Early 70s 911t as a daily driver

[mizatthew]

Shopping for my first 911- was wondering if anyone on here drives an early 70s 911t as a daily driver? If so, how is it as far as maintenance and reliability? For the sake of the discussion I'm curious how it is with a good condition 911, potentially with a rebuild, but not a totally restored one or one with a totally different newer engine in it. And to really get down to it- do you wish you had a newer model ?

Thanks!

[Sporttracguy]

I drive my stock 1970 911e frequently as a daily driver in the summer (60 miles round trip) and so far so good. My normal dd is a lifted sport trac, so I enjoy the mileage but sitting in traffic is taxing and gets old quick. I've been doing this for 2 years with no problems but every p car is different and has it's own quirks and problems. I may just be a lucky one.

The only thing I wish I had in the hot summers being stuck in traffic is a/c and some newer seats.

Sporttracguy

[dmcummins]

I have a 73, but with a 3.2 from a 84. The only thing that keeps me from driving it more is no A/C.

I'm actually thinking of selling the Boxster and driving the 73 more. After all the IMS worrys. I need to look into having a A/C installed.

[BK911]

I have been driving early 911s, 914s and Ghias as DDs for about 15 years now. All can be made dependable. How much effort needed depends on where the car is starting from.

[Macroni]

where are you located? that IMO establishes usage.....

[red 69]

I drive my 69 always rain summer track PCA meetings for 8 years... they r meant to b driven no problems...

[ossiblue]

If you're old enough to have driven cars from the early 60's and 70's you'll know that reliability depends on continued routine maintenance and repair at a level much higher than cars of today. You could do it yourself or pay a mechanic. The early P cars fall into this category and, fortunately, they are easy to work on and parts are relatively easy to get.

If you are a DIY'er and know your car well, the reliability is really up to you and to how much you have put into making it a DD. Frankly, any component can fail unexpectedly at any time but if you know the car and its workings, that is just a concern that is filed in the back of your mind--like the knowledge of where your AAA card is when the breakdown happens. Personally, I have more trust in my 73 than most later cars because of the ability to repair and maintain it myself. I am like the posters above--I use the car as a DD without problems, do my own regular maintenance (which is more often than a newer car), and do most repairs myself. You should have no problem with using a 70 as a DD as long as you have your expectations at the correct level.

[Trackrash]

+1 on what ossiblue said.

I have a '71 and it was my daily driver for 30 years. It was very reliable except for a couple of glitches over the years, AAA to the rescue. I drove about 20 miles each way to work, but never in the rain.

How did I do this? From '81 to '85 I did a bare tube restoration. I made sure that everything was new or as good as new.

The problem you will have is the value of the longhoods almost takes them out of the daily driver category, especially if you find one that is in excellent condition. Otherwise you just need to make sure all the mechanicals are up to snuff. The major components, engine and trans, suspension and brakes are very robust and if properly maintained will not let you down. (except the clutch on the 70-71s, ask me how I know). On any old car it's the little things that normally don't need maintenance that will bite you. Like the little rubber bushings in the shift coupler or the rubber attatchmnet in the accelerator linkage or the CDI unit or .....

Good luck, let us know what you find.

[mizatthew]

Great info guys- thanks! I am looking for something to drive in San Francisco. To be honest, I know very little about working on cars but am looking to learn and now is as good a time as any, so it may work out well. I really prefer the fit and finish of the earlier vehicles, especially the back of the car. Do you just avoid the rain because of rust or are there other reasons as well?

[Christien]

I agree with all that's been said above. I just drove 800 miles in a really nice, clean 86 Carrera, and kept thinking to myself, how can I get my car as comfortable as this for long drives? My biggest issues were #1 far and away more comfortable seats. My sport Recaro is in pretty rough shape, and either needs to be restuffed/reupholstered or replaced. #2 is better heat/install a/c. #3 is noise - better sound deadening and reseal my windshield, which leaks a lot of air. That's really it, and all of that can be done for under $2000, except installing a/c, which would run another 2k or so.

[Trackrash]

Do you just avoid the rain because of rust or are there other reasons as well?

Rust is a real problem with the older, non galvanized, cars. In San Francisco I would keep my car in the garage unless it was sunny. Sitting outside the salt air will eat up an older Porsche.

[Tspringer]

I drove my old hotrod '69 S as my every day car for several years. No problem... some sweat. So it goes.


Look at it this way: perhaps a bit of an inconvenience, but when you sell it in 5 years for $300K or so you will be pretty happy.



Terry

[Neel]

Drove my '70T for many years almost daily,with no problems.. When the heat goes up in the SC summers, it was parked some..

[surfdwn]

I had a '68 911 that had a 911S spec engine and I drove it every day that it did not rain for 3 years. I had a 35 mile commute and no real issues.

Once my '70 911t is done, I'll drive it every chance I get. Modern....not really. Reliable...absolutely!

David Nolen
'70 911t

[Christien]

On the subject of reliability, the 911 has been the one that always starts and rarely has a problem. I can count on one hand the times it's let me down, and it's only had to be towed once. Though the Honda might be less of an issue if my wife didn't have a bad habit of leaving the lights on...

[911FASCINATION]

Find a good car and go for it man! Years from now you'll realize what we already know, and you'll be glad you did...

[yazhound]

My 2 cents. My father purchased a 1968 912 from the factory. It was his daily driver until 1984. I have it now and after sitting for literally over two decades, with very little effort I got it running again. (Although not yet road worthy).

I have recently purchased a 1988 3.2 and drove it home after purchase approximately 500 miles. (Adventurous! After this trip I had to replace the dme sincer it quit on me on the way home from purchase. After cool down she cranked up and I made it home with fingers crossed! ) Since then I have been using it as my dd on most days which is 50 miles round trip.

As an aside, my wife had a 2003 RAV4. Had to replace the ECU unit to tune of over $1000 at just over 120k on the ode. Its failure did permanent damage to the transmission that surfaced intermittently afterwards despite Toyota's assertions otherwise. We no longer have that vehicle. Newer does not always mean more reliable not matter the year nor the manufacturer.....

[naparsei]

I didn't drive my '71T to work today, so maybe I can't answer the question. Instead, I drove the '64 356SC. The more you drive them, the better they work. 911s are better dailies because they have better brakes and better lights (headlights, tail lights, etc.). The only things that would make me hesitate would be (a) an unusually poor parking situation (b) snow - and that doesn't stop everyone (c) a very high amount of "stop and go"