g-50cab

Seriously?

115K miles is barely broken in for a Carrera.

Most of the items you mentioned can be knocked out by taking a week of work and diving in - seriously. Peeling clear coat?

No heat below freezing? My old carrera could cook a loaf of bread in the cabin if I turned the heat to anything but the lowest setting. My guess is you may just need to replace the blow motor.

$1000 for a targa top headliner that's drooping? Buy a can of spray adhesive.

Dismal performance? Sounds like you are not getting full throttle or not driving the car in the RPM range it needs to be driven (like north of 4500 rpms).

O2 Sensor wiring? easy replacement.

1500 for a replacement AC compressor? you need to shop around some more.

Sounds to me like you are justifying moving to another car - That's fine too. - But don't discount what you have. A well set up 80's targa can be a great dual purpose car. Great when you take off the targa top and you have your honey next to you on a Saturday evening, great car when you put on your driving gloves and hit a DE.

Dismal? I wouldn't even rank my 2,7 as dismal.

afinepoint

Dismal may be harsh. Disappointing perhaps more accurate.

I like my car but don't want this to be a victory of spare parts over common sense. That can often become the case should sentiment, stubborness or other misdirected factors set in.

Sounds like I need to find a good local 911 Whiz who can put his eyes on things, drive her and give me a no s*** assesment.

rusnak

I'm not trying to be insulting, but I think you just want to be rid of the 911 and want someone to agree with you. No?

Ed Hughes

I think that is the consensus.

afinepoint

No. If I didn't want it this discussion wouldn't be taking place.

rusnak

Well then yes, yes you should just sell it and get a more modern car by all means.

afinepoint

I'm saying I do want the car. It would be long gone if I did not.

To clarify things this thread is to help determine if it would be cheaper/better to go through all it would take to restore this car or just sell her and buy a (similar)restored car needing nothing. I guess I didn't ask it clearly. Sorry.

I had read in that it is generally less expensive to buy a restored car than to restore one. Unless you just want to do it for the joy of it, or you have something rare. Cheaper to buy in that you will never get all the money back on restoration or upgrades. It's worth what it's worth. Remember your time is worth something. It is not just the cost of parts.

I don't have the skills or experience to make that decision with this car. Emotions aside.

Reg

500

Generally speaking you will pay less for a car someone else fixed up then one you fixed up yourself, ASSUMING all is equal.

Even doing the work yourself, these cars are not cheap to restore and the market does not fully compensate you for doing a car right.

I get the sense (and I may be wrong) that you can do work on cars, but that is not a real big part of the fun for you. When that is the case, than getting involved in expensive work is less rewarding.

For a guy like myself, I can at least say I derive satisfaction doing the restoration work on the car, even though I recognize I would have been financially better off paying the premium for a really top car. In your case, you may not have that satisfaction to give you value for the money you will spend.

I know some on this thread have opined that the car may not need much investment to make good. They may be right, but operating based on just a verbal description, your car sounds pretty tired. And when some things are tired, more are.

A gentleman on here, w00tPORSCHE purchased a REALLY nice Carrera for $22K this past year. I tend to refer to it often as it is a truly well-chosen car. Let's low ball your car today and say you got $6K for it. You would have to work really hard to bring the typical tired 911 up to the standard of w00t's car for that $16K extra.

Having said that, you can get it into decent driver condition for less, but it all depends on what you really want.

Daniel Dudley

My old Fiat ran a lot better when the O2 sensor was restored.

Lots of people would love to have that car. The trick is keeping up with them. Let them go downhill, and suddenly it is a long uphill battle to mechanical and cosmetic grace.

A tune up, filters, O2, exhaust and chip would really wake up that baby, and make it snappy to 100+. IMO, worth the outlay, but I have 6,500.00 in cash that I would be happy to hand over to you right now, if you don't have the heart to invest in having a happy car.

Make them run. Make them run well, then make them look good. Little baby steps, and do the simple obvious stuff first. Generally speaking, they like to run, and they run better the more and the harder you run them. You can have AC.

Look, you could have a Supercharged Miata with good air if you just want a fun car that will just go and handle well on the track. Japanese cars just go.

For the same money you could probably get that Targa up and running with decent Air.

Your choice.

UberXY

$300, or less. Uses same compressor as my '88 Landcruiser.

afinepoint

Daniel I will consider your offer. By the way I've driven a Miata. They do go but are a little cramped for me.

Cars such as Porsches must look well and be mechanically sound. They deserve nothing less. Thanks Uber for the information. $300 I can do.

The paint cost will probably be what kills this project.

whalebird

probably an easy sell. Post some pictures and see what kind of feed back you get. That may cannonise your thoughts a bit.

911sccab...how bout a gratuitous photo of the Maurader. Those cars simply ROCK. I keep my eyes open for them and they are a rare and graceful boat for sure.

Arctic1

Still not convinced that you want your car.

What do you want the car to do for you? You have mentioned being a bit of a perfectionist and your car is not presently perfect. That may be a big part of your answer as to whether to get a different one.

Also sounds like you want a Porsche, but one with some ooomph. Your car doesn't have it. Don't know if it ever will have enough ooomph.

When owning a vintage (insert car make) common sense does not play a role in restoration. Its a love for the car, for the work or something, but generally not a lot of common sense at work.

Putting on the psychiatrists hat for a second, I don't believe that your heart is with your current car. And like others have said -- not a problem. Best thing to do could be to sell it and move on without lamenting the 'what could have been'.

Good luck with the decision and again, please post pics.

murphyjp

If you decide to sell, I'd be interested. Just what I'm looking for so my son and I can tackle some projects together. Sounds like a good variety of not so hard projects to begin with.

afinepoint

She (any car for me) has to start every time, accelerate with authority , stop like it snagged a tail hook, and keep me dry, cool and warm without exception. Sorry but I'm old and the last ones do matter.

I'll see if I can find a local instructor/experienced driver in the Richmond Va. area to take a look. There has to be one around here. I belonged to First Settlers but they all seemed to work and play in the Va. Beach area.

During one track day I mentioned the "sluggish" acceleration to my instructor. He stated time could be made up in the turns once experience grew. To me that statement implied - "she ain't going any faster". And to be truthful many if not most of the cars at the track events were lightly to heavily modified. The lightly or nonmodified modified ones were often newer than mine. And who really knew what was under the hood.

For all she went through at the track she always brought me home.

I'll get those pictures posted. Please no more psychology. I just want technical feedback.

Thanks,

Reg