PPI says NEW FRONT PAN NEEDED!

[pu911rsr]

If you are going to start swaping motors buy a car that already has this done. Everytime I have looked at doing something like that it is cheaper just to find the right car. Now if you are love with this car and are going to keep it forever just buy and and bust out the checkbook, it's only money.
Phil

[pu911rsr]

I re-read your description of car one thing you will want to understand is what heads are on motor. You won't be making 200 HP with T heads even if it has S cams. If motor pulls well at low RPM probaly has the smaller heads.
Phil

[teenchy]

Sorry to read this, berettafan. It probably is a good idea to sleep on it a night or two. Good luck with the decision.

[berettafan]

Phil how do i id T heads vs. S? Is it possible to do this w/o pulling them?

owner is getting a copy of the invoice for engine rebuild so hopefully i'll have some reading material soon. he did say it cost him $11k so i expect something more than a rebuilt T w/ S cams and S pistons for that kind of dough.

i am not going to pay to have the motor dropped and heads pulled on somebody else's motor nor am i going to do it on mine just to satisfy curiosity (i'll drop it myself some day) about pistons but i will probably pay Deiter to verify the cam profile via valve travel.

[SandyI]

Seems like you're about to put $10,000 into this car in the blink of an eye. And you won't be nearly done.

Here's another idea -- Otto is selling his personal car - a white 1970 911E for $35,000. You probably won't find a better car for sale for a very long time. (See classfieds here.) Consider it.

[berettafan]

Here's the math as i see it at this point:

Car $13,500
Pan r/r $ 2,000
Tune up $ 400 (including verifying the S cams, etc)

Total $15,900 for a no rust (or as close as can be) early car w/ fresh interior, new paint and a 2.4 that passes leakdown along with a trans. that is good as well.

I am not arguing with those that say run (i appreciate every bit of advice i'm getting here) but just trying to avoid replaying this very scenario every time i look at a car. Panzers comment about many 'rust free' cars likely having sketchy pans is probably very true. I'm not sure though and that's why i am taking full advantage of this panel of experts.

Any more thoughts on this? if i do go to Ga. i will take many many pictures and post the pertinent issues for more discussion.

[SandyI]

My advice is to stop posting for opinions. Fly to GA. Don't post more pictures. Stop the discussion. Go with your gut. Buy the car. End of drama. Congrats on your find.

(But when the bills begin to quickly add up WAY past those EXTREMELY optimistic estimates, don't say you weren't warned. There was a time when an excellent rust-free early 911 was a $20,000 car -- that would have been in 2004. In 2006, that just isn't the case, and you're about to find out why.)

[tom dance]

I would not worry very much about the pan, it is quite common on the early cars and not really a big deal to fix, usually 1500 or so total, parts and labor. If the rest of the car is nice and drives well I'd say it looks like a good deal. The most important part however is if YOU like it. If you do, buy it. Have fun.
Tom

[WCB4]

A few months ago when I was looking for a competant shop to do a front pan for me. And that was many well known shops both here and on the west cost.Most made the same statment "There are only two type of early 911's, Those that have had their pan replaced and those that will need it done"! The average cost of getting a pan replaced with the parts? Was $1.500
It comes down how much passion$ are you willing to put into it. And I can tell ya from looking inside a lot of rockers and frame rails with my borescope. There are not too many 30+year old 911's that are "rust free". It's just part of owning a classic Porsche of this model. And there are points of no return on your money. But look how much bang for your buck you would get if it did stay under$20.000.
Besides winter is here and you might need a project to keep ya warm. Just my thoughts sitting looking at 2 feet of snow and scrapping undercoating with a 2500watt heat gun in my right hand. It's just all part of the game and a roll of the dice.
Just my thoughts. God I love these old cars !
Good luck! Regards,Bill

[Flat Six, inc.]

Just in case you guys weren't aware. The only good way to get the front pan (or any other critical point) in the RIGHT spot is to use a Celette body jig with the correct 911 fixtures.

We haven't had ours long enough to use it for a front pan replacement but if we did we would have to charge more than $2,000. My guess is more like $4000 but you would have the peace of mind that it was exactly the way it should be. We would also section it in a very clean way.......using the correct undercoating.

Most front pan replacements I see are ok but they are almost always obvious.....and that buggs me.

Sorry for the rant.......