'74 911 Targa "project car"

[944 boy]

I have a neighbor who is trying to sell me his '74 Targa. There is nothing I enjoy more than burning piles of money. So I figure an 911 resto/mod would fit the bill.

I am wondering what would be considered "A good deal". Obviously once I get into motor work I will be upside-down cost wise and never intend to sell for a profit. Before getting too far into it I should be able to sell or part and at least break even.

The Good:
-Complete
-2? owner
-California car
-fuchs
-No Emissions required for CA
-Rare color maybe? (minty green)

The Bad:
-possibly a little bit of rust
-Has not run in at least 8 years
-might be pulling head studs
-may have piles of back registration due to the state
-Rare color maybe? (minty green)

I need to catch up with the owner and go over it a little bit closer obviously. But is it worth adding a new project if I could get it for 1K,2K,3K,4K? I know values for other cars but I am still a little "newbish" on older 911's.

-Greg

[Winter]

So many variables here, it is hard to say.

Here is my data point:

'75 targa, neglected, 2.2 engine, one year only factory hard top, ****ty interior, rust, good glass, really crappy paint (respray in non-original color), runs and drives, tons of oil leaks, $3k on Craigslist (yes, I bought it).

It's been a fun journey, and the classifieds here have really saved me, as has the advice on the forum.

At $3k you should be able to part it. Not sure if it is worth your time, though

What you should really do is take a ton of photos and post them here. That will help the true experts give you the kind of feedback you'll need.

If the body is sold and you get it for a good price (Hell, I don't know, $3k???), you could drop a used 3.0 engine into it and have a pretty fun toy.

Good luck.

[944 boy]

Yeah, no pictures yet. I've only seen it with the car cover off once. But it's a 200 foot stroll away from me so I will head over and snap some soon.

[Josh D]

'74 is actually a good model year for 911's. It would have the early exhaust and no thermoreactors.

[944 boy]

I was able to get a photo today. He is going to look for the keys so that I can poke around some more. I looked underneath and there is no rust that I could see apart from the drivers door skin. Headliner is sagging and the paint is oxidized beyond repair most likely. No dents and panel gaps seen reasonable. 16x6 fuchs in good condition.



If I wanted to try to see if the motor will run what precautions should I take since it has sat for 8ish years. Obviously all the fluids. But I have limited experience working on the CIS system. Any special tips on flushing new gas through the system? This may have been last filled up in the MTBE era. So fuel hoses and seals may be bad.

[Winter]

If you actually want to try to get it running do a search on this forum for "how to awaken a sleeping 911" and similar terms. There will be a lot of information. Grady Clay is a well known expert on these cars who posts on this forum and I seem to remember several posts by him that go into detail about this subject so a search for posts by him should also prove fruitful. Matt Gimeo recently went through awakening a middie as well so search for his threads. If you are lucky maybe he will chime in here. His car is beautiful and an inspiration to all of us who own less than perfect middies. Good luck, keep the pictures and the questions coming and I know others with more intelligence and experience than I will have plenty of great advice and insights.

[944 boy]

Thanks! I will dig through those threads when I get a chance.

[Nico911]

Wow, I like this color. Is it factory original ???

[CountD]

The '74 is the most underrated year for a 911. If that paint is the original color, I like it and I would say it is rare. I mean, it is what it is : a labor of love.

1) Clean tank or new gas tank
2) New injectors
3) All new CIS rubber components (boots, injector seals, injector sleeve seals, etc)
4) Fuel filter and maybe accumulator
5) Rebuilt WUR and Fuel Distributor - if these are corrupted
6) Some new fuel lines
7) New rubber brake lines
8) New master cylinder - probably will need this soon if it doesn't leak now
9) Pedal Bushings

Etc, etc...

I would put a price of $5,500 for this thing, and if it went up for that here in SOCAL it would be gone in one hour.

Where's the rust? Like I said, a good '74 is hard to come by nowadays - they were so abused, banged, sold to Europe, unloved, forgotten, flared, kitted, and everything under the sun. I say it's worth the resurrection. Get it. To me, $5500 would be a great deal.

And yes, you can get rid of all the back registration dues (you can at least do that in California) by signing a affidavit saying it wasn't used on the road. A lot of people don't know that you can do this, and you can do it at any DMV as long as the last owner signs and swears to this. With this car this would not be a problem...

[944 boy]

Turns out he did non-op it back in 2002-2003. So no back reg. due. The only rust is on the door. There is some surface rust near the battery tray, but not rotted through. Floor pans are clean and dry, zero rot. I believe the color is original. He said that it might be "ice green" but Im not sure exactly yet.

I plan to get it back on the road. Part of the deal is to let him drive it once I get it running again. Lets just say I am more than thrilled with the deal I got... We will be pushing it into my garage later this week. I need to make some more room in the mean time.

[allaircooled]

The color is ice green metallic. My car was originally the same but someone resprayed it guards red.

I plan on repainting mine back to original as it is kind of a rare color and I do like it.

[911SauCy]

Originally Posted by allaircooled

The color is ice green metallic. My car was originally the same but someone resprayed it guards red.

I plan on repainting mine back to original as it is kind of a rare color and I do like it.

Mine is same story, and a terrible respray at that.

That color and "patina" is awesome. That thing should be a great project.

[Winter]

Well, sounds like you did the deal so welcome and have fun with it. I think the color is fantastic, don't change it!

[lyonsfin]

I use this stuff called Startron in the fuel of all my old engines. I use it in my 83 SC, too. It helps to disperse the alcohol so it won't attract water. It preserves fuel for up to 2 years and can be added to old fuel to help it burn through. I have used on both carburetted and FI cars and boats from 1 1949 FIAT to 2000 Mercury OB. Drain or siphon out as much old fuel as possible and add some premium with the appropriate amount of Startron. They sell it at West Marine, some Autozones, Advance, etc and some hardware stores.

[manbridge 74]

I wouldn't even repaint it.

Nice find.

[944 boy]

Well I guess I know where you guys stand in terms of the color! I will try my hand at working the paint first of course. I was able to bring back a guards red 944 for somebody that was well chalked and aged. So my hope is that it is all original paint (the P.O. said that he never had any body work done and he has owned it since '82).

So most everything seems pretty easy. The only question now is what kind of motor work am I looking at. Fortunately it sounds like the guy who last worked on the car might still be in business so maybe he remembers what he said it needed back in the late 90's early 2000's.

Also it is car #2308 according to the vin.

[fanaudical]

I have a '75 Targa that I picked up under similar circumstances. I'd check under the carpets, in the drivers foot well under the pedals, and up front near the battery for rust.

Nice looking car.

[CountD]

Originally Posted by manbridge 74

I wouldn't even repaint it.

Nice find.

I agree with this one. It looks good the way it is.

So, did you get it for $1K?

[944 boy]

So I was expecting a restoration project, but the more I looked at it I think its going to be not too much work getting it to be a driver then do a slow rolling rebuild.

CountD, I did have to pay more than $1k... but not too much more.

I can't wait to get into it and start working on it.

[Winter]

Hey, realized I gave you the incorrect spelling of Matt's name. Here's one of his threads as you get this one back on the road:

Started right up after long 18 year hibernartion!

he breaks down everything he did to prepare to fire the engine up for the first time in the opening post of the thread.

Cheers.