Wachuko

OK, started to look for one...

WTB- 1970-73 911 Coupe

Looking for a 1970-1973 911 Coupe. Here is a list of what I am looking for

1. Sound body (no rust buckets please).
2. Silver or White car if possible (not a must)
3. Black interior
4. Engine and tranny in excellent condition. Even if the body and interior needs a bit of fixing here and there, I need the mechanics to be in great shape.

Email me with details:

Jaime O. Diaz
wachuko67@netscape.net

I am located in Orlando, FL

Some background.

I always like the looks/lines of the early 911 and I am looking to have a project car... something that is running but needs some TLC. So I am not necessarily looking for a concourse perfect car.

In the future I might take it towards the direction of a RS/RSR replica but that will take years... for now I just want to secure a good car for when the time comes to start with the changes. And, of course, I want to be able to drive it until then.

I am also looking for the driving lights found in some of these cars… they do not have to be original, could be reproduction. Any recommendations as to where to find those is appreciated.

Going for this look:

Wachuko

OK, found out that the lights are Cibie Oscars driving lights and one of the sites to buy them is here:

http://www.cibielights.com/cibie/oscar/oscar.htm

Now on with the search for the car...

Wachuko

Also got a source for sport seats...

http://www.vintageseats.com/seats.htm

Found another source for seats a better priced...

http://www.gts-classics.com/seats.html

Wachuko

Looking at a few local cars this weekend. What are the key areas to check? I know I will need to take them for a compression check and full PPI. But what are some suggestions of what to check to help weed out the bad ones?...

Juan Lopez

Jaime,

If I were you, I'd get mostly a rust bucket and blast the whole thing, replace the suspension pan, longitudinals, ... Put a new wiring harness and a big ol 3.6 Varioran from a 993 with suitable oil cooling.

You'd be much better off. Old cars hide rust in odd places and its better to go all the way (in the end, its much cheaper in my experience).

Juan

JCP911S

For RSR replica you can get a total glass body package from GT Racing for around $2K +/-. This is F/R fenders, bumbers, decklid. If you are going to do the body anyway, it might be just as cheap to jump into the RSR... especially if there is rust in the bumpers/fenders.

Motor work is expensive... $3-4K for top end, and $7-9K for total depending on parts etc.... however, if you are doing an RS/RSR, a stock 2.2 T would be pretty uninspiring... probably end up wanting to upgrage the power anyway.... so you may end up there anyway.

FWIW... a "project" car is going to cost you $20-30K by the time the dust settles... if you keep a sharp eye on the costs...take that to the bank. If money is an object, and all you are looking for is a cool car to drive around, best alternative is to find a really clean needs nothing car, and pay what it takes to buy it..... it will also retain a larger percentige of value than a hot rod....

$10-12K for a T, $14-16K for an E, and $20+K for an S.

A $6K 911 will be a $15K 911 pretty darn soon.

Have fun

Juan Lopez

That's so true A 30K old 911 will also be a $45 pretty darn soon iof you don't control yourself.

Been there done that. Learned from my mistakes!

JCP911S

JL.... Of my three biggest regrets one of them has to do with pouring obscene amounts of money into a specific Porsche that is now worth less than what I paid for it. The other two will go unmentioned as my wife might be reading this.

Juan Lopez

JCP, I forgot she reads.......... I have arguably the worlds most expensive street 911SC. You don't want to know how much into the race car.........

JCP911S

I have a standing offer to anybody that I will sell them my car at "cost"... so far no takers... so I guess I'll just keep it and pour even more money into it..... remember... its not a loss until you sell it.

L8 Apex

Exactly! It's not a loss until you sell it. But it is a Liability. :-)

I like Rich Dad's definitions of Assets and Liabilities. Assets generate positive cash flow, Liabilities cause negative cash flow. So our personal cars, houses, etc, are all Liabilities because we have to fill them with gas, perform routine maintenance, pay the mortgage, etc. Assets are items that you may own that generate positive cash flow, like investment real estate, a vehicle you own and are financing or leasing to someone else, a business, etc.

I bought a '72 911S a couple of months ago that needed some work / $$, remember that JCP? I sold it for a generous profit, and at that point the car became a one time asset. Before I sold it, it was a Liability, but when I sold it, it became an Asset. I promptly purchased a '70 911 w/ 2.7RS conversion that needs more work / $$, so I acquired another Liability to replace the one that I just converted into an Asset. That was bad of me but what the hell, you only live once!

In short, Liabilities are fun to own! Assets are BORING. The best thing to do is to buy Assets that will produce cash flow that you can use to buy your Liabilities! Unfortunately I'm not patient / disciplined enough to do that...one could miss out on a couple of enjoyable years of driving a Porsche!

If you haven't read any of the Rich Dad's books, I think they're great...he's a Porsche enthusiast himself and talks about an investment he made in a storage unit facility (asset) to buy an '88 Speedster (I think?). He bought an asset that paid for his liability. It was VIN #1 that Porsche sent to the autoshows when the Carrera Speedster was introduced.

Wachuko

Thank you all! I really want a car that I can drive while I work on it... I do have the 964 (and the 951 with all parts in the car... not just where they belong )

Budget is between 10-15k (based on condition of course). So I think I should be able to, with patience, find one. Taking out 20-30K to buy one just like what I want is not a possibility at this time but working towards getting the car in that condition over the years is... and come on! it is also therapy... part of the fun is building the thing... not just maintaining it.

The fear I have is cars outside my area... I have seen a few that look like a good deal but not being able to see the car in person worries me... (there is one in Denver, Colorado, one in Arizona, and another one in Carlifornia that look great from the photos and priced right (10K) giving me some room for fixing small things right away...)

Anyway, I will look at three local cars this weekend but from the photos they are nowhere close to what the other ones look like...

Dan in Pasadena

FWIW I can confirm these prices out here on the West Coast where there are supposedly more cars available like you want.

As per my most recent posts, I JUST missed out on a '71T with a recent (less than 3 3 years/3,00 miles ago) $10,000 stock 2.2 rebuild. Car was for sale through an intermediary shop by the widow of the original owner from '71.

No rust..and I looked HARD for it. Interior tired but not abused. 90% original paint, rocks chips, in Irish Green. Not everyone's color, but I like it. Asking price was $10,500, it sold immediately (and just before me...you don't wanna know why!) for $10,000. I'm pretty sure the prices quoted for E's and S's is also very close to right on. Hope this helps some. Good Luck.

I am looking for largely the same car as you. My ideal car is an early, preferable a '72 (though some may find it odd) in Signal Orange, though I like Guards or Indian Red too.

L8 Apex

Wachuko,

Photos are strange. They are NO substitute for seeing the car in person. So you would do good to find the car you want locally. I've bought two early 911's in the past month. One was 12 hours from my house, the other was 3. The one that was 12 hours away actually looked better in real life than it did in the photos I had. The one that was 3 hours away looked much better in its photos than it did in real life (the color looked better though), but I bought it anyway. It has documentation over the last 10 years, and when I got there I discovered it had a 911/53 engine in so I felt it justified the lower cosmetic condition of the car.

Anyway, after this experience, I would be hesitant to buy a car based on photos alone. I was just really amazed at the difference in the photos and the actual condition of the car. You are lucky enough to have a nice selection of cars in your area probably, so you can probably pick one up in your region if you're willing to wait long enough.

Also, don't discount the non-Porsche sites to search for cars, this is where the deals can be found. Check out the local classifieds and other "generic" online sites like www.cars.com. This is where the general Porsche owner will go to sell their vehicle, one who is not an enthusiast, and they are much less likely to have a good idea of the value of the vehicle. I found a '72 911S on the Big Nickle / American Classifieds website. The owner didn't have internet access and thought he was advertising it in the local paper, but they put it into their online classifieds by default. He was pretty surprised when I called him from out of state. I bought it for $6200.

JCP911S

L8... you sold the black S?

Wachuko... sure building a car is fun... but you pay for it. Believe me, $20K for project car is v low.... it assumes you have every piece of luck break your way, adn can do alot of the details yourself... $30K probably right on, and you can easliy spiral up another $10K if you are not flinty-eyed on every cent... obviously if you can do most of the work, you can save quite a bit of money.

Non-stock cars tend not to hold resale value as well as stock cars... you can probaly buy a nicely done RS/RSR for 60% of what it would cost to build...

Another option is to find a half completed "project" car, and buy the guy out of it.... the guy started it and either ran out of money, time or interest, and/or his wife is busting on him because the garage has been tied up for twe years.... bottom line, he has zero leverage to sell something that is a problem to 99% of people... you can frequently steal these cars....

but... you have to be a risk taker.... you don;t really know what you have... the guy could have been a real hammer head, and expensive parts can be missiing... high risk high reward...

Frankly for $15K get a nice clean 911E street driver... they are hard to find, you have to be patient...but very nice cars.