Barry Johnson

A friend of mine has a '66 that I'm considering purchasing, but its in pretty sad shape and has a very bad history.
This is a car that has been sitting in an unsealed garage for years, and is in pieces. He doesnt have the time to do anything with it, and I'm doing some work for him on another car, so this may be worked towards a trade in some form, but I'm very clueless on the value of such a car. This would be a new undertaking for me, and would take a seriously long time to complete.

So, here goes!
'66 911 with either a 70 or 71 911T engine, Zenith carbs. Heads have new valves and guides, and sometime it has had the tensioner and related bits replaced. Supposedly 5k miles since the top end, but thats been many years ago. Car was hit in 2001 in the left rear quarter panel and broke a control arm and munched the bumper and fender, which has mainly been repaired, but it now has a salvage title. The rear firewall is ruined from rust, and there is surface rust in the pans up front, and at one point the pan area by the clutch slave had been rotted all the way through, and cut out and repaired. No pics of that however. Driver's door is not original (not collision related, previous owner was drunk and tried pushing the car by the door and it bent outward), and rear bumper has been replaced with a donor.

No sunroof, red interior that is mainly all there (one seat needs recovering), headliner is coming down at the rear by the rear glass, windshield is pitting but good, all new seals for the glass in boxes, and has its original wheels somewhere in unknown condition. There is a 2"x1" hole through the frame rail by the fuel pump from rust (if I remember right, could be in a pic).

Aside from that, the body is mainly good and the engine had been running quite well at one point. Odometer reads 22xxx, not sure if thats 122 or 222, but its certainly not 22k :^).

So experts, what do you think this is worth me paying, and assuming thats the worst news of everything, is it worth fixing or just parting instead?

My goal would be to fix the rust, get it back together and running, clean it up, get it painted the original color (silver or white, hard to tell) and enjoy it.

Check the pics, post your thoughts! Sorry for the quality, bad lighting and using a camera phone.

ricster

Looks like a ton of work and $$$$$ to make right. My opinion, not worth it. Nice MV Agusta F4 1000.

TheBen

this seems like a parts car. Run away...quickly!

Ed Hughes

That's a shame. That would take a fair amount of $ and time to save. Not for the feint of heart, and unless there is some unknown history or rarity, would be upside down most likely. Lots of more loved 911's around to spend money on.

Barry Johnson

Ricster: thanks!
Ben & Ed: I was kinda thinking that, but hoping to hear something about the vintage being worth puting back on the road for the sake of saving it. I wouldn't anticipate selling it for any profit.

Any idea on a realistic, ball-park value for something like that?

ked

it's already a parts car... they've just been in close proximity for the past decade.

Makmov

Yup, run run away!

For what it would take just to make a safe and decent driver you could buy a better car than that one will ever be.

Ed Hughes

Value? Who knows, older 911's have done nicely the last few years, but not enough to justify that kind of work. Search Ebay, Panorama, and similar to see what similar 911's are going for. Then subtract $75-100K, and that is what this car is worth.

rusnak

Too bad it's not a 1965. You might just spend some time researching the original chassis and engine. But I agree, if it were a 356 Cab, it would be worth it, but not too many folks would want to do a major restoration on a 66.

Barry Johnson

Ok, getting some good feedback here, thanks guys.
Would there be a "right" price to buy it for parting out and making a few? I gotta believe a '70 engine with rebuilt heads alone has to be worth something...

Edgy01

Many thanks for all the detailed photos. It's interesting to see how little the 911 evolved from its origins back in the mid-1960s. So much remained the same.

However, I hope everyone has nicknamed you "Mr. Moneybags" or "Mr. Welder/Bodyshop Man" because it will take a significant amount of money and/or skill to make that car whole again.

Personally, I like the idea because there are so few 1966 911 cars still around--but realistically, you should part it out, find a better example of one, and make the better one whole.

UberXY

If $50k is hobby money for you and does not represent a financial sacrifice, restore it. Otherwise, no go.

sj340

Take a REALISTIC figure of what it would take to restore that car,cut it in half and go buy a mint restored car already finished that you can enjoy today.Then bank the other 50% and you will be much happier.

GothingNC

Looks like a parts car or expensive restoration that will consume all your spare time.

John

Carrera51

The motor, gearbox, wheels (Fuchs on the car and the originals), maybe the gauges and dash trim pieces will have some value. The tub is probably too far gone based on the photos. Lots of rust you can see, means a lot more that you will find underneath.

The only way to really tell is to get the car out from under the pile of stuff it is buried under, try to hand turn the motor and take an inventory of the parts. Separate the good from the bad. If he wants to give it to you really cheap or for free, and yo have garage space to work on it, then take it apart, keep what you want, and get rid of the rest.