1971 911t in storage since 1984

[Thanx15]

Ok, here goes. I have been looking to buy a porsche for sometime. looking, but not really ready to buy, when a friend tells me about a car that he has had stored in the gargage of one of his retal houses. So I go to look.

Low and behold, there sits what we believe is a 1971 Porsche 911t. Everythhing is there, nothing taken off the car. He recalls that he was asked by a guy in 1984 to store the car for $30 a month. The guy drove the car in the garage, covered it with old blankets, and left it there.

Not the car is in good shape, it was not stored correctly, so the shock towers in the front are gone. other then that, the car looks very good.

Is it worth buying for $500.00, or am I getting in over my head. I do not know anything about restoring a porsche, but I have restored may old mustangs. So welding, painting and motor work doesnot scare me at all. What does scare me is droipping a ton of cash into something that might not be worth it.

Also, all the pictures I have seen of 1971 911t look different then the back end of this car. Was there some add ons, or aftermarket stuff that could have been added.

[carnut169]

????? Condition, condition, condition?????

$500 is a great price- but you need to descibe the car in more detail if you want good answers. If possible post some photos of it.

[Thanx15]

Ok, here goes.

The floors on the car have very small rust holes. Nothing too bad, but will have to be fixed.

The Body is 98% straight, not signs of rust, the only bad part is on the lower side of the passenger door, where the owner must have hit something while parking it. Nothing a little bondo couldn't fix

The interior is nice. Could use a little dye, if not re-covering. And the door panels were cut to allow speakers.

The rims and chome are perfect, no rust or pitting.

The car had 64,000 miles. The motor is all there, and looks very clean.

The only SCARY problem to me was the fact that the front shock mount was rusted through.

[Carrera Charlie]

For $500 I'd come out there and buy it! You're getting a steal ... you could recover your money just parting it out.

If it is in halfway decent shape, you could have a great rebuild candidate. The most important question is: "What do you want to do"? If it's in really good shape, you could restore and show it. If it needs works, you could make the car into an R Gruppe candidate. Determine what you want to do, evaluate the car's condition and act accordingly!

Cheers!

[EDIT] Missed your post on the condition of the car ... based on what you describe, you've got some work to do to make it function again. How handy are you with a welding machine?

Also, be prepare to find more rust (don't ask me how I know ... Ha, ha, ha)! If this doesn't scare you, you could have some fun fixing it up.

[Jim Sims]

Rust and varnish, rust and varnish! I predict to do a decent restoration job will cost between $10,000 and $20,000. 71T's are not likely to ever be worth that much. Believe me if the shock towers are rusted through there's a lot more rust elsewhere. Body may require a lot of weld repair and cleaning to arrest the rust and restore structural integrity. The fuel system starting with the gas tank going through the injectors is likely full of rust, sludge and varnish. It will have to be taken apart and cleaned piece by piece. All the fuel hoses are likely rotten. The brakes will need the same treatment: cleaning, new hoses and seals, maybe new hard lines and master cylinder. If you pay $500 you can recoup your money by parting it out if you're willing to go through the trouble. Unless you want a 2-year project car I'd pass. Cheers, Jim

[Rich911E]

For $500, take it home.

I agree with Jim about the rust. If the shock towers are rusted through, it is likely rusted a lot more elsewhere. The bodywork is by far the most expensive part of the restoration. There are enough old 911s available in the SoCal/AZ/NM/NV area that it would be much easier to get a good one and have it shipped home. If the body has significant rust in structural areas, just take off the good stuff, put it in the basement for safekeeping, sell off the stuff you don't want and then look for a decent chassis from the southwest or down south.

The body may be a write off, but if all of the trim and interior pieces are there plus a good engine and trans, that is worth a whole lot more than $500, especially back in Chicago where old 911s and parts are a bit hard to come by. If you have a cache of good mechanicals back home, you don't have to wonder about the mechanical condition of what you are buying and/or you will always have a nice supply of spares.

Regarding the mechanicals, I would bet that they will be OK. Of course the fuel lines will need to be replaced and all, but I would get it running and drive it a bit. Rebuilding the calipers and master cylinders is an easy enough job -- just take them to any decent brake shop with the rebuild kits and they will be OK. Replace the lines with stainless ones. If you decide to dump the body, you can always use these parts on the new chassis.

I'm sorry, I just don't believe in the notion that just because and engine sat for a long time that it needs to be completely rebuilt. I bought a 2.0T engine out of a guy's garage covered in grease, cleaned it up, put in some oil + ATF (ATF is very high detergent) and started the thing. I drove it for a few miles (maybe 50) and drained out the oil (yuck!) but now the oil is clean. A year and half later it is still running like a clock. It smoked like crazy when it first started, but once it got cleaned out it has been just great. Similarly, I bought another 911 out of a garage where it had been sitting in pieces for several years. KeithO64 (on this board) has the car now back in Chicago, but we put it together in a banzai weekend in my garage. It was a 2.2 liter T motor and we did the same thing with it as I did with the 2.0 -- oil + ATF, drain, refill. The engine runs strong and clean. The webers had sat for years, but we just used a bunch of carb cleaner to get everything cleared out and they work just fine.

The little 2.0/2.2 engines are pretty bulletproof, especially the T motors. If nothing else, you can just use it as a learning experience to take it apart and see how things work and then get another one.

Good luck.

Rich
San Diego