A 'car locator' I talked to a while back actually found me a 78 SC that might be of interest. It's got rust, paint and seat issues, but to what degree I don't know yet. From what he writes below, and from what the kinda crummy pictures show, do you think this one is worth pursuing? Started off at 12k a few weeks ago, just came back saying he thought the owner would take 10k.
One thing I'm pretty sure I know is, I don't want to get into the expense of a total new paint job. I can live with a not-so-hot paint job as long as it's not really bad, I think, and as long as I buy the car for a good price. Ditto the rust. It all depends on how bad it is.
Is 10k a good price? You be the judge!
Thanks!

The locator writes: "Owner Has owned it since '79 and the engine, tranny and clutch were all done by XXX (good "Porsche only" shop) in '02 and the car hasn't been driven much since. 157k by original owner, but motor and tranny were rebuilt and new clutch installed at 153 and the car hasn't been driven much since.
Poor repaint with some minor rust issues, but solid and has new Bilstein shocks and new brake rotors and pads. Runs very well, good tires and newly refinished wheels. Interior is good except the drivers seat needs some help. Cheap at somewhere around $12K. Summary: Very good mechanically with some cosmetic issues that can be chipped away at over time."

Today's update from the locator: "I think he'll accept $10K.
Given that he spent more than $17K on it in repairs about 1,300 miles ago.......... "

 

Looks like a great rat rod project.

Expect to spend $7k - $9k on a solid paint job + whatever interior work needs to be done.

All told, you will be into this car for well over $20k unless you can do most of the work yourself.

 

Ooof. Not what I want to hear. What I want to hear is, buy it, drive it as is for 2, 3 years, leave the cosmetics alone, sell it, you'll get your 10k out of it or at worst lose a k, and you'll have had a lot of fun on the cheap, leaving the new paint job and whatnot for the next owner, to whom you could pass along your groovy sheepskin seat covers, etc., all this predicated of course on the mechanicals being as stated. *That's* what I want to hear!

 

I was operating under the assumption you wanted to make it pristine per your other postings.

Given the conditions above, have a PPI done and if it checks out, then drive it like you stole it.

Does the AC work? Is your climate condusive to no AC? If not, then that may get expensive.

If your budget is $10k you may be better off buying a solid 944 and putting some extra $$ in your pocket.

 

happy to oblige...

buy it, drive it as is for 2, 3 years, leave the cosmetics alone, sell it, you'll get your 10k out of it or at worst lose a k, and you'll have had a lot of fun on the cheap, leaving the new paint job and whatnot for the next owner, to whom you could pass along your groovy sheepskin seat covers, etc.

good luck!

ps: more things you don't want to hear... documentation? / owner history? / accidents? / rust Rust RUST?? / & of course, "all 911s are $20K cars" (at least).

 

Yep

 

well, okay, i hear you. yeah, that rust is troubling.
from what i gather, it's pretty much a one owner car. the guy bought it in 1979 (got a good deal on a 78?) and has owned it ever since. I would assume that he has all the documentation, though I don't know that for a fact.
I'll ask the broker dude a few more questions. (btw, I don't have any reason to trust him or to not trust him; don't know him at all; just another face in the Internet crowd.)
And thanks, Ked, for telling me what I wanted to hear!

 

$10K seems a little steep for a first year SC. Obviously the original $12K was too steep since it didn't sell and the price is now being lowered. Looks like a totally stock original and un-abused car though. I would be leery of a couple of things.........

First of all the rust. Look underneath, under the carpets at the floors, longitudinals, rockers, torsion areas, front suspension pan, etc. Rust will "make or break" this deal.

Secondly........the paint looks pretty dull. A repaint will probably be in the "cards" if you want it to look pretty. But the main thing that you've got to wonder about, why was it repainted before with a poor quality job? Accident damage? I would look closely for any evidence of previous accident repairs.

Also, how abour records? Are there records dating back to '79? That would be a good thing to have and look through before making your decision. How about original tool kit, jack, owner's manual, etc. Those are all valuable things for an original car AND for helping to re-sell one day!

 

floete.......I'm not sure where you're located at and what SC's are going for around there. However, here in the Bay Area, I see SC's all the time for around $10K. Obviously some are probably pretty rough, but some sound to be pretty nice for the price! For not too much more, I see a number of Carreras going for in the low teens!

 

I was actually just going to bring that up, the current prices of Carreras. There's a 91 C4 a couple of states down from me with 134k miles going for 14.5. And then there's an 87 Carrera with 112k miles with an asking price of 16.5 that keeps getting lowered; but it's on the west coast ... though i am not adverse to driving across country. But you do have a point. And some part of me is beginning to think I should just pony up 15k for a Carrera and be done with it. At heart, though, I'm a low baller (see other current post!!!) and am misguidedly, I'm sure, hoping that I'll be the lucky one who finds that 10k SC that'll not cost me 20k in the end. I know it ain't gonna happen. Now I've just got to convince myself of that. Thanks for weighing in!

 

How many miles has the seller driven the car since 02?

A little more for an 83 with a better paint job

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/1571111002.html

John

 

Rust is a problem. These cars were galvanized and seldom have rust. When they do it indicates collision most likely. When unsuspecting painters sand the old paint off(down to the metal)they can take off the thin galvanizing and then prime/paint as usual. Stay away from resprays. Thus my contention that poor original paint is better than a pretty repaint. So...if you are not cosmetic-driven, look for a car with all original paint. It's the best insurance you have against collision damage and rust issues. It's also real hard to find on any older 911. It seems a majority have had at least a fender replaced/repaired. Good luck, 10k seems like a strong price. The drivetrain better be perfect as advertised. Lots of people out there try to put a new pair of "panties" on an old beater and hype it real good. I think your starting to see that a really good car in the 14k-18k range is money well spent.

 

My personal preference is to pay for decent cosmetics and fix the mechanicals on my watch rather than the other way around. That is partly because I'll do most of the mechanical work myself. Body work and interior stitching is mostly beyond me at this time. But, people differ. I would worry about rust; however, that can depend on your ownership objectives. If you're not expecting to be a long term owner, a little rust might not bother you since you probably won't have to really address it during your ownership. You'll just want to make sure you don't overpay for the pleasure of having the rust issues. For the roughly equal prices, I like the earlier black or silver ones over this one. With this one you have some known good mechanicals, but you also know you have significant cosmetic issues and possible fundamental body and chassis issues with the rust (caveat that I don't know how bad the rust is on this car). With the other cars, you have good cosmetics (I gather from what I've read and seen), and the reasonable chance that the mechanicals are good. So you're looking at a car with a definite plus and definite minus versus two others with a definite plus and a possible plus or neutral. Sure the 100,000+ mile engines wouldn't be expected to last as long as the recently rebuilt one, but maybe your expected term of ownership factors in again.

One can really overthink this. I stopped thinking and just bought the coolest color I could find.

Brett

 

Good stuff, guys. I turned down the car and will move on. My new goal: buying the 911 with the coolest color I can find, too!

 

This looks like a very nice well sorted 1982 Targa on Pelican. The owner has lowered the price to $11K. Looks and sounds like a nice car! Check it out:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...911-targa.html