About to embark in major project

[JMGaston]

"Major" is relative, considering some of the projects I read about here. It is Major to me, because my car is near flawless, so please be gentle with your criticism. I am here to seek advice.

My car was converted at some point early in its life, in the 80's, to an all steel slope nose to a very high standard. I've owned the car for a few years now, and although it is a big attention getter, I have always preferred the original look. I' ve sourced the parts I need to convert it back (fenders, mirrors, and rocker covers), and have been getting quotes for the work.

The front end is definitely a go. My dilemma lies with the rear quarters and the vents. For a few thousand, the body shop will cut them out, weld and form a new piece of metal and repaint all the necessary parts. Buying complete rear quarters is out of the question, though. The car will look great with the vents, or with the quarters covered.

I'm not planning to sell the car anytime in the next many years, but it can't ignore the way the values our 930's are blowing up. I feel the rear end work is major bodywork surgery, will it hurt the pedigree of the car more than keeping the vents?

[mark houghton]

Well, down the road a few months from now I may have a complete set of rear quarter panels completely stripped of all paint, but just a wee bit scorched. Depends on what I decide to do with my hulk. Keep an eye out on this forum, I'll eventually post any opportunities for goodies.

[JMGaston]

Thanks for the heads up Mark. I'll keep an eye out.
I'm very sad about your losses, but I am hopeful you will be able to look back on this one day and count your blessings.

[Ken911]

I was told by someone who had a turbo track car before i did the conversion to mine that the rear vents keep the temps in the back of the car lower. particularly behind the rear bumper by the turbo. I love the slants though last time i was at a car show i was parked next to a bunch of stunning turbos, but my slant got most of the attention.

[DSPTurtle]

Who did the conversion? Why not sell the slant and buy a plain Jane 930?
(I'm partial to the slant look if you can't tell)

[Tt surgeon]

I'd leave it as a slant, or at least keep the vents, they are very functional.

[Ken911]

Originally Posted by Tt surgeon

I'd leave it as a slant, or at least keep the vents, they are very functional.

Especially if it has the factory lights and linkage

[TurboKraft]

Ask 20 people here and you'll get 20 different opinions -- and this is good. :-)

Ex: I prefer the non-original pop up headlight linkage with twin RX7 motors, believe it works better than the factory's overly-complicated system.
And as for the for the rear fenders... love the cars with rear vents and no slats, boxed rockers on a Slantnose and standard rockers with standard fenders.





Still, if you're building the car with current market values in mind, then all-stock is a safe bet, usually most in demand. The value may still be affected by a full repaint.

[Ronnie's.930]

Originally Posted by JMGaston

I'm not planning to sell the car anytime in the next many years, but it can't ignore the way the values our 930's are blowing up. I feel the rear end work is major bodywork surgery, will it hurt the pedigree of the car more than keeping the vents?

I think that keeping the vents, while converting the rockers and front end back, will hurt resale value more that welding them up will. I think it is safe to say that most people think a non-slant with rear vents looks wrong/odd and you would likely have far fewer interested buyers as a result (I would definitely "pass" on a car like that).

Personally, I think it is a crying shame that you are converting it back, as opposed to selling it , as is, to someone who wants it, and then buying a traditional bodied Turbo that you like (but, that is none of my business).

[JMGaston]

Thank you all for your opinions.
Many of you have asked why not sell it and buy a "normal 930". The answer is simple. Finding another 930 as good as this one will be very hard. It took me a long time to find one in this condition, documentation and in my budget. The thought of selling it has never crossed my mind.

[Tt surgeon]

I think the 'vents only' look good, but, if you're going to go through the trouble of doing the fenders might as well do the full Monty. The repaint effect on values is minimal and a stock bodied 930 is more valuable than a slant conversion.....gl
C

[JMGaston]

Originally Posted by DSPTurtle

Who did the conversion? Why not sell the slant and buy a plain Jane 930?
(I'm partial to the slant look if you can't tell)

The conversion was done by a shop called Sport Performance in San Jose Ca.

Thanks.
JM

[JMGaston]

Originally Posted by Ken911

Especially if it has the factory lights and linkage

Although the fenders are all steel, I don't think the lights are factory (505 lights are round, mine are rectangular)

Thanks,
JM

[JMGaston]

Originally Posted by TurboKraft

The value may still be affected by a full repaint.

You're right. The paperwork I have for the conversion shows that the car was stripped down to metal and repainted, so the paint on it now (although terrific for a 30+ year paint job) is not factory.

[JMGaston]

Ronnie's 930 and TTsurgeon...thanks for your opinion. I also thought that... I do like the look of the vents, though. The cost to remove and fill was higher than I expected... I have some thinking to do.

[RarlyL8]

If the conversion was done well I don't see returning it to stock look as a money maker. It will never be "stock" again. The high dollar cars are unmolested from day one or modified to a very high standard.

[Tt surgeon]

A well done steel conversion is just as nice as a 505 car when done correctly. Aj smith for ex.

[JMGaston]

Update: it's done...

[TurboKraft]

Love that color. Beautiful car.

[Nuen Werke]

Just did this for a client in VA. who is moving to San Antonio. The price with all the parts and labor was a shade under 5k another 2k for entire repaint using PPG Concepts, 5 coats hand rubbed..Ready for shows! (included 2 other gratuitous plugs, I mean pics of what kind of paintwork and cars we do here)