In the need for some advice on 1984 911 Targa

[bjohn037]

About 8 months ago my father in law gave my wife and I a 1984 Porsche 911 Targa. I am in the military and have been in Germany for the last 8 months but will be taking the 911 down to Fort Bragg to turn it into a project car. Now here is the big kicker, it has 230k miles on it and you really have to ease it into second. I am pretty sure I am going to have a professional rebuild the engine and transmission and I will do the easier interior and exterior things. I was wondering if someone can tell me how much I should be paying for the engine and transmission rebuild? Is it worth putting this much money into a car with 230k? With it already getting rebuilt should I just spend the money and upgrade it to a 3.6l? Any advice would be great, this is my first Porsche so I am still trying to learn everything.

[86 911 Targa]

More pics please.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Welcome to the board!

A few thoughts:

a 3.6 is a lot of work and is $12K no matter how you slice it.

but before doing anything, get some compression and leak down numbers on your motor. that will tell you if you need a full rebuild, just a top end, or just keep driving the car. When I parted my 84 Targa with 241K, the insides of the motor were spotless, P/C excellent and all it needed was a top end.

if you do need a "new" motor, it may be more cost effective to sell your "core" motor for something north of $3K and install a known quantity, good condition/number used 3.2 for something around $5500. Just make sure you get a good motor, they are certainly out there.

Transmission: my gut says you'll put $2K into it fast. Might want to check and change the gear oil before doing anything though, including checking shift coupler, etc.

[bjohn037]

[bjohn037]

Thanks for the advice Shaun.

As you can see from the other photos the previous owner took the a/c out of the car to make it go faster.

[DanielDudley]

I have over 220K on my motor and it runs fine.

[mray2686]

Interior looks pretty good.
great targa!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by bjohn037

Thanks for the advice Shaun.

As you can see from the other photos the previous owner took the a/c out of the car to make it go faster.

I, ummm, did the same to my 84 Targa.

[bjohn037]

Can you explain this, is it something I can do myself? I have been doing my own car repairs for the last 3 years, but I am not expert.

get some compression and leak down numbers on your motor

[Shaun @ Tru6]

This is something you'd want to have a shop do, or an experienced friend, with the proper equipment.

here's a generic search for leakdown in thread titles.

Pelican Parts Technical BBS - Search Results

You'll want to find a competent and trustworthy shop that specializes in 911s. it might be a good idea to pull all the plugs and snap some pics of each (keep them in the right order) and post them here.

[swiftdaddyo]

Contact flat6pac he's located 2-3 hours north of you. Has rebuilt over 200 3.2's and really knows his stuff. You can check out some of his current threads in the 911 engine rebuild forum.

[JTL]

Nice Targa. You didn't mention any detailed problems about the engine. Why do you think it needs a rebuild? Does is use excessive amounts of oil say more than 1qt/1,000 miles, is there white smoke after startup, noise while running?

As for the trans: I have had to ease mine into 2nd for the duration of my ownership, 12 years. I have tried to adjust the shift coupler af few times but it hasn't resulted in any real improvement. You do have to shift a 915 trans relatively slowly in all gears. I have thought about doing a rebuild but...

[CCM911]

I have a 1984 Targa as well, and to be honest, it is not the smoothest shifting car out there. It will never shift like a BMW. That being said, maybe you should have it checked over by a legitimate tech. You may be pleasantly surprised. Those enigines are pretty durable. The transmissions, not so much.

By the way - Thank you so much for your service to our country.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Nice car!!!!

Get the leakdown numbers. It will tell you alot. Let us know how she acts on start-up and when warm. Don't worry about losing a quart of oil in 1,000 miles. Many of the little leaks are simple to repair.

The transmission could be nothing more than the shift bushings are worn out. Inexpensive and easy repair. My '83 (slightly different beast than yours) began to get a bit difficult with first and second. New bushings and she felt like a new transmission had been added!!!

[Hugh R]

Plus one on trannie oil, clutch adj and shift bushings first. Less than $100 you doing the work.

[RSTarga]

I think the advice above is very good. Those engines are very strong the weak points are the valve guides and the head studs, but a good shop can check it out properly to diagnose if anything is truly wrong with it. The transmission bushings AND the engine and transmission carrier bushings will help your shifting problems enormously, especially on a Targa. You probably just have a misalignment or wear in these components.

[bjohn037]

The car starts up pretty well. I would say the only issues it has are some oil leaks, but I dont know how much it leaks because I have only been in possession of the car for 2 weeks(been in Germany the last 3 years). The main issue I see is that when the car is idle the RPM's sometimes drop then pick back up. My father-in-law won the 911 in one of those $50 raffles, he is a lucky bastard. I am not sure what was done to the car before and still trying to figure out what issues it really has. I appreciate all the feed back and please keep it coming.