I have the potential opportunity to acquire a 1978 911SC Coupe. Body has 140k miles, with a correct 3.0 engine swap that has around 70k miles. Seller claims that the car runs strong and is his DD. No pop-off valve, but also says never had a problem with backfiring.

The interior carpets, headliner and seats will probably need to be replaced, as they're in rough shape. Body looks good, but not perfect, though nothing glaring.

He is asking $25K. I'm just at the point where I'm ready to discuss price and have a PPI and compression test performed.

What are the good people's thoughts on this?

 

I'd ask myself some questions. Assuming the PPI turns out well, how much of the interior problems are you willing to live with and how much will you need to fix before you're happy with the car? It sounds rough for $25k, but these are strange times price wise so I'm not going to say $25k is too much. If they continue to rise in cost you'll feel like a genius. If they drop, not so much.

How much of the interior work can you do yourself? If you can't do it yourself, new leather installed is around $1800 last I looked. A redye about $200 in supplies if you do it yourself. Carpet another grand and probably half that for professionally installed headliner. So you're looking at another $4k to bring the interior back. If you're not going to be satisfied with the interior in its current state, include that cost in your decision now.

I wouldn't worry so much about the pop off valve. I blew my air box in the mid 80's and installed mine then, You can do it yourself if you decide to.

Find out if the shocks have been replaced. Find out if the pressure fed tensioners have been installed or at least collars installed on the chain tensioner shafts. Failed tensioners are much more serious potentially.

Ask for copies of his maintenance records. No records, I would walk and keep searching. Find out about the engine swap. Why was it done and who did the work. Most SC's don't need a new engine at 70k miles. I have 214k miles on my original engine and it's never been opened. Just my opinion.

 

Seller said the old, 140K mile engine was knocking. He had it replaced with a like motor with 70k miles on it. He does not know about whether it is pressure fed or if there are collars installed. He also has never replaced the shocks in his ownership. So two knocks, without a PPI completed.

On the plus side, he reduced the price to $20K.

 

the SC cars are very solid, if the PPI checks out and you like the car in general than $25k is a fair price. I had an 83 euro that i regret selling about 3 months ago. they are very cool cars to drive

 

High miles, non matching numbers & needing a new interior could mean a lot of $$$ in maintenance & interior refresh which you might not get back when it comes to resale value. You'd be better off spending a bit more & buying a higher caliber of car that will look after your $$$