Considering a 911 - need advice

[RWebb]

uh, cuz I am cheap and don't want to spend $150 + shipping...

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by speeder

Just send it down to North Hollywood speedometer and have them go through it and then set the miles where you want them. If it's a typical VDO gauge that breaks anyways, why not have it rebuilt and updated for $150 and not have to R&R it again?

I'm glad Denis answered, that's exactly what I was going to say. If you want it done right, that's where you send it.

But it's also easy to do yourself. They come apart and you put them back together will the barrels spun to whatever miles you set them to. Takes minutes.

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by RWebb

uh, cuz I am cheap and don't want to spend $150 + shipping...

Rebuilding Your VDO Speedometer

There are many other resources that show the How-To's if you Google them

[javadog]

It's an old Vanagon. Why bother?

JR

[RWebb]

thx!

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by KC911

Sounds a bit like my CE and the exact reason the PO sold it after 6 months. He was a true "car guy" but didn't have the heart to expose it to "the city", so he passed it on. If I may ask, was your CE one you've been talking about in these posts, if so, which one?

No, my CE had around 90K on it when I sold it. It was a nice "driver level" car.

My 30K Carrera was a factory Turbo Look (M491). It was a perfect condition car, it could have easily passed for a 5,000 mile car. The factory Cosmoline on it was still clean. I put it up for sale and there was huge interest in it and it was gone within days.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Quote de onewhippedpuppy

LOL. I'm still trying to figure out why driving your car in the rain is a bad thing.

Every time your car gets wet, water gets into places that take days to dry out again. Over time, these areas can rust, Porsche's galvanizing notwithstanding. A good example of this is the joint between the tub of a 911 and it's front fenders. Or, have a look under the weatherstripping in the front trunk of any 914. I could list dozens of examples.



Plated finishes don't last forever. Have a look at the fasteners on a car that's seen a lot of rain, then go look at one that has been kept dry.



Pull a tailight out of a 911 that's seen a lot of rain and take it apart. Take note of the corrosion inside.



Disassemble a 911 for a restoration and take note of how much time you spend cleaning an 1/8th of an inch of crud off of every part underneath it, before you get to the real work of refurbishing the parts.



Etc., etc.



JR

I'm sure there's some truth to that, I guess I just don't have the concourse mindset. The 4Runner that I bought new and sold 65,000 miles later still looked like a new car, short of the Pebble Beach crowd most would have been hard pressed to tell that it was used. Because I was religious about washing the underbody after driving it in the snow, even the fasteners underneath looked nearly new. Short of a little light corrosion on exposed fasteners, I'm of the belief that a well kept car can look very nearly as nice as new after 100k or more. A 911 that has been driven and well kept shouldn't ever rust unless it has been exposed to extreme circumstances, like MN winters.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

A 911 that has been driven and well kept shouldn't ever rust unless it has been exposed to extreme circumstances, like MN winters.

I'm working on one with 90k miles that spent most of it's life in the sunny San Diego area, far enough inland that salt spray off of the ocean wasn't an issue. I'm getting ready to pull the left front fender off, to deal with rust in that joint.

Wanna come over and watch?

JR

[speeder]

A quick look on eBay just now found a few decent looking candidates in the SC and Carrera years.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by javadog

I'm working on one with 90k miles that spent most of it's life in the sunny San Diego area, far enough inland that salt spray off of the ocean wasn't an issue. I'm getting ready to pull the left front fender off, to deal with rust in that joint.

Wanna come over and watch?

JR

One sample doesn't constitute fact for all. In a 30+ year old car there are a lot of variables that will ultimately dictate condition. My point is that a properly cared for car in normal circumstances can be kept in nearly new condition for a long time. Most 30 year old cars have some neglect in their past, so finding a properly cared for one can be a challenge. But I'd be happy to come help, I'll even bring some cold beer.

[javadog]

You're too late. I already have the fender off. I think you need to take a few of these shiny things apart and see what they really look like underneath. You'd probably be shocked.

And, it isn't that they are not cared for. This car lived in a dry climate. How did it get rusty? Maybe the owner washed it to death... every time it got washed, water got in these cracks and stayed there for a long time.

I'm not making this up. It's reality.

JR

[911boost]

Sigh.....

I think someone needs to start their own thread if they are going to be nothing but negative and confrontational.

[Dottore]

I've always been willing to pay a slight premium for a low-mileage car. The last 997S I bought had only 2,500 miles on it and was five years old. The history of the car convinced me that this was just fine - as it turned out to be - and for a small premium I got a car that still smelled new and had factory stickers here and there. What's not to like? Also there is an intangible satisfaction I get from buying and driving a car with say, less than 10,000 miles, that has a value to me at least equal to the premium I pay for this. Irrational perhaps, but then car ownership almost always is. I feel the same way about women BTW.

On the new Porsches you can request a full DMI readout as part of the PPI. These are very revealing. You can tell exactly how the car was previously driven. I looked at one car with 10,000 miles for example that had obviously only been driven in stop and go traffic, and only on drives of 7 or 8 minutes each. A commuter car that was never warmed up properly and never taken out of third gear. Despite the low mileage this is a car I wouldn't willingly buy when there are alternatives available. You can also tell if a car has been over-reved repeatedly etc. Extremely useful info.

[speeder]

I like low-mileage women as well. Small world.

[gprsh924]

I like low-mileage women as well. Small world.

But what if she's well maintained?

[speeder]

Human bodies have a service life just like machines do. So all things being reasonably equal, younger is better.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by gprsh924

But what if she's well maintained?

What would be the equivalent of the DMI readout there?

I wasn't aware of the possibility to request DMI data as part of a PPI. How far back does this go?

Cheers,

George

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by aigel

I wasn't aware of the possibility to request DMI data as part of a PPI. How far back does this go?

, George

As far as I know, the life of the car.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Originally Posted by kaisen

Ummm, maybe it was a different Toyota. Prii don't have transmissions with gears, and you can't manually "shift" them. They're CVTs. Even if it were a traditional automatic with selectable gears it wouldn't upshift on command, nor lock the torque converter. It would have to be a manual transmission. A Yaris maybe?

Wife informed me last night it was a Matrix and, in her opinion, it made the Prius look good which is a major feat. Transmission died at four and less than 60K, go figure. Definately not the transmissions fault.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by speeder

I like low-mileage women as well. Small world.

Low mileage, or newer? Remember, you need to stay at lower RPMs during the break-in. I think a newer model with more miles would probably be more fun.