Midyear Project?

[Cory M]

I have acquired a couple of midyear 911's for a project, but I am having second thoughts and need to decide which way to go with it.

One of the cars is a targa track car that was rolled, so the body is wasted but all of the suspension and drive train is recently rebuilt and in great shape. The other car is a non-sunroof coupe roller. The original plan was to swap the suspension and engine into the coupe and have a fun little driver, but when I saw the coupe I realized it was missing a bunch of parts that can't be used from the donor.

The coupe interior is gutted, dash is cracked up, missing rear and quarter windows and trim, the body is straight but the paint isn't great. I have a lot of the interior stuff but would need to buy some things like a new headliner, doorpanels, etc. It would be ideal for a streetlegal track car but I've already got a trackcar and don't need another one that isn't significantly faster. The non-sunroof tub would be great for a fully preprepared racecar and I'd love to turn it into a 993 widebody but I don't have the money for that now, plus it would need a faster engine than the 2.7. Given the relatively low prices of midyear cars I don't know that it is worth amount of work needed to complete this project. I don't have my heart set on owning a midyear 911 and while I know it could be a fun car it isn't going to be my dream car or anything.

Any advice or new ideas?

[JP911]

What year is the coupe?

[Cory M]

1974-1977... I just got it and haven't looked at the details. The rolled donor car is a 77.

[JP911]

I'm interested in 74 or 75 for smog reasons in CA.

[Evans, Marv]

Since you say, in effect, you really don't care about owning a mid year car & it's not your dream car, sell them for parts or to somebody who wants to make one car out of them. Put the money toward something you want.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Cory,
Having spent the last two years restoring a Mid Year car, I would agree with Marv, that if this car just doesn't do "it" for you then sell the parts off. Since you're here in California the real question is if the coupe is a '74 or '75? If so, you're good if you decide to go with an engine swap or build up - no smog rules apply. My car is a '76 and of course ALL smog testing applies and for the forseeable future, always will.

I did a metal up paint job, new interior, new headliner, chain tensioners, clutch, oil sealing, Al Reed-restored Fuchs, etc. You'd better come with money and you'd better want what it ends up as because you aren't getting your money back on a Mid Year car...at least not for awhile. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do, Dan