Ed Hughes

That IS totally possible!!

My '84 was at 130K, didn't burn a drop-literally-when I had an incident at the track and miss-shifted. This brought an end to the integrity of my exhaust valves and put a bit of strain on my rod bolts. The inside of my engine was literally beautiful outside the self-induced damage. As was noted a couple of times in this thread, it is a very small number of 3.2's that have valve guide issues. Again, a thorough PPI by someone knowledgable will bring it all to light, if there is something to be concerned about.

The good news is, I rebuilt mine, added some "bullet-proofing" to her and have put about 8,000 more fun-filled miles on her since. I also didn't consider myself a worthy mechanic beyond oil changes and basic stuff-but with the internet and all the great advisors we enjoy here, anything is possible.

There are many documented cases of these motors going in excess of 200K without coming apart.

whalebird

Regular maintenance will not cure bad valve guides. 3.2 is an awesome motor otherwise and not all of them have this problem. Steve's earlier post sums it up well.

ricster

Hi Everett,
It souns like your over analyzing this purchase. Go out and buy one have fun and if it needs money put into it or it depreciates more than you thought...who cares..its about having fun and fun costs money. If you cant afford this type of fun you need to step off and get a car like a toyota...runs for a long time..very boring and has great resale value. I am not putting you down..just what I see in the questions you pose..you seem to worry too much over things that might not even happen.

Everett43

Hi ricster.....I understand. I'm driving my wife nuts going through all the scenarios for a car!
I just want to educate myself as thoroughly as possible before I take the plunge. Actually, it has been
enjoyable learning about the cars. As someone said "nobody NEEDS a Porsche", it's just an indulgence
that I'd like to make.

Everett

red89

Buy the most beautiful Carerra you can find so that you can enjoy every minute of pouring money into it.

Rick Sylvestri

Some of the costs here for top end rebuilds are on the high side.

I just had mine done a few weeks ago from Jae at Mirage Int. here in San Diego.
3 bent exhuast valves and 2 bent intake so new ones there, new aasco racing valve springs,Ti retainers, head work-bore guides, cut & lap valves, cut spring perch for aasco springs, replace clutch anchor, shorten clutch cable, install 4 solid mounts, 2 new oil return tubes, R&Reinstall engine
All for around $3,500 with a 275.00 Team discount.
It pays to shop around, and get some recomndations from other members.
My .02, Rick

Ed Hughes

I don't follow your statement. The few numbers thrown out here are in line with what you disclose. Your talking pretty much rebuilt heads. Many, on a 20+ year old car would not stop at just heads, but may go through cams, rockers, rings, headstuds, fuel lines, etc while apart whch can and does add up quickly.

M491

Yeah, a daily commute of only 1.5 miles isn't going to be good for the car, over time.

But, if you can take the car out once a week, or even once every two or three weeks, to get everything fully warmed up, it'll be fine.

People always state the horrors of a low mileage car ("dried out seals," etc.).

I think that is mostly a bunch of BS. Or, at least, spoken by people without first hand experience.

I've had many low mile cars, and have never had any of those problems. Of course, these were (and are) all cars that have been maintained. Yeah, if you park a car in a field for 20 years, it will have low miles and be in horrible condition. But that's not what most do.

Low or high miles, it all depends on how the car was cared for. But, the care given being equal, the low mile car will always be the better car. Putting miles on a car wears it out, in thousands of different ways.

I currently have a car that is 20+ years old with well under 10K miles on it. I try to drive it once every 3 weeks or so, but sometimes that stretches to a month, or 6 weeks. No problem. Have had the car for years, and have not had any "dry seals," or other such things. I change all the fluids on the time schedules (oil every year, brake fluid every 2 years, etc.). Keep it on a battery charger. Fires up, drives great, every time.

If this 17K mile car has been well cared for and maintained, it is a rare find and very possibly a real gem. You can't buy a new 3.2 Carrera anymore, but that's going to be pretty darn close, if it is as it should be.

Rick Sylvestri

Just giving him a more accurate quote for a full top end rebuild.
With 17k on the clock it's possible but I would doubt the valve train would be my first concerns... PPI, new fluids, filters valve adjust & check head studs would be. Then drive her

Ed Hughes

I just don't think what you describe is a "full topend rebuild", which is why I thought your numbers are in sync with what's being thrown out.