I plan to devalue the sh_t out my car as soon as I can. I've done pretty well so far but there's more to go.

They had to build 400 for homologation in Group 4 (requirement dropped in '76 to 400 cars over 2 years, instead of the previous 500). They considered it a huge risk that they wouldn't sell them all - but they couldn't continue to race in Prototype.

*THAT's* why the 930 gearbox exists, and will stand up to huge ft/lb figures (Renegade quote over 700 ft/lbs). Because, oddly, that's what the race cars were capable of. Clearly you don't need that transmission for a street car making 300 ft/lbs. And the factory had already figured out with the RSR turbos that there was pretty much nothing they could do to a 915 that would make it last a 24 hour race at those power levels.

Factory apparently thought all the turbos would be bought by racers and end up as track cars. The stock platinum plugs were/are a very cold heat range to suit sustained WOT usage (and never got re-certified through emissions with "street" plugs until the 993TT) .

According to either Frere or Starkey, the factory couldn't initially believe that people drove them to work. Or that the car became an icon and kept selling, even with quite minimal development.

No doubt the 930, and even more so the early ones, have racing DNA - thats why I got mine!

But no engineer, unless on drugs, would have put thermal reactors and smog pumps on them, if their "natural habitat" was the track. Sorry.

You could after all at the time buy your entry as a privateer with 934's, 935's etc., but the Porsche 930, especially the 3.3 was sold as a street car. Period.

It's called GT class homologation as explained above. Surely you are just playing the fool here and aren't really one.

Of course the engineers didn't put thermal reactors in place for performance. They put them in place because where they were being sold as street cars legally required it for emissions. That doesn't somehow remove their racing pedigree.

Ha! Nobody playing nothing for nobody. I own 3 homologation cars, wish my 930 was a 75, so yes I know.

But somehow heads keep justifying mods, hoping to increase value, which in 99% of the case just aint gonna happen. Led me to fight for my standard spec car, and period correct modifications.

Just to balance stuff out, as there is no black and white position on this or shouldnt be, I am sure all of these cars and their modifications made them increase in value: Porsche 930 - Photo Gallery - Racing Sports Cars

There is no denying that converting a car to efi will hurt it's value to collectors. Truth is anything done outside of what came out of the factory can hurt the valuations of these(or any other collectible) cars.

BUT history has shown that modding is not all bad. Shelby,Yenko,Ruf and others at some point were just simply modding a stock car that today are worth far more than the original cost of the mods. I am not saying that we should expect the same to happen to most of us but nothing is impossible.

My only thought to modding a car is to try to use the best mods available. Go after proven parts, use well known names in the game. Make the car look,handle and perform like something that the factory would have built. Someone mentioned Magnus Walker, most of his cars have the philosophy I speak of. They look like something the factory would have built.

Of course this is all my opinion, many projects on this board surpass the meaning of modding. They are at a level which deserves some sort of design award.

Period-correct mods also have shown to frequently increase value in the vintage VW community, and more recently in the Japanese tuner scene.
A 23-window VW Bus is worth more with loads of original period mods from EMPI, etc.
Early '80s mods are in style again, so people hopping up a 240Z or AE86 are frequently looking for things like old-school Enkei rims and early HKS electronics.

A 930 with a full LCD dash or push-button starter? Maybe just what the owner wants -- and that's fine, it's his car. But IMO, not right for the period of the car's manufacture.

I think that's much of the reason Magnus got mad money for his 911 at auction: period-correct styling and mods, tasteful execution, high build quality.


Back to EFI: I content EFI is period-correct because the factory had and used EFI as far back as the 914, the 911 Carreras had it from 1984 onwards, and 80's tuners like Ruf and RS Tuning used it on their hotrods. Would I use one of those POS 1980s computers? Not a chance. You wouldn't put an Apple IIe on your desktop for daily use, would you? So use modern electronics for reliability and the ability to fine-tune the engine to your use, do a high quality installation on par with the factory (or better, they have their weak moments), and go enjoy. It's your car.

So Chris,

I should get my mid 80's Nakamichi stereo fixed and put back in my 84 turbo? :) I'm not putting an 8 track in my 78 930 with Freddy Fender in the deck. I have to draw the line there.

Lol! If you're wearing a corduroy leisure suit when driving, then "yes" on the 8-track!

An EFI conversion is completely reversible, so I don't think it affects the value. If you keep all the CIS parts properly stored, you may even find yourself ahead of the game.

If I was going to sell my car, I would definitely put all the original parts back on. A box of CIS parts is just that. Put on the car turns them into a well running, original CIS equipped 930.

Some people say that storing these parts damages them. Not true in my experience, especially with the aluminum fuel head. Also, the distributor pot and the fuel accumulator will generally only go 80K miles or so before they are shot, and neither of those items are available new anymore with the correct finish and/or part number. So, I think EFI is actually a smart move. It preserves the original stuff in working order.

The other thing to watch out for is altering unique turbo parts. The 930 heads are unique. They are from a different aluminum, they have more fins, and they are better quality castings. Porting them ruins them as collector parts. When a collector buys your car, they WANT the original driving experience. In America, Road and Track magazine called the 1978 930 the most terrifying street car ever. A collector wants that turbo lag, sudden oversteer, say your prayers behavior, exactly like it was in 1979.

How about special ratio gears, 8:41 ring and pinion and adding an LSD. What does that do to value? ;)

I am getting ready to make the EFI leap, I have been on the fence for over a year now. The deciding factor is a realistic evaluation of my Cars condition, it is not in collectible condition. I am not looking to sell it, and it is too unreliable as is. The cost to restore all of the stock components would cost more than the conversion to EFI.
I want this car to be the fun starship that I know it can become JMHO

Mike

I would love to have Chris do the conversion, But due to shortness of funds this will require DIY and the excellent advise given by others on this Forum.
I will just manage to do A clewett Single plug Kit and get a K27 from our host. This is gonna take awhile.

Mike

I don't think you should do an efi conversion thinking you'd get your investment back.

I do however believe, if you keep your stock CIS, the value will not be affected in case of a resale.

A thorough PPI will reveal the condition of the engine. Efi or not.

Personally I don't think you have to argue whether it is period correct or not. If I were to do an efi conversion in the future, it would be for driveability, not performance or resale value.

Infact, I am Currently slowly preparing a MS efi for my Carrera 3.0 the simplicity and refinement of efi compared to all the CIS components is undeniable.