The Red Rocket is for sale

[RarlyL8]

I sold my prized Red Rocket a few years back after searching for and finding the gray slant. The RR went to Texas and was driven to his summer home in Colorado. He sent me pictures of the car all over the place during his travels. Fellow really took care of the car and I was so glad it was him who bought it.
I pop over to the cars for sale section every now and then and boy was I surprised when I saw this:

FS: '78 911, 930 motor, K27 Turbo, SC Cams, RL8 Headers, GT3 Muffler, Austin, TX

I'll have to call him up and see what the story is. He has many cars an is getting up in age so maybe thinning the heard. Someone is going to get a very fun car for a pennies on the dollar.

[slow&rusty]

Wow..that is cheap! Will not last long at that price and especially knowing that you were the former owner (talk about bringing great notoriety to the vehicle).

[RarlyL8]

Thank you, I wish I could buy it back but you just cannot keep everything. My kids grew up with this car. I built it when my wife was pregnant with our first and sold it when they were in high school.
The donor car was a rare Euro stripper SC in an even more rare color combo. Sunroof delete, A/C delete, manual windows and locks. Very light car. I built a Euro '86 tranny with custom gears which had the factory oil cooler. Lots of nice parts. If you think it is cheap now you'd freak if you know what it sold for 1 year before prices went nuts ...

[mark houghton]

Originally Posted by RarlyL8

I'll have to call him up and see what the story is. He has many cars an is getting up in age so maybe thinning the heard. Someone is going to get a very fun car for a pennies on the dollar.

Careful now, he's not the only one
A person must look at his net worth and expected income, decide what he can afford as play things when the time comes to say goodbye to the time clock. The key is: Get her where you want her before pulling the plug, so you're' not stuck eating beans and wieners just to keep the ol' girl on the road.

That's one hell of a sweet deal. The only thing keeping the asking price as low as it is, is the fact of "wrecked" donor parts. So freakin' what, parts are parts as long as they're straight and all lines are good. Same with my 930, having been bashed a couple times by the PO when running off the track. Expertly repaired, sparing no cost, no evidence of any off-road adventure, but still it hangs over your car's head. People are weird in that regard.

[pkabush]

I was wishing I could afford it when you sold it. Still in the same boat I love the factory lightweights. Did you ever weigh it post conversion ?
Someone's gonna get a hell of a deal. Hope it goes to a good home.

[Highway-Star]

Ad says there is epoxy (?!) on the engine case, has also a pic in album.

[RarlyL8]

The low price is because the car is an SC not a 930. It is difficult to place value on a modified car.

The wrecked PARTS donor was the 1978 930, that is where all the turbo parts came from. The car/tub is an 1978 SC which was a one-owner low miles nice car with a clean title. I looked for 2 years before finding a stripper model SC.

The epoxy on the block has been there the entire time I owned it. There was a porous spot that wept oil enough to form a drop after a week or so of sitting so we treated the aluminum with acid and coated the spot with JB Weld. It worked perfectly for 15+ years and probably needs to be re-applied. I'd have to see it myself to know for sure but that is what it looks like.

The car weighed 2700 pounds with 1/2 tank of gas and me in it. It doesn't look like anything heavy has been added by the new owner.

I know what you spend means nothing but I had $50K in this car myself, and the new owner took it from there and added more. There are some really nice features such as the manual 930 sport seats and the rare tranny. The engine was the test mule for RarlyL8 Motorsports and puts out 350HP to the rear wheels at stock 0.75 bar boost using a K27-7200. The tires will fry in 2nd gear!

[Scbrindley]

Chiming in here since I've listed the car for sale.

Brian is absolutely correct about the current owner. He purchased the car from Brian and is at a point in his life where he's thinning out the heard and letting some cars go. He's asked me to help post them on the forums.

The new owner is going to love this car!

[RarlyL8]

I went in the archives and found a couple of pictures of the original 1978SC just after I bought it. Looking back now it's a shame I used that particular car. At the time it was just a non-optioned SC with a weird color combo.

[boosted79]

That's a sweet deal for someone who wants a hot rod. The only thing that would make me hesitate is the JB on the cases, if the case was porous from the factory why wouldn't the original owner have demanded they be replaced with new cases under warranty? I sure as hell would have.

[bpu699]

Wow... thats cheap...

If you took that to auction you would probably do better...

I realise its modified and all... but if you just buy it as a fun car, thats a lotta bang for the buck...

Geesh. The motor and trans are worth that...

[c310pilot]

I am new to this so forgive the ignorant question. If the motor was rebuilt in 1998, why wouldn't you replace the case?

[flat6pilot]

If I were clever, I'd buy the 930 tub someone was selling for $29,000 on this board then buy this for $34,000. Remove the 930 motor from Red Rocket and put it in the 930 tub then sell Red Rocket tub for $15,000 and have a 930 Turbo for a paltry $48,000. But that's a lot of work....

[RarlyL8]

We didn't know the case would weep until after I had spent $25K rebuilding and modifying the engine. To me this was no big deal as it apparently worked for 15 or so years. At the price he is asking you can swap out the case if you want and not be hurt. I'd buy it back in a heart beat if it made any sense for me but it doesn't. I have the gray slant I always wanted so am very happy. I do miss those fun gears though ...

[JakobM]

Was it two places at same time that had porous spots, and how dit it get porous on the aluminium after rebuilding?

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by c310pilot

I am new to this so forgive the ignorant question. If the motor was rebuilt in 1998, why wouldn't you replace the case?

Have you ever looked at the cost of cases?

[JakobM]

Originally Posted by Tippy

Have you ever looked at the cost of cases?

c310pilot is refering to year 1998 - cost for a spare case was proberly more aligned at that time

How did the case get not one, but these two porous spots after 25$ rebuild and why not welded instead?

[RarlyL8]

I had not seen those pictures, it looks like someone came behind me and attempted to patch but didn't do a very good job.
As I said before, I did not know the engine was weeping oil until after the rebuild was done. It leaked about a drop a week, I sure wasn't going to replace the case for that.
For the price he is asking you can replace the case and still not get hurt. I'd hate to see it parted myself but this car is worth much more in parts. I have more in the engine and tranny than he is asking for the entire car! The tranny was rebuilt using WEVO parts and custom 4th and 5th gearsets which were $1000/each at the time. The factory oil cooler is not a common item. 1986 was the last year for the 915 which is why I chose it, and this specific tranny came out of a factory Euro M491 Carrera. Engine was built for a 7200rpm redline using ARP hardware.
It's a fun toy but obviously no collector, that's the good part and the bad part.

[Ronnie's.930]

Originally Posted by RarlyL8

I had not seen those pictures, it looks like someone came behind me and attempted to patch but didn't do a very good job.

Maybe Robby was hired for the job?!?!

[boosted79]

RarlyL8 -

Any idea how many miles are on the 915 box since you rebuilt it? Any mods to it besides the cooler and new gears? I didn't think they were supposed to hold up to that kind of power?