The Project: '91 Carrera Targa Rebuild

[pnkearns]

I am looking for advice and opinions on rebuilding and renovating a '91 Carrera Targa 911.

I bought my 911 in '93 and have used it in daily driving since. I've kept the maintenance books current. It's been a good and reliable vehicle.

My 911 is now at 245K miles and beginning to leak oil. The Hoehn mechanic says it needs an engine rebuild at $18 - $20K. I got in the habit of parking the 911 in front of the house. The red paint has faded from the sea salt in the morning beach fog. I'm thinking of redoing the paint job. The radio/CD player has conked out. So a new replacement or sound system is in order. The last item is the driver's seat really needs to be re-upholstered. I'll either redo the seat or replace it.

I'm looking to find a local San Diego shop to take on the project. I travel extensively for business, so it can be arranged as a low priority project taking a month or more.

Any thoughts on (a) which shop you would entrust? My gut reaction is you give this type of project to an independent mechanic. Any recommendations on who is good in the San Diego area? (b) What problems have you encountered doing a similar project? (c) what upgrades or improvements would you make to a '91 911? and (d) any guess at the $$ I am looking at?

I am looking forward to your feedback and suggestions.

Many Thanks.

[Jad]

There are several good shops (Dieters, Blackforest, etc see lots of other posts), check around for who can fit you in, but $18-20k seems ridiculous. A rebuild on that car, assuming no major damage should be more in the $5-8k range. Oil leaks do not mean rebuild, why do you think it needs one? Does it run ok? How is compression?

As a daily driver, no upgrades are really necessary unless you are building a track car, in which case the targa is not the ideal choice. I would recommend a solid rebuild, decent paint and stereo and then drive and enjoy as spending a lot for a street car that sits outside doesn't make sense.

Good luck!

[Mike]

You could give the project to a shop but you will save a bit if you act as your own contractor.
The shop is going to rightly charge a small percentage for dealing with your restoration.
If you act as your own contractor you can save this fee and find the best deals.

My prefered order.
Mechanical
Radio
Paint
interior

If I were out of town here's the sequence I'd use to restore it.

1st.
Choose an independent garage in San Diego for the engine work.
A third choice would be Mark at Performance Porsche in Mission Valley.
6035 Fairmount Ave, San Diego, 92120 - (619) 563-5927

2nd.
When they are done have them flat bed it to Vintage race (Qualtech) Paints 2 blocks away. Call Mark Tyler (PCA member) the owner for a quote. (619) 281-6024 See my avatar, Mark's shop just did mine in his 25,000sf auto center.

Those two items might take around 2 months depending on how much work your car needs.

Since the seats and radio only take a short time to do I'd wait till I could schedule that myself.
La Jolla audio (best) to Circut City can install a radio in a day for you.
The seat or likely seats can be recovered in a week at several places.
When you get to that point the board can offer $ to $$ suggestions too.

[Dan Chambers]

Here's another thought: If you really want to get a handle on what the car really needs, take it to someone like Black Forest or Dieter's or Mirage and have a PPI (Pre-Purchase Inspection) done to assess the TOTAL condition of the car. I know, I know .... you're not selling the car. I know. But: A good PPI will run anywhere from $150.oo to $280.00 and you'll find out what needs what. Then, go from there and assess the total cost of restoration.

There's a really good article about 911/964's in Excellence Magazine this month. Check out the "value" the author equates with the 964's; you may consider a 'replacement' 964 if the toal cost to restore the current one gets too high.

Just a thought: Personally, I went through a 15K restoration and upgrade on a $5000 944. Learned the hard way....

Good luck!!

[pnkearns]

First of all, thank all of you for your advice. It is very helpful.

Giving the entire project to a shop for a small percentage is not an issue to me. Given my travel schedule, it's best to define a project with a contractor and let them do what they are experts at.

I like the idea of spending the money on a PPI to get an unemotional look at the state of the car. I like my car, but maybe upgrading to a more recent model year may be cheaper than rebuilding/restoring.

As far as I know, based on my driving of it, the only major issue with the 911 is the leaking oil when it's parked. I hesitate to park it in the garage due to the two or three spots that will occur each time. I can also see oil on parts of the engine vs. a clean/dusty surface. The compression and performance are not an issue. It is not burning oil. The last smog check (about 1000 miles ago) on the car showed emissions at 4% of legal.

I went down the rebuild route since the engine is at 245K. The dealer also didn't want to hunt for the oil leak(s) because at 16 years old, he felt that any repairs would have a cascade effect of old hoses cracking, etc., for any repair.

I have time to think about it. I'm traveling in Asia for the next month. I'll pull the trigger as soon as I'm back in Cardiff.

[pnkearns]