1980SC coupe new project

[BrewsterBear]

I've recently carried out a full refurb of my '82 SC. I originally budgeted £20k. I don't dare tot up the receipts just yet, but I know it's over £40k so far and I did a lot of the work myself. These cars will swallow money and doing one on the cheap will not give you a good result.

Best of luck OP. It's not for the faint of heart or wallet.

[rubystone]

I find it hard to believe that a simple air cooled 911 engine and 'box can really consume £15k in rebuild costs. I had several rebuilt in the '80s and '90s for max £3k and that included pistons and barrels too. I'd have thought that parts might well have been more expensive than then now because of production costs and demand? What costs the money?

But I can well believe that to sort a rusty 911 is going to set one back at least £20k. It's not just panels, but clips, trim etc that soon add up and decent paintwork doesn't come cheap either.

[mollytherocker]

rubystone said:

I find it hard to believe that a simple air cooled 911 engine and 'box can really consume £15k in rebuild costs. I had several rebuilt in the '80s and '90s for max £3k and that included pistons and barrels too. I'd have thought that parts might well have been more expensive than then now because of production costs and demand? What costs the money?

But I can well believe that to sort a rusty 911 is going to set one back at least £20k. It's not just panels, but clips, trim etc that soon add up and decent paintwork doesn't come cheap either.

Have you heard of inflation? What wages were you earning in 1980!

[BertBert]

From what I know of rebuild costs these days, I think you may well struggle to get a full rebuild of both done for £15k, let alone thinking it's too much.

I had an engine build of a 70's engine 6 or 7 years ago and that cost 12k then (without VAT).

rubystone said:

I find it hard to believe that a simple air cooled 911 engine and 'box can really consume £15k in rebuild costs. I had several rebuilt in the '80s and '90s for max £3k and that included pistons and barrels too. I'd have thought that parts might well have been more expensive than then now because of production costs and demand? What costs the money?

But I can well believe that to sort a rusty 911 is going to set one back at least £20k. It's not just panels, but clips, trim etc that soon add up and decent paintwork doesn't come cheap either.

[Alan461]

The horror, the horror!!

Decided to take a look behind the pop riveted n/s slam panel. Previous owner had begun a repair without investigating the soundness of the structure beneath, five pop rivets drilled and the full extent of the corrosion was revealed.
Should keep me busy for a while

The set screws fixing the door latch look like 12 point torx type things maybe M8, can anyone direct me towards a replacement for these? No rush, door won't be shut in a long time.

More tails of woe to follow, got some quality beer in the fridge, going to work on that for a while..

[mikees]

Oh my titty fking Christ Alan. Are you sure about this? This isn't a project it's a resurrection ! :-)

Surely you could buy one that's nearly done for. What this will cost?

Mike

[mollytherocker]

I say to hell with the cost. Go for it!

[SRT Hellcat]

mollytherocker said:

I say to hell with the cost. Go for it!

easy to say when it isn't your money

[mollytherocker]

SRT Hellcat said:

mollytherocker said:

I say to hell with the cost. Go for it!

easy to say when it isn't your money

Certainly is yes! Mind you, I still have the cost of the popcorn to munch whilst watching....

[IMI A]

olly22n said:

On the plus side it's usually easier to replace larger bits than small fiddly bits.

Yeah?

Yes just replace the whole car. Its beyond economical or even semi economical resto at the mo.

[SRT Hellcat]

IMI A said:

Yes just replace the whole car. Its beyond economical or even semi economical resto at the mo.

I do agree. If it was something special and worth money, pre 73 then go for it. 1980 SC break it for parts.

[Wozy68]

mikees said:

Jesus wept that's bad. Mine is in near prefect condition but luckily I didn't spend the 20k needed to fix and it was better to start. If you have the skills and the money then go for it.




Ps no whale all the way

In all honesty how do you know yours is in near perfect condition? Always garaged from new, never driven in rain and/or low low mileage , complete rebuild and respray?

I've seen perfect looking SCs,/3.2s that looked immaculate yet were rotten as a pear when you dug deeper. A lot of 3.2s I've viewed were absolutely shagged and at the time less than 15 years old, so doesn't bode well for the earlier cars, however shiney the paint.

Lovely looking car by he way

[BrewsterBear]

SRT Hellcat said:

I do agree. If it was something special and worth money, pre 73 then go for it. 1980 SC break it for parts.

As much as I don't want to, I have to agree with this. If I could go back in time I'd break my SC and put the £40k I spent refurbing it towards buying a £50k 993 C2 or 964. I love the car I have created, but it does not make financial sense to go this route and mine was nowhere near as bad as yours, OP.

[IMI A]

BrewsterBear said:

SRT Hellcat said:

I do agree. If it was something special and worth money, pre 73 then go for it. 1980 SC break it for parts.

As much as I don't want to, I have to agree with this. If I could go back in time I'd break my SC and put the £40k I spent refurbing it towards buying a £50k 993 C2 or 964. I love the car I have created, but it does not make financial sense to go this route and mine was nowhere near as bad as yours, OP.

Is there a thread on your resto? Must be quite a special car now with all that work lavished on her.

[MontyC]

As what's already been said early 911s can be money pits, just 2 years ago I brought a rough but running 964 cab at a ridiculously low price, but on closer inspection I realised it would cost way more to save it then the car would be worth, engine needed full rebuild hardly any electrics worked including the roof, body was not great and was previously a cat D 30k++ work so after debating my next move I sold it on to a trader at a healthy profit. The same car is still just being passed around as when the dream hits reality of what work actually required and your end up with a cat D 911 at the end of it, It's quickly resold.

[BrewsterBear]

IMI A said:

Is there a thread on your resto? Must be quite a special car now with all that work lavished on her.

No, I've not created a thread on a public forum. I suppose I ought to at some point. Here are a couple of pictures though;





The spec is roughly;

Full bare shell with all rot cut out and new Porsche panels wherever needed.
Full top and bottom end rebuild of the engine including Mahle Max Moritz 98mm P&Cs and 993SS cams.
Full gearbox rebuild including all dogs, sleeves, synchros and a Quaife ATB LSD.
40mm PMO ITBs with Emerald ECU.
Backdated heat exchangers and exhaust.
Lightweight seats, RS carpets and door cards.
SCRS style bumpers front and back with 964 engine lid.
Bilstein street-sports shocks all round, Geo by Center Gravity.

There's loads more, but just about every moving part and many non-moving parts have been replaced. It's been a two year journey with a lot of ups and many more downs. I got it mapped last month and it was showing 245.7bhp with a very tidy torque curve. I could get a fair bit more with wilder cams and I may go that route eventually, however I'm just happy to be driving it right now, although a suspected faulty throttle position sensor has parked it up again.

Not to drag the OP's thread off topic, but it's an example of how these things can run away. I originally intended to keep the CIS, but it wouldn't run right so scrapped it for ITBs. Where's the point of going to all the trouble and expense of a fresh engine build then strapping 35 year old fueling components to it that aren't working well? So many times I thought about refreshing certain parts, but it made more sense to buy new. Hence the hefty stack of receipts.

Good luck OP. They are fantastic cars, but I promise that a £20k refurb budget does not stretch far.

[IMI A]

BrewsterBear said:

IMI A said:

Is there a thread on your resto? Must be quite a special car now with all that work lavished on her.

No, I've not created a thread on a public forum. I suppose I ought to at some point. Here are a couple of pictures though;





The spec is roughly;

Full bare shell with all rot cut out and new Porsche panels wherever needed.
Full top and bottom end rebuild of the engine including Mahle Max Moritz 98mm P&Cs and 993SS cams.
Full gearbox rebuild including all dogs, sleeves, synchros and a Quaife ATB LSD.
40mm PMO ITBs with Emerald ECU.
Backdated heat exchangers and exhaust.
Lightweight seats, RS carpets and door cards.
SCRS style bumpers front and back with 964 engine lid.
Bilstein street-sports shocks all round, Geo by Center Gravity.

There's loads more, but just about every moving part and many non-moving parts have been replaced. It's been a two year journey with a lot of ups and many more downs. I got it mapped last month and it was showing 245.7bhp with a very tidy torque curve. I could get a fair bit more with wilder cams and I may go that route eventually, however I'm just happy to be driving it right now, although a suspected faulty throttle position sensor has parked it up again.

Not to drag the OP's thread off topic, but it's an example of how these things can run away. I originally intended to keep the CIS, but it wouldn't run right so scrapped it for ITBs. Where's the point of going to all the trouble and expense of a fresh engine build then strapping 35 year old fueling components to it that aren't working well? So many times I thought about refreshing certain parts, but it made more sense to buy new. Hence the hefty stack of receipts.

Good luck OP. They are fantastic cars, but I promise that a £20k refurb budget does not stretch far.

Looks superb any pics of whole car? Maybe take it down the complete lightweight route? You should defo start a thread if you have pics of various stages. Thats going to be much more fun to drive than a bog standard 993 or 964 IMO. I think theres a converted SC to 72 RS spec for sale at RPM for £80k. You should have look at it...

[mikees]

Wozy68 said:

mikees said:

Jesus wept that's bad. Mine is in near prefect condition but luckily I didn't spend the 20k needed to fix and it was better to start. If you have the skills and the money then go for it.




Ps no whale all the way

In all honesty how do you know yours is in near perfect condition? Always garaged from new, never driven in rain and/or low low mileage , complete rebuild and respray?

I've seen perfect looking SCs,/3.2s that looked immaculate yet were rotten as a pear when you dug deeper. A lot of 3.2s I've viewed were absolutely shagged and at the time less than 15 years old, so doesn't bode well for the earlier cars, however shiney the paint.

Lovely looking car by he way

You are soooo right wozy. Smart paint can cover a multitude of sins. I'm more confident due to all receipts and pics of work plus thorough regular inspection by specialist ( rpm tecnik) But there will always be something round the corner. Eg kidney bowls sorted 2 years ago despite previous work.

I've also got a cooking 997 that I'm expecting to take me to the cleaners at some point. Spent 5k in last 12 months on AC and suspension issues.

Older 911 are never cheap. But I think they are worth it.

Mike

Ps just to add. Thinking about the cost of a top and bottom end rebuild, the likely 997 bore score issue followed by a hartech rebuild isn't that bad or out of step.


Edit; to add, yes complete rebuild. Respray, top bottom and gearbox rebuild. Complete new suspension and retrim plus targa ( excluding the lovely - to me, original pasha velour seats with only one original cigarette burn ;-) ).

Btw, It's an 80s 911, course it was ragged ridged from cold when new by some yuppie thinking he was don Johnson. We are all lucky if we escape massive bills.

But, I have so much respect for the OP. Wish I had the skills to take this sort of job on.

Edited by mikees on Friday 26th August 20:29

[mikees]

BrewsterBear said:

IMI A said:

Is there a thread on your resto? Must be quite a special car now with all that work lavished on her.

No, I've not created a thread on a public forum. I suppose I ought to at some point. Here are a couple of pictures though;





The spec is roughly;

Full bare shell with all rot cut out and new Porsche panels wherever needed.
Full top and bottom end rebuild of the engine including Mahle Max Moritz 98mm P&Cs and 993SS cams.
Full gearbox rebuild including all dogs, sleeves, synchros and a Quaife ATB LSD.
40mm PMO ITBs with Emerald ECU.
Backdated heat exchangers and exhaust.
Lightweight seats, RS carpets and door cards.
SCRS style bumpers front and back with 964 engine lid.
Bilstein street-sports shocks all round, Geo by Center Gravity.

There's loads more, but just about every moving part and many non-moving parts have been replaced. It's been a two year journey with a lot of ups and many more downs. I got it mapped last month and it was showing 245.7bhp with a very tidy torque curve. I could get a fair bit more with wilder cams and I may go that route eventually, however I'm just happy to be driving it right now, although a suspected faulty throttle position sensor has parked it up again.

Not to drag the OP's thread off topic, but it's an example of how these things can run away. I originally intended to keep the CIS, but it wouldn't run right so scrapped it for ITBs. Where's the point of going to all the trouble and expense of a fresh engine build then strapping 35 year old fueling components to it that aren't working well? So many times I thought about refreshing certain parts, but it made more sense to buy new. Hence the hefty stack of receipts.

Good luck OP. They are fantastic cars, but I promise that a £20k refurb budget does not stretch far.

This is such a beautiful car. Ditto pics of full car please?

[BrewsterBear]

Apologies to the OP for dragging his thread further off topic. I'll post a couple more and then I get a proper thread together over the coming weeks.







I still have lots to sort on the car. Finish the interior properly, take the fan and cowl off to get powdercoated as I tried bead blasting and painting myself without success, rebuild the pedal box as the clutch pedal squeaks, fit the arch liners to protect my new metal, etc, ad infinitum. I'm not sure if they're ever finished, really.