Backdating? (To do so or not to do so)

[Doug&Julie]

Picture yourself a year from now walking into your garage and seeing a beautiful longhood 911. Are you picturing it? OK, now...do you miss the SC? No? But you have an extra warm feeling in your heart becuase your Porsche is now extra special to you, right? Problem solved.

Screw originality. These are our cars for us to have fun with. DO IT.

[Doug&Julie]

Originally Posted by Axiom

Check this link..
Carrera Backdate By TRE

Hey that's my car! ..ok, I had it pre-backdate.

That's a fairly high dollar (of course high quality) backdate by TRE if I recall. But after chatting with them, one can get a much more budget friendly backdate from TRE if you didn't want to do it yourself.

[Wil Ferch]

Let's elevate this discussion to another level. The following 2 links talk about taking a perfectly good racing 2.1L Turbo 911 ( one of two in existence)....and transforming it *back* to one of its earlier iterations ( 2.8L RSR).

The question?...Correct to do?.....or not?

....considering.....

1.) the number of real RSR's compared to the number of real 2.1L Turbo's around, and
2.) the fact that the starting point of the 2.1L Turbo was * not* a burned-out or badly damaged example, where one could more easily choose which prior version to restore it to... but actually starting with quite a nice, old, as-raced condition 2.1L turbo.

First TURBO Racer GONE


935 Pornography (Latest Gunnar Racing car) .... my comments start at #3


( "Yep..it's the same axe. Replaced the handle three times and the head twice....but its the same axe !!..." )

[Jeff Alton]

We are talking about a dime a dozen 911SC here..... It is the owner's car to modify how he sees fit. So if the OP likes the early car look, I think he should do it if he has the funds to do so.

Cheers

[jjwood]

Well if I was going to spend the money, I'd backdate a middie '87 or newer cabriolet, just to get the G50...and make it my daily driver (seeing as how I already own a longhood coupe fore play). That would give me the 'look' that I prefer and at the same time it would be unique (relatively) as there were no factory longhood cabriolets. But at the end of the day ...it's your money so spend it for you not for us.

[mickey356]

R K T,

"ps... I had a real 55 Speedster, and I got tired of explaining to people that it WASN"T a fake!"

Hilarious! I have a buddy who had a 59 coupe and a 58 speedster and he dealt with the same thing. We always laugh about it.

And your car makes me seriously reconsider my thoughts on backdating mine. That is one beautiful car!

[R K T]

Thanks Mickey!
Three pages of advice. Like all the other threads about "should I or shouldn't I".....It really is up to you and what you want. For as many "go for it" opinions, you'll get the same number of "don't do it". It's up to you.
I am lovin' my BD, happy I bought it
......but glad I let the previous owner do the grunting and sweating!

another pic....OK?

[kiwiokie]

I stewed over backdate plans for 6 months while shopping for a good short hood base car. In the end I decided to build an SC hotrod. If I was to backdate I wanted a period color which meant painting the car, then the black window trim would look out of place so that would have to go, then of course door handles, mirrors and then the labor to get every lined up right. I have seen some wonderful work on this forum and then I have seen too many backdates with turn signals and taillights that don't fit right, droopy bumpers, wonky horn grills, and bad panel fit etc. For some this may be fine (I certainly enjoyed driving my stripped out ratrod for 6 months before my project started and did not care how it looked) but from previous experience I knew at some point I would want it to look right. I did not have the skills to do the work myself and my budget would not stretch to paying someone to do the work to the standard that I would be happy with long term so it was a hotrod SC for me.

[mickey356]

And I can't think of two better examples of what can be done on either side than the the two guys posting above. Both beautiful cars that I would be proud to own. So see, there is no right or wrong answer

Rob, I still think that dash is genius!!!

[TT Oversteer]

Originally Posted by xReddogx

Here are some more details on my particular situation....

The car has about 141k miles (20k on rebuilt motor and transmission by previous owner)

I actually already got rid of the whale tail...



Unfortunately, I forgot that I had this updated picture. The color looks really dark (almost black) but it really appears more of a dark charcoal color.

I can definitely see the validity of all the points of view presented thus far. As far as working on my car...I really enjoy it as I view these cars as a pleasure to turn wrenches on. Being said...I usually can only tackle smaller projects as I don't have the best garage for larger ones. If I took on this project I would most likely do some of the body disassembly myself and then have a body shop do the fabrication and installation of the backdate components. The reason I first started kicking this idea around is that though my car is 99% rust free there is a small area where the previous owner had a new windshield installed and must have damaged the body somehow as there is an extremely small (about the size of a macaroni noodle) area where paint is bubbling at the bottom of the passenger side windshield. The paint overall is in very good condition for a 30 year old vehicle but I start going down this line of thought...

To fix the area the windshield will need to be removed and the rust repaired and that area painted.

If that area is going to be painted I might as well paint the whole car.

If I am going to paint the whole car... wouldn't this be the perfect time to do a backdate?

As to overall condition of the car.... It is in good condition, looks great, and is mechanically sound but it is not a show car by any means. I enjoy the car as an occasional weekend driver and it puts a smile on my face every time.

If I backdate...this is what I would be shooting for (I apologize to whomever this picture belows to for not listing them as I found the image on google).

I think most backdates resemble RS cars because of the wider SC flares. If you really want your SC to look like the example above you will have to cut the SC flares off and weld on narrow early rear flares and switch to 15x6 wheels all around. Interesting idea to backdate to a "stock" narrow body car but more difficult to make look correct. Also the chrome trim will have to be added around the windows and elsewhere which is why most backdates seem to have blacked out or deleted trim. I think the best advice given above is to start with a color matched ducktail and see how you like it.

[R K T]

Originally Posted by mickey356

And I can't think of two better examples of what can be done on either side than the the two guys posting above. Both beautiful cars that I would be proud to own. So see, there is no right or wrong answer

Rob, I still think that dash is genius!!!

Thank You Mickey!

[benp911]

I say go ahead with the backdate!
I did it and am quite happy. Here are before and after pics.

[Wil Ferch]

RKT...... whether backdated or not...put a cover on that positive battery post !

[twistoffat]

[QUOTE=R K T;5529137]I started my lifelong Porsche addiction with a 66 911, that I bought in 67. I've been the "caretaker" of 15 different Porsches through the years since. When I sold my 993 C4S last year I really wanted another early car, but all I found was expensive "serial numbers" and cars that I wouldn't want to drive like I want to drive. I found an 87 that was BD'd by a fellow Pelican that I felt was exactly what I wanted. He had done the hard work, all that was left was the interior, and I just completed it. I've got way more in receipts than what I paid for it. It's what I wanted. AND....if anyone thinks it's a fake, I don't give a ....

before

and after



I donīt mean to be unfair but am I alone in thinking that what really has made the difference here is not the backdate but the Fuchs alloys and that absolutely magnificent paint job?

[R K T]

Originally Posted by Wil Ferch

RKT...... whether backdated or not...put a cover on that positive battery post !

Already done! Thanks

[PcarPhil]

I've built a lightweight SC:



and I've built a backdated '77:



As far as projects go they both have their pros and cons. Backdating is far more involved. Just decide what YOU want to do and do it. I know I know...easier said than done!

(If it helps I sold the SC to partially fund the '77 backdate project which I don't plan on selling)

[xReddogx]

So being a Saturday the wife and I had to take advantage of the sunny weather and take the SC for a drive...

every time I looked at it I started thinking of what the car would look like backdated (or even as was posted maybe an IROC replacement) they are two totally different directions and my first instinct would be to follow my original love for older 911s.

So here is the deal...I am willing to pay $7,500 (exterior only - I want to try to tackle the interior myself) for a conversion to backdate. Is that too little as if I think it would be significantly more then I will just consider buying a 912 and leaving the SC alone. I completely understand that a lot depends that how much I do myself but as said earlier most of the work would be done by a body shop.

This brings me to my final annoying question...

Me and 2 of my other local Porsche cohorts have been having a debate.....

1 says that it is better to not spend the money on the SC and buy another car as I will most likely have better odds of recouping my cost upon resale when compared to the satisfaction I would derive from driving an older car.

The other says more vehicles...more cost for maintenance, insurance, repairs. Stick simple and consolidated...compiling my money and efforts into a top notch Porsche.

Personally I lean toward the first option but definitely see the appeal of the second. I love the thought of consolidation and simplicity. At the risk of sounding indecisive....what are your thoughts on this...

...I know its another question (or two).... apologies...just want to be as sure as possible before starting the bloody endeavor.

By the way - A tip of the hat to those that have performed backdates on their cars...I think one of the great fascinations of being a gear head is making a car your own. In addition, I respect those purists for staying true to the original vision of the engineers that designed these cars. Regardless of what camp you sit in...we cant argue that these cars make fantastic examples of what driving is all about.

And with that my friends....I finish the bottle of Merlot and call it a night. (eagerly awaiting the responses to my above query)

[mickey356]

You'll sort it out. I had my two toy cars (the replica speedster and mySC) and found the maintenance, upkeep, etc... of both the be a bit much for me. In my case I too wanted to simplify things so I had to make a choice and the SC won. I figured I'd take some of the money from the sale of the replica and put it into the SC to make it what I wanted. I guess I'm kinda in the same boat as you, I'm not completely sure what I want it to be yet.

[TT Oversteer]

You could blow your entire $7500 budget on paint alone and that's just about where a fairly decent paint job starts.

[CharlesJones]

My preference would be to get an early car in addition to your SC. Others have said that the driving experience of an early car is different to a back-date anyway. If this is the case then having an early car in addition to your SC gives you 2 different driving experiences. You get to enjoy the difference driving experiences of both cars, choosing whatever you fancy as the moods takes you.

Also, having 2 classic cars in some ways takes a lot of pressure off the ownership of each one. If you have one car off the road whilst you do jobs on it, then you still have the other to enjoy. And if one ends up needing significant work, then there is not such an urgency to have it fixed as you still have the other car to enjoy.

And finally, if you do find you significantly prefer the ownership experience of one car over the other, then you can also thinking about getting rid of whichever car isn't your favourite. If you backdate your SC you might never find out what the ownership experience of an early car is really like, and so you might never have this informed option.