Introducing my new (to me) 911!

[Nathans_Dad]

Just wanted to take a moment and introduce my new baby to the board. She is a 1984 911 with 103,000 miles. She is all original with the exception of a later spoiler and later model wheels. Also has a performance chip (not sure which one) and an aftermarket air filter.

I bought her out of Topeka, Kansas after looking for my second 911 for about 4 months. My first was a 1984 targa that I sold about three years ago. I flew up to Kansas and drove her back, 8 hours from Topeka to Dallas. If you want to read all the gory details of that adventure, I posted everything over on the OT forum (where I have been hanging out for the past three years). Link: Road Trip!! Discovering my new (to me) Porsche 911

The good:

No rust ANYWHERE!
Had a pretty decent repaint done reportedly about 10 years ago which still looks quite good.
Interior is pretty close to pristine.
Engine pulls well and runs strong.
Transmission was rebuilt about 10,000 miles ago so that should not be an issue I have to deal with.
Everything seems to work with the exception of the clock, which only works when the car is running. Wierd.
The PO put new Bilstein HDs on the rear about a year ago.
No evidence I can find of any accident damage, PO didn't know of any either.

The bad:

Some squeaks and such from the suspension, probably needs a refresh.
A few oil leaks here and there, nothing major. She has yet to drip on my garage floor.
Idle is a little rough, just surges slightly up and down.
Don't like the later model wheels.
Not crazy about the later model tail (likely going to go with a duck anyway)
The Sport seats don't fit me well, I'll probably sell them and replace with GTS seats.

Purchase price was $14,000 which I thought was pretty fair given the good condition of the car. I probably could have found a car for $12 or $13k but it would have had more issues. During my search I saw many many 3.2 liter cars with 80k miles going for $16.5-17k so I thought a $3,000 discount for 20k miles was pretty reasonable.

Plans for the next year or so include suspension overhaul, new seats, new wheels, and ducktail.

Eventual plans are for an RS backdate or possibly an RSR but it will be a street car for the vast majority of the time and I don't see the point in doing all the racing bits if I'm not going to race her. If I don't race her, then I might feel a bit like a poseur having RSR bodywork and not racing it. Anyhow, lots of time to ponder that question.

Yesterday I detailed the interior, today I gave her a good wash. This included jacking her up front and rear and powerwashing out the wheel wells and engine (after covering the distro, air cleaner and fuse box of course). I wanted to do this in preparation for my suspension refresh as well as clean up the engine bay so I can better localize exactly where the oil leak might be.

On to the pics!

Interior:




Rear wheel wheel before:


Rear wheel well after. I didn't go crazy in here, just wanted to get most of the grime off:


Front wheel well after: Look! My oil cooler is shiny!


After a wash:





That's it! This will be my first car to wrench on, my targa never really had an issue so I didn't really get into it much. I'm sure I will have lots of dumb newbie questions so bear with me! I'll try to make the search function my friend!

[etcmss]

looks good, have fun and drive it

[Buckterrier]

Nice car Rick. I saw your post in OT also. What build date is your 84? Mine is April and I also have the trombone cooler. One of the upgrades the 84' was supposed to have was the 'new' radiator type coolers. They must have had some of the old left from the SC's. Red 84's are the best, congrats!!

[pplkook]

the newer tail works with the newer wheels....nice car.

[Oh Haha]

Good looking 911!


Just watch out for nails.

[Flat Six]

Nice! And welcome. FWIW, idle surge on these is often ICV or small vacuum leak -- I notice your oil filler cap looks non-standard (or is it just the stock gold colored cap painted body color?). Might check the seal there for vacuum leak.

[Nathans_Dad]

Good suggestion! Might be worth it to get another oil cap and see if that helps it.

[Winter]

Sounds like your clock isn't hooked up correctly, if it works when the car is on I'd think that means that it works. Probably isn't getting current to run 24/7 when car is off.

just my $0.02

Nice car for sure!

[SpeedracerIndy]

Nice looking car!!! Welcome to the addiction, better lock down your bank account before you start hemorrhaging money on "upgrades". Those Cup II wheels are among my favorite that Porsche ever used. They seem to look great on any 911.

Originally Posted by Buckterrier

Nice car Rick. I saw your post in OT also. What build date is your 84? Mine is April and I also have the trombone cooler. One of the upgrades the 84' was supposed to have was the 'new' radiator type coolers. They must have had some of the old left from the SC's. Red 84's are the best, congrats!!

The oil cooler that the original poster showed is not a "trombone" cooler. It is a 28 row brass cooler. It was standard on European SC's and early Carrera's. It is a very good oil cooler and only slightly less effective than the radiator type cooler with fan, which came on later Carrera's. Some argue it works just as well as long as you are moving air through it. So don't go chucking it out the window just yet!

[GothingNC]

Looks great and sport seats are a plus

Hmm, just realized this is post 1982 for me.

[mholbrook38]

Looks great. Love the steering wheel (I have identical). Surging idle likely a vacuum leak. Should be an easy fix. Change all the vacuum hoses.

Enjoy, it's a winner!

[Kevin Stewart]

Welcome, Kevin

[Reifle]

Very nice - lower it!

[motogman]

So what does one look for to tell an SC from a Carrera from the body work alone? (sorry if this is a dumb questions)

[Oh Haha]

Originally Posted by motogman

So what does one look for to tell an SC from a Carrera from the body work alone? (sorry if this is a dumb questions)

The tails(if equipped) are different as well as the front valence with fog lights. On SCs the lights are "hung" and on the Carrera they are mounted flush.

[axvel]

Looks good have fun! Nice car join PCA

[Gustyones]

Nice looking car! The tail adds a nice touch!

[tcar]

Originally Posted by Buckterrier

Nice car Rick. I saw your post in OT also. What build date is your 84? Mine is April and I also have the trombone cooler. One of the upgrades the 84' was supposed to have was the 'new' radiator type coolers. They must have had some of the old left from the SC's. Red 84's are the best, congrats!!

That's not an SC trombone cooler...

[motorcop]

nice ride....I have an 84 also (cab)....enjoy it, great cars.