Adding oil may have been a mistake, did you check it after warm and while running? If not you may have over filled. And those are oil return tubes.

Brakes will have to be gone through. They should feel incredible.

Don't think I'd be scared off, but after all this analysis I think you'd be justified in trying to get him down to $4,500-$5k.

I love my 75, I'm yet another that did it all wrong but it continues to be my favorite over a long line of car toys. I paid about this for mine a couple years ago with some items much better and a lot of items just plain missing. I'm tearing the motor apart at the moment after driving the piss out of it until it developed a rod knock.

Good luck, interested to watch your journey.

sent from my Galaxy S III

Since the discussion has been related to the desirability of mid-years, I feel justified making this request: Could Matt Gineo please post more photos of his stunning 1976 Targa? Your car is inspirational.
--SCOTT

So.... looking for some more input. If I were to pull the engine myself, strip it myself, get things hot tanked/cleaned up, and if, hypothetically, all the head studs were good, .... if I did the minimum of just some bearings/rings/seals, how much would that cost roughly? I could handle the labor on all that stuff, but I'm just wondering about budgeting to tear this sucker apart.

Budget $2,000 for parts and ”while you're in there's”, add another 3K if you need machining...

Even if your Studs are good it is always best to go ahead and put timecerts in the case while you have it split. Also be aware that the magnesium case might change shape when you split it so make sure to check your crankshaft fit carefully.

Thanks Scott, Unfortunately I don't have many photos yet, been too busy driving!


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1350514727.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1350514749.jpghttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1350514990.jpg

Wouldn't it be awesome just to find one with limited work required for the same type of money you'll have to spend on this one to get it right (plus time, stress, limitations, etc.)? I mean, aesthetically, you mentioned it needs paint and bodywork, and with the teardown of the engine which was previously jerry-rigged, do you still think this is what you want now that you're more aware of the car's shortcomings? If it were up to me and I'm sure others here as well, I'd just simply pass on it.

If I wanted a really nice one, yes.

I'm just wondering if I could get the car for 4-5k, spend about $1500 on weatherstripping, engine seal kit, suspension bushings, shifter coupling, shocks, and exhaust, then just drive it. The paint honestly doesn't bother me, I don't want another car I have to worry about nicks/dings. I'd like a driver.

There is no alternate universe that you will do all of that, even by yourself for $1500. However you would be able to do it all over time for say $4k and still have a decent car for about what one in that fixed up condition might sell for

sent from my Galaxy S III

Really? Here's what I was thinking:

Fix MAJOR oil leak: $5.75 (oil level sensor gasket)
Engine Gasket/Seal Kit: $250
Shifter Bushings: $22.00
Targa Seals: $500ish
Used heat exchangers off ebay: $450ish
Suspension: $800 for struts bushings.

Thoughts?

your own list adds up to over $2k, from similar experience you are going to find a couple dozen other "little things“ outside your engine that need replacing that will add up to say $500-1k.

I'm working on an engine rebuild after 2 glorious years (so far) with mine. I've spent ~$3k after purchasing getting it to a decent 10 footer. This while driving it not having to really touch the motor till recently.

I have a thread going so I won't rehash, seems my motor was rebuilt, has a lot of good parts I hope not to replace. I have a great collection of tools.

So far I've spent ~$500 just in tools to get my motor stripped down, on a stand. I've got a project list here on pelican that totals $600 without any bearings, valves, bushings, chains, or several other possible additions I sort of expect. So I agree with the $2k estimate.

I'm one actually supporting you on this car I just want you to go in with real eyes open.

sent from my Galaxy S III

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...D5057CC897.jpg

Installed some hood struts I scored off Rock Auto for $7 each. Work awesome. I haven't touched this car or given it much thought since I couldn't clean it and see what I was dealing with til now. Sucked about 1lb of mice poop/shells/seeds from the battery area, and hinge areas. Almost no rust whatsoever. Cleaned everything with 409, removed an ancient rusted alarm system that was self-tapped into the pan (UGH!) and sealed the holes with RTV. Hit the one slightly oxidized area of the battery tray with some Anti-Rust chemical that turns black. Going to cover that area with POR15 or some sort of enamel to prevent any rusting in the future.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...D50ED091DE.jpg
Installed a trunk strut ($6 on rock auto!). Sucked about 2lbs worth of poop/seeds/decaying foam from the sound insulation. Also ripped most of that out, it was laying on the engine doing nothing except looking like a fire hazard. The heater blower hose is shot. Everything is pretty scuzzy. Part of the A/C compressor interferes with the edge of the trunk, to the point where the sheet metal is bent upwards. Can't see how else the compressor would mount, are they all like that?!

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...D52EFFD9D7.jpg
As a joke I put set a turbo emblem on the trunklid, but this gives you an idea of what the paint is like.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...D539575C68.jpg
All clean! Fluffed up the spare to make sure it held air. Cleaned it, the tools, found the original gloves that came with the car. Heh.

So did you pull the trigger in it then or still babysitting it?

sent from my Galaxy S III

Opinions are just that, opinions. Despite the advice given time and time again in this thread about your prospect, we are all glad you purchased the car. I'll be the first to bet you $1.00 that as excited you are that you bought struts off rock auto for cheap, that within the next 12 months, you will far exceed the $1,500.00 set goal to make the car more or less okay. Best of luck and mark your calendar for next year, cash!

Well... i still haven't pulled the trigger. I'm trying to put some miles on it and see what it needs, planning on doing a compression test as well. If compression is good... hopefully I can do a super low-buck rebuild (gaskets, maybe rings, thats it) and replace stuff like the exhaust.

I noticed the rear defrost doesn't work, and yesterday, I'm not sure what happened, I think a bushing in the shift linkage FELL OUT of the car. It's extremely hard to shift now, finding gears is a chore. I have the car until spring at which point I either need to pull the trigger or help sell it, but I'm tinkering with it til then.

My super-low buck rebuild is approaching $1500 and I've yet to find out just how much Mr. Machine shop is going to ask for after only checking out my heads & P&C's (found 2 broken springs and a couple bad exh. bushings but otherwise perfect). Compression and Leakdown were good on mine so I'm not even doing the rings. I've been keeping up with it in my blog, going to add the spreadsheet to it after I add in the most recent orders coming up on $800 (I'll share it with you if you would like to peek).

That shifting problem is a bright spot, you probably just dropped a $5 bushing that you can replace in about 1/2 hour (I've detailed that in aformentioned blog as well and it's all over here in a search). Will bring shifting back to a joyous thing!

Rather cool you get the opportunity to play with it before actually buying it. (for both of you but I'd not be unhappy about it either)

I just read your blog start to finish. It's excellent! Thank you for sharing all that, it was fun to see your journey! This 911 is a bit more beat cosmetically, but mechanically everything seems to work fine, drivetrain wise.

The shifter bushings should be here next week, I'm going to remodel them in Solidworks and machine some out of delrin; I'll be making a few extra sets if you're interested. :)

Xmas loot:
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...87704268_n.jpg

Want to do a bit more reading before I pull the trigger. :)

K, I decided I'm going to do it. Considering the engine def needs a rebuild, I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point. On one hand, redoing the 2.7 would be pretty cost effective. OTOH, swapping in a 3.2 seems to be better in every single aspect. Decisions decisions. I'll post some more pics soon.

Congratulations :)

I'm almost at the point where I feel like I could say a rebuild CAN be done for ~$2k if no major components are fried. 3.2 sounds tempting but buying a running one w/o knowing when it will need to be opened up is going to cost min. $5k IIRC.

Hell, when I started my current journey I looked into swaps, even doing that right is going to start at $5-7k and go up.

Beware, these cars are addictive :) I have had mine off the road for far too long.

....and thanks for the compliment about my silly little blog