Thank you again for the feedback and tips, guys. And jh, you're right; my technical knowledge of this specific car is lacking, hence my thread. I also have every intention of having a knowledgeable mechanic do the PPI.

The car's in Fairfield County, btw, home to several Porsche dealers. I'll still need to research whether they know enough about older Porsches to do the inspection, or if there's an independent mechanic in the area that'd be better suited for it.

EDIT: Found some recommendations in this thread: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/137004-ppi-ct.html

OK, I saw the car in detail tonight and drove it. Below are the notes I compiled for myself after getting home. I'd appreciate any additional feedback based on them; thank you, folks.

Visual impressions
• Carfax from 2000 (supplied by owner) says 181k miles as of 1999, odo says 134k; no idea why
o Mileage discrepancy was only glitch; record was otherwise clean
o Owner says carfax can no longer be run on car this old; true?
• Says he has no idea about head studs
• Says he has no idea about timing chain tensioner (and I didn’t know what to look for; I can leave that to a mechanic, if the time comes for that)
• Doesn’t know where front seats came from; says they look like Carrera seats to him; told him they look like 928 seats to me; agreed to disagree; they were comfortable, fwiw, so I’m not sure I care
• Top of dash cracked in center from windshield to edge; says “all 911s have that”
o Be that as it may, he never felt the need to fix it, apparently
• Interior is in OK shape otherwise for 26 year old car
o Leather trim pieces loose and curling next to/behind seats; seems like an easy fix
o Front speakers have no covers and therefore look a bit ghetto; easy fix.
• Various wires hanging loose under dash; seems easy enough to clean up
• Repainted before he bought it 10 years ago
o Paint’s in excellent shape except for some nicks in various places; none are down to metal
o No rust on body except some slight spots along bottom edge of engine cover
• Did not see or feel any significant rust along rocker panels or jack points
• Hood hydraulics are shot; engine cover ones are fine (or is that spring loaded?)
• No oil puddles where car’s been sitting for past few months; says it does eat some oil “like most older 911s” that he’s owned
• Targa top has some small gaps at window corners; weather stripping there def needs replacing
o Says he doesn’t drive it in the rain. One good sign: it POURED the other day, and the car sat through that downpour; I didn’t feel or smell any moisture, and I know what wet, mildewy interiors smell like.
• Other rubber window seals seem in good shape; tight, black, and pliable; no corrosion
• New spark plug wires and distributor cap
• Newish fuel filter and “oil thermostat” (not sure what he meant by that)
• Newish looking/feeling belts
• Rear defroster does not work; cause unknown
• Saw no headlight washers…bumper replaced with non-OEM? Or did some models not that have them?
• Didn’t see door plate with paint code, etc on driver’s side door jam; not replaced when painted, perhaps?
• Overall interior impression: The dash crack and other interior flaws bum me out somewhat, but they also explain the low-ish asking price. Are they show stoppers or would they drive me to a $15 or $17k 1982? Probably not. See below.

Driving impressions
• Battery (newish, owner claims) was dead since car’s been sitting for months
• Once jumped, the car started quickly
• Slight puff of oil smoke from exhaust; none after initial start up
• Idled very smoothly, even pre-warmup; I was surprised
• Pulled hard and consistently; no extra revving from bad clutch or the like
• Clutch and shifter were very…not modern; almost stalled, but didn’t. First time in 20 years of driving I’ve even come close, though; fun.
o Got easier as I drove it; throws are incredibly long, as I've read/been told; clutch travel is also long; no idea if it's the rubber- or spring-centered kind
• No unusual rattles (Targa had been taken off, though); body felt tight
• Driver’s side visor had erectile dysfunction, though; owner didn’t know how to fix it (I assume it’s spring or torsion bar loaded somehow), so he held it up for me while I drove, otherwise it would've blocked my vision
• First time in long time I felt tall in a car; owner didn't know if power seat could be lowered or not; got impression he'd never checked
• Braked well; brake pedal was much closer to me than gas or clutch; typical?
• Start-up puff of smoke was the only one; none under acceleration or deceleration
• Interior had no odd smells (gas, oil, farts…well maybe some farts…it’s 26 years old, for god’s sake)
• Overall driving impression: Far more positive than my interior one. In fact, I forgot about the dash crack and other flaws as soon as I started driving it, which is telling. I was honestly too busy relishing the delightful noises behind me.

Other
• Owner has maintenance records for the period he owned it (10 years)
o None for previous 16 years, though
• Says he only put 1000/miles per year on it
• Says he’s “absolutely firm on the price” even though minutes later he admitted he’s been trying to sell it for over a year (and for at least 3 months at this lower $11k price…I found an old pennysaver ad where he’d asked $12k)
o He’s clearly annoyed at the lack of demand, hence his firm price; he might have that backwards, though. ;)

I'd pass. There are plenty of good cars out there, but I really don't think this is one of them.

Hopefully others with a lot more knowledge/experience than I will chime in...

Paul.

I'd check the service records and the car fax to figure out if the mileage was altered before or after this guy bought the car. I'd assume the higher mileage is correct, although Carfax is not infallible. You can't do a Carfax on anything prior to 1981, which may have been what he meant. An SC can go for several hundred thousand miles with no problem, but there is no guaruntee. I'd have the mechanicals checked thoroughly by someone that knows these cars well.

Not all of the dashes crack, although it isn't unusual. If they are leather, as opposed to vinyl, the almost always warp. A used dash can be found for $4-600, if you are patient. There are lots of used interior parts out there, so the other pieces should be easy to deal with. Those are definitely 928 seats, which are more comfortable than 911 seats of that era. Power seats were not available in an SC, so the power adjustment functions may or may not work, depending on what was done when they were installed. It's pretty hard to get all of the rubber weatherstripping on a targa adjusted to where there are no air or water leaks. Rebuilding a top can cost up to $2,000, if lots of parts are broken and you have it done by one of the gurus. The visor might be fixed in a few seconds with a screwdriver.

An '82 should have the headlight washers but that's no big deal. Most people don't drive a targa in the rain enough to need them. I'd be careful about the rust. Cars from the NE tend to suffer from more corrosion than cars from other parts of the country. The engine, gearbox, suspension, brakes, hoses and lines and everything else under the car can suffer just as many ill effects as the bodywork. This needs a careful study.

The clutch pedal should be in the same plane as the brake. This could mean an incorrectly adjusted clutch (pedal is maybe 1/2 to 3/4 inch low) or it could mean a broken helper spring. The gas pedal will be closer to the floor.

If you are happy to drive the car as is on sunny days, you may get by with only spending a grand or two after you buy it. If it's important to you to fix all the little things, you'll definitely end up north of $15k.

Lot's of cars for sale, look around a little before you decide if this one is worth pursuing.

JR

OMGhi2u

About the CarFax odo confusion, was it a Rest Of World VIN, starting with WPOZZZ? The carfax might have been done when it had a KM speedo, and it's been converted. I ran one on my '84, not sure if there's a 25 year cutoff.

You'll have to make your own decision about the rust...but remember, the windshield must be pulled to replace the dash, which is far from cheap. The visor...sounds annoying, strange that someone would put up with that.

These are hard times for some, but I think there's a reason this car has been sitting for sale for so long. I'd keep looking.

Run away.

Mileage from an 8 year old report was 181K which means it is right around 200K now, plus the odometer was obviously either broken at some point or replaced. Does it work now?

A warped/cracked dash pad is not that expensive. Problem is that the windshield has to be removed to do it. Big bucks.

Any rust showing usually means there is more elsewhere. Did you look under the battery?

Guy has owned it for 10 years and never did the head studs. Who knows if the original owner/s did it. If that engine has never been opened, it will have to be at some point. Big bucks.

Bet you any amount that it has crushed oil lines.

Just because the roof didn't leak while sitting there doesn't mean it won't leak when driving.

You say you drove it with the top off. Why? Did you also drive with the top on to check for wind noise?

Like I said before you even posted the stats, it looks like the car was a "fix as needed" vehicle. Guess I was right.

Move on to the next one. There are plenty out there.

Hey Rich; odd to see you on here too. ;) Def not a RoW VIN, though that would've been one explanation. More likely it's what the others said...somebody, the current owner or the previous one, replaced the odo or rolled the original back. Why he'd do that AND offer to show the carfax so readily I have no idea. Maybe he thought I wouldn't notice? Either way, he had no good explanation for it.

But yeah, this isn't the one. As good as it seemed to run, I'd prefer something with a somewhat less sketchy past. If he at least knew for sure that the head studs and tensioner hadn't been done, that'd be one thing. I'd know where I stand. Plus, it sounds like some of the interior fixes like the dash are more complex/costly than I anticipated (thanks for the info on that).

Thanks again, guys. I'm better prepared now for the next one I look at. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/ultim...ons/icon14.gif

If you let us know how far you're willing to travel, how much you want to spend, what colors you really like/don't like, etc. We'll be able to keep an eye out. FWIW, I bought my '89 targa on Craigslist, had a PPI done, flew down to SF and drove it back 750 miles- absolute blast!

Good luck with your search,

Paul.

Sounds like an ok car, but with a lot of nagging issues. This truly would end up being a $20K car by the time you finished fixing everything. Plenty of other nicer cars out there between $11K and $15K.

I bought a 1980 911sc targa from a gent down in KY back in June. Topline: I wanted a "hellblau" targa in time for the summer, and this was the only one I found in the country. I love the car, and I got a very good deal, but I've now spent $6k getting it righter, and it'll be another $3 or $4k before it's truly right. When all is said and done, it'll be a $17k car, and if I paint it it'll be a $20k plus car. Truly, these are, indeed, $20,000+ cars unless you get really lucky and find one that has been invested in and, due to the market right now, an owner needs to sell it for a loss.

You should expect to do the following, at a minimum:

Pop-off valve: $200 or $300 with labor
Chain tensioner update: $1200
Alternator: $800
All the random filters (oil, fuel, air): $400
Top: $800
Exhaust (plan on it being rotted if it's not SS): $2200

The puff of smoke isn't a good sign. Betting the engine is tired. You'd probably need to do some valve work.

Anyway, I'd pass on the car unless you can get it for $7500, maybe $8k tops. But don't let this discourage you. I'm 32, and I've had the same love affair with old Porsches. They're absolutely worth every penny you pay for them and every hour you spend making them healthy. There's just nothing like being behind the wheel of a 911.

Good luck.

Kaiser0929,
I think I would move on and keep looking. It is getting harder and harder to find a good SC that doesn't have issues. It took me me over 8 months to find one that was in decent shape.
It is tempting to buy one that is a little long in the tooth but the price looks right, but if your not willing to wrench yourself and put some money into it, they can get costly very fast.
Looking at the list of needs and the vague answers by the owner on some very key issue questions(Studs,Tensioner) this appears to be a car that hasn't been properly maintained and will get expensive fast to correct prior neglect.
People who own these cars and appreciate them know if the "chain tensioner upgrade" has been performed. Trust me, you want a former owner who knows and has completed the most common/basic needs upgrades to a SC or any other Porsche.
If I was in the market for a p-car, three suggestions:
1) I would utilize the "pelican" network to help find some candidates to consider.
2) Try to find one that has been owned by a "enthusiast" who knows his car inside and out
3) Join PCA and network through your local chapter and their recommended shops.
Good Luck