Are early 911s built by Karman better, worse or the same as Porsche built?

Jeff · 12-26-2002, 04:26 PM

I'm looking at a 70 T and it is Karman built. Is this something to stay away from or nothing to worry about? Looks like most of the Ts were built by Karman.

pacblu82 · 12-26-2002, 04:57 PM

Jeff,,,Karmann built some nice stuff for VW such as the Ghia and Golf convertible, and I'm pretty sure my '63 356B coupe was built there too...In my experience these cars were really prone to major league rust problems. Have it checked out by a pro!!!
Keep us posted!
Mark

Jim Richards · 12-26-2002, 06:28 PM

Here's some additional info about this subject:

Prior post about Karmann bodied 911's

Joeaksa · 12-26-2002, 06:32 PM

They built the 914's as well. Remember being in town and seeing the cars roll through on the transporter trucks... Very good reputation in the business.

Joe

Tom F2 · 12-27-2002, 03:58 AM

I notice that Porsche made all of the Targas, none were made by Karmann. Was this a reflection of Porsche's judgment that better quality control was needed for the more expensive and complex Targa? I have heard the same thing about the Karmann's being more rust prone, but I think we'd need to find someone who was working on the bodies everyday back in the seventies to tell us.

Jim Richards · 12-27-2002, 05:01 AM

Tom, I initially had the impression that Karmann's were more rust prone; however, more knowledgeable folks have convinced me otherwise.

Cornpanzer · 12-27-2002, 05:12 AM

From what I have heard pretty much the entire logic being used to suggest that the Karmann bodied cars are inferior is that Karmann Ghia's rust badly so it must be a quality thing. (which isnt neccesarily true, Ghias dont rust any worse than any other VW....been a VW guy for 20 of my 32 years) Kinda skewed logic. I think its safe to assume that the bodies are basically the same. These are production cars not the coachbuilt cars of the 50s. They are assembled exactly the same whether they be Karmann or Porsche. Really, the ONLY thing that could make one rust quicker than the other is the quality of steel and I imagine that they both probably used the same steel if not the exact same stampings.

Jeff · 12-27-2002, 09:24 AM

Thanks for the info guys. I plan on looking at the car in a couple of weeks and will let you know what I find.

Anybody know about the Boge self leveling strut set-up (I'm still waiting to hear if this is what he has or if it is the standard torsion bar set-up). Are these a nightmare or a good set-up.

Also is a 5 speed a definate must in the early cars?

juanbenae · juanbenae's Garage

where they fabbed and built (componets) or just assembled by them?