RND

Hello, I've been out of the Porsche fold for over 10 years now regretfully selling my '84 Carrera as the kids starting popping out. I love the air cooled cars, but the prices keep rising every year so didn't seem like I'd get back into one anytime soon. However, I've come across a '92 Cabriolet 5sp with about 100k miles on it with a sketchy past.

The current owner has only had it for about a year and doesn't know much about it. It has aftermarket door panels and seats. Rear seats were pulled to put in a large sub which since has been removed. Door locks don't work, and heat runs continuously. Has oil leaks. But other than that, he says it's perfect!

Doesn't know if it's had any accidents or repaint. Recently put a lot of money into getting the top functional. Asking $17,500. How much would it be to source oem door panels and door cards? Is the heat issue a common problem? It's the first air cooled 911 I've seen in a long while below $20K, but it might not be worth the time and money investment?

greg1990964

What color is interior? I have tan door panels. If aside from the interior butchery the car is otherwise ok, beat him down to 15 and go for it!

abarthguy

"The most expensive car you can buy is a cheap Porsche"
Not always, but seems like a lot going on with this one.....

greg1990964

He is correct it can suck out lots of cash. If motor is sound you can always take your time acquiring bits and pieces. I got lucky with my first a cab. If you are mechanically inclined take a risk and have fun. I don't see how if it not a salvage car, how you could wrong at 17k or lower with the market being what it is. I like finding orphans they need a little tlc. Heat and door lock issues are easy, stupid things to fix. I would only think about those as nice bargaining chips.

Ken D

Have you had a PPI done on the car? I'd highly recommend it if you haven't, especially as the car has some questionable modifications. There are some great independent shops in MA who can do the PPI.

dhc905

Sounds a little like the one I bought as a fixer upper. I just had my local indie do the passenger side only the door locks and swap out the old sensor out back (that controls the heater blower) and that cost almost $500.

The big cost is the convertible top - does it work? There's really no cheap or easy work-around to that and you are looking down the barrel of at least 2K up to 5K.

RND

Thanks for all the quick replies guys! I just want to make sure I'm not getting Porsche fever and jumping on what appears to be a good deal only to discover I have to put $10K into it and I could have bought a much nicer car for $27K to start with.

I'd love to bring this one back - I'm an OEM fan so I would look to source replacement oem door cards and seats (front and rear) and work through all the bugs. Over the winter, I'd probably drop the engine and take a look at the oil leaks. If I move forward, I will schedule a PPI to see what the compression / leakdown looks like.

Did '92 still have problems with the dual mass flywheels and dual distributors? My memory is fuzzy but I seem to recall issues like this.

dhc905

Any of those issues probably resolved at this point given the age and mileage.

OEM can be a killer - stuff you think should be $100 (like door cards/panels) are $400. The main reason I took my car to a mechanic to fix the passenger door was because I'm pretty sure I would have broken my card and had to shell out $400 with no guaruntee that I could actually fix it once I was in there. Also the dealer quoted me $400 to open the door, so getting the door + temp sensor was kind of a good deal.

greg1990964

I am also in MA. If you pass on car I would be Interested. Never seen it listed anywhere. Paying someone $500 dollars to mess around with a door lock is insane to me, but not everyone has the time or the skills to fix stuff. It sounds like you don't want to do much work yourself so if that is the case you def want a sorted car. The DMF in 92 is fine. They were LUK at that point I am pretty sure. Same for the dist.

RND

Do door cards and seats show up regularly in the classifieds here or on Pelican? If I can get this car back to showroom condition for around $20K, I'd be happy. Current owner just put $2K into top mechanism to get it working again so that's taken care of for now.

RND

Just spoke to the seller and it's sold. Bought sight unseen and going to California. Broker/Dealer. Guess that answered my original question $17,500 was a very good price! Oh well, you snooze, you lose.

greg1990964

Knew it was worth it. Dealer will source seats and make a few bucks. And to make one comment about tops, as long as the canvass and window are good, the mechanicals don't mean much to me. They are easier to work by just doing it manually. Doesn't matter now.

RND

Yup, sounds like this would have been a fun project as long as the engine didn't require a top end rebuild. Not sure it was for me in the long run - I have found that I can't stop restoring a car until it's like it left the factory. I'm usually far better off with a car that was already a garage queen / concours car. I can do all the mechanical work, but I'm not a paint / body guy and that can easily cost $10K for a quality windows out, all new seals, etc. paint job these days.