jeff_c

I currently own a 996 which I've had for a year and I love. It's always been on my list to buy a project car and work on it with my son so that when he eventually drives he will have some appreciation for the machine itself and be able to do some routine maintence. I am pretty good with a wrench (back in my high school/college days I used to rebuild engines) and I happen to come across a low mileage (~30k) 78 911 3.0 that's been sitting for quite a while. It's been sitting so long that I've been told by my local indie that quite a lot will need to be either rebuilt or replaced.

So my question to you all is...Is this year a good candidate (year/model) for a project car and what's it worth?

TIA for any and all input.

Jeff

Jay Gratton

I think we need a little more info on the car before we can say what it is worth. What else can you tell us about the car? Can you post some pics? If it hasn't run in a while and I had to throw a number out there it would certainl be under $10K.

rentadate

if you think it is worth doing, then do it. I got a 75 with an 83SC engine in it. Recent rebuild on the engine and tranny for $2500. The top was recently rebuilt as well. My only problem is that it is a targa and needs a major overhaul of the body. Rust is collecting around the door sills, the fender, and under the rear windshield. The seals need to be replaced, but a leaky targa is a normal phenomenon.

so what are you looking to spend? what are they asking? how long has it been sitting there? what does the interior look like? I can attest to the engine being solid. The ignition may need to be replaced with an MSD unit, but that is as far as I can answer. I would look around paying $2k-3k if in some wierd condition...How badly does the guy want to get rid of it?

jeff_c

All good points and good questions. I am getting my first look tonight will have the answer to these questions and many more later tonight.

Sorry to have been so vague and even though I knew any numbers thrown out would be wild guessed I wanted to see the thought process so I would have an idea of how to go through the car.

Thanks,
Jeff

theiceman

I bought a 78sc targa as a project car and it has been a blast for the last 2 years or so. I looked for a good body and a good Targa roof, and the rest i dealt with. The 3.0lire is as bulletprrof as you are gonna get. I would say if the PPI checks out as far as the engine goes ( good compresion and leakdown numbers, ) and all the head studs are intact , go for it depending on the price. You might want to check to see if the tensioners have been updated to hydraulic and what kind of shape the heat exchangers are in, and how it shifts ( for a 915) . I even wrote an article that went on for about 4 parts in our local PCA mag called project SC Targa. i think it's a great idea. Just make sure some of the majo things have been taken care of. If you are interested seriously see if you can find a lister close to wgere you are from this forum to go look at it with you.

Good luck

jeff_c

As far as I know the head studs are in sad shape due to metal fatigue and I doubt any of the updates have been done unless the problems would have cropped up within the first 30K of use. The owner recently had the indie go through the whole car so I will get a peak at that checklist tonight.

Keep the comments coming. Its giving me fodder for my interrogation.

Jeff

theiceman

If any of the head studs are broken take a BIG step back and think it over. This is definitely fixable and if you have wrenched cars before should be no problem ( Check out Ed or James's threads) . But it can get expensive quickly in parts alone to fix those studs, along with all the " while you are in their " projects.

At the top of our Forum is a sticky with Petes PPI checklist, definitely start there.

rentadate

I agree. I myself am not mechanically inclined that way. If you aren't either you might want to get a quote to find out how much to do that. If they are worn due to fatigue it is definitely a project.

I've been meaning to ask. I assume you have a spouse. what do they have to say about that? My neighbor recently came home with, yet another BMW as a project and she flipped ****. you could hear her screaming down the street. I could of sworn I saw a tent through his fence when I walked my dog last night.

theiceman

My wife was all for it ... says it gets me back in the garage, says I drive her crazy if I am not working on a project. ... hmmmmmmm...

jeff_c

So I checked out the car last night. It wasnt too bad but a true project car. Mechanically sound and even runs (but the indie assured me there are pulled head studs). I couldn't find any rust worth mentioning and while there were dings and missing bits on the body it wasnt too bad and with a little work and some paint it would be perfect. The interior is something of a wreck but all the parts are there and with new carpeting it would be fine.

some pics

As far as I can tell the car has been sitting since 1995 (last inspection) and it turns out it has 38K miles (not kilometers as first indicated).

The indie gave me an estimate of 10K to do all the necessary to rebuild the engine (approx 6k labor/4K parts) but I plan on doing most of this myself.

Any further thoughts on value?

Thanks,
Jeff

(oh and the boss is all for this. She loves cars as much as I do)

Jay Gratton

Depending on what he is asking it might not be a bad project car. You'd be surprised the beating those engines can take. Before you take the engine out have it looked at by a shop, maybe it just needs a little tinkering and that is all. I have a friend who has a '73 T who was told the engine was blow and wouldn't turn over. Well, with a little work he was able to get the car running again and 20K track miles later it is still running strong. - Jay

theiceman

The pictures aren't great and not nearly enough of them but here are my comments.

The VIn looks strange , nothing like mine it has 930 in the number , Pete is the best person to decipher it and tell you exactly what you have.
it is is a 78 then that turbo tail on their is not original is the 78s never had them. My personal opinion the Turbo tail is a bit over the top for that car and a carrera tail suits it better, just my personal opinion and I will probably get flamed momentarily.

Looks like Europen bumper overriders in the rear , a bit different than the "dragster parachutes" on most N.A. SCs , given the serial number could this be a Europen spec'ed car ?? Pete will tell us based on the Serial number.

Pulled head studs ? !! didn't think that happened on SC's, I thought they broke, I thought pulling head studs was more of a 2.7 issue due to the different materials involved.
Original Fuchs is always a plus ..and this car looks like it has them
Looks like it has not been upgraded to H4s. although not necessary is better but carries a couple of hunderd dollar price tag with new rings.

More pics of the engine would have told us if there was carrera tensioners installed etc.

I guess worse case you figure 10G + his asking price ... I am sure that would get you a decent SC already sorted, but it is up to you.

PS I have no idea what an " indie" is

send more pics and we wil have more comments I am sure .

Personally i think it would be great project car, but to each his own I guess.

jeff_c

Thanks for the input and sorry about the limited pics. This was a preliminary look at the car with my wife (who gave it a thumbs up -she likes the whaletail ) at the independant repair shop (indie as opposed to a stealership - sorry it's a holdover from 996 section) so I didn't have the time for a full photo session. I will stop by there tomorrow and get some shots of the engine.

Oops....i forgot to mention that it's a 1979 and by the VIN it appears to have a 911SC Row and Japan engine so does that mean Euro spec'ed all around?

Thank you all for your input.

Jeff

rentadate

are you kidding me? where the hell am I when that was listed? Mine is in totally worse shape than that! My camera is on the fritz, so I can't show you what I'm talking about. But that is in great shape compared to mine. I would totally go for it.

Since you are on the East Coast, there are probably many shops around that can be able to reupholster your car for a great price. it doesn't look that bad. The paint from the pictures looks real good too.

From what I see expect to pay about $3k (at the most) for the interior. And about 3K on paint if you choose to. I know nothing about the engine, but I'd take the Indie's advice on the engine. he seems to know what he is doing. Japanese engine? should you trust anything that has been driven by an asian? (I'm asian, so I'm asking because i wouldn't buy anything from an asian, unless it has a record.) ^_~ Is that engine even legal in this country? Also I'm checking with my indie to see if the SC's needed any work or not on headstuds. I used to have the 2.7 and it threw a valve and all that crap. I haven't heard that on an SC engine. Is the engine a real 3.0 or a 2.7?

what's the vin on the engine? That would help clarify.

rentadate

so I just got off the phone with my indie, and he says, the car is probably worth about $5-6K at the most if it has broken head studs. From there he said that he normally fixes it for about $4k or so. The Early SC's did break headstuds because they would corrode. that is something to probably update. I think you could have a great classic car for a great price. If the guy wants about what my indie was talking about he says go for it. If not move on and find a better deal.