Restore or am I dreaming?

[jamesrg]

Or having a bad nightmare? I am starting to fantasize about restoring a car. I have never done any type of project like this before. I spend countless hours reading Pelican and other sites and in theory I think I have an idea of what I am getting into.

I currently have an 87 which I thought would be a nice car to keep me busy, but I got lucky and got a good one which doesn't require much of any and is in good condition. (So much so that I do not want to chop it up or learn on it).

SO..I have been thinking about getting either a 912 (hopefully not too much rust) or a 74-85 car that needs some love. 912 for the body style and drop a 3.2 in it, 74-85 for the engine and backdate.

Based on my reading, this will be a labor of love and I will lose money on this. Figure 20K donor car, 15K paint and backdate or IROC, I will pull everything from the car, try to do as much as the interior as possible, maybe even drop and rebuild the engine my self, 5K suspension, 2K brakes, 8K MISC.

Questions:
1. I don't have space to do this at my house (87 and 2013 taking up space, although I could sell the 2013 cause I really don't drive it much anymore, love the 87). Any idea besides a storage unit?
2. Should I start with a cheaper car to do and learn some skills first(maybe an old VW bug?)
3. To do this in phases, perhaps I could just buy an engine and rebuild in the garage due to space, then find my roller

I figure this will be a 2-3yr project but will keep me busy or am I just crazy and should buy a car that is mostly complete and call it a day and go find another hobby, LOL.

[911tracker85]

good luck.

I succumbed to the Porsche wrenching disease years ago. I have enjoyed wrenching on these cars as much as owning/driving and the occasion DE track day.

I picked up a project several years ago. still in the process of stripping down totally. repaint / rebuild everything. but with 4 other P cars to keep me busy expect it will be another year or two before the 78 930 conversion is done.

I have been renting a double bay at a shop near by for several years.

about to retire end of June so I'll have more time.... but finding the money will then become more of a challenge. guess I'll need to sell a couple things. probably the 928 and the motorcycle to start.

and realizing the number of years left for me to do this stuff is dwindling. someday that rocker on the porch will look better than the creeper.

what is important is to have fun. after a tough day at work I go to the shop and start wrenching to relieve the stress. work is usually forgotten within 15 min under the car.

[Drisump]

Going in....just realize that it takes more time and money than you realize and probably 90% of these projects get finished by a different person than started it. Takes more drive than most people realize. Cheers and good luck.

[jamesrg]

All good points and thanks for the replies. Getting a bay at a shop might be feasible I will have to ask around.

That is what I am worried about, in about 12months posting a for sale ad for a bunch of parts and a roller.

Picking up a project that someone else started might be a good idea, just assuming that what I get into is a mess and hope for the best.

I figure I don't really care about the money part, it will be cheaper than buying a new car and watching the deprecation go down and not getting anything for all that money that vanishes, so that I am ok with. The time thing, as long as I am making progress I would think I would be ok with it taking a few years.

Just looking for something to do in the garage for a stress reliever, and learn something new.

[Flojo]

Originally Posted by jamesrg

1. I don't have space to do this at my house.

apart from a car to work on, space is what you'll nee most of the time.

don't waste time on an other car, DIY and learn on the real deal at heart: the 911

good luck diving into this

[RichardNew]

Project cars get passed from one owner to the next and never get done.

I would do component restoration. Do the engine compartment one year. Then drive it. Do the suspension he 3rd year and drive it.

It's really easy to take a 911 apart. Putting it back together is the difficult part. After a few years the entire family is tired of your car.

Richard Newton
Lots of Useless Suggestions

[T77911S]

take a look at the E30 BMW. still pretty cheap but going up in value.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

If you really enjoy oil/air cooled motors???

get the best one ever made; a Metzger 3.6 liter

[Cory M]

Originally Posted by RichardNew

I would do component restoration. Do the engine compartment one year. Then drive it. Do the suspension he 3rd year and drive it.

It's really easy to take a 911 apart. Putting it back together is the difficult part. After a few years the entire family is tired of your car.

I agree. Pick out reasonable projects you can do on your 87. Refresh suspension, restore interior, clean up underbody, brakes, engine, etc. Do this before you go out and buy a project. Get your feet wet first and see if you like it.

[Quickstep192]

It took me 40 years to figure this out for my house restoration hobby...

Do the things you enjoy doing yourself - farm out the things you don't like doing.

This works as long as you can afford the farming out part. It's OK not having it be a good investment as long as you enjoyed it.

[jamesrg]

It will be more of the experience than anything, I just love the idea and challenge of doing the work. I am at a point in my life where my real job is pretty boring. I work from the house and my schedule allows me to work on my schedule (outside sales).

I know I would farm out all body work, paint, coating, etc. and if I get stuck some of the engine work. The rest I think I could figure out with enough time and the desire to learn.

Getting the wife onboard is going to be a challenge as I know it will taking away time from the family plus the constant "What did you buy now"..thing.

I could start on some projects on the 87..
suspension is dialed in, turbo ties rods, bushing good, etc.
clean up body - just need to drop it off to get steam cleaned underneath
brakes - I will be doing rotors and brake rebuild in a couple of months
engine - SSI's, 3.4, chip, etc. all done.
I was bored last week so I put in a oil cooler fan switch.

Thanks for all the considerations thus far, I guess the longest journey starts with a single step just need to figure out where to go from here.

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

I think this could be a really fun project and you will learn a lot during the process. I also think it would be good to tackle some projects with your current '87, as mentioned above to see if you will be able to tackle a full restoration. Otherwise, whatever you decide to do should be really fun. And I do hope that our catalog/articles (below) will come in handy for your project. I am here if you have any parts questions and I do hope you will share a thread with us once you decide what you want to do.

Porsche 911 (1965-1989) Technical Articles - Pelican Parts

[jamesrg]

Originally Posted by Luccia at Pelican Parts

I think this could be a really fun project and you will learn a lot during the process. I also think it would be good to tackle some projects with your current '87, as mentioned above to see if you will be able to tackle a full restoration. Otherwise, whatever you decide to do should be really fun. And I do hope that our catalog/articles (below) will come in handy for your project. I am here if you have any parts questions and I do hope you will share a thread with us once you decide what you want to do.

Porsche 911 (1965-1989) Technical Articles - Pelican Parts

Thanks! Got Wayne's book and spend more time and money on pelican than I would like to admit

[sugarwood]

Sounds like you want a project, so you just need to decide how much of a project.
Frame off basket case? Or something that takes a few months?

Maybe you can get a driver caliber car, fix it up, and flip it.
The problem is the 911 game is so expensive.
Why not do it with a BMW or something?

[Nick Triesch]

Buy a 1967 Bug and then restore. Last year of the old style bugs with 12 volt!!! Old style metal dash! A lot less cash unless you are rich. Then never mind.

[Ayles]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Sounds like you want a project, so you just need to decide how much of a project.
Frame off basket case? Or something that takes a few months?

Maybe you can get a driver caliber car, fix it up, and flip it.
The problem is the 911 game is so expensive.
Why not do it with a BMW or something?

The expense part is not joke and doesn't seem like part prices are going down anytime soon. Good example is the Carrera oil cooler I installed over the winter. Bought the horn relocation bracket for $99 back in Oct that same part now goes for $150. Costs can escalate quite a bit right in the middle of a project.

[Cory M]

I have a solution: I'll trade you my worn out *****box 911 for your pristine 87 3.4 Carrera straight up. It will provide you with an opportunity to learn about all mechanical aspects of a 911 as well as paint and body work.

[jamesrg]

Originally Posted by Cory M

I have a solution: I'll trade you my worn out *****box 911 for your pristine 87 3.4 Carrera straight up. It will provide you with an opportunity to learn about all mechanical aspects of a 911 as well as paint and body work.

BAHAHAHA, that made me laugh Cory. Thanks.

[jamesrg]

Originally Posted by Nick Triesch

Buy a 1967 Bug and then restore. Last year of the old style bugs with 12 volt!!! Old style metal dash! A lot less cash unless you are rich. Then never mind.

While I don't really have a thing for bugs, and don't kill me, but they are the closest thing I could do to prepare for a 911/912. Lots of similarities.

On the other hand, by the time I finish I might not be able to afford to do a 911 if this market keeps going up.

I am secretly hoping the "bubble" burst and prices return to what they were a few years ago .

They can go up again in lets say 10yrs from now.

Having a hard time putting more money into my 87. I figure if I were to do the front and rear bumpers, that is 1K parts, 1K paint, and 1K install and fit. Then since I am removing the rockers, might as well do a glass out respray, that is 10K, then brighten the trim while I am at it, then the outside looks great, new interior that is 3-4K plus seats..so I am at 18ish. Might as well find a decent donor car for 20Kish then throw another 20-30K at it and have 2 and be able to drive the 87

And all these builds threads aren't helping....

[Cook&Dunning]

How about buying a piece of a resto and seeing if you like it? Example - if you think your resto will include an engine or gearbox resto, buy that part, see how it goes. Or buy some body parts and try your skills at welding / painting. I am only saying this because I bought a rusty POS 1972 with grand plans - and absolutely hated the process. Every frickin' bolt and piece you pull off becomes a project in itself. Way over my head. Don't get me wrong, there is amazing talent here on Pelican - but they only post a few of the pics of what they put in to a project and looking at the pictures it seems like a piece of cake along the way. Hats off to those that do, because they put in a ton of work that we don't see. - make sure you enjoy the process, save yourself a pile of $!