Ciao to Everything Porsche

[SiJ]

Hi There,

As a new member and a recently converted to everything Porsche, I've joined to see what's going on and to pick peoples brains.

I was spoilt a couple of weeks ago as a navigator in my mates original 1973 911 2.7 RS on a classic rally. What a piece of kit. I have to admit to being a complete TVR nut and owner in the past. Which has been great fun. Been there done that etc. Seeing many 911's and 914's in all their glory and sampling their delights has meant i have scrapped my current plans of getting a Lotus Elise.

Therefore I'm now tracking either a good 914-6 or more probably a decent 911 of some sort. I like the idea of a pre-73 car, but am concerned about the possible upkeep. On all the adverts, people have seemed to spend £10k's with not much return for their investment. I like the idea of the post 1976 models as they are galvanised and pretty robust. Future classic? So may be starting to hunt down a decent 911SC. Hopefully early '80's so I can get it into the classic rallies. Will also be looking at the late 70's 3.0 cars.

Cheers for now and am looking forward to combing the forums and using them to get a better understanding of what to go for!!

Cheers

Si

[Gary71]

Welcome to DDK, and happy hunting

All 911s rust, so don't be too relaxed about inspections, even post '76.

No doubt you will find what you are after, take a look at the For Sale pages.

[Nick Moss]

Welcome Si

I will be rallying my own ST replica next month, but only on nice smooth German tarmac.

Your budget will control what you buy. Any decent early 911 (up to and including the 1973 model year) is getting on for £30K nowadays, whereas a decent SC can be had for barely more than £10K. But beware of rust, it affects even late 1980s 3.2s. As you noted, people have often spent £10K on their car, but if it is an early 911 then they could well have improved the value of the car by that amount, whereas £10K on an SC could be just the kidney bowls, sills, front wings and a respray, and they will probably not see much of a return on that £10K. For clarification on terminology and rust issues have a look at my website

[pmjt]

Hi Si,

I like the idea of a pre-73 car, but am concerned about the possible upkeep. On all the adverts, people have seemed to spend £10k's with not much return for their investment.

I'm not sure I can agree with what you're saying - I think you're possibly picking up certain vibes which are not the 'normal' experience. Sadly some people do buy cars without understanding the true cost of putting body and mechanical right - and then it can cost £'s and heartache but it doesn't have to be that way.

First thing to remember is that the youngest of the pre'74 cars is going to be at least 35 years old - and anything that old that's lived in this climate (salt on the roads in Winter, damp, humid, regular rain) is going to have body problems unless it's been pampered since new.

Porsche GENERALLY are pretty trouble free - far more so than say, Alfa, Triumph, Ferrari etc of the same era. AS LONG as they've been cared for. A massive problem with 'Early Cars' has been lack of investment in them when the values were low - at one time you could buy a 2.4S for around £10k (I know of two on the DDK that were ) - these are now cars pushing £65k+ - when they were a £10k motor, they got £10k value style repairs NOT the kind of love and care that would be lavished on them today.

So the message is, buy right first time.

I've owned several early cars for 10 years plus - and with all of them I've only had to spend sensible money each year to enjoy fun motoring.

Get to know your facts - know a good car from a bad car - get to know the experts on here and there are many, then buy when you've educated yourself and can be certain of what you're buying.

Finally - and this is my own personal opinion - the '74 onwards cars are lovely - but they're not the same beast as a pre-impact bumper car - these early machines are very special cars to live with - enjoy whatever you do

Philip

[Gary71]

Welcome back Philip

[SiJ]

Cheers,

Budget will be ideally £20-25k, but then the hope was that it wouldn't be much outlay for a while after that so the bank balance will recover!! Normal servicing and the odd bit of attention here and there is fine - don't forget I used to do TVR's.......

Don't get me wrong with regards to general corrosion I don't have a big issue, but when you read buying guides, you have a long list of areas to check and with all the adverts, it seemed everyone was laying out big money prior to selling.

As and when I do the dirty deed and tip my toe in the water, what ever I get will be properly stored and looked after and I hope to enjoy it as often as possible.

Is the non-galv / galv body a red herring in relation to the condition of the body work and what I should be going for? When I first started thinking about it, I was considering '72-'73 E or S or the mid '70's 2.7 / 3.0's. Any comments. Like the idea of the 2.7 or 3.0's!!

Ta for now

[pmjt]

Budget will be ideally £20-25k, but then the hope was that it wouldn't be much outlay for a while after that so the bank balance will recover!!

Don't worry - we all feel like this

As the market's settling you should have a nice selection of cars - from memory I saw a very pretty green E on here - nice car that will give a lot of pleasure over the years.

Normal servicing and the odd bit of attention here and there is fine - don't forget I used to do TVR's.......

Don't get me wrong with regards to general corrosion I don't have a big issue, but when you read buying guides, you have a long list of areas to check and with all the adverts, it seemed everyone was laying out big money prior to selling.

Two points - corrosion isn't always the big problem: botched repairs in the past are and secondly, people may have spent 'big money' but may not have spent it with the right people

Is the non-galv / galv body a red herring in relation to the condition of the body work and what I should be going for? When I first started thinking about it, I was considering '72-'73 E or S or the mid '70's 2.7 / 3.0's. Any comments. Like the idea of the 2.7 or 3.0's!!

Well, my 2.7RS would have come with no underseal - mercifully it was the summer plaything of a gent who was abroad most of the time (famous actor) so she didn't get exposed to all the lousy winters. BUT when it came time to repaint her I threw originality to the wind and she's as protected as she can be.

The problem with the galvanized cars is they're wonderful until they're cut into to repair accident damage - and then the galvanic protection is lost. So it's kind of a red herring 35 years on

Philip

[pmjt]

Welcome back Philip

Hi Gary Nice to be back.

P

[Gary71]

How about this '68 S? Short wheelbase, so the full early 911 experience!

http://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/viewto ... 09&start=0

...or this 2.4E

http://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/viewto ... 79&start=0

Both very tidy and a good place to start.


...or this as more of a longer term project, early car, big engine
http://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=25077

[Nick Moss]

Is the non-galv / galv body a red herring in relation to the condition of the body work

Completely. 35 year old galvanising is meaningless, especially if it has had any accident repairs. As I mentioned above nearly every mid 80s 3.2 needs or has had kidney bowls and sills despite being fully galvanised; it's the orginal design that is the problem. No one worried about logevity back in the early 60s when these were designed, Porsche only cured the problems in 1989 with the release of the 964 with wheel arch liners.

[Mick Cliff]

...when it came time to repaint her I threw originality to the wind...
Philip

I'm really screwed up this week!
Firstly the reappearance of one pmjt (nice to see yer!)
And then his very own statement the he "threw originality to the wind"!
Best Victor Meldrew voice - I don't believe it!

[pmjt]

...when it came time to repaint her I threw originality to the wind...
Philip

I'm really screwed up this week!
Firstly the reappearance of one pmjt (nice to see yer!)
And then his very own statement the he "threw originality to the wind"!
Best Victor Meldrew voice - I don't believe it!

'eyup Mick 'ows tricks

Well, it was either seal the underside to the max or risk tin worm finding a home. As you know the trouble with '73 tin is that it likes mixing with moisture and salt and turning to red powder

P

[Ian Gunney]

by the way, 914's rust too, in fact, probably better than 911's!

good to have you back Philip.

Ian

[Mike Usiskin]

I realised the other day, when a Very nice lady asked about my car, that she's 38 years old! same as me see, lovely. now mine isn't pampered, I put go juice in her and she flys (by my lowly standards) and in terms of smiles per miles I think you'd have to go some to beat her. yes, she will get 'Alan.uk'd' when funds permit but till then she's perfect for me. I suppose I'm saying that a later car is 'justa' Porsche, if such a thing is possible, but an early 911, pre '73, is magical.

m

[Mike Usiskin]

I realised the other day, when a Very nice lady asked about my car, that she's 38 years old! same as me see, lovely. now mine isn't pampered, I put go juice in her and she flys (by my lowly standards) and in terms of smiles per miles I think you'd have to go some to beat her. yes, she will get 'Alan.uk'd' when funds permit but till then she's perfect for me. I suppose I'm saying that a later car is 'justa' Porsche, if such a thing is possible, but an early 911, pre '73, is magical.

m

oh and hi Philip, glad to hear from you