Bringing home a 71 Friday

[RichHawk]

Deep 6s or flat 6's?

I'm a sucker for a mystery, and even more of a sucker for a good deal.
Hence the reason I'm going to do 22 hours combined driving to "look at" this 71T
Of course I'm taking cash enough to cover his asking price, but negotiable downward for what I find the condition of the engine, rust, interior etc....


The owner is 60 plus, Doesn't own a digital anything( much less camera / Email / Internet) I had to Fax him pictures of where to get the VIN There is so much that I've got nothing but my imagination to guess at. (Hence the sucker for a Mystery part)

It's got a pretty good story, with enough holes left in the story from 20 years sitting that it's either going to be something great, or it's just going to be something.

The biggest downside / detriment I know about is the very poorly done aftermarket sunroof.

The best mystery is the details of the "hot rod" mods that were being done to the motor before they packed it up in a storage shed and forgot about it for 20 years.
Supposedly the rebuild was mostly completed after a cam chain jumped and the valves met the pistons. It started as a 2.2 that got new bigger pistons / Cylinders that required fly cutting to clear the valves, and "S" cams.

I'm guessing (hoping) for a 2.5L SS motor all buttoned up and protected from the elements. The owner remembers "2.6L" which I can't make fit my head. But I'll find out soon enough.

Also supposedly the missing parts are also in the shed with the engine.

Wish me luck!

Richard
(Less than a month with no Porsche and look at the extremes I'm going to to get another one in the garage.)

[RD911T]

Here's a shout out from a fellow Missouri guy. I hope it's everything you think it is and more! I watched your Targa for sale ad and had read about your engine rebuild.

Time to change your sig!

[RichHawk]

Originally Posted by TomViers

Here's a shout out from a fellow Missouri guy. I hope it's everything you think it is and more! I watched your Targa for sale ad and had read about your engine rebuild.

Time to change your sig!

Thanks Tom,
I'll be driving down 71 from KC through Joplin and beyond to get to the '71.
I changed my Sig. I'm dubbing the 71 the "Rescued Porsche" As I'm rescuing it from 20 more years of sitting and slowly rotting. Let's hope there are good bones, and little rust. Oh and a shiny new engine in a shed....

I'll post more Thursday night at the earliest, Saturday afternoon likely.

Richard

[3stewartS]

Another shout out from Missouri. Looks like alot of fun. I wish you the best of luck!
If you decide not to keep the rear spoiler I might be able to cover your gas money!

Scott

[jsoderbe]

Hi, isnt that 5,5 x 14" Fuchs? Would fit with the age as well.

Johan

[RichHawk]

yep
The wheels turned out to be 5.5 x 14s

[914agogo]

so we wanna know, was there a RS engine wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket in the shed? I really wish it for you this Xmas, someone else has got to hit the mother load!
another Pelicanite found one of the oldest 911 ever discovered.... in his backyard!!!

have you seen this thread?
I think I found a '64 911 in my backyard

[RichHawk]

The Rescued Porsche is home.
I have it up on the lift, and have cleaned it inside and out. I may flip it, rather than bring it back to life. (time time time....)

Can you help me figure out the value as a complete disassembled project?

It's in really good shape, with nothing more than surface rust due to being left in Primer. No cancer anywhere I can see. But it has been stored under a lean to for the last 30 years. I have a handwritten documentation book, that shows the engine came out in the fall of 1980.

The interior is in remarkably good condition. But then again, why shouldn't it be? it hasn't been used but for the first 10 years of it's life. Drivers map pocket is missing. Passenger map pocket in really god shape. But not perfect. One crack in the dash, and headliner is stained.

The engine is from a 69. It's been freshly rebuilt, with brand new looking heads and cylinders, and Carrera tensioners added. It was stored very well, in a clean shed, and wrapped in tarps. I'm not a fan of the black painted cases, but everything else looks quality.

Fuchs are original 5.5 x 14, and need re-finishing Brakes are S type brakes with the crossover pipe and 3.5 inch bolt spacing Koni suspension.

I haven't inventoried the parts fully yet. I have lots of boxes to go through. I do know I have al lthe lights aand trim. And I do know I'm missing Carbs, intake risers, starter motor, mirrors, muffler, and the engine mount.

If the engine internals pass my inspections, I think the car could be sanded down, painted, engine installed, missing pieces sourced, and have a nice longhood with out stealing from your kids college fund.

[Matt Monson]

Nice little project car...

[gearheadgreg]

Dealer installed AC it looks like!

[techweenie]

I looked at a somewhat similar car yesterday with an asking price of $4500. I will likely pass.

There is value there, but it is a car that needs owner labor, not "bought out" labor. It's too easy to put $25K into these cars with no hope of recovering the full amount.

[RichHawk]

Originally Posted by techweenie

I looked at a somewhat similar car yesterday with an asking price of $4500. I will likely pass.

There is value there, but it is a car that needs owner labor, not "bought out" labor. It's too easy to put $25K into these cars with no hope of recovering the full amount.

Certainly the "value" depends on what your goals are. Before seeing the car, I figured it would part it out expecting that there would be extensive rust. So there is the part out value of a long hood $6K minimum plus lots of time.

Now however, given the chassis is rust free, and the engine looks to be a built 2.5 SS I'm thinking the value as a starting point for a restoration project is a pretty high.
Break it down:
How much cost of a restoration is fixing the cancer that is rust? $3K? $5K?
Now how much is spent on rebuilding the motor? $7K? $12K?

For certain lots in this car would need love and attention before it was perfect. But merely by omitting the rust and engine build, you can "recover" roughly between $10K and $18K of your $25K restoration costs.

It's funny that we are still so visually prejudiced. I see a pretty red longhood, and immediately assign it more value than mine because it's pretty. But the last "pretty" longhood i saw was cancer ridden and poorly fixed from a wreck. Still the immediate "first impression" is the lasting impression, even if that car would cost twice what mine would to restore.

I have been wanting to start sanding off the surface rust, and re-primering the car. I have had to resist that temptation, as "fresh primer" is taken as such a taboo thing if you are trying to sell a Porsche. I for one as a buyer would rather see the unvarnished truth (un-primered truth) of where things were at, so I leave it alone. What are your thoughts?

There's a good chance that the sense and reason my wife is preaching about lack of time will out. So in case I sell the 71 as a project, I have not touched the bodywork , except to dig through the one spot of bondo the car has to ensure it's solid metal underneath. it is.

So to come full circle on the "value" thought, what would you value a rust free complete longhood at if I decided to sell it?

Now add in the rebuilt motor (2.5 SS best guess so far), the S brakes, the 5.5 inch Fuchs. But then subtract what I know is missing.. carbs, mirrors, muffler, driver map pocket.

Every day I decide to restore it myself, as I'm never again going to find a longhood that is this good of a starting point.
Then every day I also decide to sell it to someone else, knowing it took me a year to just rebuild the engine in my 87, and that this would be three years to complete right even with farming out the bodywork.
Lastly every day, a devil appears on my shoulder and convinces me to clean it up and put a "good enough" paint job on it, put the motor in and just drive it. I'm resisting that slippery slope, as I don't want a half ass job, and would end up doing it all in stages anyway...

Value thoughts? Someone want to buy this from me and end my turmoil?

Thanks,
Richard

[RichHawk]

Here's the loot that came with the 71.
Enough stuff to put it back together, except for the missing carbs, the missing starter motor, the missing driver's map pocket (found the trim for it though!!!)

Interesting things:
Two brand new extra intake valves NOS in their packages.
Five, count them, five wiper blades and three wiper arms.

a 901 input shaft I'm guessing to be used as a clutch alignment tool. Thankyouverymuch.

and a plastic rear license plate mount / "Porsche" reflector fill in piece between the bumperetts to make the 71 look like the newer 74 models.

Yeah, that's going on the wall next to the OEM whale tail.

[irish89rmf]

Does anyone know what happened to the '64? I saw something that referred to an eBay listing, was it for the '64?

[RichHawk]

closeup of the Faux plastic center rear bumper. it looks to use a stock "Porsche" reflector. Other than the reflector it's all one formed piece of plastic.

[914agogo]

Originally Posted by RichHawk

closeup of the Faux plastic center rear bumper. it looks to use a stock "Porsche" reflector. Other than the reflector it's all one formed piece of plastic.

I had 6 of those in all sorts of colors...couldnt give them away altho the reflectors do sell if not in too bad of a shape.
free update rear panel

I threw away 2 last week at the curb...no takers there too, usually anything of slight interest gets picked up by scavengers and recyclers.

[aleerpsoftware]

cool.. how i like to know more about cars.. and how to assemble and disassemble real cars..

[wgwollet]

Life is short, take on the restore, looks like a great car.

There are two sides to a idea, mine is, if your young, like cars, do not care about making big dollars or even losing some money, have fun and play with it.

Most people have very little skill level to think about restoring a car, so when they look at your car it's junk to them. Most of the fun is saying "ya I did that".

Wife needs to understand, you drove 11 hours, so your a motor head....plus if any kids get them involved, to me kids today can't change a flat, they will thank you later about learning how to fix cars.

[G450X]

At least it appears to be an interesting color, Mexico blue?

Have fun with the project, source good used parts when possible to save coin.

[RichHawk]

Originally Posted by G450X

At least it appears to be an interesting color, Mexico blue?

Have fun with the project, source good used parts when possible to save coin.

Paint code is 8484-H (looking it up now)

Not many used parts needed. Original front bumper, Carbs, starter, original spare tire, front trunk carpet.
If it weren't for the damn aftermarket sunroof, this would be a perfect start to a longhood car.