911 project

I'm would like to find a tired, worn out mid-80's 911 to do a complete ground-up rebuild. I've told my wife that I'd like to spend <$5K on finding a car and $20-30K rebuilding it. Aside from painting it, I'll be doing all the work. I'm not interested in heavy performance modifications, just looking for a project to keep me busy for a year or two that will end up with a nice ride. Are those numbers realistic?

Any ideas on where to start looking for a beat-up mid-80's 911? A quick scan of the usual suspects showed a lot of >$10K reasonable shape cars, but not too many beaters. Are there any to be had?

Thanks.

Geoff

I would say you are going to have a very hard time finding a even a ratted out 911 for 5k. I have seen ratted out SC's and carreras go for $12-15k, which is about the going rate for a 911 that needs a lot of work. For that money, the engine WILL need to be rebuild, I can almost guarantee that. Our basic rebuilds run $7500, so budget for something around there. There are a few places doing them cheaper, but you get what you pay for. I would go through the tranny at that time as well. Figure a couple grand for paint if you do the prep yourself.

I would say a total budget of 35k over the coarse of a couple years might not be too far off depending on the car.

Another option is to find a rolling chassis for cheap, then have someone build you a motor specifically for the car from scratch.

For the kind of budget you have, I would highly consider a early 70's 911. They are much more of a "vintage" car, which would gain the most from a ground up restoration. You can buy a nice example for 15k, but can find those under 10k all day long that need work.

A rolling chassis sounds good. What do you think an engine built from scratch might cost?

Thanks for your reply

Geoff