Decisions need to be made - 85 Carerra

[Olz]

Looking for people to shed light on my decision making process on this car. Just received a 1985 3.2 Carrera in absolutely stunning condition. Everything stock and I'm only the 2nd owner at with about 77K on it.

As a Porsche enthusiast one side of me is saying get going on the modifications.

As a guy looking at a bone stock 85 in almost perfect condition...a part of me says don't touch it and find another car to play around with.

[DRACO A5OG]

Question is how will you use her?

Garage Queen/Weekend Cruisier, Daily or Track/DE/AX...

[impactbumper]

it is an old Porsche. Why sweat it, just mod away, make it unique and yours. Enjoy.

[DRACO A5OG]

Do as many of us and keep the OEM parts in storage so you can put it back if you are so inclined to do so. I have so many original stuff in a bin, my wife wants to kill me

Like my recent Cam swap, keeping the 3.2 cams just in case :-)

Oh yeah, welcome aboard! Let the craziness begin!

[darrin]

Olz -- my advice -- get to know her and get her completely dialed in as a stock car. THEN, decide what (if anything) is lacking and address from there. See too many folks throw bigger torsion bars/hard bushings/droning dual out exhausts, etc. onto a street car (great track upgrades) and then look for ways to make their cars more streetable (go back to stock torsion bars/rubber bushings/single out exhausts).

I've been happy limiting the upgrades I've performed on my '86 to stuff that was generally available as factory upgrades (e.g. replaced my worn out boge shocks with adjustable konis) or became available on later models (e.g. replaced my rear 16x7 fuchs with 16x8 fuchs and run my 16x7 up front).

THe one exception being that I do run an aftermarket chip (and MAF) -- If you're still running a stock chip, this is worth looking into, as it will improve drivability/power on a dialed-in 3.2

[knodeland]

I was in exactly the same boat earlier this year. 1985 Carrera - over 100K miles, but a great car. I wanted to get it on the track, but was torn about modding an appreciating car. All it took was 1 track day and I was hooked. Now I've got big brakes, suspension, roll bar, seats and harnesses and I love it. Go for it. You can always put her back to stock later.

[Olz]

wow - Thanks for all the great advice everyone!

The purpose of the car would be mostly street and maybe a couple of good track days in the summer.

The suggestion to keep the old parts was definitely a consideration for me, just didn't know if the wife would start complaining about the parts in the garage even thought she's never in it! lol

Main upgrades I would be looking at would be suspension (as it is quite soft right now) and wheels - want some Fuchs on there even thought the car was bought with the 944 turbo wheels.

Does the aftermarket chip make that big of a difference?! Never looked into it.

[Olz]

Darrin - that's exactly what I was thinking - I'm enjoying learning every bit of the car as it is right now.

Purpose of the car would be mostly street and a couple of good track days in the summer.

Possible upgrades would be suspension and some Fuchs to bring back the original look even though the car was bought with the 944 turbo wheels which is odd I think.

The chip and the MAF is a good suggestion as well, never really looked into it.

[darrin]

knodeland -- completely agree if the OP's intended use is tracking.

However, while big brakes will certainly help reduce fade when driving for extended periods on a track at the limits, they're not going to help a street-centric car stop faster/better (stock carrera brakes do a great job and have really nice front-back proportioning from the factory). Similarly, while racing seats/harnesses/roll bars/etc. are great track enhancements, by making it harder to hop in the car and take off, they could well limit the enjoyment of a street-focused car/daily driver.

My thoughts have little to do with value/appreciation/etc., I simply find that Porsche already built a car that's already squarely on the performance side of the street car equation and that, if the OP intends to use it as a street car, he'd be well served getting to know it as-is before performing mods that could well make it a less enjoyable street car.

[Olz]

Definitely more street than track only a couple of track days in the summer.

Mostly looking at suspension and wheels (back to original fuchs even thought it was bought with the 944 turbo wheels)

Appreciation wise, I keep forgetting to use Miles here but its about 47K miles on the car only so I was a little concerned about the appreciation. its just hard to get over that when you just want to enjoy the car for what it was built for.

It just no me to keep it in the garage all the time.

[Olz]

Darrin - does the chip and the MAF make that big of performance upgrade?! Seems like a good start to keep things simple.

[SOAZ]

Do what you want.
My 88 wasn't in the best condition to start with, but it was nice and original other than a bad respray paint job. I have decided to modify it with items that can be undone. Removed the rear seats/ac/bumperettes etc and I got rid of the cat and did a chip. I like it, but I am keeping all of the OEM so I "could" always go back.

Just drive it and have fun, you'll know what you just HAVE to modify once you've been rallying it around for a few months. :-D

[Shaun @ Tru6]

It's always prudent to save your car for the next owner.

[TibetanT]

I have to agree with Shaun on this since I too believe we are all "caretakers" of these magnificent German cars.

Heck, I get upset if I forget to change the oil at 3,000 miles, or give her a bath after a run.

Good luck with your car, and "Welcome" to Porsche ownership!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Hey Ed! I, uh, was being sarcastic actually. I had an 84 M491 with 72K miles and even that I was modifying, though all easily reversible...Momo fixed backs, weight reduction... But did have Tony Garcia do a new leather dash, etc. for it. What slow fat pig of a car that was, other than rarity and beauty, no idea why anyone would want one. Save the matching # engine and put in a 3.6 I suppose.

[Olz]

Thanks Everyone! Exactly the advice I was looking for in here. Stay tuned for the Mods and will definitely be keeping the OEMs around just in case.

[darrin]

Originally Posted by Olz

Darrin - does the chip and the MAF make that big of performance upgrade?! Seems like a good start to keep things simple.

For me, it was a noticeable improvement -- porsche apparently redid the chip mapping in 1987 to squeeze some additional power out of an otherwise identical motor so, at a minimum, the chip tuners were able to apply this revised programing ("chip 2.0") to the programming used on our older chips. Further, since a car with a tuner chip simply needs to pass basic emissions testing requirements (my car still needs to be tested in CO, not sure where you are) and not pass comprehensive EPA certification, tuners have further leeway in programming.

Steve Wong has been at this for a while and is generally considered the "gold standard" for carrera chips, Sal (scarceller on pelican) is a more recent contributor who has combined his chip tuning with MAF and more modern fuel injection options and has some VERY interesting products. Both are very transparent and helpful.

[Olz]

Thanks Darrin - I'll take a look at those. I've seen a lot of discussions on SW chips on this forum, will continue to do my research.

[DRACO A5OG]

Where are you located Olz, maybe a Pelican can take you in their SW chipped car or let you drive it?

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by Olz

Definitely more street than track only a couple of track days in the summer.

Mostly looking at suspension and wheels (back to original fuchs even thought it was bought with the 944 turbo wheels)
Appreciation wise, I keep forgetting to use Miles here but its about 47K miles on the car only so I was a little concerned about the appreciation. its just hard to get over that when you just want to enjoy the car for what it was built for.

It just no me to keep it in the garage all the time.

944 Fuchs are virtually the same as 911 Fuchs except 7" & 8" wide.

Personally, I would keep the car stock but completely refresh the suspension with maximum "stock" upgrades (i.e., Koni's or Bilstein's, Elephant Racing firm rubber bushings front & rear, rebuild stock brakes using PMB performance, possibly stiffen the torsion bars and sway bars, replace ball joints). Those few upgrades will make the car handle much better and no matter how nice the car is now, bushings deteriorate with age and definitely will benefit from replacing.