looking at a '73 911S

[wastintime]

Hi everyone,
I'm currently trying to sell my '67 912, So I hadn't been planning on buy a 911 so soon, but I found one that's nice enough that I'm seriously considering it. It's a 1973 911S, and I was hoping some early 911 owners might be able to give me some advice, and problems to consider when buying a car of this particular year and model.

The main reason I'm seriously thinking about buying this car is that it belongs to my mechanic. I've ridden in it, driven it, I've even helped change the fuel pump and adjust the valves on it, so I know the car pretty well.

Except for the interior, the car is immaculate. There is no rust on it anywhere. It's a sunroof coupe which is nice, it has the original engine and transmission. The MFI system was recently rebuilt. I do know that it needs new valve guides, and that in a few years the engine will probably need to be rebuilt. My mechanic was getting ready to rebuild it as a 2.7 or 2.8 RS, I can't remember which.

So, it's a really nice car, that's mechanically sound, and has been taken care of by a Porsche mechanic. That being said, I have heard people say bad things about the early 911S models. Mainly that the S cams are really bad for driving in traffic, and that the S engine is just tuned too high for regular driving.

If anyone has any thoughts or advice on buying either an early 911 or the S specifically, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,
Andrew

[Randy W]

Sounds like a great car. Test drive it, and after it's warmed up, redline it in as many gears as you can - you will want to buy it then and all you have heard will be forgotten. Keep it a stock 2.4S.

[Early_S_Man]

Andrew,

The comments you heard about early 911S models were BUNK! And, not applicable to the 2.4 engine! It IS suitable for daily driving in traffic, probably more so than Turbo's!

Since you already know about the valve guides ... the only other major item of concern is the 915 transaxle ... and it may need rebuilding at around the same time as the engine. If it shifts well, now ... put Swepco 212 in it, and annual changes will assure the longest life in your climate, if shifted carefully.

[pwd72s]

Warren? Randy? WELL SAID! Isn't it funny how often it is those who don't have "S" models who say these things? I'll admit that the S prefers the open road to city traffic...but it does both.

[Roland Kunz]

Hello

In fact a good adjustet S engine drives just like a similar T engine untill you hit a certain rev level.

In fact the 2,4 S was the first Porsche engine who could spin up by flooring the pedal in the same speed like people use to downshift and accelerate at redline.

The 2,7 RS engine was the first who needed not to be downshiftet for maximun acceleration.

Grüsse

[aseem]

I think maybe this badmouthing of the S started with the 2.2S of late '69 to '71 The 2.2 engines had more flexibility than the previous 2 liter due to a flatter torque curve. The S still required high revs, and 5500rmp was needed to reach max power of 180hp. The S was well received in Europe, but I have read that Road & Track advised readers to buy the T as this was a "better" car.

Edit: I say you should go for it. I know I have room for a 2.4S in my garage. I just read in Classic Cars & Thoroughbred about a one owner (elderly Italian gentleman), never seen a spanner except for periodic service, original everything, pampered, 60K miles, correct tires!, no scratches, feels new and sharp, said by the Editor : "Must be one of the best an most original of its type surviving" for sale for £25K or $16000 New edit: Sorry thats $39K
Maybe I should trade the 930?

[curtisaa]

Isn't 25,000 british pds equal to about $37,000.00 US dollars ??

[speeder]

Curtis, Yes it is, you are not crazy. Of course there are also Swedish dollars(?), who knows about Norway. Bottom line is that even if there is a good deal on a car on other side of world, kind of tough to buy it from here. Bummer.

[marc weintraub]

I also have a 73"S" and all I can say is... great car, wonderful in traffic, great on the open road and just as easy to work on as any of the other early cars. As with all early Porsches, rust is a big issue, but as you already stated... this car is rust free.

Since the car is being sold by a mechanic, can you have him do the valves and perform a compression/leakdown test after the fact so you know the car is running the way it should? How much is he asking for the car? Do you think he would be willing to throw in some servicing?

Don't be discouraged by comments about early "S" cars. Those that have them love them regardless of the year. All of the "S" cars that I have owned have been great around town and wonderful to drive all out. Have fun... make sure the car is as it appears and push yourself to drive a true drivers car. You will never go back!

marc

[wastintime]

Thanks for all of the input. Lol, before I was interested in buying the car he told me that he'd like to get no less than $14,500 for the car, but he's getting ready to put it up for sale at $18,500. He told me to make him an offer though, so I'm really thinking about it. I feel kind of bad because I'd like to spend as little as possible, and I know he'd like to get as much as possible, but if I could get it for $14,500 that really would not be that bad. I'd been planning on spending about $10,000 on an E to fix up, so it's not too big of a jump. If I can just get rid of my 912...


As for the valve guides, he's my mechanic, and he and the guy that own the shop I go to(which is exclusively a Porsche shop) have always let me work on my 912 there if i needed to use the lift, or a certain tool or something, so I'm sure we'd end up working something out. I try to do as much work as possible on my own anyway, and let them do the major stuff that I'm afraid to do. I've got all of the current compression and leakdown figures, and it probably wouldn't be too big of a deal for us to redo them after the guides were replaced. I know him, the shop, and the car well enough not to be too worried about things like that happening before or after the sale. I know right now all of the fuel lines on the car are being replaced, so work is still being done to it.

The engine does not really need to be rebuilt right now, that's just something he wanted to do, and warned me that it might need to be rebuilt sometime in the future. So overall I think it has a really strong engine.

I have thought about the 915 too, and as of right now it shifts really nicely, hopefully it will last for a while.

So anyway, I guess I'll just wait and see what happens.

Andrew

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by aseem
I think maybe this badmouthing of the S started with the 2.2S of late '69 to '71 The 2.2 engines had more flexibility than the previous 2 liter due to a flatter torque curve. The S still required high revs, and 5500rmp was needed to reach max power of 180hp. The S was well received in Europe, but I have read that Road & Track advised readers to buy the T as this was a "better" car.

Edit: I say you should go for it. I know I have room for a 2.4S in my garage. I just read in Classic Cars & Thoroughbred about a one owner (elderly Italian gentleman), never seen a spanner except for periodic service, original everything, pampered, 60K miles, correct tires!, no scratches, feels new and sharp, said by the Editor : "Must be one of the best an most original of its type surviving" for sale for £25K or $16000
Maybe I should trade the 930?

Trade the 930? Yep! I can't think of a 930 alive that I'd trade my early S for. But I am a bit prejudiced. It's been a member of the family since 1974...

[Plays with cars]

Don't believe everything you read about the early 'S's. I did but bought one anyway as a play car; good manners in traffic wasn't important. True to my expectations, no power below 5k rpm, but oh-my-god hang on when it hit the power band. Not one to leave well enough alone though, I spent a weekend tuning everything up to get it just right. Once I was done, nirvana. Plenty of power in the bottom end and still a kick when it hits the power curve. Now it's just plain fun to drive.

[aseem]

Curtis, you're right my fingers tripped on the calculator. Actually its very close to $40K these days with the falling dollar.

[evren]

So what happened? Did you end up making a bid for the car?

[ccandgc]

Ive had my 71 911S for about 3 weeks now, and I dont regret buying it one bit!! Its fast, and looks good. If I were you, I wouldnt hesitate 1 second! Im glad I was introduced to the world of Porsche's with my S, well, after driving my mom's '99 C4


ChadC
Kailua, Hawaii