75 Carrera - Barn Car- Newbie needs help

[k_dub]

Hi All;

I've been working on various small projects over the last few years on VWs and Audis, but I just recently got my hands on a 1975 911 Carrera that's been living in a barn in Ontario and I'm trying to figure out how to go about restoring it (i.e. whether to try and stay close to the original or just hot rod it). A Porsche is a bit of a new beast to me and I'm trying to figure out what others are doing.

The car needs work on the underbody (floorpan and some other smaller areas, but is otherwise in pretty good shape. The motor runs fairly well but hasn't seen a good drive in the better part of 5 or 6 years.

I've been reading through a lot of posts, but I thought starting a thread to see what opinions are out there would be best.

Thanks for any insights you can give.

[fryardds]

Hi,

Is this a coupe? If so I'm curious is the VIN 911560XXXX or is it 911540XXXX?

[s_morrison57]

pic's ? You got any?

[mikeferg75]

I'd say keep it stock, when you can post the vin # and just how bad the underbody is, rust repair can be a BIG project depending on how bad.

I pulled a 75 Carrera out of a barn about 7 years back (not my current one) , from memory, I had to redo entire fuel system, clean flush tank, new tunnel lines, unstick cis dizzy, new injectors, acc ect. resealed motor (no teardown, just new everything I could get at) Tires, new MC, and brake flush, then all fluids and a battery, fired up and I drove it for the next year as my DD, never failed me once.

Ferg

[k_dub]

Thanks for the input so far;

It is a coupe, but the VIN is a 911520XXXX so unfortunately it was only the low powered 2.7l engine etc... I did some of this looking after I got it.

I haven't got the car up yet to take a good look at the underbody, but from what I could look at crawling underneath it looks like the driver side floor is mostly rotted out from about the pedals back to the front of the seat rails and some holes at the very front of the car just back from the front bumper.

The underbody repairs don't scare me too much, I've done them before on restoring old VW Beetles, but I'm trying to decided how detailed I should be with the repairs.

Thanks for the input and I'll post pictures soon.

[mikeferg75]

If vin# is 520 it's not a Carrera, but a 911s

[ossiblue]

Now that you've posted the VIN and the car is not a carrera, going back to your original question I'd say to forget the originality restoration and go ahead with the "hot rod" idea.

Mid year cars like yours do not command a high price even when in good shape so if you're going to invest your time and money to bring this car back--a car that is nothing special--then I say do it for your own interests. Rust will be the major issue, don't let that fool you. You've probably done some research on early car rust, but it would be helpful to find someone who is very familiar with rust areas on 911's and have them go over the car with you--those "little areas" may not be so little after all.

As far as the engine, if your car was a Canadian import or non-California car, it likely did not have the dreaded thermal reactors. However, the 2.7L engine was still known for pulling head studs so unless it has been "upgraded", consider an investment into the engine beyond just bringing it back to life.

Waiting to see pictures of just what you have. Could be a very nice project for you and not as "bad" as I've made out.

[k_dub]

Thanks for the help with straightening things out especially to actually know what I have.

I think after seeing the advise and opinions so far it looks like my best bet is to go get this car looked over properly. Not that I don't trust the opinions on guys here when I get pics up, but I from the feedback so far, the best thing to do is have someone who knows these cars take a look and not try to depend on my questionable photo skills.

I'll still post pics and I would still appreciate any good ideas on the 'hot rod' idea as I go forward. I figure most things are fair game if I'm not going to restore to original so ideas on what works and what doesn't (I'm sure there's a lot of experience out there) would be great. So any more feedback is great.

[jimbauman]

Is a 74 S with a lot of rust worth the $$$ it would take to bring it back to life?

JB

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by jimbauman

Is a 74 S with a lot of rust worth the $$$ it would take to bring it back to life?

JB

JB has posed a very good question (though the car is a 75.) I assumed you already had the car but if that's not the case, then his question is all the more relevant. Keep this in mind as you closely inspect the car.

[k_dub]

It is a good question, but I do already have the car so at this point it's more of a "what do I do with it now". I'll be honest, I'm not really looking to build a car that I will get money back on investment for (although it would be nice if it was worth a little when I was done), this is more because I love the look of these cars and I want to restore it to some form that I can enjoy for many years.

[mholbrook38]

They are all $20k cars in the end.....or more...

Go with what makes YOU happy. You'll have a lot more fun in the end. I'd see what it would take to make it a "decent" daily driver and then get it to there and drive it for a while. Enjoyment in stages is not a bad thing. If you spend a few minutes every day on this forum, you will learn a lot and most especially, learn to actually know the car you love.

Enjoy...