1982 911 sc engine idle speed adjustment
 

I recently bought an 82 Targa and need to reduce idle speed from 1250 rpm. anyone have tips on what to do?

Yes, buy a Bentley repair manual from our host... If you have any interest in DYI projects this is the first thing you need.

If you wanna play with it, its a simple knob on the left side of your throttle body. you can turn it by hand. no tools required. But you should have your timing and mixture checked.
Where is King, NC? How far are you from Hampton Roads?

You will need to first determine if this is due to a leak, then second if its not you need to set the system up correctly. This means, timing, mixture and idle speed as stated above. Its very easy with an exhaust analyzer to figure out if you have issues.

Rick,

Has the car always idled at 1250 or is this something that just came about?

If it just came about, then I would guess that your distributer may have rotated slightly changing the timing and revving the idle up. Check to ensure tha the 13mm nut holding the distributor is tight, if it isnt then that is the likely cause of your problem and you will have to set the timing, even if it isnt loose you should still check the timing anyways, as a start.

If it has idled like this for sometime because of an improper adjustment then you might be OK to simply make an idle adjustment by turning the large screw on the left side of the throttle body.

It likely isn't an air leak as this would cause the motor to idle down and should cause a lean fuel to air mixture which in turn possibly would result in backfiring and a surging idle when cold. Or, someone may have intentionally idled it up in order to compensate for an air leak.

Post a picture of you car if you can.