Option sticker ? / First post
 

Hello, this is my first post but I've been lurking for a while. You guys have a great forum here. FYI I am a total car guy but this Porsche thing is completely new to me so please forgive my ignorance.

So my ? is, I'm looking at an 86 Carrera coupe. Supposedly it is a California car it's whole life. The vin indicates that it was destined for Canada or USA the fourth to sixth characters on VIN are 0AB (so I believe that's a guarantee of USA or Canadian car) however .........

The option sticker under the hood (god, I guess maybe it's not a hood in the Porsche world, like I said I'm a newbie) indicates a code of 479 which I believe indicates "version for Australia". Should it have code 553, which I believe was the USA code?

Could someone please explain this?

Thanks in advance and looking forward to Porsche ownership in the near future.

Hi to ya PCH. (Am thinking Pacific Coast Hwy.)

I went to 84,85,86,87 Porsche Technical Specifications booklet only to find page 9---where '86 Model should be---it's headed '84 Model! There is different content under "Chassis Number Ranges" so azzumption is the pages header is a typo.

According to the Chassis Number info in booklet, US Coupe 911 would have number range: WPO ABO 91 -- GS 12 0001 (through 5000.) RoW would have: WPO ZZZ 91 Z GS 10 0001 (through 5000.)

Concerning stickers... bear in mind that parts can be swapped causing mismatching numbers. Best place to check vin is on a-pillar and on metal just behind fuel tank on passenger's side. Hopefully those numbers match. If not, car has likely been cut up to some degree. (And I'm azzuming '86 model has VIN located in places I noted---I know earlier 911s better.)

Yes it is pac cst hwy. What happened is that I misread the sticker. I was viewing my phone at outside at work last night. A few hours hours I pulled it up on a computer screen and it was the code for spoilers.

Thanks a lot for the reply.

Hello and welcome to the forum! As you can see, we have a very active and helpful community. Please let us know if you have any other questions and post some photos of that 86' if you decide to pull the trigger. As I'm sure you're already aware, we have quite the DIY tech article directory - it should serve you as a great guide to get familiar with older Porsches.

Hello There:

First and foremost, "Welcome to Porsche ownership" and stop lurking already and post some pictures of your car. LOL

Second, I am not an expert:

So, when you open the driver's door is there a VIN number posted there?
Should be one showing the date the car left Stuttgart's Porsche factory (i.e.: 11/82 my 83 911SC) as well as the entire VIN.
If there isn't one…hmmm? Car was repainted probably, at least that is what I have seen on some I have worked on in the past.
BTW, option sticker under the hood is usually the Paint Code if I am not sadly mistaken.

Hope this helps, and Good Luck with your "new" car.

Thanks for the welcome. Well the car I looked at was seriously (and I'm being nice) misrepresented. No big deal, my Porsche guy / friend and I drove down in his new GT350 so that was enjoyable.

So, I have no Porsche as of yet but am looking hard and enjoying every second of it as well.