New Project - Suggestions?

I have just finished restoring my 79 SC targa and am about to start another project.
I have just bought a 77 carrera that the previous owner (forced to sell) was converting to a 964 look. The car has a 3.2 liter engine in it and the conversion is 95% complete with needing only replacement of some window & other seals. The interior is new so is the paint job. The 3.2 liter has been completely overhauled.
Along with the car comes a complete 1990 3.6 liter engine.
What to do?
I am considering dropping the 3.6 in and if possible installing a tiptronic transmission.
Parts will be the major expense as my labour cost is inexpensive.
The major issue would probably be cutting out the torsion bars to fit the transmission,installing coil over suspension, and a new wiring harness. Brakes i guess as well.
what else?
i know this wont appeal to the original buff's but restoring the car to stock will cost me a packet anyway & doing somthing different appeals.
Thoughts appreciated.
Pazz
79 SC TARGA ( & new owner of a 77 something)

Pazz:

Though I have a stock car (at least from the appearance point of view) I have always maintained that you should do what you like (it is YOUR car after all), as long as you understand that sometimes "mucking" with a Porsche might decrease the value of it, at least in the eyes of the majority or potential buyers.

This is not always true, but you have to ask yourself if there will be a market for your car after you have finished it. Think of all the "quirky" cars out there, that are expressions of their owner's personality, or their owner's ideas on improving a well-engineered car, and ask if YOU would be interested in THEM. And then realize that this questions plays itself out many-fold a day, and most people realize that they would rather have a "stock" car than a quirky one, and do a personalization themselves; and so the cycle begins anew - with "stock" cars.

I have been a member of the PCA for over 30 years, and I've seen lots of "personalized" Posches languish on the sales block, waiting for the "right" buyer, while other "stock" Porsches get gobbled up real fast. However, if the price is right, anything will sell, but the "right price" is usually much lower than any investment you have placed into it.

So, to answer your queestion, go ahead and do the "interesting" thing. Just be aware that you will never be able to sell it as a 964; it will always be a 911 Carerra which someone converted. And it would probably retain only the 911 Carerra price, not the 964 price.

However, if you luck into a buyer who just had to have what you did.......Andras

I'm not sure that it makes sense to rip out the newly installed, rebuilt 3.2 out of the car, since it is almost done anyways. If it were me, I'd probably finish up the remaining 5% of the '77, and be done with it. Otherwise, a lot of the previous work that went into the car will have been wasted, and you'll end up with a homeless 3.2.

As far as the 3.6, I guess I'd sell it, or keep it for installation in a different project car. I'd start with a car that had a bad engine, trans, etc., since you would be redoing all of that anyways.

If it were me, I would buy a 73 T, make it into a cosmetic RS replica, and install the 3.6! (i'd also pass on the Tiptronic). I'd make the car as light as possible, with a fiberglass hood and decklid, RS type lightweight interior, etc. That would be a reliable rocket!

In the past 2-3 months, there was an article about a do-it -yourself guy who put a 3.6 into his SC, you may want to check it out. Its not exactly a direct bolt in, but it can be done. Patrick Motorsports also makes a bunch of the special pieces that you need to put a 3.6 into an earlier car.

Its too bad that the previous owner had to use a relatively rare mid 70's Carrera to do his upgrades, when mid-70's "regular" 911s are so plentiful and actually in need of upgrades.

(And again, unfortunately, it is probably necessary to expressly state that this is just my opinion, you should do what floats your boat).

Brian

Thanks for coming back guys. i appreciate the pointers and also that you took the time & effort to come back on a subject that many would consider wastes the resources on this excellent forum. For your info my newly restored 79 sc targa is my baby & my keeper. This project is just a way to extend the fun & new horizons that opened to me during the process of my SC restoration.
As far as the carrera goes,I am yet to decide what to do with the car, but rest assured i agree with your sentiments on the "mauling" this machine has had, nevertheless getting the car back to original will most likely cost more money and beleive it or not probably result in a lower resale value.
I live in Thailand, where at most there is maybe 200 to 300 911's Max. The market value of these cars due to the tax regime is absurd compared to US prices. for example, a 1999 911 costs roughly $400,000 and change, a 2nd hand 993 $170 - $200,000. C2/4 's go for $80 - 150,000 + , and pre 89 models have a base of $20,000 rising to about $70,000. A twisted piece of metal that was once legally imported as a 911 ( any year) sells for 10,000 to 15,000 privided the registration is still valid and you can cut the official Govt import stamp out of the chasis.
Overall the used 911 market is very thinly traded there is a large demand from richkid 20 somethings and the first thing they do is bolt on a c2 or 993 kit.
A standard 77 carrera sells for roughly 25-30,000 dollars. A converted (C2)78 SC traded last month for 45,000. Hard to believe but true.
As far as replacement parts go the official tax rate is 60%, but they base the 60% off the marked up retail price and tack on sales tax and other "customs costs". An order of assorted Seals for my 79 SC purchased from the states for $890 last month cost slightly over 2100 by the time it arrived at my front door. Total cost of restoring my SC is just under $17,000.
The only thing that is cheap here is the labour. My Porsche trained mechanic earns less than $2 (two) per hour.
Regards
Pazz
79 SC Targa ( & butchered 77 carrera)

Pazz:

I guess Brian and I have said it all.

As for my previous thoughts; the fact that you live in Thailand and have to pay such outrageous costs makes my posting somewhat moot. My observations were predicated on the USA market of used cars, of which there are many, and for used parts, of which they are relatively inexpensive. Here labor is about US$ 75-90/hour, and thus Do-it-yourself is more of a cost savings than normal.

But I will still contend to my dying day, that if one changes a "stock" 911 too much, you will automatically reduce the number of potential buyers when you want to sell it. The reason is that very few people want to buy someone else's "experiment" or "personalization" or "bastardization", at the risk of getting a "pig in a poke". And anyone who wants to do their own "personalization" would rather start out with an affordable, benign car, rather than one that has be changed from stock.

So Pazz, if these Porsches of yours are keepers, do what seems to you to be the most fun and novel and exciting, etc. There are no absolutes in this business, and one person's opinion is as valid as another. And in some cases, there are no answers at all; i.e., what changes to my Porsche will be the best? How would ANYONE be able to answer that question?

So just do the thing that is right for you, and enjoy doing it. And keep the shiny side up......Andras

Well,. . .Ahem,. . . I would just like to say. . .HOLY @&#%!in' S%#@*!!!. . . . . .
60%!!! (I'm shivering) You gotta be kidding me! Whoa. . .
That definately would put a cap on my dreams. Course I'm just an Airman. Jeeezz...
Hope you make more than me!