I may have found my 3.2

[3literpwr]

Been looking for a 964 for some time, but after finding mostly poor examples, I started looking at 3.2 Carreras... A friend mentioned that his father had an 87 that had been stored for the last 12 years that had recently pulled out of storage and tuned up. The car is not for sale, but is available for me to purchase. Overall the car is rather nice, but it does have a few tiny spots of rust around the lights, in the driver door jamb and on the rear bumper below the rubber trim. The front bumper is chipped up a bit but most of the paint is really good. The car has 80k on it and the motor is all original and just had a checkup and valve adjustment. Overall I like the car, but the power delivery is different that I expected and certainly much less compared to my 2000 BMW M coupe.
Can anyone speak to the power of a 964 vs this 87? I do like the idea of the added power and suspension upgrades. I have been spoiled with power after a couple 350hp rally cars, 944S2 track car and other fun... Maybe its time to put the horse power race aside.


Thoughts?

[X JBM X]

One of the things I would need to consider to aid in this decision is a price point. If this car were available to you at a really solid price, I'd say go for it, do minor upgrades (cat bypass, Steve Wong chip...) and call it a day.

Those mods would boost your power a little bit. The rest of the power you're looking for could likely come by way of weight reduction.

[3literpwr]

Asking price is 20k...

[gamin]

From the pics a very nice looking 87. A desirable year with the G50 tranny. One caution is that 3.2s have early valve guide wear probs. I bought my 88 for a very good price knowing that it needed a top end. This at 90k miles. So now I have new guides, ex valves, and steel ex studs and all is good for low money.

[GH85Carrera]

Only some 3.2 have the bad valve guides. I have 150,000 on my 1985 factory original engine. I just drove it 3,200 miles and used 1.5 quarts of oil.

[X JBM X]

$20k is pretty solid for a G50 car, especially with 80k miles.

See if you can find out about oil consumption, and certainly send it to a shop for a PPI (use your own independent Porsche specialty shop).

Those should help in your making of an informed decision.

[Doug&Julie]

Rust concerns me...be sure it's truly only "little spots" vs the tip of an ice burg. You won't get 964 power out of this car without significant money spent on the motor, so if it's power you want (and a more modern drive), just start with a 964.

That said...3.2 Carreras don't have many better years and that is one gorgeous example (love the blue).

[Rot 911]

+1 to what Doug said above about rust. Where is this car located? The rust belt? These cars were fully galvanized and it is really unusual to see rust outside of what might show up from a rock chip piercing the paint and underlying coating. Rust inside a door jamb is definitely something that would concern me.

[widgeon13]

20K for any 3.2 example with rust to me is a very high price.

[weseeeee]

It's a really nice looking car. Go for it

[CCM911]

Any chance you can post some decent photos of the rust? I would think that you'll need to adjust that $20K down a bit to help with the bodywork.

And I have 116K on my 1984 3.2, and it has had no valve guide wear. Also, I think folks get way too hung up on the G50 versus the 915.

Finally, when I ran at Watkins Glen against my buddy's 964, he would absolutely decimate me every time. The 964 is a lot faster.

[NYNick]

$20k is market...or just below if you ask me.
The car could sell for more, if you took your time, maybe in the springtime.
IMHO

[86 ssinit]

That is a really nice car. Love the blue on blue. It has 7s in the front 8s in the back and a tail. That is a very desirable car. Check the support pans by the battery for rust. All in all 3.2 + G 50 80k miles. $ 20k. If you don't buy that I'm interested. Your not going win races with it but its gonna be a ton of fun to drive. Good luck and buy that car.

[Smoove1010]

I love the color - it's a very photogenic car! BUT - some rust in the wrong spots and the need for a top-end could turn this $20K car into a $30+K car in a hurry. I'd be certain about those two issues before I jumped. A PPI would be a must at that price. Good luck - I hope it works out for you.
GK

[3literpwr]

Thanks for all the input guys. I'm milling it over now.

[daleflesburg]

The 3.2 is a very solid engine. Get a leak down test and a compression test done by an independent garage (a Porsche specialist near you preferably). Head work can be expensive. Do you want to learn to take the engine apart and rebuild it, or just do things like oil changes, brake pad changes etc.? It certainly makes a difference.

I also think you should have the rust evaluated by a really good body ship, not some insurance wreck specialist, but someone who really does nice cars, or restorations, and ask them to evaluate the car for you. In either case the shops will probably charge you, but it will be worth it.

I know guys with 3.2 engines with 250,000 miles and run fine.

The secret is, change the oil! Every 3000 miles or say 4 months which ever comes first. You can learn to do this. It takes a filter from our host, and a case of oil, and a pan that will hold say 3 gallons.

The car is pretty, and remember this: No matter what you do, you will have 20-25 thousand in any 911 you buy, so buy the best one you can.

[daleflesburg]

PS, this is a 214 HP car and weighs north of 3000 pounds. It is not a hot rod, but it will pull hard all the way to 6200 rpm, and it likes to run. It will cruse all day at 90 and not breath hard. Its 50 to 70 acceleration in 3 rd is impressive. I routinely pull mine to 6000 in 3rd gear. Keep the rpm up at 3000 or above and it is much stronger feeling. Do not lug the engine like you might an american v8. It is a marvelous car, but it you want a stoplight dragster, buy a mustang!

[Nick Triesch]

25 years ago 3.2 cars were fast. Today they are not. Mustangs, Dodge Chargers and Dodge Challengers and Subaru WRX cars for example have hundred's of more Horsepower. A new Mustang GT for example has 412 H.P.! So you can Wong or toss weight out but you will still have a little car with about 200 H.P. You have to understand that these cars were never meant to be 0-60 cars. They are very fun track endurance cars.

[KTL]

Rust in small doses is easy to deal with. It's the hidden stuff that'll kill you. Look closely around the windshield, inside the fuel filler door around the filler neck, inside the sunroof opening and pull up the carpets. Rust under the bumper trim is a non-issue IMO. Sure it's rust. But it's aluminum rust- front and rear bumpers are cast aluminum alloy. Easy to fix/arrest compared to steel. It's very common for these bumpers to have corrosion. It's really only minor surface corrosion that is easy smoothed and repainted accordingly.

Agreed the 3.2 is no rocket. A 964 with all its torque will dust a 3.2. Only a severly lightened 3.2 (no A/C, fiberglass bumpers, race seats, etc. etc.) has a possible chance against a 964 in a straight line race. On the track it's a completely different story.

The 3.2 G50 in stock form with it's cat. convertor, stock banana muffler, original DME chip, massively heavy clutch has very poor throttle response. There's a lot to be said about simply the improvement in feel/response that you get from tweaking the tune on this engine & installing a lighter clutch. Comparing it to an M Coupe is almost unfair. That M series inline 6 is a fantastically torquey and rev-happy engine that really puts some go in a Z3 chassis.

[McLaren-TAG]

Sub six second 0-60 times in a mildly modded 3.2 isn't embarrassing, especially when you'll catch up to anything other than a newer Porsche when you get to the twisties.