New purchase resto - which way to go
 

Hello all,
Just looking for opinions on my newest project. Purchased a 67 911S that is currently in concours racing form. the previous owners have raced this car for 30 years without a crash or major hiccup. It has been completely disassembled and re-painted in Signal Yellow, the original color was Bahama Yellow.

The car is registered for vintage racing and has participated in those races. The car has sat for about 2 years due to a death in the family. So after a bit they (the family) decided to sell this car. The still have a few others in the collection - including an original RS and a 74 RSR that are perfect condition and recently had a nut and bolt restoration.

Longer story a bit shorter:
-All of the original interior, parts, wheels and number matching motor was included with the sale. The interior and all the other parts have been in carefully packed boxes in a controlled environment for the last 30 plus years. The interior upholstery pieces are near perfect.
-The car currently has a nicely sorted 2.7 motor, full race cage, fuel cell, fire suppressant system, full netting, plexi-glass side and rear window, extra fuchs wheels and tires, etc.

Okay - which way do I restore this:
A) Street hot rod - leave the cage in it but put back as much of the interior as possible and leave the 2.7 motor with the car
B) Same street rod but with the original motor. FYI - the original motors has been modified and has 13-1 compression. So pump fuel will not work, unless the are very good additives that you could use
C) Do a complete restoration and take it back to 100% stock. Re-modify the original motor to run on pump gas. Re-paint to the original Bahama Yellow color - which is one of my favorites on the early cars.

Looking for thoughts and suggestions that I may not have considered

Thanks,
Mark

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I am really curious about why you purchased this marvelous car just so that you could change it somehow. Why? You have something that looks near to perfection as is - so you want to kill that off?

I could understand if the car were in questionable shape, or if you really, really wanted an extremely original car, etc., but you have no fixed idea. OK, it's your car, do what you want, but I just don't get ruining something beautiful simply so that you can have a 'project'.

There are plenty of basket cases out there needing some love that would be real projects. You should have bought something else.

Sorry for the criticism, just sayin'.

I like the car as-is if that is what you like which I assume you do or else you would not have purchased it. Right?

But option A has benefits too if you want some street use.

BTW, what's in the cooler?

Out of your options I'd go with A.

I'm a sucker for race cars though and that one looks to be done right. If it were mine I'd make it street legal and maybe put some sound deafening in it so I could enjoy some weekend drives without earplugs. I'd suggest option D:

D) make it street legal (headlights, blinkers, etc) and comfortable for weekend cruising but otherwise leave it as is.

I'm not a huge fan of the blue with yellow but it's still a beauty!

I know that car. I've seen it race a number of times.


A couple years ago I nearly bought a pretty much identical car. If I had, I would have cut out the front half of the cage and street driven it just as it was. But mine didn't have any of the interior. With your car, I would probably put back in most of the interior, especially the seats.

It already has a lineage and a heritage .
Why go against the tide?

is this to keep or sell?

Option D as outlined above, or sell it and go buy something that actually needs working on.

Restore the 67S to bone-stock original; take all of the go-fast parts and put them in another tub and make a hot rod. Leave the cage out, so you can drive the hot rod on the street.

JR

Sounds like you bought the wrong car if you're referring to that as a "project" car. Sell it, let someone enjoy it as is and the world would be a happier place.

My late friend Jerry Schouten once gave me a fun ride in that little devil. It's one of the best early 911 vintage racers in the world, and it would be a shame to see all of his careful work tossed into boxes in your storage area. So I vote to leave it as is and drive the snot out of it, just as he and his son did. If you don't intend to race it, sell it to someone who will.

Frank

This car seems done. Seems a waste to redo it. Reminds me of people who bulldoze a McMansion to build a new McMansion. Leave it! Looks like a very cool effort already.

It would be a crying shame if you were to modify that car in any way. Too much heritage and history in that one especially for those out there looking for a vintage racer. Yes it is a 1967 S and we all know what clean examples of those are going for now days.

Assuming everything you have in boxes is numbers matching, then I'd say option "C". Otherwise put the headlights back in and drive it.

I'd soften up the suspension a bit and maybe change the seats to something a little more comfortable for cruising/carving, but that is about it.

Someone asked about the purpose of the cooler. I believe it was for dry ice for a cool suit possibly. If that baby was mine I would just make it street legal and enjoy it that way and if you find that you did't like it that way then sell it to someone who will appriciate it the way it sits and buy something else.

That car is beautiful as is. I would not touch it.

Time to start vintage racing in my opinion!

Leave it as it... that's a beautiful car. Congratulations!!!

Bump for emphasis.

Headlights, doorcards that would allow side windows (RSR leather strap mechanism), remove front cage (save it), remove cool suit/ stuff in passenger foot well.
Stop work.
Drive it......if this car has been a race car for decades it has history worth saving and enjoying as close to 'as is' as possible.
All of this can be done and then returned to full race without issue.
Beautiful car.

I might tinker with some very minor stuff like the cooler and switch out the headlight covers - just so I could put some minor tweeks of my own on it - but let's face it - this is a seriously cool car as is. I suggest you preserve it, take her out and lubricate her as often as you can, knowing this baby just gets better with time. This is a keeper. Awesome car.

My buddy had an old Datsun 510 race car and he ran an air hose thru a cooler and out to the driver. Really ghetto air conditioning.

I don't think this is the case here.

What a beautiful car with racing history. I would leave it as is.

Geez. FAST Racer Series Cool Suit System

You are joking - right?

There is an easy answer to the OP's question. Ignore the prior opinions. This is a black or white answer.

If your goal is to simply make money on a sale with no love for these/this car, return it to stock original, and sell the race parts separate from the car. Max profits, although a proper restoration to stock will not be without cost (unless you can do a quality DIY), even with current early S prices, so do the math.

If your goal is to keep it like it is, and enjoy the car for what it is, with disregard to looking at these cars as a business... do what it takes to make it comfortable "enough" for your street use needs, and enjoy it. Maybe a half cage, some carpets with some sound deadening, a muffler, softer suspension, and maybe a tune that runs something other than race gas.

Very cool car.

At the risk of offending just about everybody else in this thread, I'm going to repeat myself. Worse yet, I'm going to elaborate on my points.

It's likely the OP is not a vintage racer. So, I'd wager he's not pondering a career in vintage racing with this car. If he wanted to do a few track events each year, on a more casual basis, he has a GT3 RS that is eminently suited to that usage.

Without intending to disrespect the guy that built and raced this car, its racing pedigree is meaningless. Vintage racing, club racing... neither adds anything of value to the car's history. That value comes from significant competition in historically important races, or use by a historically important driver. This car would appear to have neither.

Its not a period correct race car. Its been modified with all manner of things that look out of place on a 67S. If it were built as it would have been built by the factory in 1967, using only components and ideas they used in that era, there would be a stronger case for keeping it the way it is. But it is not. Far from it.

So, it makes more sense to take some of the "race car" out of it and add some of the "street car" back into it. How far do you go? You start with making it legal, losing the cage, the fuel cell, the driver cooling crap, etc. Might as well paint it the original color, since you will be doing some paint work and the OP likes the original color better, anyway. If none of the stock parts had been kept, a hot rod might be the best choice as a goal. But, he has all the stock parts and they are in good condition. Forgetting the value, almost every hot rod I've sat my butt in has been a disappointment to drive, compared to a stock, perfect, original 911. They lose the refinement built into a stock 911 and often the "gains" are more in the owner's head than real.

A '67S is an interesting car to drive. It's an interesting car to look at. People forget how different the early 911s were to even the '70's long hoods. The first 2 or 3 years production, even the base 911s, are nothing like the cars that came afterwards.

If the OP wanted another hot rod (don't forget, he has a modified 930, too) he could buy some other tub and use all the leftover go fast crap to build whatever floated his boat. There's a 912 tub for sale in the classifieds for under 5 grand and he'd be doing the world a favor by undoing the carnage that was afflicted by someone else on that car, when they started making a hot rod out of it.

+1

D) Sell the car as is and buy a street/project car...

Remove that big block of lead ballast from the passenger floor, corner balance it, put some headlights in it, unstrap the cooler, peel off the decals, and drive the crap out of it.

thanks everyone - all opinions are appreciated

my first thought is - street hot rod. Yeah, keep it as a racer is also a possibility, however the cost of doing steady racing campaigns is prohibitive. Too much money needed for tires, transport, race fuel, entry fees, etc. Don't have that kind of disposable income at this time

Still mulling this over

Sell it. Buy something that needs work.

Now reconfigured somewhat and on BAT. interesting to see what the current BAT peanut gallery and bidders think of it now.

^^^This. I would only do whatever is required to make it eligible for vintage racing and I would enjoy it just like it is.

Really, don't touch the car. You bought a car in perfect condition for what it is, if you wanted a project you should have bought a beater or at least a stockish slightly out of shape sc.

This car has been meticulously maintained and upgraded, with a very clear idea for what it is supposed to be. You will start pulling stuff out and realize your vision won't really come to fruition without a ton of work then you'll be in over your head or you'll just want to revert it back to what it currently is.

So I agree with just about everyone, sell it and get something else. Or at least please just enjoy it as is for at least a couple years so you can gain an appreciation for all the work the PO put into it.