1978 911SC - to mod, or not to mod...

[Bill Douglas]

Nice car

Subtle mods. Like SSIs, a 964 cam, wheel spacers on the back, lose any heavyweight rubbish in the engine bay that you don't want. And as said before; keep all the bits.

[wayne robson]

It always makes me laugh ,when i hear others say ,--im not going to sell it,.
i will never sell this car .But you know what --sorry to tell you , but you are probably
wrong , most owners do sell even if it is in 10 years time.
My examples were, a 66 Jag E type, 72 stock 911, 53 Buick Skylark convertible,
54 Jag XK 120 roadster, 72 Alfa Romeo GTV, and nearly forgot 79 Porsche 911
with only 62k miles, 65 Buick Riviera GS,and many more classics, but they are all gone years ago.
Loco Petey that lovely example ,keep it stock,plus i will make a prediction that
78 SCs will be worth more than early Carreras in a few years, because they
were the first great 911 ,with 3.0 engine with really good reputation.

[Dpmulvan]

I see nothing special with Magnus walkers car And I don't understand all the hype. That car you bought is a nice find!! Enjoy.

[ej911]

seems like the biggest thing right now is modifying everything Porsche to make them more unique or personalized. stripes, body kits all the rage. to me, i think stock can be better sometimes. your SC looks great. i would not touch it. if anything, i would get some 17" euromeisters and that is it.

[will hung]

I think it looks good as is. Single mirror, polished trim, 15" Fuchs. You could throw on a duck tail and change out the mirror to something smaller to "back date" it to a '74 Carrera and it would all be reversible.

[LocoPetey]

Originally Posted by 75 911s

Mod it!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Only real body work it needs is removing of door rockers. Does anyone know if going to rsr bumpers makes it hard to go back to impact if needed?

[75 911s]

The heart wants what it wants. Like someone else said, cars aren't investments. It's also not hard to keep everything to put it back. All the mods you are looking at are bolt ons. It's not hard to remove the bumpers or to put them back on. It's a couple hours of work. Keep the original bumpers hung up on the wall. These are IROC bumpers BTW. And that is a fair amount of body work to get them right. I'd budget around 2k per end. Figure about 400 on the bumpers, another 100 or so on a mounting solution and 1000-1500 to fit, bodywork and paint.

Some other mods he has
Vitaloni mirror on the standard flag base
Roll cage
Plastic rear windows
Rocker delete
Side decals
glass duck and hood
IROC front and rear bumpers
8" rear wheel 7" front
longer wheel studs
Steel lugnuts
Momo
RS door panels with tartan inserts
Custom tartan seats
racing seatbelts
Dual out muffler

I forget what other mods it has as it was a former AX car. Probably various suspension/motor mods.

[Vin-barrett]

That is a nice car. I'd put H4's and be done. Do what you like but food for thought...
Tastes change

I have had my 83SC for almost 13 years. It has the duck, 17 inch wheels, recaro seats etc and now years later I want to put it back the way it was when I got it.

[NYNick]

It's a 78SC for Pete's sake, not a 356 Speedster. My lightly modded and sympathetically restored SC is worth more than almost every stock SC out there. It's just that some purists (or collectors) value 100% stock cars because...um, I really don't know why to tell you the truth.

There's a beautiful Porsche Museum that's dedicated to preserving the originality of the models and the marque. You don't own a museum piece do you?

Do whatever you want. It's a car, not a Monet.

Geez.

[Josh D]

Personally, I'd be willing to pay MORE for an SC with H4's, SSI, backdated heat, 16X7 & 16X8 fuchs, narrow rear bumper pads, and ducktail. Other suspension, engine and brake mods could also be considered. It just all depends on the buyer and their taste and intent when it comes time to sell. Don't ever expect to get 100% return on the cost of the mods though.

I've always been curious why you see single purpose track cars with gutted interiors, a lot of suspension, brake, and body mods with relatively stock motors advertise for as much as or more than clean, low mileage unmolested originals. Yet a subtly modified street car is somehow worth less than an original?

[golfbuddy]

Do what makes you happy! Life is too short.

[David 23]

Originally Posted by Josh D

Personally, I'd be willing to pay MORE for an SC with H4's, SSI, backdated heat, 16X7 & 16X8 fuchs, narrow rear bumper pads, and ducktail. Other suspension, engine and brake mods could also be considered. It just all depends on the buyer and their taste and intent when it comes time to sell. Don't ever expect to get 100% return on the cost of the mods though.

I've always been curious why you see single purpose track cars with gutted interiors, a lot of suspension, brake, and body mods with relatively stock motors advertise for as much as or more than clean, low mileage unmolested originals. Yet a subtly modified street car is somehow worth less than an original?

I completely agree with Josh D.
I just bought a very nice, completely stock '79 SC, with the intent of modifying it to my own taste, as I have to every other Porsche I have owned. I'd rather enjoy the car modified the way I want, rather than have a car I felt "obligated" to preserve for someone else.

[Walter_Middie]

If I were looking for an SC that would maximize future value, I put a stock 78 at the top of the list. This is the first year SC.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that a big part of the reason our cars are becoming worth a ton of money is largely due to Magnus and Singer, the mods they made, and the spotlight they have shined on these cars.

Some above said life is short and your tastes change - so leave it stock. I'd say tastes change, so modify it now while you are interested in that. In 5 years, you may want a stock car, but at least you will have experienced the process of modification and living with what you built. You might always wonder what that is like. I've lusted after lots of cars that I wouldn't want now. But I'd like to have experienced them - good or bad.

Life's short - go for it.

[mickey356]

Originally Posted by Dpmulvan

I see nothing special with Magnus walkers car And I don't understand all the hype. That car you bought is a nice find!! Enjoy.

HAAA!!!! Nothing? Maybe not specific to Magnus' cars (cuz it's cool to diss cool - eye roll), but then I guess that extends to other modded hot rod porsches? There are so many modified cars on this site that are nothing short of automotive art. Cars that have been positively modified by today's technology. Not to mention that almost all of them are done in the spirit of other PORSCHES. To say you see nothing special in Magnus' car is to say you see nothing special in Porsche cup cars, or the like.

I think there are three types of 'Porsche Admirers'....
Purist - nothing but stock
Maniac - anything that gets the car to track animal, or close to it.
Porsche Car Guy - has an affection for anything that has ever come out of Stuttgart regardless of what, when or who.

[mickey356]

Originally Posted by wayne robson

It always makes me laugh ,when i hear others say ,--im not going to sell it,.
i will never sell this car .But you know what --sorry to tell you , but you are probably
wrong , most owners do sell even if it is in 10 years time.
My examples were, a 66 Jag E type, 72 stock 911, 53 Buick Skylark convertible,
54 Jag XK 120 roadster, 72 Alfa Romeo GTV, and nearly forgot 79 Porsche 911
with only 62k miles, 65 Buick Riviera GS,and many more classics, but they are all gone years ago.
Loco Petey that lovely example ,keep it stock,plus i will make a prediction that
78 SCs will be worth more than early Carreras in a few years, because they
were the first great 911 ,with 3.0 engine with really good reputation.

Man!!!! I'd kill to say I owned half that list!!!

[David 23]

I don't want to be the guy to turn this into a Magnus thread, but his slate grey 964 is a stunning work of art. If you have seen the car in person, you see dozens of subtle body work and engineering details that took not only careful and imaginative thinking, but incredible craftsmanship and skill to execute. If one loves Porsches, I don't know how one would not appreciate the aesthetics and care taken in the building of that car. I'll have another cup of Kool-Aid please.

[JacobS911]

Mod to your hearts desire!!!!!!!

[manbridge 74]

Where in all this doth the sleeper lie?

Sort of fun passing all the "track" built cars in a slim hipped narrow tired light weight.

There are some nice Singer type builds out there but the time issue is huge. Especially when you've got little kids and a mortgage.

Safe to say there's a hindquarter for every seat.

[kwah]

Go for it. Nothing overly rare about SCs and as much as I'd love for them to be collectors they just aren't. Desirable, yes but there were a ton made and a lot available still.

[Nux]

Originally Posted by manbridge 74

Where in all this doth the sleeper lie?

Sort of fun passing all the "track" built cars in a slim hipped narrow tired light weight.

There are some nice Singer type builds out there but the time issue is huge. Especially when you've got little kids and a mortgage.

Safe to say there's a hindquarter for every seat.

+1 to that - many of the build threads here are several years long. Very impressive work, but beyond the scale for me anyway, and I bought the car to drive it!

I vote accordingly for a rolling project. Make changes as you continuously drive and enjoy the car. You can feel and see the changes, get feedback and gradually mould the car into what will become 100% your own perfect 911.