85 911 Cab... no clue what to ask

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Rick Brooklyn

I'm surprised it hasn't flown off the shelves at $35k honestly. It sounds like a very solid deal.

It's advertised at 38K. I thought of bringing the advertised price down to 35K and just advertising as "firm" but everyone likes to haggle. Personally I hate haggling as it seems like a waste of time. I'd rather know the number than waste time trying to get to it.

In my business it always gets under my skin when a dealer has a machine I want. I ask what their bottom line is on it. They tell me. I say "well, we're too far apart so that one won't work" and they come back with "well what's your offer?". What does it matter what my offer is if X is truly your bottom dollar???

[911heaven]

Originally Posted by cabmando

Personally I hate haggling as it seems like a waste of time. I'd rather know the number than waste time trying to get to it.

What does it matter what my offer is if X is truly your bottom dollar???

If you're speaking with a hooker, it's the difference between getting laid or not. :

[Ralph3.]

Ask $39,500, come down to $38,000 and everyone is happy? Just like selling real estate.

[NYNick]

Sometimes our egos get in the way of making a deal. A few grand here or there won't matter after the car is gone.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by NYNick

Sometimes our egos get in the way of making a deal. A few grand here or there won't matter after the car is gone.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

For me it's not ego. It boils down to me wanting to sell rather than needing to sell. Completely different motivation and why I'm holding out for my number. If I needed the money the car would have been gone already.

[David Borden]

I'm surprised it hasn't flown off the shelves at $35k honestly. It sounds like a very solid deal.

Rick, despite it being a well maintained car that looks beautiful in pictures, it still has issues that many will focus on. I think most on this forum can read the OP post and determine the car has been owned by an enthusiast that has done right by the car and that its solid. The typical buyer, will focus on TMU, and an engine swap without history and a complete re-paint.

This is the reason I suggested a leakdown test. It will go a long way in overcoming those questions related to the running gear. BAT, it is probably the best place to market the car given it is done right, has a leak down test with lots of photos and some good videos. Otherwise its a waiting game for the buyer just looking for a driver and does not have issues with the above. They are clearly out there but the minority with Porsche buyers.

[Rick Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by David Borden

Rick, despite it being a well maintained car that looks beautiful in pictures, it still has issues that many will focus on..

I don't disagree, but in my view that's reflected in the price. Numbers matching, original paint, with documented (high) miles would probably be changing hands in the high forties. Finding a g-body 911 that moves under its own power for $35k is pretty hard these days.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by David Borden

Rick, despite it being a well maintained car that looks beautiful in pictures, it still has issues that many will focus on. I think most on this forum can read the OP post and determine the car has been owned by an enthusiast that has done right by the car and that its solid. The typical buyer, will focus on TMU, and an engine swap without history and a complete re-paint.

This is the reason I suggested a leakdown test. It will go a long way in overcoming those questions related to the running gear. BAT, it is probably the best place to market the car given it is done right, has a leak down test with lots of photos and some good videos. Otherwise its a waiting game for the buyer just looking for a driver and does not have issues with the above. They are clearly out there but the minority with Porsche buyers.

I don't know that "done right" BAT is the answer. I've watched the comments that go along with the auction and I don't believe the knowledge base there is what would be necessary for my car to do well. How smart can the buyers be when no one mentions head studs in their listing and no one even asks about them? I think the issue that is greater than the engine unknown and the paint is the fact the title is "branded" not actual mileage. At that point the engine swap really becomes irrelevant.

I'm gonna play the waiting game and find that person who will come drive the car and understand what they're sitting in. Plus we're coming into fall. My seat time is about to increase and my motivation to sell will decrease. I'm going to do some "fall foliage" drives. Nothing better than the smell of fall in the air with the top down cruising along.

I still plan to do a leak down test. I'm kicking myself for not doing one when I had the engine out for the trans swap. It just doesn't get any easier for access.

[911heaven]

Originally Posted by cabmando

I'm gonna play the waiting game and find that person who will come drive the car and understand what they're sitting in. Plus we're coming into fall. My seat time is about to increase and my motivation to sell will decrease. I'm going to do some "fall foliage" drives. Nothing better than the smell of fall in the air with the top down cruising along.

Nick, that is why you are the cabmando, like me too, a cab commando! You can't sell that cab! You still are in love with it.

[cabmandone]

I enjoy driving the car when the weather is right. But am I in love with the car? Nah. It's a car. What I really enjoyed was my son and I working on the car. I still remember the look on his face the day he got home from school (he was 11 at the time) and I asked him to come out to the shop and help me "troubleshoot". We had been out the night before trying to get the engine started. It was cranking but wouldn't fire. I figured out, while he was at school, that the speed and reference sensor wires had been put in the wrong plugs. I swapped them, hit the key and it fired. So I waited for him to get home, didn't say anything about it starting, put the car in neutral and told him to crank it. When it fired he had a smile from ear to ear. I enjoyed the journey of saving a 911 Cab that would have otherwise been parted out and no longer on the road. I loved going to car shows with my son. But he's 19 and in college and I don't enjoy going to car shows by myself, it's just not the same. Love the car? Nah... Loved the journey... Hell yeah.

[matt930s]

Maybe keep it for him? Man, I would love to have my dad’s old 78 Nova (350/bench seat) we blasted down the autobahn with when we were stationed in Durch-land….

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by matt930s

Maybe keep it for him? Man, I would love to have my dad’s old 78 Nova (350/bench seat) we blasted down the autobahn with when we were stationed in Durch-land….

I thought about that but then it becomes a matter of being "fair" to my two daughters. I give him a 30K sports car...I gotta make it fair for them.

[911heaven]

Originally Posted by cabmando

I enjoy driving the car when the weather is right. But am I in love with the car? Nah. It's a car. What I really enjoyed was my son and I working on the car. I still remember the look on his face the day he got home from school (he was 11 at the time) and I asked him to come out to the shop and help me "troubleshoot". We had been out the night before trying to get the engine started. It was cranking but wouldn't fire. I figured out, while he was at school, that the speed and reference sensor wires had been put in the wrong plugs. I swapped them, hit the key and it fired. So I waited for him to get home, didn't say anything about it starting, put the car in neutral and told him to crank it. When it fired he had a smile from ear to ear. I enjoyed the journey of saving a 911 Cab that would have otherwise been parted out and no longer on the road. I loved going to car shows with my son. But he's 19 and in college and I don't enjoy going to car shows by myself, it's just not the same. Love the car? Nah... Loved the journey... Hell yeah.

That's a great story and a life story Nick! A journey and a son to travel with, and a 911 no less. I kinda wish I'd had a son too but I got started later due to my world traveling and so on. I have a daughter which is fine by me and we've had a journey as well, especially up here in the mountains on weekends and holidays. She's 16 now and in another year and a half will be in college.

According to my Canadian born father -- he say ... A son is a son until he meets his wife, but a daughter is a daughter all of her life. Either way it's a journey. Glad to hear you're not in love with a car. Cars are just tin bread boxes on wheels!

Say Matt, was that Nova ride on a bench seat in Garmisch Partenkirchen? I think you were there as a youngster, born of a Green Beret? How's my memory... gone bad?

[Rick Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by cabmando

I thought about that but then it becomes a matter of being "fair" to my two daughters. I give him a 30K sports car...I gotta make it fair for them.

Buy two more cars, so there's one for each. You're welcome.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Rick Brooklyn

Buy two more cars, so there's one for each. You're welcome.

Why the hell didn't I think of that!?

[cabmandone]

Well... it's off the market for now. I was driving it the other day and somehow managed to do a 1/2/1 shift at 60 mph. Engine is going to come out and get taken down to inspect and see what needs replaced.

I have no idea how I hit first coming out of second. I have the seine gate shift kit that centers in the 3/4 shift plane. I pushed it out of 2nd with my palm and grabbed the shifter to go into 3rd. I didn't put any pressure to the left but somehow I still ended up in first. F..k! I'm ready for 2021 to be over with.

[Rick Brooklyn]

That sucks. I hope it's not catastrophic.

[Matt Monson]

Bummer. Hopefully it’s just a bad rocker or similar.

[matt930s]

So sorry cabman…hope it’s not too serious, on the other hand , maybe it’s a sign!

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Rick Brooklyn

That sucks. I hope it's not catastrophic.

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

Bummer. Hopefully it’s just a bad rocker or similar.

Originally Posted by matt930s

So sorry cabman…hope it’s not too serious, on the other hand , maybe it’s a sign!

Thanks folks! I did a little checking on things today and found #4 cylinder isn't firing. I put a borescope down the #4 cylinder and it looks like a valve made contact with the piston. No hole in the piston or anything like that but there's a clean spot that looks to be in the shape of a valve. I'm planning to pull the valve covers to see if there's anything visibly wrong there. I'm going to verify spark and fuel as well. There's no odd noise in the engine so that's a plus! I'm trying to limit running the engine so as not to do more damage. But if I can verify the valves are moving freely I figure I can go forward from there with more testing without worry of doing more harm. Might pull the cam covers and verify cam timing as well. I'm don't know if it could have jumped a tooth or something odd like that. It's running lean at cold start idle. I'm running in the 15 to 16 range cold when it would normally be high 13's on cold start.

And it might be a sign I should have cut it loose at 30K when I had the chance.
Oh well. I've had the engine apart once so what's one more time if it needs it?