buying 911
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ian@onlegal
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I bought a LHD 1980 188bhp 911SC in November 2002 for £5,000. I could have run it as it was and carried out work as I went along, but I decided to take it to bits. I think I have now "bottomed it" and am aware of all the problems. They are: (i) rust hole approx. 4 inches diameter in offside sill beneath the door latch. Must be a common problem because you can get a repair panel. Muck from the rear wheel collects above the oil cooler pipes, which are hot and speed up the chemical reactions that turn shiny galvanised steel into iron oxide; (ii) the exhaust blows - needs new system apart from rear box; (iii) the heater flap valves (which are a pig to get at, esp. if the engine is still in situ, but cheap enough) were rusted away; (iv) rust at the base of the windscreen, in the corners; (v) rust around the petrol filler cap and at the bottom of the trailing edge of the wings (hidden by the sill panel) and around the headlights; (vi) rust hole on the inner wing behind the bumper mounting/crush can visible from inside the bonnet (with the carpet removed) just above the battery; (vii) rust on the rear inner wing hidden behind the oil tank; (viii) cracked rubber bumper bellows; (ix) minor rust in various places, but nothing disastrous; (x) the gas struts that hold up bonnet (x2) and engine cover (x1) didn't, but "they all do (or, more accurately, don't do) that sir"; (xi) tatty interior; (xii) inoperative electric door mirrors (but they adjust by hand quite easily); and (xiii) the engine will not idle.
It sounds like a disaster, but it isn't. Most of the repairs are within the abilities of a half-competent D-I-Y mechanic. People reckon Porsches are complex cars, but compared to any current car my 911 is like a meccano set with littel or no electrickery. If you can weld and have the tackle (or access to it), so much the better. I reckon that if I had mended the holey sill, inner wing and the exhaust the car would have got through its next MoT and I would have been running around in a sub-concours, but serviceable, 911 for the last 12 months or so. As it is, it sits in my garage, resplendent in new paint, but still in bits, with no windows, partly stripped interior and the engine out. But one day ....
Good hunting
It sounds like a disaster, but it isn't. Most of the repairs are within the abilities of a half-competent D-I-Y mechanic. People reckon Porsches are complex cars, but compared to any current car my 911 is like a meccano set with littel or no electrickery. If you can weld and have the tackle (or access to it), so much the better. I reckon that if I had mended the holey sill, inner wing and the exhaust the car would have got through its next MoT and I would have been running around in a sub-concours, but serviceable, 911 for the last 12 months or so. As it is, it sits in my garage, resplendent in new paint, but still in bits, with no windows, partly stripped interior and the engine out. But one day ....
Good hunting
ian@onlegal
New member
Hi again Bones,
Sorry, didn't realise you'd also replied about my project and the lexan/polycarbonate window query.
Afraid I'm in Halifax (Yorkshire mind, not Nova Scotia), but you're welcome to take a look if you're ever in this part of the world. The car is as much an expression of Yorkshire tightfistedness as it is the art of automotive restoration. And anyway, solid metal covered in several lustrous coats of paint and lacquer wieghs a lot more than fibreglass mat, resin and a quick blow-over!
To have restored the car to pristine condition would have cost more than it could ever be worth, and having only paid £5,000 for it in the first place, it seemed like a pointless exercise. My aim is to end up with a sound, functional and presentable SC weighing less than 1100kgs and putting out over 200bhp. It's going to be used for high days holidays and track days (if I ever find the time), so the fact that it may be a bit raw and spartan is not a problem. I'm not Derek Bell or Walter Rohrl, so 200bhp will be plenty for starters, especially since it has no spoiler, splitter, wing or other aerodynamic aid and runs on standard cookie cutters (albeit coated in a fetching shade of titanium) and road tyres.
On the subject of lexan windows, don't 964 RS's and the GT3 have them? Porsche must deem them acceptable, but I have no idea where to source them. There must be some racers out there who know.
Sorry, didn't realise you'd also replied about my project and the lexan/polycarbonate window query.
Afraid I'm in Halifax (Yorkshire mind, not Nova Scotia), but you're welcome to take a look if you're ever in this part of the world. The car is as much an expression of Yorkshire tightfistedness as it is the art of automotive restoration. And anyway, solid metal covered in several lustrous coats of paint and lacquer wieghs a lot more than fibreglass mat, resin and a quick blow-over!
To have restored the car to pristine condition would have cost more than it could ever be worth, and having only paid £5,000 for it in the first place, it seemed like a pointless exercise. My aim is to end up with a sound, functional and presentable SC weighing less than 1100kgs and putting out over 200bhp. It's going to be used for high days holidays and track days (if I ever find the time), so the fact that it may be a bit raw and spartan is not a problem. I'm not Derek Bell or Walter Rohrl, so 200bhp will be plenty for starters, especially since it has no spoiler, splitter, wing or other aerodynamic aid and runs on standard cookie cutters (albeit coated in a fetching shade of titanium) and road tyres.
On the subject of lexan windows, don't 964 RS's and the GT3 have them? Porsche must deem them acceptable, but I have no idea where to source them. There must be some racers out there who know.
ian@onlegal
New member
Hi Ian,
Many thanks for your advice (to Bones, but he was replying to me in the first place). Venturing into Lancashire is always an ordeal for a Yorkshireman like me, but needs must ...
Many thanks for your advice (to Bones, but he was replying to me in the first place). Venturing into Lancashire is always an ordeal for a Yorkshireman like me, but needs must ...
ian@onlegal
New member
I'm new to this forum job. Must say I thought it was a bit of a nerdy idea at first. Perhaps it is, but as you say, it's great how you can get information through it. thanks again.
The other Ian
The other Ian
ian@onlegal
New member
Ah'll tell thee wot Bones lad, it's a reet good job tha's gor a Porsche (which means tha mun ev a shred o' decency i' thee), cos otherwise me an t'other Ian ovver in Lancasheer ud tek umbrage at yon racist, anti-Northerner remark in thy e-mail and come dahn theer ter set t'whippet on thee. Tha's tekkin a reet liberty. Just cos yee lot dahn sahth av bloody toilets inside yer 'ouse an yer call a pijin loft an "ayveeeeeairy", yer think yer reet posh. Ooh, yer've med me 'oppin' mad tha'r as. Ah'd best go in t' garage an tune me engine wi' a big 'ammer afoor ah get too worked up. Lahk me anger management therapist said, "dunt get mad: tek it aht on't wife, t'whippet or t' Porsche instead".
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