1986 911 Carrera Cabriolet

rockinseattle · 12-31-2007, 05:41 PM

I'm thinking about getting a red 1986 911 Carrera Cabriolet that is for sale near by. The asking price is $17,000 and it has 175,000 miles.

How long do you think I could run this car with out a rebuild.

The car appears to be well maintained and in excellent condition.

Do you think the price is fair?

tonythetarga · 12-31-2007, 05:49 PM

If you are in Seattle as your handle suggests, contact John Walker for a Pre-purchase inspection. Your questions will be answered. If it is maintained well you should not need to worry about it until you start abusing the car at the race track.

John has a shop in Seattle (206.789.6800) and is a very regular contributor here on Pelican. He has generously helped many of us through issues via this forum and will be highly recommended by this Pelican community.

abrumley · abrumley's Garage

I have an 86 triple black 911 cab i bought it with 86k on it in realy good condition for $15,500 I've since restored the car not because it needed it but when you start it hard to stop. Have a leak down and compresion check done. It would have to be reall really nice for that much money with those miles here is a pic f mine

rockinseattle · 12-31-2007, 07:59 PM

Thanks for the info.

What should I expect to spend to rebuild myself OR buy an engine for a 3.2l?

3.2 CAB · 12-31-2007, 09:45 PM

That seems to be quite a few miles. Has anything been done to the engine or transmission yet?

abrumley · abrumley's Garage

I'm no expert but a proper 3.2l rebuild could easily run 6 grand. Plus the fact that has a 915 tranny. Something i prob would have stayed away from if i had know at the time. look for an 87 first year of the G50 much better tranny. However thats just my opinion good luck!

tonythetarga · 01-01-2008, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockinseattle

Thanks for the info.

What should I expect to spend to rebuild myself OR buy an engine for a 3.2l?

By the time you add the price of the car plus rebuild costs, you could buy a much newer car that does not need a rebuild. You should take it one step at a time and get a PPI done on this one if you are serious about it. The PPI should result in whether you need a rebuild now or in the near future and you can decide whether you want to buy that car. Whatever you buy, you need to keep a couple grand in reserve for the inevitable repair you will need as you start to use the car.

Ken Wilson · Ken Wilson's Garage

I have a big project and need help. I bought a slant nose without an engine, transmission, or brakes. The car had been stolen during its' previous lives and VIN numbers removed; It started life as a coupe, and had its' top removed. I believe it is a mid 70's 911S. The help I need would start with pictures of your Cab from the underside to determine what kind of reinforcement the factory did on these early convertibles and any other pictures that you think might help. If you know of any one that has done a Cabriolet clone that I could contact that also would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance. Ken Wilson email kenwil@bresnan.net and phone 406-453-2157

Macroni · Macroni's Garage

Too many nice cabs around to compromise on anything. Most are lower mileage cars that have not been tracked.

My cab is a well maintained g50 87 w/ 48k. I would be lucky to get 27 for it and it just had a $4000.00 service which includes new tires, brakes, valve adjustment, and AC blower replacement and charge.

tonythetarga · 01-01-2008, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Wilson

I have a big project and need help. I bought a slant nose without an engine, transmission, or brakes. The car had been stolen during its' previous lives and VIN numbers removed; It started life as a coupe, and had its' top removed. I believe it is a mid 70's 911S. The help I need would start with pictures of your Cab from the underside to determine what kind of reinforcement the factory did on these early convertibles and any other pictures that you think might help. If you know of any one that has done a Cabriolet clone that I could contact that also would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance. Ken Wilson email kenwil@bresnan.net and phone 406-453-2157

Hi Ken,
Welcome to the forum. I see that was your first post and it happened within another members question for advice. The typical protocol is to start your own thread where your question or problem is not similar to the person originating the current thread. You question here would commonly be referred to as a 'hijacking'. Perhaps post your question with some help trying to identify the chasis. There are numbers stamped in other locations that should help identify what this originally was. Targa to Cab conversions were common, Coupe to Cab...not so much.

rockinseattle · 01-01-2008, 12:00 PM

The car I am looking at is one state over and I haven't actually seen the car yet just pics. I did run a car fax on it and it was clean.

The high miles really concern me but when I shop around the price seems to be anywhere from 16,000 to 25,000. The 16,000 cabs that I have found were in really crapy shape and the 25,000 cabs I found were 1991 with high miles and more then I want to spend.

I just bought my 1980 and saw this 1986 for sale and can really only afford about 17,000 right now.

!7,000K plus a 6,000K rebuild would leave the car at 23,000K. That does seem high to me but all of the cars seem high to me in my area.

I am so torn. I really love the red and the interior/exterior looks really clean it just has that one minor problem 175,000 miles

I'm thinking I got myself into a real sticky getting myself addicted to these damn cars. I might be better off with a gambling habbit.

Here are some pics.

Car Guru · 01-01-2008, 12:18 PM

On aesthetics alone that car looks like a good deal. I personally wouldn't touch a 170K mile Toyota truck even with the coveted "bullet proof" comments given to those vehicles. Again it is a Porsche if everything checks out I don't see why not.

-Ryan

abrumley · abrumley's Garage

I sent you a PM

Paul K · Paul K's Garage

If the car is for sale by NW Investment Cars, which it looks to be, I advise caution.

Poor-sche Lover · Poor-sche Lover's Garage

The car's in Portland, OR, right? I think I've seen it on E-bay a few times over. At least the pictures look familiar.

Paul K · Paul K's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poor-sche Lover

The car's in Portland, OR, right? I think I've seen it on E-bay a few times over. At least the pictures look familiar.

Correct.

rockinseattle · 01-01-2008, 04:33 PM

Yes it is in Portland.

Paul K · Paul K's Garage

Here's a link to the car;

http://www.nwicars.com/07116.htm

RockinSeattle: I just PM'd you back.

Cheers,

Paul.

rockinseattle · 01-01-2008, 04:51 PM

Where are good places to get a PPI in the Portland area?

450knotOffice · 450knotOffice's Garage

A Carrera with 175K miles, if it has been well-maintained, is not necessarily a rebuild waiting to happen. There are plenty of guys here who have higher mileage cars and they run well (like "84porsche" for example, who's car has well over 200K miles on it). In fact, PatrickB has an '85 with more than 162K miles on it that gets tracked regularly, has a customized Steve Wong chip, headers and a high-flow muffler and and has never been opened up, yet it was just dyno'd last week at 244+ horsepower

. His engine has a LOT of life left in it.

That Cab is nice looking, btw. Good luck to you.