Mechanic had time to start, but not finish the PPI this afternoon. His first impression of this car is that it has not seen much action. The miles are low (around 40K) and the car looks in very good condition. However, the bad news appears to be that the car has not had enough maintenance - it has been used very rarely and lived in a garage.

He says the valves are very noisy. Tomorrow he will try to determine whether valve guide wear is an issue, or whether, as he suspects given the overall condition, the valves need to be adjusted. Also he suggested that he might be able to see if there is a lot of carbon on the sparkplugs.

He said that if the valves do not quiet with adjustment, then the car will eat oil and will require about $3,000K of work to get in there and work on the valves. He says that this need not be done immediately.

Any thoughts would be very welcome. I am thinking that if the rest of the car is solid, and I get a good price, I can have the work done and have a good car. Am I being objective or do I just need a 911 bad? I can't tell anymore

 

Post pictures and the price. Sometimes a car with low miles that has been sitting around is not the best deal- compared to one that has been used but well maintained. Hope it works out...

Paul.

 

I don't have pics. The body is near perfect, a few rock chips. The inside is excellent with nothing but minor flaws. Engine/compartment look clean and nice. I have not seen the underside other than peering under while the car was parked. Asking price is 27,650. I would look to knock that price down a bit based on the above info.

 

Too high....

 

Just for a matter of comparison....Mine is an 87 with a new steering rack, new drilled rotors, new stainless brake lines, new pads, new tires, valve guides replaced, turbo tie rods, new rear axles including CVs, all work performed by a reputible service shop and all documents of repairs dating back to original purchase papers...mine has over 100k miles...i spent quite a bit less than what he is asking...but all the mechanicals are perfect...I have since spent a little bit making it cosmetically the way I wanted it.

 

Yeah, but you bought your '87 from your brother who gave you the "family deal" of a lifetime!

 

I was talking about original asking price....not the beat down with a hammer price....

 

Lets assume the car is a 9 or better inside and out, and everything is reasonably good aside from the guides. Then I'd say you have to decide what you'd pay for a terrific 40,ooo mile original, unmolested 911. Then subtract out the cost of redoing the heads to arrive at your purchase price.

Personally, if the car looked really good, and I could buy the car for 22,000, I’d buy it. It’s easier to do a valve job than repaint and reupholster. Plus, you don’t have to de-fornicate all the things the tight-*** PO-s have done to the car.

 

Thanks for all the input folks. This site is the best.

 

What the Captain said.

 

oops .. looks like I might have to de- fornicate my transmision brace and paint it black ..

 

I am keeping all my original parts to unfornicate all my fornication-ups...as far as the minor rock chips I have....it just proves that the car is driven...when they get bad enough I will repaint.

 

Reminds me of a funny thing that keeps happening to me , whenever people see my car they always ask how old it is ( 78 ) so that makes it 28 , then they say , there is absolutely no stone chips .. has it been sprayed ..

...er no .. it has just avoided every rock , stone and piece of debris for the last 28 years ..

 

For comparrison, I purchased my '87 last month for low $20's. It is in excellent condition inside and out. Has 110,000 miles. Engine rebuild 10,000 miles ago. Try not to let the lust for a 911 cloud your objectivity. That was the hardest thing for me to maintain in my search. I hope it works out!

 

I've been tracking 87-89 prices on the net and elsewhere since I'm considering selling my '88 and I'd be pleasantly surprised if people are getting asking prices. They seem really high... not that I'm complaining! Although there has been a lot of press over the last couple of years about the high desirablility of the 87-89 Carreras.