don't let any morons try to put fuel in your oil tank!!

Vol

RJT

L8.....Congrats on your purchase!
I've been lurking here reading this thread the past few days, wondering how it would end up and it sounds like you made a pretty good deal.
Couldn't help notice you list your location as Arkansas. What area? We are in Hot Springs on Lake Hamilton. I know a good P mechanic in Little Rock if you are in need of one. Also another guy that is a great painter. We're pretty active in the local PCA region, only a hundred members or so but always doing stuff with the cars. "Fun-runs" on some of the great Arkansas roads are always happening, planned and spur of the moment.

Robert

L8 Apex

RJT: I live in Northwest Arkansas, Lowell / Springdale specifically. Our Ozark Mountain PCA region merged with the Cimarron region in Tulsa, I just renewed my membership. There's a guy up here I'll probably use a little bit, Mike Friend at Friend's Foreign Auto. He was a Porsche dealer mechanic in the 70's so he's really familiar with these cars, but he's one of those mechanics who will "get to it when he has time", which means he's working on his VW Scirocco track car. Thanks for the info, I think Hot Springs is about 3 - 4 hours from me? So probably farther than I want to travel to have work done on the car, but NOT too far to attend an Ozark region PCA event! I'll check out your region website and see what events will be coming up the next few months.

And for all of you wondering, I DID commit the cardinal sin of not having a PPI on this car before I bought it. Time constraints prohibited me from doing so and being able to return with the car from Colorado to save the shipping costs. Even after I should have learned my lesson with the '70 T that had low compression, I went forward and bought it without the PPI. I will be doing a compression test at home tonight or tomorrow night, to see whether I got burned or not. Don't think so but I know that it is possible and a risk that I was aware of when I bought it. Shame on me, but hopefully everything will turn out ok.

But for the time being, the world is put back to right as an early 911 once again sits in my driveway, which means I need to clean up the right side of my garage!

Thanks all! I'll post some pics in the next few days.

JCP911S

L8... sometimes the rules exist purely to be broken... you can buy a $10K 911 T every day of the week... makes sense to be picky... something like this S may come along once every couple of years... or not.

If the car turns out ot be a total pig, you can get out of it without too much damage... if not, you got a pretty sweet deal... sometimes you just fall in love... its a good thing

JCP911S

L8...BTW, you got me thinking about when I bought my S.... I talked to the seller and he sounded like a straight shooter... we shook on a price over the phone, and then I went to look at the car in Northern NJ about 100 miles from my house. I had a business meeting in Newark NJ, and afterwards I had the guys from work drop me off at the sellers house ... they drove back to Philly. I'm sitting in Northern NJ with a check in my pocket and no way home....

Talk about a leap of faith....

Car checked out... I popped the guy the money and had one of the most memorable drives home in my life.... nothing quite like it.