And So It Begins

[catspaw]

This story actually starts in 2005. I'd always like Pcars but wasn't really in the market for one. My dad called me, he always liked German cars, and told me he had seen a white 1974 911SC coupe for sale on the side of the road and gave me the phone number. I called and expressed my interest, the woman said she need to conduct some business near my office and would be happy to stop buy and have me take look. At this point I had never even been in a Porsche and knew very little about them outside of the fact that people that own them are rabid about them. The woman showed up, she knew very little about the car, and had virtually no paperwork. The car recently had some brake work done and a fresh set of tire, she had also had the color changed from red to white, she says she likes to have some wine when she goes and red might attract too much attention. I looked the car over, the front valance had a pretty good dent, engine bottom oily but not overly so, interior fair, all lights and instruments working and a little rust in front of the battery, 91,000 miles. I took it for a short spin and it ran well but didn't knock my socks off. I asked her why she was selling it, "This is my daily drive, I've recently taken up golf and my husband and I can't fit our clubs in here, he bought me a Boxter convertible." She wanted $4500 for the car. Looking back I can't believe I was hesitant. Anyway deal done.
The first thing I do is change the oil, and check timing, timing is way off. New points plugs, condenser, cap wires and retime. Test drive - HOLY CRAP - no wonder people love these cars. Night and day performance wise and the things handles like its on rails. Now I'm hooked. So I start doing some research, the first thing I find out, Porsche didn't make an SC in '74, the car has an 911 SC badge on the engine lid. Due to time constraints I haven't driven in much, maybe 200 miles per year since 2005. Now I have more time,and a dedicated garage bay. A couple of yeas ago the odometer stopped working , I didn't want to rack up unaccounted for miles so I drove it less, last month the speedometer stopped working, so I started investigate. I has an electric speedo; wait, Porsche didn't have electric speedos until '77 I believe. Now I get the chassis number, engine number and trans number. It is a '74 chassis and engine, but a '78 RoW trans. Car started life in Calif, then to Maryland then to Rhode Island where I purchased it. All Calif smog stuff removed, a pop-off valve has been installed, and this weekend I found out it has hydraulic chain tensioners in place, how lucky am I. I'm sending the speedo out to be rebuilt. I'm also gong to bring the car to a local P-wrench to evaluate the engine. Results from this will determine which direction I will take the car. My education continues.

[Dpmulvan]

Does it have a 78 row motor as well?? How about some pics.

[catspaw]

No, standard issue '74 # 911/92

[catspaw]

More pics to follow

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

Very clean! Would love to see more and some interior shots as well. While you get more time to work on it please don't forget to take a peek at our tech articles for any assistance and don't hesitate to give me a shout if you need anything.

Porsche 911 (1965-1989) Technical Articles - Pelican Parts

[catspaw]

There's a few 87-89 Carreras in my area for sale. I'll probably take a couple for a ride for comparison purposes. This site has already been a tremendous help.

[75 911s]

Awesome! $4500 wow! 'dem 2005 prices tho. I've spent the last year trying to turn my 75 into your 74 lol.

[catspaw]

What's the difference between a '78 RoW and a US '78 trans?

[Discseven]

Catburglar! (You stole that ride for sure! Lot you can do with savings. Damm... I'm even excited!)

[kuba_kuba]

The front valence seems to be from a 3.2 but with painted fog light trim. Agree that you got a tremendous deal.

[catspaw]

Correct, I replaced the valance. I like the look of fog lights but not the correct "bugeyes". Depending on which direction I go I may replace it again.