I've been looking at various 911's and trying to hone my selection parameters.

One thing I've noticed immediately is that my consumption of Pinot Griggio has shot upwards.


While visiting the Pelican board, I ran across two distinctly different attitudes towards the marque that I want to share with you. One camp prefers the bling-bling touch while the other is more "race" oriented.


Below are two really good examples. Helpful observations appreciated.

race

Hey you! That lower one has the bling bling going on for a red neck! At least the bottom one has Fuches as for the top one, it has more of the bruthahood appeal. Get the cheapest one and take a to it for me. THNX!

Looks like someone left a mirror base in the front lawn while Photo-shopping

Yard sale?

I'd say the yellow one is more 'you'

Donor parts for a six conversion for your 914.

LOL!

In reality, these images were created during an ongoing thread on the 911 bird board.


But I am actually shopping for and buying an assdragger. I'm just still in denial over it.


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Things you should look for... 1978-1988 911 SC/Carerra

Good low mileage engine, at least 3-liter, with a good 915 trans.
Suspension in good shape.

That'll make an excellent parts donor

You agree with Brando's recommendations or just the part about it making an excellent parts donor?



More than likely SPARKY will be going up on the auction block.

There, I've said it. I feel better.




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LOL, that's right. Take everything you can off a 911 (or donor car as many on this board call them) and bolt it onto a 914 until the car is more 911 than 914.
Then refuse to admit it isn't really a 914 anymore, all the while bashing the 911 which drastically improved your car by replacing much of what made it a 914.
I get it, not.

Sammy, dunno where you got the thoughts on claiming it isn't a 914 anymore or bashing the 911. 911s do make great parts donors -- the two cars have so much in common.

You also forget, real 914s (VIN 914xxx...) have a lot more in common with their older brother the 911 than our 4 cylinder 914s (VIN 47xxx...) do.

It means they all really want 911s. :-) Who wouldn't? I'd like to have one of every Porsche except maybe a 924.






Pretty broad question. My answer - look for a good one and get a PPI.

Just buy a 911 badge and put it on the back of your 914......you will have a better handling car without having to swill all that wine and blocking your intestines with all that cheese........

Actually I'm narrowing it down to low mileage, documented, 84 to 88 carreras.

Preferably stock with no goofy colors.

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Good choice. I like early cars (Cap'n knows what I mean by that) but if'n I didn't it would be a G50 equipped Carrera. I'd bet you can find a low mileage example for around $23-5k that would only need someone behind the wallet and the wheel.

I love the early ones too.

I had a 69E with S brakes & S cam, 2.2 PC's and nonessentials removed for weight reduction. Campaigned it in AX for a decade and that car had it's fair share of FTD's in it's glory days.

The G50 tranny is sweet.


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Drive a 964, 1989-1991, that 3.6 will put a big grin on your face. But you do need to find one that has been proeprly rebuilt and has all of the inherant problems resolved. Oil leaks,clutch, etc.
I found mine cheap and it had all of the goodies and then some. Great car, i will be very sad to see it go.
CCLINCAMP964

Now that I'm officially a pinky lifter, geting an early 996 in the $20's or a Boxster in the teens ain't a bad move either. It takes a mighty well prepared 914/6 or earlier 911 to beat them, and the ABS, good A/C, airbags, point and shoot handling make them better daily drivers.

INCOMING!

[/quote]



Actually I'm narrowing it down to low mileage, documented, 84 to 88 carreras.

Preferably stock with no goofy colors.

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Can't go wrong there but I'd narrow it even further, go for the '87 to '89 G50 cars; the difference is very noticeable.

I'll put in a plug for SCs. They are the bargain of the bunch. You can find a really nice one for $12-15K which ends up being a full $10K less than the G50 Carrera.

One could do a lot of upgrades for $10K.

Regarding low mileage cars. They all seem to need bushings, shocks, and lots of little stuff. There are two ways of thinking. One is to get the low mileage car and do all the little stuff. The other is to get the 130K mile car that has the rebuilt upper end, transmission, new shocks, and all the little things done.

It's all about $ vs what you want in the car. I had this discussion about 3 years ago after owning a 78 SC for 10 years or so.

My 78 was a very nice car but I could never get it to run properly due to a mid-range hesitation in the 2400 - 2600 rpm range. I spent a lot of money chasing that problem. It seemed to be related to the CIS injection but it was never solved even after changing the rubber boots in the intake manifold, replacing the injectors, plugs, plug wires and repeatedly tuning the engine.

Following the advice of Bruce Anderson in Excellence, I bought a low mileage 89 Carrera, i.e., the last of the series before the 964's were introduced later that year. The 87 - 89 Carreras have advantages over the earlier cars with larger brakes, hydraulic clutch system, and the G50 transmission. From ~84 on the engines had Motronic injection which improves the driveability of the very significantly. No more hesitation and much better fuel economy.

So, in my experience, Tom has it right. 87 - 89 Carrera I cars are the best of the series. For the $10k difference Tony mentions it would be tough to add the improvements built into the later models. Nonetheless, they are all good cars and are very strong with high mileage potential.

Valve guide wear can be a problem in the 3.2's so look for that in a high mileage car.

In late 89 - 91 964's you get ABS, air bags and the 3.6 litre engine. The early 3.6's had some problems so you've got to be sure that they were addressed properly.

If you can afford a 993, that is a very nice car. The 3.6 engine was sorted out at that point plus it has ABS and air bags, presuming you want those features.

I like long hoods, but I may be somewhat biased in that regard. Lighter than the SC's and 964's, much cleaner lines (IMO), and if you find one with the right engine, faster than a cat who's just been spotted by my dog.

IMO the only downsides to the early cars are:
1. Rust. But any 914 guy should be able to handle a little rust, right?
2. Transmission - good ole 901/915 shifters work kinda like tossing a hot dog down a hallway.