pitfalls of cheap 911s...

lewis · Post by **lewis** » Sun May 30, 2004 8:48 am

I had bills for nearly £7000 when I bought my car 68 912 its now in pieces and I am still spending,it is suprising how it all adds up,the only thing I can say is that if you can do a little at a time yourself OK but if you want to just drive it use th following formula. cost of car-how long it is going to be off road-how much is it going to cost (think of a sum and double it). = how much could I save in the time it is of road + the money I would have spent add together and buy a decent runner, you wont reget.

lewis · Post by **lewis** » Sun May 30, 2004 8:49 am

I had bills for nearly £7000 when I bought my car 68 912 its now in pieces and I am still spending,it is suprising how it all adds up,the only thing I can say is that if you can do a little at a time yourself OK but if you want to just drive it use th following formula. cost of car-how long it is going to be off road-how much is it going to cost (think of a sum and double it). = how much could I save in the time it is of road + the money I would have spent add together and buy a decent runner, you wont reget.

Nick Moss · Post by **Nick Moss** » Sun May 30, 2004 10:33 am

£3000 doesn't get a great deal done to a seriously rusty car. I would suggest you get a bodyshop experienced in Porsche restoration work to check the car out before you go ahead. It could be a bottomless pit. Is the car L or RHD? It makes a big difference to the value of the finished car.

912uk · Post by **912uk** » Sun May 30, 2004 10:44 am

LHD or RHD drive back to that old fruit. I don't think the value is a great worry when they are this old. Carefull Nick you going to turn in to FH...

I would rather have a LHD solid car than pay for what people think are more money RHD (pos ) Rot box.

£3k does sound alot of money but with parts and labour you are going to get a floor and a batt tray with some of the Porsche guys. I think if you are seroius and want to get it solid then there are pleanty of VW welders out there who many have had some Porsche resto work in the past and are much cheaper. This may mean having to keep an eye on the project but overall there are some very good VW welders out there. ....theyhave to be...

Next big question is the engine..... well if that needs a rebuild then your going to be in for a few more £££..

Well what ever you do do your home work.

And why can't you do some of the work , never a better time to learn.

Even if you get a jig like Nicks where you can turn the body over on it's side to do the work could be a good start. I am sure Nick has pics on his web site.

Mark

g3ngs · Post by **g3ngs** » Sun May 30, 2004 11:05 am

aaahh lhd or rhd that is the question-

cue flashback wavy screen-

once had a k ghia, absolutely rotten, not joking you'd park it and you'd drive away with less than you started with. bits of the floor would drop off if you braked too hard.

engine was pants too.

now i think of it the paint and gbox wasn't so hot either.

It was the biggest money pit ever but is was UK rhd and when I came to sell it I was beating them off. Personally Iwouldn't have touched it with a barge pole but people do go gaga for a bit of rhd

shelltoes · Post by **shelltoes** » Sun May 30, 2004 11:35 am

Yeah (Of course) it’s a left hooker; basically the car has nothing going for it other than the fact of what it is.
I don’t mind LHD though; ive never had any problems in my ’14…
Although I might actually be able to over-take things with the extra cylinders!
I should not buy this car; I have had much more than my share of heart and wallet ache with VW’s and obviously have not learned.
But I do want one! Maybe not one that is so cr@p….
In the light of day im gonna think about it, and hopefully go and see one in one piece I can afford if I sell the organs now rather than later. That should put it in perspective.
As for doing the work, im keen, but perhaps full restoration is not the best place to start…

john matthews · Post by **john matthews** » Mon May 31, 2004 11:51 pm

If I might make a suggestion ....

Take what you were going to pay for it , and add what you think it might cost you ie. as much as you can afford , clearly , as you'll have to stop spending when the money runs out , and you may still not have a useable car at this point .... Lets call it £7500 all in.

Now , how much short of the price of a sorted car are you ? 10 grand ?

Borrow the difference , if you borrow 10k you'll pay £700 a year in interest if you don't pay any of it back , less if you do.
Lets say interest rates go up to 10% . you'll pay 1k a year.

You'll have an instantly enjoyable car
It'll likely be a nicer car
It will be worth more if you part company or have to pay out for a big bill
Don't forget , problems on a poor car will cost just as much to fix as on a beauty.
A good car will
easily save you the cost of the interest on the loan , although no early 911 is going to be cheap to run.

So where are we ? Oh yeah

BUY THE BEST CAR YOU CAN FIND

Gary71 · Post by **Gary71** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 7:57 am

I admire your bravery for even thinking about taking on this much work, my 'bargain 911' was £5K and had three times the amount of rust that I found when first inspecting it.

Even doing all the structural welding myself I'm up to about £14K i.e more than the car is worth...

And I still haven't even thought about the engine and gearbox yet...

Good luck on your project, but I would recommend getting one that at least runs and has an MOT. Then you can drive and enjoy it for a while before sinking your teeth into the bodywork. Also you can properly evaluate engine, box and chassis. Do a night class in welding and keep the phone handy to call the fire brigade (long story...)

Luke · Post by **Luke** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 8:26 am

shelltoes,

You seem to have overlooked one very important thing YOU COULDN'T GET IT STARTED!!!!

A 911 engine rebuild by a garage will cost you anywhere between 1.5k and 5k depending on what's wrong with it.

Just something for you to mull over......

My tuppence worth is buy the best car you can find, or the one with the coolest colour, which by the way is Aubergine

Luke · Post by **Luke** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 8:44 am

oh I forgot, you need to add labour onto the above rebuild costs.............

Flat 4 · Post by **Flat 4** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 8:55 am

I hate to say the obvious but this car sounds like a soul eater, I have bills for 13K (un-lucky number) for my 912, body wise I only had to replace the front suspension pan (£850 ish). The rest has gone on engine, suspension, interior trim,. brakes, lights + anything else you can think of thats on an early car.

The up shot, BY A CAR THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAS DONE, much quicker and much cheaper, although you will have to accept other peoples choice of bits + pieces. Small price to pay for peace of mind.

If you do go for it, good luck

john matthews · Post by **john matthews** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 10:40 am

The Chinese have a saying

"If six men tell you you're sick , lie down"

:D

Seriously , the reason anyone would advise you to buy a sorted car ,
is that it isn't just advice for the lucky few who can afford it ,
it's because the good car will COST YOU LESS.

shelltoes · Post by **shelltoes** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 12:15 pm

Ok, your right I just needed to hear it, I am gonna try to borrow some money to get something with a semblance of road worthiness, ie an MOT. A rolling project if you will. If I can drive it at least I can enjoy where the money is going

And if I asked me for advise I would say exactly the same thing…

Oh well, throw myself on the mercy of Nationwide, wish me luck…

James · Post by **James** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 8:42 pm

Wise decision

And not that I'm biased, but get a 912 - and worry less about the engine bills!

Cheers

James

john matthews · Post by **john matthews** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 8:50 pm

A lucky escape I feel , good luck with your cap in your hand , stick it on the mortgage if you can at 5.25% ....