joseph mitro

I drove a 1970 911T the other day with 140000 miles (or something like that) and it drove great. the engine was strong and the webers sounded great.

my questions are:
1. I am considering purchasing this car as a daily driver in Oklahoma. are these cars reliable enough for this? what kind of maintenance expenses can I look for?

2. the engine temp barely rose above 1/4 (on a 40 degree day, with 20 minutes of vigorous driving) and the heater output was virtually zero. I need heat to drive on a daily basis. is this low heat a characteristic of these cars? also, the car had an aftermarket mid 80's whaletail on it. Could this have affected the engine cooling (or warming?).

3. asking price is $8500. the engine leaks no oil and the pan is in good shape except for a small pea-sized hole in the front floorpan due to rust. appropriate asking price?

thanks for any and all advice,

Joseph Mitro
OKC

NTI 911E

Hmm... reliable? That isn't the first word I would use to describe my 73. I think temperamental would be better. Most of the time she runs great... but I left her outside in the cold for two weeks (under multiple car covers of course) and she barely started and was leaking a lot of oil. Just 300 miles later she's back to her old self.

I wouldn't recommend a first-gen 911 as a daily driver

Matt Chamblin

When you say daily driver, do you mean your only motorized vehicle?

Personaly I would want to have some other car/truck to drive as a back-up. Because these cars need maintenance, and unlike a HOnda or Toyota, you can't ignore it untill you have the money or time to take car of it and continue to drive it.

About the small pea-sized rust hole, my guess is there is more rust than just this spot. There are all kinds of places for it to be on all these cars, but especially the pre-galvanized bodies.

,

Kevin Stewart

test

Jim Florance

My '70 911 is currently undergoing major rust repairs, I'm replacing the pan, the longitudinal wheelhouse panel and the inner rocker panel, I thought I was buying a rust free car, you would be suprised what a deft hand with a bunch of undercoating can do to hide rust. I would advise you to look at a later model car with galvanized chassis and body!!! On the up side, the mechanicals have been pretty dependable, I have been using the car as a daily drive 5 days a week for the past 3 years and have never been stranded... some close calls (vapor lock in Palm Springs,and a broken plug wire a year later) My car has been a good car, but I religiously maintain it and have a very good mechanic. I do have a truck as a second car and consider that a necesity if you are going to drive a 32yr old car as your primary driver.

pig4bill

Regarding the heater issue, yes, they take a long time to warm up and a long time for the heater to work. No water cooling, remember. If you have mostly short daily drives, a 911 is not the best choice because it won't have a chance to get up to normal operating temperature.