Help. What to look out for purchasing 82 SC?

[na2ub]

I know this is a common question on this board, but I need your help, once again. My brother is considering a 82 SC Coupe. It has 115K on it, and is in decent condition. I will tell him to watch out for a stiff cluch pedal (probably due for a new clutch), any grinding of gears (need tranny rebuilt), and any smoking during hard accelleration or downshifting (needs top end rebuilt).
I have owned a 78 SC for over two years now, and I bought it with 72K on it. Since then, my first gear blew up and I had the tranny and clutch redone. My car smokes a little on startup, so it will probably need the valve guides replaces sometime in the future. My question is ...
What is the typical mileage for tranny and engine rebuilds?
Also, out of curiosity, what year did the 911 switch from the 915 tranny?
Thanks for any more insight you guys can give me. If everything goes well and my bro's wifey manipulated correctly, I will have a fellow SC owner in the family!

Doug

[nostatic]

the usual answer is "it depends". The 915 tranny was used through the '86 model year, with the '87 being the first year to use the "improved" G50 tranny with hydraulic clutch. Since the SC was built between '78-'83, all have 915 transmission. The 3.0 engine is considered to be one of the best built, but there are a few things to look out for. The two best known are weak chain tenioners and backfires. These are both soluble problems (oil-fed chain tenionsers and pop-off valve). The other problem that has started to come to light is broken head studs (not to be confused with the pulled head studs of the 2.7 engines).

Pop-off valve is almost a no-brainer...cheap insurance against having to replace your air box. Tensionsers are more expensive, so most but no all people do the upgrade (I haven't with my '79 yet). While the conventional wisdom is that failed tensioners spell doom and gloom for the engine, the data on this board indicates that a fairly small percentage of failed tensioners resulted in major engine damage. I'm sure I'll be an exception if mine go...I'll probably replace them next year some time.

Broken head studs are probably like prostate cancer...if you live long enough you'll get them. It is a fairly easy check during a PPI...pull the valve covers and if one or more has broken they will likely dome tumbling out. Of course even if none of them are broken *now* you have no insurance that they won't go next week...or next decade. Mileage does not seem to be a factor, but operating temperatures and humidity might be. I haven't seen good or convincing data on this one.

As far as numbers, there are plenty of engines approaching 200K miles with no rebuild. A little smoke on startup is not necessarily a sign of impending top end work...a short puff in the morning is more a "feature" of the engine, and I also get some white smoke from condensation buildup burning off (depends on your local weather conditions).

Tranny is also all over the map...it depends on the driver. The 915 isn't like a smooth Japanese box, but I can say that my tranny with 43K gives me absolutely no problems. It does feel mechanical, and getting into 2nd requires that I pay attention and work *with* the shifter instead of just slamming it into gear. In some ways the 915 is fun because you can feel what is going on with the tranny and clutch, and with more practice and technique you can get good. The most common issues are weak syncros in 1st and 2nd, but again, it depends on the previous owner.

[Superman]

Shifting a 915 takes more skill and less muscle than most. Smoke on startup is normal, even for healthy boxer engines. Never purchase a 911 without a professional prepurchase inspection that includes counting the head stud "barrel" nuts. There should be 24. Any other number besides 24 means the engine has to be mostly disassembled.

Subjectively, the longer I live the more I prefer a 'clean' car that has not been 'molested.' Hashed, amateur re-wiring jobs make me run, screaming.

A car that is completely stock, with everything working, is desirable. A few proper upgrades is even better, such as popoff valve and pressure-fed chain tensioners. A mountain of paperwork, dating back to the original sales slip, is a very good sign.

Did I mention...never buy a 911 without a PPI?

[makaio]

Like Super said, PPI! Don't buy a Porsche without one. Heck, if I was buying any used car I would get one done. Cheap insurance.

[Speedy1]

Ive' got an 82sc and just love it, the gearbox has been on my hit list for some time it is a little hard to get into 1st most of the time. It must be muscled around a bit. Everyone says to replace the shifter bushings and service the trans with swepco and be sure the clutch is adjusted properly. Well I have yet to service the trans with swepco but the new bushings did help. My mechanic told me to go away and come see him when it breaks. So I guess that he is on my side. The motor does not leak much 2-3 drops on the garague floor a nite.
It uses oil about 1 qt, per 1000 mi, this is to be considered "normal", that from my friends here, on this great place of knowlege. My 82sc has 200535mi
on her. I bought it when she had 197000 on her I replaced the heater fan, sparkplug wires
broken vacume lines, sterio, speakers, rearview mirror, sunroof cables. I also put in the popoff valve and the carrera style chain tentioners had allready been done. As a note If installing the popoff valve, be very careful when drilling the pilot hole there is a cold start fuel plenum just under the part where you must drill for the valve be xtra careful when drilling with the hole saw.Afterthe hole saw starts to cut threw the plastic box stop and remove the drill bit that guides the bit and carefully finish the drilling.The cold start fuel plenum is said to be the fix for backfire damage but I was happy to purchase an ounce of xtra protection. As you can see it is just stuff that has been neglected to be serviced by the previous owner. Once he gets the car from the ppi he will have a "small" list of not vital (hopefully), things to start working on. Just my thought if the paint and interior are in realy good shape then the wife might like the idea a bit more. It's like having a nice kitchen in your home.It gives her a worm fuzzy feeling. I know my wife did. But like a fool I gave it to her, and now she get's to sport one of the coolist car ever made.