how did you end up with your current car?

[sugarwood]

One thing I've realized is never let $500 get between you and the right car!

[Laneco]

A fellow Pelican posted a car that he was parting out. It was an 81 911 coupe in a color most people describe as something between bland and drab. The car had a salvage title, a roller as the engine/trans had already gone to another project. It was definitely on its way to the knackers, after all who wanted a run down, roller chassis, salvage title 911 in 2007?

I did. Put a drivetrain into it and hit the road. I drove it for work for years. Traveled all over the western US with the car. Other than a failed regulator (still got me home) it has never had a mechanical. With the 3.0 engine, I routinely got 25 to 28 mpg. The car made so many trips compensated by mileage that it paid for itself, paid for the 3.0 engine and head studs, and still put money in my pocket. My handsome husband bought me an 85 drivetrain a couple of years go, so the 3.0 went to another project and it now sports a 3.2 with a limited slip transaxle.

This is Butters - the Blue Collar 911. Here's to the next ten years!

angela

[biopsea]

1977 Carrera 3.0
Bid on it via ebay. Didnt really plan on winning. Was playing golf and got the news. ummmm. I guess i own a new car.
No PPI. Had car shipped from CA to FL.
A few updates later and I am a lucky boy. Hope to keep it in the family for a long, long time.

[sugarwood]

Angela, what a clean engine bay. I'd almost be tempted to replace the ICV just to make it match your very clean engine.

[bobt4945]

My 1st Porsche was a 1967 911, it was 1981 and I was a Jr. at Purdue and had seen this ad in the Indy Star for several weeks, "67 911 Porsche, moving must sell". 40 minute drive from West Layette to Kokomo, Long story/short, Air Force Captain owned it, he had been transferred and wife was following and had to pack and down size. VA Credit Union and I bought it. This was my 1st of many of Porsche's over the last 40 years. Some of my old cars that I wish I still had 1972 914-6, 1958 356 Cab, factory black 1958 S/R coupe, 1977 930, both of the 1971 914-6's, 1960 356 roadster, 1967 911S, 1973 911 RS clone sigh.....

[JoshCole1122]

Awesome stories here guys. I love these stories. I will share mine.

Having been searching for about 5 years now for any 911 really, nothing specific other than 911.

Had all of the ad alerts on my phone.

One Sunday evening around 11PM CL alert popped up 86 911 carrera very brief description and 4 not so great photos. No contact info, immediately im thinking "another scam" it was posted at a reasonable asking price. I use default email response explaining how serious i am.

Monday morning comes by, no response. I email again. Afternoon arrives and i receive a phone call, a frantic woman on the line, im so sorry i see you emailed me first as soon as i posted the ad, i already have 2 guys coming to look at it now. I said to my self crap maybe this is for real. I said I will be over within an hour (she lived an hour away). I stopped by bank on way there.

I arrived and notices a white SC parked on the street, "crap i bet he bought it" i said to my wife. As i am walking up to the driveway the gentleman passed me by and began to turn around for a moment as he was nervous i arrived. I introduced myself to the sellers and started looking over the car, "man this thing is in great shape". I asked if it was still for sale as the man was walking back to his SC. She said they plan on buying it for his friend who is currently driving down from Michigan (6 hour drive). "Did they put any money down? No she said whoever has the cash first, i pull the envelope out of my pocket!

Can you take me for a ride please? I asked, as soon as she started the thing i knew i would be driving it home. I fell in love specially when she took me for a ride.

We get back to the house and negotiated a tiny bit was not a lot of room in there since her asking price was pretty good to begin with.

As i am about to pull away with the car she said "hold on a min" her husband comes walking out with a couple boxes, M&P polished single in single out muffler, cat bypass pipe, 3 service manuals, tons of new gaskets, bushings, etc!!!! Here take these "old" parts. I would surly be glad to miss!

That is my story.

[schwaggen]

My current car:I wasn't really looking, but in the end, it was simply a case of trolling Craigslist after three glasses of wine while I was on a business trip, found exactly the car I wanted for for thirty years for a price that seemed almost too reasonable, and I drunk dialed the guy.

I've loved Porsches since I was little- a law student rented the house next door to us in the early '70's- drove a ratty Speedster and I swore I would have one. Ironically, I got into 356s because I couldn't afford a 911. I did eventually own several, and I wish I still had them, because they were awesome, and I doubt I'll ever afford any of them again.

When I was in middle school, one of our teachers drove a silver 911SC coupe, that I was fascinated by. After years of research, I had narrowed my desires to a pretty specific degree. I wanted a silver '87 911 G50 coupe, chin but no tail, black interior, Fuchs.

So here I was, 600 miles from home, with no prior intent to even shop for a car, meeting a guy in a Walmart parking lot to look at exactly that car.. it was a little tatty, leaked a little oil, but it was the right car, the right color. A quick run around the block, 90 seconds of negotiating, and I was driving 600 miles home on a blistering hot evening, wondering what I would tell my wife.

Seven years later, fully rebuilt, nice but not perfect, I drive it every day.

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by JoshCole1122

I arrived and notices a white SC parked on the street, "crap i bet he bought it" i said to my wife. As i am walking up to the driveway the gentleman passed me by and began to turn around for a moment as he was nervous i arrived. I introduced myself to the sellers and started looking over the car, "man this thing is in great shape". I asked if it was still for sale as the man was walking back to his SC. She said they plan on buying it for his friend who is currently driving down from Michigan (6 hour drive). "Did they put any money down? No she said whoever has the cash first, i pull the envelope out of my pocket!
.

Wait, so was the SC guy gone when you walked out of the house? That could have been a very awkward encounter. LOL, someone in Michigan is posting how a car got swiped from under him, as he was driving to see the car. Well done.

[JoshCole1122]

The SC guy was leaving as I arrived. He got in his car and left before I introduced myself to the sellers. It wasnt like i bought it while he was still there. The sellers were selling to who had cash first. If the SC guy put cash down for his friend, I would have not got it.

[DaveE]

The company I work for used to be a division of General Motors. One of the perks of my job was a new company vehicle every 25,000 miles, a new Chevy TrailBlazer usually, and I would put that mileage on in about 9 months. GM sold us off in 2005 and the investment company that bought us dropped the company car perk of course, so I decided I was going to drive something I actually enjoyed. I don't know how anyone can drive an SUV day in and day out. Obviously I began my Porsche search and found my '78 SC on ebay, won the auction and drove out to Indiana, purchased it and brought it back. What a great car to drive back and forth to work every day!

My SC, chassis 9118300015, is one of the first production SCs built and was a "eigenbedarf", or company car, for two years. Most of it's servicings were at Weissach, according to the original German owner's manual that came with the car. Sadly the car was originally Continental Orange but at some point was repainted Guards Red of course.

[TBone78SC]

My first, the 1978 SC – I had been lusting after a 911 for years. I convinced my wife that because we were hardly driving our cherry 1989 Volkswagen Westfalia we should sell it as it was worth much more than what we had paid for it. So we sell the Westy, and now I’m sitting on a slush fund. I spent about 18 months checking every west coast Craiglist, FleaBay, Samba etc, and an add turns up on Craiglist for a ’78 SC 10 minutes from my house. Call the guy on Wednesday, test drive it on Sunday and fall in love. The guy tells me he has another interested party coming on the following Tuesday and if I want it I need to bring him CASH on Monday. No problem, except that Monday was Presidents Day and most banks were closed, and the ones that were open barely had any cash on hand. Drove to three different banks and cleaned them out of cash. Met him in a Starbucks parking lot and completed the transaction, although meeting him at a Starbucks it felt vaguely like a drug deal.



Second the 1973 ½ T (CIS) – In 1997 a friend of mine had a job that took him to Kauai for what was supposed to be a one year gig so he put his 911 into storage without much prep. One year turned into two years, two years turned into three etc. Every year he would come back to Colorado from Kauai for vacation and my wife and I would meet him for a weekend. And every year I would badger him about selling his car to me. Last summer he shows up with the keys to the car and storage unit and tells me he’s ready to sell. We worked out a price pretty quickly, but it took him another 9 months to finally part with the car. Because it hasn’t been driven since ’97 we dragged it home this past summer on a trailer, been working on it ever since to get it road worthy.

And we ended up finding a deal on another Westy, so we now have what my Alfa buddy calls “quite a collection of ass-engine Nazi haulers”.

[Trakrat]

Originally Posted by Laneco

Sorry to jump in here... but can someone tell me where I can find an air filter like that for my 3.2?
Is it a K&N?

[911tracker85]

I have the K&N and a custom, tuned connector I took off my 85. took it of as I have pretty much returned it to stock. the guy who made these did some dyno testing and found a couple hp increase.

$150 + shipping?

[bbturbo]

I posted my most interesting 911 story earlier, but since it was not my current 911, I figured I would post how I found my 911sc. There is a thread on this buried deep in the pile somewhere too.

It was 2010-ish and I was driving from our family farm in Converse, IN to Kokomo, IN--a routine drive I have made my entire life with my grandparents. We passed by an old, tired, brick farmhouse and I just happened to catch a glimpse of an arrow blue 911sc in a small barn. I couldn't believe it and wanted to stop, but didn't want my head blown off for trespassing.

Months later, I drove by it again and it was now sitting outside behind the barn and someone was mowing the yard. So, I pulled in the driveway and started talking to the man. He wasn't friendly right off the bat and didn't like that I knew more than him about his own car. He suggested the car was a widebody, and it wasn't. He said it was a turbo, it wasn't.

Finally, I got around to asking if he would sell it. He threw a ridiculous number at me and I countered back with a reasonable price. He turned around and walked into the house without saying another word. I thanked him for his time as he entered his house and I left thinking, what a grouch.

Over the next four years, I would routinely stop with my mother, or grandfather, who were originally from the area, trying to get the guy to lighten up. Every year, he would come down a little bit off the price and get a little nicer after he realized we had mutual friends. This also allowed me to look at the car more closely each visit, discovering the original interior was matching Arrow Blue, and it was a 78.

Finally, I threw a little higher number at him and he said, "Let me think about it." My mother left him with her contact information since I was going to be leaving town. About two months later, right in the middle of harvest, she got a call and he told me to come pick it up.

That evening, I showed up with the cash and a trailer. We did the transaction and I loaded up the car. On my way out, he came running out of the house yelling, "Don't leave!"

I instantly thought the guy was having seller's remorse, but he handed me a ziplock bag of receipts that ended up dating back to 1983 and photo of the car the day he bought it in 1990. Also, it showed the mileage to prove it was accurate.

I thanked him and said I would bring it by someday to take him for a ride after it was road-worthy once again. At that point, it was last registered in 98, but didn't get driven for a year before that due to the fuel pump going out and the starter frying from him trying to start it with a bad pump.

The car has come a little ways since I acquired it, but at least I saved it from further mother nature harm and have a fun project coming up.

[maresdesign]

I saw an add in the newspaper that read "Porshe 911 T top, running needs body work" I had a suspicion that the owners didn't really know what they had. I called and asked to see it in person. I discovered it was a 1971 911E Targa that had been serviced by ANDIAL and had been converted to Weber carbs. It had a dented fender and door but started right up and ran great. I handed over $3500 bucks and when they handed me the bill of sale I was blown away - It was 9/11/2000 and the sellers last name was Carrera. No joke - 911 Carrera. It was meant to be. Fast forward 17 years later and it's almost done - Speedster conversion!

[tobluforu]

Went to a shop in the east bay that was selling the car, took a look, didn't run all that great. 6 weeks later I called them back after looking at a few others. Car was back at the persons house they told me. Went to that persons house, it was her husbands car, he passed away, offered cash on the spot, sold. Drove down the street, popping and farting, opened hood, removed air cleaner, looked at linkage, two were disconnected, connected them, fired right up and ran great.

[Windsor4273]

My father-in-law's back and legs were to the point he felt he needed something not so low to the ground, so he bought a BMW sedan. He lives in Ohio and we live in Colorado. One day there is a knock at the door and I look out to see a car transporter at the end of the cul-de-sac with his Porsche on it. The driver said he had a delivery for me etc. I called my father-in-law and he said "Oh, I must have forgot to tell you I was sending it out for you to sell for me." A week into "getting the car cleaned up to post on the internet" and I was hooked. We bought the car on Day 8. About six months later he calls me up and says he's sold the BMW and bought a late model 911 Cab as he missed the driving experience of the 911 too much. My wife has put dibs on that one when the day comes. She loves the fact it has heat and A/C that work, there are no quirks to starting it, you don't have to creep over every bump sideways to avoid hitting the front/back/whatever as it is too low to the ground for normal folks.

[bbturbo]

Beautiful cars and fun stories!

[Laneco]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Angela, what a clean engine bay. I'd almost be tempted to replace the ICV just to make it match your very clean engine.

I know, right? The engine had been in a fire at some time in the past (while in the original car). A lot of little odds and ends were burned, crisped, etc. I fixed all the wiring, obviously replaced every fuel line, and when I checked the ICV, it was pretty wonky. I almost tossed it but they are kind of expensive so I looked up on Pelican and found a thread on how to clean it. Pretty easy. Well...I cleaned it and it then decided to be perfect so I haven't replaced it.

I should do that and put the ugly one on a shelf as a spare - LOL! Oh- and here's another gratuitous picture of my uber-beater 911! I know the window tint is ugly, but I was working in Central CA and Nevada quite a bit. It was SOOOO hot down there (August) The ugly tint kept the marginal A/C at liveable temperatures for work. Haven't put the a/c back into the car now that I've got the 3.2 in it. I'll probably pull the tint off this year. They make a clear tint now that actually keeps the interior as comfortable as this old dark stuff - without being ugly. The glass area is just too pretty for this tint. Loved it for work, but hate it now.

angela

[boilersrule]

In the early 90's I read an article in a Car magazine with a title like, 10 Sports Cars that are Far Cheaper Than You Might Think. One subject was the early 911.

I was visiting my parents and saw an ad in their paper for a 1968, and the price was just above what the article said a great example should go for.

I went to see the car, and it was a roller and a pile of engine parts. I told the owner I would do some homework and make him an offer. I offered what the body would be worth were it in good condition, which it seemed to be. He gave me an unkind reply about highway robbery or something.

Two weeks later, he called and asked if I still had the money.

I came the next weekend with a truck, trailer and my Dad to load it up. I realized as I left the garage with the second transmission I had loaded, that neither of us knew what all was included. When I got home I saw two complete drive trains, except no clutches. I had 2 71 ish 2.2 l T blocks and 2 5 speed transmissions.

I hired Bob Farmer in Indianapolis rebuild one drive train in 2.2 l with upgrades. The Zenith's I had , he said wouldn't last long. That was right. I replaced with Webers when the old Z's gave up.

A few years later, I had the suspension rebuilt, followed a few years later by having the body completely gne through by Tony Kinser. He painted in the original Irish Green. I call her Portia O'Leery.

I have mostly been clever with my best tool, the checkbook for this work, but there is still that core drive train in the corner of the garage...