88 Carrera, need some advice

westcoast911 · 06-21-2013, 11:27 AM

Recently acquired an 88 Carrera. The PO did the following mods- RS door panels, AppBiz carpet set,964 cams, Big Red brakes,Fikse wheels, bigger torsion bars, 930S wheel,Recaro seats and white face gauges.

The car has a factory sunroof and A/C that actually works! Included in the sale were the original door panels and seats,rear seat belts,original brakes and torsion bars etc. The car has about 187K miles on it I think, but due to the gauge change i cant be sure of the exact mileage.

I'm trying to decide whether I should be keeping all the stock pieces and working my way back to a stock original car, or enjoying it the way it is and moving forward with deleting the A/C and making the car more of a hot rod.

The car has had a quality repaint,but its not perfect. I plan to drive it daily in the summer,and also track, and autocross the car with the odd road trip. In my neck of the woods A/C is nice,but not really necessary. I like the sunroof and dont really plan to delete that,but would probably like to see the car lose a few more pounds.

Whats are the +/- of keeping it stock VS continuing to Mod the car? How much does removing the A/C diminish the cars value? I dont like alot of clutter,so I am tempted to sell off the stock pieces and use the $$ to fund more upgrades. Are the pieces mentioned worth much?

What would my fellow pelicans do?

SoCalSK8r · 06-21-2013, 11:34 AM

At 187k I wouldn't worry about the value with mods. Do what u want with it and enjoy it.

Reiver · 06-21-2013, 11:44 AM

It seems stock cars sell for more than modified. Having said that I modified mine in a similar fashion to your PO...no AC either. Can't imagine AC in BC is a must.
I don't think the interior parts/pieces will bring much unless they are like new so prob better to keep them and pass them on if you sell...that may make up the mod delta price wise.

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

Those are quality mods for that era. I'd drive it for 6 months before you decide to do anything and monitor the used parts forum for what the used parts are trading for.

Do a track day or two - and see how you use the car. Then decide where you go from there.

Josh D · Josh D's Garage

Did you buy it for resale or to drive it? Know that and all your other questions are answered.

racer · 06-21-2013, 01:57 PM

Don't think of it as an "investment".. enjoy it how YOU want to.. whether modded or returning to stock.

westcoast911 · 06-21-2013, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh D

Did you buy it for resale or to drive it? Know that and all your other questions are answered.

I bought it because I have always wanted one. No plans to re sell at this point,but dont want to de value it in case I find a 930 I have to have and decide to move this one along if that makes sense?

johnsjmc · 06-21-2013, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeremyD

Those are quality mods for that era. I'd drive it for 6 months before you decide to do anything and monitor the used parts forum for what the used parts are trading for.

Do a track day or two - and see how you use the car. Then decide where you go from there.

I think this is your best advice so far. Stock seats and door panels if in good condition probably add value. bigger brakes might add a little 964 cams and other internal engine mods won,t add and might reduce value to many buyers.

X JBM X · 06-21-2013, 03:19 PM

First off, since your car has a working A/C - I personally think that's something of value, so I would do my best to keep it in working order rather than deleting it.

I'd go with the advice one of these other guys had - drive the car the way it is for now, and decide what you want to do with it later. You may find that the mods it's already received suit your purposes nicely (it sounds like they should).

wrinkledpants · 06-21-2013, 07:10 PM

Drive it. I have 200K on my car and I daily drive it. Value of the car with original parts would likely make a tiny increase in resale since the only people looking at cars with this many miles are people wanting to drive them daily. Low-mileage concourse cars are the ones that benefit from original parts. Plus, your car has a respray. Drive it. Mod it. Love it. Sell the old parts. The only original part I'm keeping that has been replaced is the original steering wheel. I'll keep that for sentimental value and it won't go with the car if I ever sell it.

michael lang · michael lang's Garage

Based on your description, your car is fairly well set up for what you want to do with it. Especially when it comes to tracking it. I can tell you from the experience that I'm going through right now with my car, I would not give too much worry about diminishing value, I would just drive and have more fun with the car than any one person should be allowed to have. It's a G50 coupe, you will always be able to get good money for it should you decide to sell.

teleski42 · 06-22-2013, 01:57 PM

Drive and enjoy as is. Over the past years I have had a '90 C4 Targa ,'95 Coupe, '93 RSA, '75 3.2 Targa and presently a '88 Coupe all stock with upgraded a/c. The '88 is just a dream car to drive daily and the longer you own it the more you will appreciate it. Best of luck.

rusnak · 06-22-2013, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teleski42

Drive and enjoy as is. Over the past years I have had a '90 C4 Targa ,'95 Coupe, '93 RSA, '75 3.2 Targa and presently a '88 Coupe all stock with upgraded a/c. The '88 is just a dream car to drive daily and the longer you own it the more you will appreciate it. Best of luck.

I agree with this. Drive it, and get some experience with the car. Your list of mods is based on what other people do. Get a lot more time with it in more seasons. You'll find that it's pretty much dialed in already for you.

Nico911 · 06-22-2013, 04:20 PM

I would keep the car as original as possible. These are the cars that hold their value on the long run.

I'm just not crazy about that whole ''hot rod'' trend... as you can figure... Porsches were, and stil are, amazing cars just as the engineers build them. Let's keep them that way and respect the originality of our 911s !

COLB · COLB's Garage

I don't think you can go wrong by acquiring some Fuchs wheels.

All aftermarket wheels have very selective appeal.

I would keep what you have until the tires need replacement, then get some Fuchs, and sell what you have to offset the cost.

The rest probably isn't worth messing with. The white faced gauges are not going to age well, but replacing them isn't worth the cost if they function properly.