What's A 67 or 69 912 worth?

[Tlook]

Hello, I've been reading your posts lately, and thought to chime in with a question about a 69 912 I see for sale in a local Newspaper for 4850.00 It states that it's a running, antique tagged 5spd w/fuchs, as well as great looking. I have about a 2 hour drive to get to there, but I wanted to ask here before bolting out the door, and loosing my shirt. I guess to look for rust around the ol'obvious areas, but other than rust, what could seriously depreciate the value of this car? He says there's about 100k on the engine. How many miles can these 4cyls crank out?
He said has a 67 in even better shape that he would sell for the same....They are in storage. I guess I'd like to know your opinions on a purchase, and what to really look out for. I'd like to put around the county --not a daily driver-- after work to get mail, go to movies, and such.....not to travel far, not to race hondas. With that said, all your help is very much appreciated.
Sc in Va

[bmwloco]

I've had a solid $25K offer on my '67 912 Targa. Still mulling it over.

A good, solid 4, maintained, can go 100,000 to 150,000 or more without a major. As always YMMV.

[914Ghost]

Rust.
and dont forget to check for rust. Then check again. Is there rust? Go check!
After that check for body damage, you know- bondo, wierd gaps, overspray. Hows the inside?
Hows the brakes?
Suspenciono'? And THEN hows it run and drive? Recods? Modifications? History?
I'd guess almost any 912 that hits a 7+ on a 1-10 scale all those things is worth in the $7-$11k range from what we're seeing lately. rust is the biggest Killer of the deal. I'd say body damage 2nd, and mechanicals 3rd. Actual appearance is soemthign I wouldn't worry about. Nic's and scratches, a ding or two- no trouble in my book. Just shows its been around.
The mechanicals ARE expensive, but you can screw those things up over and over and not really effect the overall condition of the car. Rust and / or Bad or hidden body work can make an otherwise great "looking" or low miles or great running car a parts car.

Bob O

[tfmcmahon]

bmwloco you have a pm. TFM

[tfmcmahon]

I just found a 67 912 soft window here in Tucson and I`ve owned a 930 and a 1970 911s and I have FUN driving this.I`m 63 and don`t drive crazy anymore and the car is solid and rust free and also has 100,000 miles on it,but was very well maintained here.Just make sure you like the car and it appeals to you and you are in it for the right reasons,e.g., the ones you listed.Then get a PPI and go from there.If it appreciates,so much the better,but don`t buy it with that in mind.TFM

[lapuwali]

Prices are all over the place, and condition makes a very big difference.

Here in California, where we have a lot of 912s to choose from, a 912 can be worth from $2000 to $20,000. A parts car will be in the $2000 range, a rusty but drivable car maybe $4000, a clean driver about $8000, a nice garage queen maybe $12K, and a proven show winner somewhere north of $15K. Most cars seem to fall into the $8-10K range.

Rust is a big issue, as fixing it is very expensive (much more so than engine work), and Porsche didn't start rustproofing cars at the factory until the late 70s.

On the East Coast, there are fewer cars to choose from, so the market is more volatile. Rust is much more common there, so a really rust free car is worth more. Almost none of these cars are really rust free unless they've been recently restored. Any visible sign of rust usually means there's more lurking where you can't see it.

The bottom end of the engines can often go over 100K miles, but most require a top-end (P&Cs, valve job) rebuild at 50-60K miles. Top-end rebuilds aren't all that expensive by Porsche standards.

[Jerome Ryals]

The guys above are dead on, I would suggest when seeing it to take a ride long enough to listen to everything, suspension bumps, cv joint knocks, body squeaks, see if heater works, etc. After a ride long enough to get the engine/tranny warmed up, as you go over it look for engine/tranny oil leaks. I found one suprising area on a couple of parts cars I dismantled and cut up over the last few months. The torsion tubes had severe rust issues along the top where they pass through the body/frame. They looked very good until the rear seat pan came out. After I pulled the torsion bars out I dumped the rust out of the tube into a 1 gallon plastic bucket and it almost filled it up. Just wanted to pass this on to you. Also take a small refrigerator magnet with you, you can use it to check body areas that may look like they have been filled with bondo. Too much or too thick and it won't stick. Hope this turns out to be a good one.

[petered]

So what is the expensive fix for 912s with rusted mountings for the front torsion bar front brackets plus significant adjacent cracking and missing metal toward the right center of the "reinforcing crossmember" (which appears to be integral with the body and has already been welded at the left center). I have one (1969)!
Did any later models have a crossmeber that is a separate component which a competent welder could install? Obviously, wheel alignment is an issue.
I guess this has been discussed before; please point me to the good info sources.

[Jerome Ryals]

Do a search in this forum as well as the 911 forum on this site for 'front pan replacement' there should be enough information there to keep you up at night.

[Jerome Ryals]

petered, you can also take a look at this hillmanimages.com there is a good pan replacement 'how to' in it.