Long distance driving

[gwl123]

This is for the vintage 911 70-73 cars. What is the furthest that anyone has driven in these cars during or after a purchase out of state? Any issues or problems along the way? Thx.

[on-ramp]

well, the issue could be that you break down.

just buying a (new to you) 30+ year old car and driving it a long distance is not very wise....on the other hand, if you've had the car for a long time and know it inside out, then it's a different story.

[porcupine911]

1100 miles from portland to socal starting the day i bought my car. i had no problems other than oil leaking. every car is different however. a good ppi goes a long way.

[byrd101]

I bought my 71T in Phoenix and drove it back to Sarasota FL vie Grand Canyon National Park and just about every other cool place out west. Mind you that I had 30 years of service records on the car and had it checked out prior to picking it up. I also was prepared to rent a truck and trailer it home if necessary. We left in early fall of 2002 and were chased south by snow, ended up doing about 3500 miles on the first trip. By the time we got to Louisiana I was starting to get some vibration in the steering wheel. I could play with my speed and find a zone where it was smother. It did get progressively worse, but we made it home. The ball joints and tie rods gave up on LA wonderful stretch of I10. The car spent its first few weeks home on jack stands. Full suspension upgrade, what a difference that made.

[RSBob]

I bought a car in Hollywood, CA and was more than glad that I had it transported to Seattle. The second time out, it's CD burned out. When at the shop being diagnosed, and started, the old rotted fuel lines started spraying gas on the motor. Glad that happened at the shop rather than on I-5.

If you intend to drive the car, make sure it is in top shape or bring some beef of a possible BBQ.

[Paul Franssen]

No, RSBob, makes more sense to use the old blanket to make smoke signals to the Death Valley fire department...

[gwl123]

Guess I better make sure I have AAA huh? If the car is in tip top shape I shouldn't be worried. After all these cars are suppose to be tough and reliable due to the great Teutonic engineering right........

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by gwl123
Guess I better make sure I have AAA huh? If the car is in tip top shape I shouldn't be worried.

Teutonic engineering right........

well a shop can be a giant long way off if your on I-10 in the SW. Then figure the unknown shop's hidden tariff due to "as long as the mark's exotic is in here.".. maybe borrow a lap top for direct access to the greatest bunch of 911 guys in the whole US.

[Phoenix]

Over 4,000 miles (have to look for the exact figure).

Purchased the '73T in Santa Monica after a very deep PPI which showed a new windscreen was needed as well as a few other minor things all of which were fixed before picking it up.

Drove the car from SM up through Death Valley and slowly across the country. I filled a glass jar with Pacific Ocean water and filled another at the end of the trip with water from the Atlantic ocean. Trip took two weeks as I did a fair amount of sightseeing along the way. (Spent a few extra days at the Grand Canyon as it is simply breathtaking.)

Problems: Just before entering Death Valley, the clutch cable snapped. I no-clutched it a few miles to the next gas station. Lucky for me I found a mechanic willing to come out and replace the cable for me. The only other problem was a no start issue if the car was shut off and restarted (as after a refueling stop). This happened a few times. At one point she simply refused to start and had to be towed to the "nearest" Porsche dealer. Luckily that happend in the Carolinas and "nearest" only meant 50 miles or so. After three hours of trying, even they couldn't figure it out. She started after a bit and all was fine. I never did find out what caused that.

Overall it was quite the experience and one which I would repeat in a heartbeat. The only change I would make is to bring along a good friend. (Never, never, never attempt this without a thorough PPI!!)

[thrown_hammer]

I bought my '73 in Ithica NY and drove it home thru the night to Warsaw IN. For the record it was 16 degrees that night and the car had no heat. I was all alone on I 80/90 toll road most of the night. I even opened it up a couple times.

[billwagnon]

bought my car in NC and drove to St. Louis with a support vehicle.

Got the PPI and made sure they thought the 800 mile trip was okay. A couple guys from the board (dtw in particular) had seen the car before the PPI too.

Needed new shocks and the brake master cylinder was leaking - but the ride was fantastic! The first thing I bought in NC was a fire extinguisher.

[Halm]

Bought my car in CA and drove it home to NC. Some sight seeing along the way. Only problem was it developed a few oil leaks. This was, of course, after the PO paid over $4k in work (my estimate, I never saw the actual bill) to ensure a safe trip.

As others have already said, have a PPI done telling them how far you are going to be driving. Also, stock up with every part you can think of as a security blanket.

[gaijinda]

Had her ('73 911) for a few months in Colorado before I drove home to NY. Eisenbud adjusted the MFI for sea level and I got 25+ miles per gallon (a "T" on regular gas) driving home.

Caught a rock in the windshield in Nebraska, chatted with a young lovely with a VW bug in Iowa, a big mean biker type walked over to me (what does this guy want?) in Illinois and said: "Dude, nice car". Later passed a bus loaded with waving, bonnet wearing women (Mennonites??) in Indiana.

A great car, a great country and a great trip.

[pwd72s]

I'm guessing Evren holds the board record for "just bought the car and driving it home" That's in a '71 911E. RoninLB has the hands down record for most miles in a single "big ride"...

This is Evren, picking up his car in Portland, Oregon @ Motorsports...they did the mechanical prep for his road trip. This the first time he actually touched the car...or met any of the people getting it ready for him. He & his wife then drove to Florida, and from there, the car was shipped "home" to Istanbul. No major problems on the entire drive.

[pwd72s]

And here's Ron's NY "road warrior" with my Orygun "garage queen"....You can read Ron's tale by doing a search here...not really a "big" ride...a HUGE ride.

[cegerer]

Just did a roundtrip from Michigan to Daytona in my 71. 2600+ miles. No problems. Well, I did discover a cracked H4 lense and a couple of new stone chips when I got home .....

BTW: did 825 miles the first day and the factory sport seats were incredibly comfortable. Never adjusted them and no back pain whatsoever.

[joelkaplan]

I arranged to get a PPI in area where car lived (Rochester NY) and after getting A+ report, the car was driven to my house 300 miles away(about 5 hrs)...I agree that a PPI is a must and I relied on it heavily. I was comfortable though as the car was a one owner 70 T and was very well maintained. In retrospect I think I actually bought too nice a car as I really want a track car......probably end up selling her after fall.......just love driving her......!

[}{arlequin]

2 weeks after I got mine I took it from Boston to the lakes region an hour North of Montreal... no problems there and back. I did drive it pretty hard right away to give it a shakedown run. Good thing too b/c right before the trip the clutch cable broke. Now I have one w/ me at all times.

[pwd72s]

The very day I bought my car? I jumped in, turned the key, and drove home. All 13 miles..

[PorscheRB]

I know it's not a 70-73, but 74 is kinda close... I drove 120 miles to the Hershey Swap Meet from Jersey, and then 60 miles into the return trip, the car died. CD box failure, regulator failure. The shop out there mangled her wiring pretty bad. Car is now a local car, for dates and pleasure cruises only.

Ian