1986 911 must do upgrades ?

[MH2]

I have a 86 911 carrera targa ,I have changed all the plugs wires fluids ect (thanks Pelican).Looking for what upgrades i should do it is pretty much stock .Exhaust etc
I will need tires and brake job now .any suggestions on upgrades?
It also has inop ac .should i repair it or remove it i have read that ac work is not worth the investment ,
Thanks for the advice .

[DRACO A5OG]

oh my, you are in for it now.

[JQ911]

Welcome to the addiction. Since I bought my 86 last year, I've been non-stop in my upgrades and I think its already an acquired disease . From wheels, exhaust, tail lights, headlights, steering wheel and countless accessories. I just went to a dismantler while visiting LA to accompany my friend to buy parts for his 964 like switches and I ended up buying a fresh dashboard.

I need to control my spending habits otherwise, I will end up living in the streets.

[MH2]

Thanks guys just looking for where the best moneys would be spent .

[Devil Dog Mosport]

Some Quick best "Bang for the Buck" ; Upgrade Exhaust, Quick shifter, Chip, Intake - up to MAFS, Brakes repair/rebuild/upgrade pads only.. Ignition, Shocks, Sway bars, Torsion Bars.. this will keep you busy for a while ...and broke.

[Nickshu]

Add Turbo tie rods to that list (or did 86 have them from the factory? Can't recall what year that started).

Yes remove the A/C unless you want to sink a few thousand to upgrade it so it works well. The stock system, even when properly tuned, was pretty poor.

If you need to do brakes it's a good opportunity to send your calipers to PMB for a rebuild/refinish. While you are at that replace front wheel bearings....here goes the slippery slope...

[Matt Monson]

Going to be the outlier here. The ac on my '86 blows ice cold and only cost me $600 to fix some leaking lineS,and recharge.

Beyond that, how do you plan to use this car?

[darrin]

I'd approach this slightly differently than others have suggested and propose that the best first thing to do is get your carrera completely sorted out before dropping coin on upgrades. There are a number of potentially expensive things that may well need doing on your car to get it dialed in that, imho, are more important to get sorted out before throwing exhaust/upgraded brakes/etc. at it.

First, see what your oil consumption is. Carreras are fairly notorious for having valve guide issues manifest at around 80k+ miles. Mine was slurping up a quart of oil every 600 miles -- this necessitated having my engine dropped and top end rebuilt.

Next, check out your fuel lines. The 25+ year age of these lines cause them to leak. Make sure these are OK as engine fires are no fun

Next, sensors, especially if you have a single wire cylinder head temp sensor (which my '86 had) --

The 915 transmission similarly benefits from being well sorted out with special attention paid to bushings and the gear oil used. Even then, if the previous owner abused it, you may need to have second gear (etc.) synchros replaced.

I've left the ac on my '86 carrera sit unused for the past decade, should probably pull it out one of these days. I don't need it here in colorado, but your situation might be different.

Once sorted out, I definitely recommend checking out one of Steve Wong's chips. Another MUST HAVE upgrade (imo) is replacement of the
86's stock sealed beam headlights with H4 european lights. I cheaped out and used round 7" drop ins with my sugar scoop enclosures, but the nightime driving difference is amazing -- the 911-specific euro headlights do look trick -- be sure to install a headlight relay setup (our host sells one) while you're at it, as all headlight current flows through the turn signal stalk as delivered from the factory.

If your targa top is not at 100%, dan pectel (carsinc here) does an incredible job refreshing these to new and a refreshed top will stay that way for years.

Bottom line -- it may well take a lot more (time and $$$) than you budgeted to get your '86 properly dialed in and once dialed in, you may well find it kicks ass as-is (I sure have with my '86).

[911dean]

Darrin's advice is excellent.
This has been my approach with a relatively low mileage car. I put about 2000 miles on it getting to know it. I then fixed some oil seapage by replacing various oil lines ect. I also tuned it up and did a valve adjustment. Started driving it again and knew I was hooked and had the fever bad. I then decided that the suspension and brakes were the best thing to address first. So I started buying pieces little by little along the same lines as Craig's approach. I'll be starting the suspension upgrade very soon. After the suspension upgrade a transmission rebuild is in order along with the while you are in there syndrome. I then will have a very well sorted out 911 and can start dreaming up my 3.4 build.

Hope this helps you out. Just as a side note, I'd take the car cross country tomorrow. The work I have outlined is to get the car where I want it and it should be.

Dean

[zippy_gg]

"Everything rubber" was the advice I received when I bought my 86 cab...
So far I replacing all suspension bushings, fuel lines, brake lines, AC lines, then shocks, various fans, fuse panel, shift linkage bushings and coupler, plus a bunch of seals and o-rings as the engine/tranny assy. is out of the car.
Adding a Seine shift gate now that I have also replaced the carpet and sound-proofing material.
And a bunch more stuff... See here What did you do to your 911 today?

[MH2]

Thanks here is a pic of it thanks again

[MH2]

[Nickshu]

It's screaming for H4 headlights.

[darrin]

nice!

[MH2]

Thanks

[Smoove1010]

Nice car, congrats! (Of course, I'm partial to the color combo...) You got good advice here, particularly the "everything rubber" comment above. I got that same tip. When checking fuel lines, don't forget the ones just behind and under the gas tank, they are out of sight and usually out of mind.

I'd also suggest careful scrutiny of the CV joints/boots/bolts and rear wheel bearings.

Make it safe, then make it cool. (It's a Porsche, so it's already cool...)

Good luck!
GK

[RWebb]

repl. rubber brake hoses & tires over 6 years old

update rubber ful lines to EtOH compatible hoses; repl. that metal line that leaks on 3.2L cars

add fuse to unfused wires under dash

search on "long term maintenance"

[zippy_gg]

Originally Posted by RWebb

repl. that metal line that leaks on 3.2L cars

Which metal line are you refering to? The one that is part of the "T" in the engine compartment, or the line in the tunnel?

[Rot 911]

Definitely follow the suggestions on replacing rubber, suspension and brakes. Get it handling like it was when it was new before you worry about upping the horsepower.

And speaking of horsepower, it is hard to extract much out of the 3.2 engine cheaply. Budget around $100 per 1 hp gained.

[dannng]

Originally Posted by darrin

I'd approach this slightly differently than others have suggested and propose that the best first thing to do is get your carrera completely sorted out before dropping coin on upgrades. There are a number of potentially expensive things that may well need doing on your car to get it dialed in that, imho, are more important to get sorted out before throwing exhaust/upgraded brakes/etc. at it.

First, see what your oil consumption is. Carreras are fairly notorious for having valve guide issues manifest at around 80k+ miles. Mine was slurping up a quart of oil every 600 miles -- this necessitated having my engine dropped and top end rebuilt.

Next, check out your fuel lines. The 25+ year age of these lines cause them to leak. Make sure these are OK as engine fires are no fun

Next, sensors, especially if you have a single wire cylinder head temp sensor (which my '86 had) --

The 915 transmission similarly benefits from being well sorted out with special attention paid to bushings and the gear oil used. Even then, if the previous owner abused it, you may need to have second gear (etc.) synchros replaced.

I've left the ac on my '86 carrera sit unused for the past decade, should probably pull it out one of these days. I don't need it here in colorado, but your situation might be different.

Once sorted out, I definitely recommend checking out one of Steve Wong's chips. Another MUST HAVE upgrade (imo) is replacement of the
86's stock sealed beam headlights with H4 european lights. I cheaped out and used round 7" drop ins with my sugar scoop enclosures, but the nightime driving difference is amazing -- the 911-specific euro headlights do look trick -- be sure to install a headlight relay setup (our host sells one) while you're at it, as all headlight current flows through the turn signal stalk as delivered from the factory.

If your targa top is not at 100%, dan pectel (carsinc here) does an incredible job refreshing these to new and a refreshed top will stay that way for years.

Bottom line -- it may well take a lot more (time and $$$) than you budgeted to get your '86 properly dialed in and once dialed in, you may well find it kicks ass as-is (I sure have with my '86).

Congrats on the car! But what darrin said is or can be the best "mod" for the carrera.