New to 911 world. Thank you!!!

Well, I FINALLY got my dream car. It's a 1986 911 Coupe, no Carrera wing. I've been wanting a 911 since 1972, so it's about darn time. It has 73k miles and needed little work (see below). I prolly paid a little too much, but it was the right car at the right time and the PPI was great.

I have to say thank you to everyone on this forum. Because of the posts (and the search feature) I've been able to change the tranny fluid, change the CV boots (inboard and outboard), fix the washers, tune the car up (incl. belts), tighten the front wheel bearing, and fix a few other minor things; and I'm not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination. I also appreciate the humor.

I have to say that driving the 911 is better than anything I expected. The 915 transmission requires a little attention, however I find it quite easy to use. I'm still getting used to using the gas pedal to steer the car, boy is this thing tail happy compared to a 4wd or a fwd. I'm glad I have a HUGE empty parking lot near by to try things out. Nice and safe!!!

I look forward to many long years on the forum (thank you Pelican Parts) and in the 911. If anybody is in the Santa Cruz, California area please look me up. Let's get together and drive some of the fantastic hills around here!

Take care all,

Al

[bob tilton]

VERY NICE! welcome to the p world.

[JNadal]

VERY nice car... rera

[constructicon]

Wow, nice looking 911. I'm new, too, but you're taking my spot, damn it!

[Steeve]

Welcome to the board from another newbie, and I think you picked a good year to buy!! Great looking ride!

[vash]

kjb (johan) didnt sell his car, did he? nice car!

[cantdrv55]

Great looking car Al. Where the heck is Ben Lomond, CA?

[911teo]

Beautiful car, I love your rims!!!!
One little thing.... I noticed you have the front spoiler.... Your car is not properly balanced without a tail. The front spoiler generates downforce on the front wheels and will exagerate the famous "tail happy" behaviour of your car.....

[MOMO3.2]

Al:

Oh yeah baby!

Congratulations.

Mike

Hello all,

Thank you for the replys.

Ben Lomond is a little town in the Santa Cruz mountains just inland from Santa Cruz, Ca, in the north part of Monterey Bay. Great driving and cycling roads.

911teo, thank you for the insight in to the front spoiler issue. I never really thought of it that way. What do you suggest? I assume either (1) getting a rear spoiler or (2) removing the front spoiler. Would removing the front spoiler do any harm to the bodywork under the bumper?

Al

[cantdrv55]

Get a ducktail. There's one for sale here on PP that's already red!

[911teo]

Al

Unfortunately the front spoiler is attached to the valance with bolts and nuts. The most visible ones will be the ones close to the wheel fenders. You can actually see the nuts if you check from the inside of the wheel arch.
So it really depends on what you do with the car... For driving around town at the weekend there shouln't be any problems even with your set up. If you plan to track your car I would address the issue.

You could get a new front valance (I think it's around $200 or you can try to find one on e-bay or at a scrap yard (Guards Red is one of the most common colors so it should be ok).

Adding a tail is going to be more expensive ($5-600 for the tail, $8-900 for a tail and an engine lid).

Drive it around a little and see how it feels....
It's just I noticed your comment about the car being tail happy, and then I saw the front chin/no tail configuration...

But what a beauty!!!! You'll love it!!!! Congrats again!

Thank you 911teo. I really appreciate all the information. I have noticed that it's tail happy, however I'm a rookie 911 driver, so I wasn't sure if it was just the rear engine layout or what.

I'll take a look at adding a wing. I'm still on the fence with regards to the looks of the wing though.

Thank you again!!! I really appreciate it.

(now, I should get back to work).

Al

P.S. I am LOVING it. What a machine!!!

[vash]

wait a second, you CAN have a front lip spoiler without a rear wing. but not the other way around.

[PorschePilot]

You don't need a rear spoiler. You are fine with just a front spoiler.

Nice car. Yes, our red Porsches are taking over. I hang out in Carmel 5 to 6 weekends a year, next time I'm down that way I'll drop you a note.

[azasadny]

Beautiful car! Welcome aboard!

[911teo]

Well of course you CAN strill drive it. I am just saying that the balance is not perfect. And as the 911 was always famous for generating a lift (basically the shape is the one of a wing) the front chin will only make the tail happier....

[KobaltBlau]

Originally posted by 911teo
Well of course you CAN strill drive it. I am just saying that the balance is not perfect. And as the 911 was always famous for generating a lift (basically the shape is the one of a wing) the front chin will only make the tail happier....

You have to be going really fast for this to matter. Front spoiler no rear is fine, just be alert for oversteer when you're doing those 120mph sweepers...

[niner11]

This whole discussion is more of a track thing in terms of speed needed to make the car unbalanced. I can't imagine a big spoiler induced mismatch below 80 mph. YMMV, Chuck

[nostatic]

Originally posted by KobaltBlau
You have to be going really fast for this to matter. Front spoiler no rear is fine, just be alert for oversteer when you're doing those 120mph sweepers...

exactly. At sub-triple digits you likely won't feel any difference.

And the "tail happy" feel is a feature, not a bug (although if you grew up driving bugs, you'd be used to it). I don't think it is exacerbated by your spoiler setup...more likely that you're used to understeering front wheel drive cars.