jakeflyer

Spent 9 hours yesterday on a round trip drive to see a 911 and took less than 20 seconds to detect the deal killer. The tip off was the door gap on the driver’s door. Porsche has even gaps between all opening portals, doors and hoods. The gaps should be even on all sides. The drivers door was slightly off and a slight bulge at the bottom front corner. I put my magnet on it and there was bondo from the door to the entire rear; the magnet would not stick to the car in those areas. There was no visual indication of problems other than the door gap. The only magnet that really works well is the very thin printed sign type designed to go on the refrigerator door. It has to be the very thin type to detect thin bondo. When placed on the car it will barely stick on. If there is the thinnest layer of bondo, it will fall off. A more powerful magnet will stick on thin bondo. The car had been hit left and rear and an excellent job of repair concealed it very well.
I wanted the car cold when I got there. It was hot. Any cold starting anomalies are concealed with a hot engine. Also, a tranny that has a notch in it will shift harder and worse when cold than when hot. This had a mildly worn syncro and dog, obvious when hot. But, a cold tranny will show the problems with the dogs and syncros right off. I wonder how it would have shifted cold??
It was a stunningly fast 3.2 and the Guards Red with the tail made it a head turner. Wish I could have gotten it.

justinsrx7

Sorry to hear that it didnt work out. The car sounds stunning. Kudos to you on you in depth and intelligent techniques for checking the car out. Sounds like others with less knowledge will be fooled for sure.

ked

sometimes a partial respray w/ filler is due to very minor damage, as in a parking lot / driveway or even vandalism. if the chassis is straight & true, then such a circumstance can lead to a very good deal on a very good car. even the present owner may not be aware of such facts about his own car (multiple owners, current one not detail oriented). to me, it just means I must investigate further, but I understand why one might feel it is cause for walking. happy hunting!

Peter Zimmermann

A badly repaired, but externally pretty, car that's had left rear or right rear damage can also be seen in the engine compartment. The left and right rear frame rails are the first things to look at; any "pooching" is bad, being able to see through to the street below, past the engine bay seal and the engine shroud below the upper valve covers, is even worse! I've seen cars so badly bent in this area that the shroud was against the frame rail on one side, and the gap between the opposite shroud and the rubber seal was as much as an inch.

J. Brinkley

I have a stunningly fast carrera with no bondo.
It's even for sale

Brett San Diego

But, Jakeflyer is looking for a $20,000 Carrera at a $10,000 price. There is probably one out there (These deals do happen, as I think I demonstrated with a recent 356 purchase.), but he'll probably be looking for a while, and we will probably see many more of these kinds of posts.

Good luck Jake... Rootin' for ya. You have been providing great hands-on experience.

Brett

J. Brinkley

in that case, good luck Jake

jakeflyer

"A badly repaired, but externally pretty, car that's had left rear or right rear damage can also be seen in the engine compartment. The left and right rear frame rails are the first things to look at; any "pooching" is bad,"

Peter, it did have some of that also. I wanted to keep it short and I did not have the correct term--frame rail --or a picture. Thanks for filling in my blanks.

GothingNC

Jake,'

That's a bummer after taking a long drive

Here is a $10,000 Carrera that just listed on Pelican

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=404678

Only has 227,000 miles on it (tranny rebuilt at 175k)


Good luck with your quest



John

jakeflyer

Thanks so much for the tip. I need to follow the fishing bird closer. Quick story about Pelicans. My wife and I were in Newport Beach eating at the place that has the walkway on the water and you can tie up your boat there, cant remember the name. Anyway this old guy is sitting a the end fishing. A Pelican came sneaking down the dock low and slow, like a cat on the hunt and grabs his bait and runs off. The guys becomes aware and we watched them for an hour (extending our lunch as long as possible) continue the sneak attack and the arm waving and yelling defence. It was the most fun lunch we have ever had.
The Carrera looks like a good buy. Unfortunately I am on a farm out in nowhere in Texas and the car appears to be in the SF Bay area. We were in LA a month ago and I would have been all over it. Figures.