Newbie buys crappy old porsche - now what?

[Leafsprung]

Hello,
I am sure this is old hat to many of you. I'm interested in learning about early 911 cars with an eye to eventually repairing my 1970 enough so that it might be driven. I am new to porsches but have owned a number of older (mostly much older than this one) autos - (mostly commercial and utility types (4wd, trucks, buses etc) My car is generally poor and suffered from corrosion, neglect, thieves/vandals and a number of poor quality previous owner upgrades and repairs. I purchased it out of a horse pasture where it sat unloved for many years. I have had some "local porsche guys" look at it and most everyone tells me to part it out and put the money towards a better car. I am resisting the temptation to do that and telling myself it is repairable and I will learn more by fixing it.

The Car
-1970 911T targa

The good
-the car was inexpensive
-appears to have a 911/02 "s" motor (also 1970) which turns over and does not have any obvious damage and upgraded chain tensioners - it can probably be made to run.
-has fuch deep 6 heart wheels which appear to be a matched set (all 1970)
-rolls steers stops (brakes do work amazingly) and the car is MOSTLY complete
-911/01 transmission (1970)

The bad
-rust in the rockers (inner and outer), drivers footwell area, bottom of the targa bar where it joins the body and various small flanges and supports
-front torsion bar mounting is soft and the area between the two batteries is previously repaired in a less then ideal manner
-damage to the door and fender where it appears the door was folded back against the body
-the entire car is covered with avery thin layer of bondo (or a very thick layer of paint?)
-seats steering wheel and a few other non original items have been fitted
-wiring is original but various previous owner fixes and so on have made a mess of it
-interior is haggard (but all there)
-poor door gaps/panel alignment
-front bumper trashed
-someone took the center caps for the wheels and the emblem from the hood and tried to unbolt the carbs and steal them but they gave up and left the carbs
-lost title (but Ive don't a DMV vin inspection and seems like this will be straightforward)
-targa top has a crack in the frame and all the material has rotted away
-(this might be the worst)I do not have unlimited amounts of money to pour into this car but I am handy/patient/resourceful

My goals are:
1) to learn about early 911s/network with other owners
2)Make the car run and drive
3) repair the rust
4) make it complete/straight(er)
5) drive it and determine if I like porsches enough to invest in the cosmetic work
6) Id like to spend no more than 5K on this work

Any feedback appreciated on how realistic this endeavor might be from someone who has done this before?

-Cheers
-Ike

[Jrsully]

Reading the story here and seeing the picture, I've seen worse

[76911S]

Sorry, not trying to bust your bubble but your 5K budget is very unreasonable. You will probably hit that just getting it to run and drive(not safely). Then probably more than that fixing the structural rust properly.
To make it safe, all systems need gone through completely, there should not be any short cuts on the basic systems. Fuel system, steering, brakes should all be completely rebuilt with the proper parts and procedures. Not to mention wheel bearings, CV joints etc. Then you need to get it to run properly, engine work on these is not cheap. If it has been sitting in a field, who knows what condition these systems are in.

Then the rust. The early cars did not have much in the way of good rust protection and several of the structural areas are prone to rust badly. What you can see is probably the tip of the ice berg. Rockers and front pan are biggies and difficult to repair properly on any kind of budget, they need to be done correctly.

These cars tend to start people on a very slippery slope, once started, they snowball fast and you need to be prepared for that or it will not reach completion. There have been lots of these cars dragged out of who knows where and yes, lots of them have looked worse than yours. Even before these cars have risen in value, parts and labor where not the cheapest and it is just getting worse. I do not agree that you should part it, but you might be better off to sell it whole and buy a better example if you want one to drive soon, otherwise plan on the the years and $$ to evaporate quickly..

Not trying to scare you, just trying to give my opinion.

Good luck with your new adventure.
Mark..

[Jrsully]

As 76 stated above, $$ layout will escalate quickly, especially when it is apart and you find a new dilemma every hour it seems. Usually the worst day is when the body comes back from the blaster! Determine if it's an early LWB car that you truly want or will you get some satisfaction out of driving a later model (ready to go and easier/cheaper to maintain) ?. You could probably trade this car, in some fashion, for a later one with minimal financial stress. Not to be too much of a downer here, but the other issue is if you can only work on this car when/if funds become available, and the work gets very involved, it could take years before you drive it again. Trust me on this. I think you have a "workable" project, but it won't be cheap unfortunately. Good luck with it and there is a wealth of knowledge on this site to help you

[csbush]

I agree with Mark's comments above. I was with you all the way up to the $5K budget. They are a lot of fun to work on because they are simple. But even if you have the garage, the tools, and the skills needed to get this car in decent running/ driving condition, I would be shocked if it could be done for under $25K. My 70 911 was much like yours when I got it, and it took many years and lots of $$ to get it to the point that it was in decent condition. If you want to figure out if you like Porsches enough to get into the hobby, flip this one, and use the $$ to buy a 944 or Boxster. Join a car club like the Porsche club and find out how much fun you can have with these great cars. Newer Porsches don't have the cult following that drives up every aspect of ownership costs. It would be very unwise to try and start/drive this car until you have cleaned out the fuel system, replaced all the fabric/rubber fuel lines, changed all the oils, refurbished the brakes, and replaced the tires. Then you have the issue of rust on the suspension mounting points which also make it unsafe to drive other than around the block.

[Milou]

A slippery slope it is....especially if you want the car to be safe and drive as intended. Cutting corners is certainly not recommended, and very quickly you won't want to anyways.

Have the work done over time to spread the expense as much as possible. The wait can be painful, especially when Spring arrives, but it will be worth it in the end.

I've never had a 911/912 that needed less work than expected, and it's always been a slippery slope (fortunately some less steep than others).

PS: it may sound pretty daunting, but don't let it scare you.

[Rich Lambert]

Go for it - worst case scenario is you find out it's a basket case and sell it for more than you paid for it. Don't do that though! A $5K budget is pretty unrealistic, but maybe once you burn through that first 5, you'll be hooked and who knows, maybe you and this car will be the exception. From your username, I'm assuming you're Ike from Pangolin (you helped me sort out my M-11 hubs), so you probably already have the fabrication resources to take on something like a MAJOR rust repair project. This forum and Pelican are invaluable resources, so start some project threads.

Please post more pictures!

Here's a link to another 1970 911T resto. Be forewarned...it's not pretty.

[ejboyd5]

Perhaps it is just the way the front wheels are turned in the picture, but to me it appears as if the left front wheel sits too far to the rear relative to the wheel arch in the fender.

[37yrold911]

your 5K budget requires you to learn DIY mechanics and bodywork - if you do all the labor and already have tools it just might be possible

1st, you need to make the car safe to drive, so replace the rubber brake hoses with new rubber, flush the old fluid with new, and buy some new tires; you also need to replace ALL rubber fuel hoses right now, including the one underneath by the tank

you may want to remove the tank and clean it anyway

[LongRanger]

. . . My goals are:
1) to learn about early 911s/network with other owners
2)Make the car run and drive
3) repair the rust
4) make it complete/straight(er)
5) drive it and determine if I like porsches enough to invest in the cosmetic work
6) Id like to spend no more than 5K on this work

Any feedback appreciated on how realistic this endeavor might be from someone who has done this before? . . .

Another threade . . .
http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...for-an-Early-S




Sellin' 'at motor 'd pay for a LOT . . .