911sc seattle

I'm 28 have a decent job and have always loved the 911 body style and handling. I’ve got a friend whose father is thinking of selling his 1978 911sc. I’m brand new to the Porsche brand but not to cars by any means. I’m wondering what to look for in this car like known issues and what a possible fair price may be. Are there any links or anyone out there that has intimate knowledge of this model and year that I may be able to ask a few questions of, just to make sure I’m doing the right thing?

Here’s the reason for the purchase. I’ve got a company car that I can and do use for personal use and a motorcycle (R1). The bikes been a lot of fun but it’s time to step up in safety, maturity level and, I’m not going to hold back, status. The name has always had prestige and for a reason. But bear in mind I am a beginner with this make (any European make to be honest). I’ve been an American muscle car owner for several years and have spent several hundred man hours under the “bonnet”.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Marc Shaw

I'm not one of the Administrators but I can move it for him.

Marc

JV911

hello and welcome!

do you have any details about the car in question ie mileage, upgrades, documented history etc etc?

huge resources on rennlist...here is a start: https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=46185

oceanvue

Kind of too late to turn back now judging by your username.

Paul K

Sounds like you need to talk to John Walker.

gerry100

Don't know much form your post, but an SC is a good pace to start. Still a pure 911 in feel and simple enough so that you can do a lot of the wrenching yourself.

If you know the owner and can get a good feel of how the car has been maintained that's a big plus.

Knowing the history is important, these cars last a long time even if abused but can take a lot of $ to make them keepers.

Get it at a good price and set a side a few thou to make it yours.

theiceman

You are in good company here as a large number of the members are in Seattle, and they are SC owners for the most part. I too have a 78sc and could not be happier with my car. A Pre purchase inspection is the key, and a good place to start is the sticky at the TOP of this forum for starters. I can not comment on price but some renlisters from Seattle may have a better idea.
For starters on my car I checked the following ( you may not understand everything yet but at least you can ask the questions ) .
1. updated pressure fed chain tensioners.
2. you may want to check the AC. ( hardly any of them work anyway )
3. Heater blower motor in the engine bay.
4. Heat exchangers rusted out ?
5. Does the air box have a pop off valve ? you can see this when you take the air filter out, it is a small trap door to prevent blowing the air box ona backfire. This is an aftermarket piece , some guys like em , some guys don't, the guys who have blown air boxes wish they had them.

These are just a few simple things off the top of my head , the list goes on , but as stated history is the key ,and the PPI wil tell you if the car has broken head studs ( your biggest worry ). Min is a labour of love and I enjoy ever minute of it .

If you really want to get into it check out the " Seattle engine drop thread " . a great thread with tonnes of good info from one of your local bretheren.

Good luck ...

Jay H

911SC,

As far as pricing, you can pay $19-$20k for a extremely low miles, show car perfect example.

$6000-8000 gets you a running car that needs a bunch of work. Typically, these cars are worn out and abused cars that probably need lots of cosmetic work and some major mechanical work. You can dump $10,000 into these types of cars and still not be anywhere near being done.

$10,000 to $12,000 buys good cars that still probably run well, but they also probably need $5,000 worth of stuff during the short term to really get driving and/or looking correctly.

$13,000 to $15,000 buys a pretty nice SC that might not need much more than a few thousand spent on minor issues to correct things that could need attention.

So, spending just a bit more up front by buying a solid, well maintained 911 typically pays off in the long run.

Ice's list above is excellent. You'll want to also check the condition of the clutch. A worn clutch can cost $1500 to $2500 to replace. The 915 transmission in a '78 also needs to be assessed as to it's condition. These transmissions are typically relatively balky transmissions as compared to modern cars. But, you should be able to shift it pretty easily with the right touch. Typical symptoms of a wearing transmission would be if 1st is very hard to engage at any time and if 2nd gear is also a difficult gear to engage. You can't shift into 1st while rolling quickly, you must be almost completely stopped or rolling very slowly to engage 1st on a good 915. These transmissions typically last 100,000 miles or so before needing some freshening. Plan on $2500 for trans work, if not more these days...

The 3.0 liter motors in the SC's are near bulletproof and can last hundreds of thousands of miles, but you need to have that motor checked for it's condition. The major issue with these SC's is broken head studs. It's an easy check for a shop to do since you pull the valve covers and check each stud from there. Broken studs means motor work and that can cost $4,000 to $12,000 in a hurry depending on how deep you have to go in the motor.

Does the car start well while cold AND while hot? Does it have a lumpy or surging idle? These cars have a non linear power delivery. As you run them up through the gears, you'll feel the motor 'getting on the cam' at about 4000 rpms with a strong pull to red line. On a test drive, get the car warm (keep it under 4400 rpms while driving a cold motor) and then run it to red line in several gears. You must see how they run under all conditions. Don't be afraid to go above 6000 rpms. It won't break. If the owner will let you, get the car up to speed too. Do 80 mph on the freeway (if not more) if you can get away with it. High speed problems won't show up until (duh) you're doing high speeds.

Does the motor (oil) temp run around the second white mark on the temp gauge? Over maybe 8:30 to 9:00 o'clock position on the gauge means she's probably not cooling correctly. It's still probably cooler weather yet in your location, so this may allow the car to run a bit cooler even with an oil cooling problem. There are hard oil lines that run along the passenger side of the car up to a front mounted oil cooler. Insure those are not damaged. They are expensive to replace (about $350 a line).

Check all the typical used car issues like brake caliper condition, rotor thickness, shock condition, tires, suspension parts (such as checking for worn tie rod ends, etc). Insure all the electrical accessories work. Electrical gremlins can be expensive to chase and fix.

How much do you have to spend? If you have $15,000, then spend $13,000 on a car and save the other $2000 for repairs and maintenance that will come up. Parts are expensive and can be 2 to 5 times more than what you may be used to in the muscle car world. You have to have a decent repair budget to keep these cars running well.

These are expensive cars to make right if you buy a dog. Choose wisely and you'll love every second of 911 ownership.

Hope this helps,

Jay
90 964, 84 3.2

Peter Zimmermann

Preserve that friend and his/her father relationship - have a quality PPI done and put everything on the table. The car may have issues that it's owner might be unaware of, and there might be hard feelings when you have to pay $3K plus in the near future to have the head studs replaced! One side note, if the VIN indicates that the car is one of the first thousand '78s (check the last four digits), then special attention should be given to the valve springs. I've seen and had to repair a few of the cars, for some reason Porsche must have bought a bad batch of springs that were used on those cars. The problem doesn't repeat, and does not seem to be an issue with '78s built after the first 1,000. In general, considering the remarks already made above, a good '78 is a good car.
Pete

Jay H

Pete, that's the first time I've read the above note on valve springs for a '78. We're lucky to have you here on this board! Who else would know this stuff?!

Peter Zimmermann

Thank you, Jay. That item was in the original text for my chapter on '78 SCs, I have no explanation as to why it didn't make it into the book!
Pete

GothingNC

It is mentioned in one of the Fixen-Der Porsche books. There was a bad batch of valve springs for that year.

Then again, the PO of my 82 Targa had some damaged valve springs replaced during the overhail. They were not detected until the heads were being rebuilt by Walt at Competition Engineering.

John

Mike Murphy

My advice to you is to research all the models that you're interested in. Spend a month on this website, along with the Pelican forum. Then, test drive as many cars as you can find. Consider reading Pete's book. When you're ready, have a PPI done on the car in question, and use that to buy a good car from a non-dealer. You will end up with a good 911.

The SC is a great car, but there are a lot of good cars out there, so finding the right model/year will depend on what kind of "feel" you enjoy from a 911. The newer ones are very different from the older ones.