944S2NUT

I was wondering what I should look for interms of common problems. Or anything you want to throw my way info wise. I know nothing of these beauties.

What is the engine size, HP rating, fuel economy. Is it a good buy? what are they worth? Is it a good daily driver. High Maintenance And Repair. Good gas mileage? ha probably not. But hey I bet it does not req 92-94 octane .

Sorry for all the questions, I just can't find any real info on the web. Thanks guys, I know you will always come through with the best answers

JackOlsen

Their value has shot up, in the past few years -- which is kind of a shame, since they used to make great donors for track cars.

Start here to learn about them.

Gary R.

Get "The Used 911 Story" and "Original Porsche" to start with, great books, full of information! Prices are all over the place depending on condition. As Jack said, a lot of them have been converted to RS Replicas and are (if built properly) great track cars for DE events, light and fast, but far from original. No good for a daily driver IMO. I personally would look to a mid year or up if I planned on driving the car every day, but that's me.

Jay H

I've watched 911 T values for a bit since my brother has been looking for one for awhile.

It seems junk is in the $5000 range (typically needing full restoration).
Average cars are in the $6000 to $10,000 range. Usually driveable, but still need some mechanical or cosmetic work.
$11-15k range are very nice cars
Over $15k range for concours ready, low mileage, near perfect cars. Prices can exceed $20k for really, really nice cars.

Once you get into the over $15k range, these cars almost become too nice to drive on a daily basis.

With today's traffic, I'd look for a bit newer car as a daily driver. If you are in an area that uses road salt in the winter, that salt will quickly eat an early car up. These cars had little rust proofing...

Good luck,

Jay

Christien

I use my 72 T as a daily driver for 7 months of the year (off the road with the first snowfall, back on after the first good couple rains) although I work at home so no commuting. It's not bad for a daily driver, far more comfortable that you'd think, but I make sure it gets plenty of open-road runs to, uh, clean the plugs... There's no air, so hot in the summer, and the heat is hard to get right (tends to be too hot or cold in the car in the cooler months) but in general I love it If you're doing any serious city driving or commuting, a mid-year would definitely be a better choice.

My gas mileage is pretty bad, compared to our 92 Lexus ES300, but then my car has carbs. Maintenance is nothing - regular fluid changes (DIY in the garage), regular baths, it's the "upgrades" that'll kill ya But then there's always the question of something breaking when you're on the road. I never travel further than I can walk without a cell phone, a small tool kit (not factory), a couple spare parts and the phone #s of a few province-wide 24hr flat bed towing companies. I've only ever been stranded once, and that was my own dumb fault (poorly installed fuel pump - intake hose came off and she "marked her territory" all over the road).

Chris

Jay Laifman

I disagree completely :-) [with the other's Jay's post, Chris snuck in before I posted mine]. I have a 1973.5 911T (see picture to the side, which was taken at last year's GAF and that is original 32 year old paint). I've had it for 15 years and used it as a daily driver in "today's" traffic. It has been a 100% fantastic, reliable, strong, fun car. In all those years, it only left me stranded once, and that was a $12 check valve in the fuel line. Now, if you want soft, easy, comfort, with 71.2 degrees air conditioning and to not worry about a clutch, think about a Honda Civic. Because, honestly, that is about the best car you can buy to meet the requirements of daily stop and go traffic. That said, I also have to admit that my commutes over the 15 years have tended to be on the tame side as far as long stretches of stop and go. If I had that, I'd probably go for the Honda.

I also sing praises of the CIS system. That too has been rock solid for me. I did buy some new injectors - but have had none of the wear and adjustment issues that the mechanical injections have. It just keeps delivering smooth power.

By 1973, Porsche really had the 911 dialed in. Also, by 1973, many of the earlier differences in quality in things like the metals used in the engine, etc., between the T, E and S were eliminated. So, the T was not necessarily the "lesser" car, but arguably a car built better for a different use.

In the end, it all depends on what you want, what your driving situation is, and what you are willing to accept.

Jay

Jay H

Jay:

My daily commutes encompass stretches of highway where even an early 356 would be enjoyable, but then get into very busy intercity roads where traffic is very tight, there is a lot of stop and go and road conditions are terrible. Weather is very unpredictable in Wisconsin and varies widely. Having today's more modern ventilation systems and safety features are welcome to me in the car I drive everyday. I'd hate to even subject my 964 (which is very easy to drive) to these conditions. I do use a Honda Civic for these daily driving chores and it's the only type of car I'd use to slog to work in .

So, my point is that the term 'daily commute' takes on many different meanings for a lot of people. I personally wouldn't subject any 911 to my drive everyday. It's only a matter of time before I get rear ended and my Civic is very pounded up with stone chips after only 20,000 miles from the rush hour freeway traffic. Those types of risks and wear and tear is not something I would tollerate with an expensive and more importantly, hard to replace 911.

Other people have easier drives to work and I probably should have made that point in my post above, or, more importantly asked our original poster how they intend to use this 911 daily before giving my opinion. (I did base my opinion on the location of the original poster) I do agree with you that any 911 will start and run well every day of the week, all year long and these are very robust cars that tend to last quite a long time with proper maintenance. Hats off to you with being able to enjoy your early 911 on an everyday basis. That's excellent!

Jay
90 964

ked

Everyone has to evaluate "daily driving" for their own taste & circumstances. Jay of CA, while everything you say is ture (& your T is a beauty!), operating a very nice sports car for 15 yrs continuously in a mild climate is quite different than what -S2nut is faced with (buying a 30+ yr old sports car & driving in Canada, closer to Jay in WI...).

As you point out , it is intersting how the 911 evolved in stages over the yrs...
a) '65-73: Golden Age
b) '74-77: Dark Age
c) '78-89: Value Age
d) '90-98: Renaissance
e) '98-06: New Age

944, have you come upon a specific car? Have you driven many of these cars? Your decision should be closely linked to your circumstances & intent; expertise, budget, usage (track? only car?, etc) + a thorough, independent inspection of the cars, including history & uncovering any hidden truth. If you do go forward & get a nice one, you will be a very happy 911 owner for as long as you can stand it!
Good luck!

944S2NUT

Thanks for all the wonderful responses The 73 T has a bit of rust under the passenger back seat and under the back window, other than that it was a very tight car. He had removed all the carpet and rear seats as he was going to track the car until he lost interest and purchased a 951S.

The car is silver in colour, has black interior, completely refinished chrome fuchs with black paint in the center of the spokes.

Engine has has custom webbers of some sort which apparently cost a bundle, and I tell yah you could almost eat of that engine. new brakes, koni shocks, interior is mint when in place, dash has 0 cracks.

One neat feature I notice was the engine was yellow in colour.

He has sold the seats so I am going to need to buy some new seats black in colour. Any one have any black seats they are willing to sell?

Soo overall from what I can see the car is looking pretty good.

Just wondering how hard would it be to upgrade the car to 74+ front and rear according bumper style?

Gary R.

What is the asking price? Sounds likethe start of a nice little track rat!

Christien

Early car fan shrouds were colour-coded. T's were black or yellow, E's were green and S's were read, as far as I understand.

I briefly considered updating the front and back of my car to the short-hood style with rear centre reflector but quickly decided against it for 2 reasons. 1. cost - you need to replace the entire hood, front valence and rear bumper, plus paint. 2. Pre-74 style is quite sought-after - do a search for "backdating" and see how many people go the other way. At first I thought the older style was uglier than the newer style, but it's really grown on me since I've owned the car (just over a year now). As far as I understand, though, it's not much work - mostly just bolt-on stuff (except for painting, of course).

My suggestion would be to look for a post-74 car if that's what you really want, rather than update the look, especially if resale value is of any concern (I would doubt you'd ever get back what you put in).

944S2NUT

Oh I have the 74+ parts at my parents garage, so it would be no trouble getting the bumper aside from paint.

Do you guys think I could bolt in 1986 951 seats into a 911T?

Resale is not to important to me as I am prolly going to keep the car forever

Out of curiosity what is you highway milage in gallons?

ked

"a bit of rust under the passenger back seat and under the back window"
I highly recommend you have an "old 911 body expert" examine the car. Worst case: lotsa rot around both the front & rear window frames - it can be hard to notice at first...

944S2NUT

Yah, he said the rear window had a leak causing the pan under the back window to rust. He had a body man examine the car for more rust and checked out ok, just need to replace those to panels.
As far as the bellypan/flloorboads it is completely solid. Kidney section checks out aswell.
Oh and a bit of rust in the driverside battery section.

ked

"He had a body man examine the car for more rust and checked out ok, just need to replace those to panels."

sounds promising, but to me, there is a big distinction between "he had... " & "I had...."
be careful of "911 Lust", it is exciting for the moment, sometimes yielding to great discomfort & expense (like some other lusts) - I know from experience (of the former).