1977 911S Targa – What To Do?, What To Do?

2/29/16 – 3/5/16

Mark and I spoke about the car many times this week.  Mark has a wealth of knowledge, and I am very happy to learn as much as possible.  During the week he counsels me about what to do with the car.  The options, while numerous, come down to a single basic choice.  Do I want to restore the car or modify and restore it?  I spend the week going back and forth about this.  I spend time searching the internet for articles about the 1977 911.  I read more about its shortcomings, which I have referred to previously.  I look at lots of pictures to get more ideas.  It seems that many people have customized their 1977 911s and turned them into hot rods.  Others have changed the body style to make them look like earlier models.  Some have kept them looking the way they were intended to look. Much to my wife’s amusement, I even went as far as setting up a Pintrest Board to track ideas.  As I vacillate between restoring and customizing, Mark reminds me that lots of workarounds exist to fix the engine issues and that I should just focus on what I want out of the car.  I tell him, mostly in jest, I just want to be able to get most of my investment back.  But he makes a great point.  What do I want out of the car?

A few things become clear as I ponder the options –

• I want a car that is fun to drive (not necessarily fast, just fun)
• I want to keep the car looking as it did originally
• I want to add some performance to the engine, but maintain the original 2.7L Flat 6
• I want to upgrade the suspension for better cornering, without making the ride too uncomfortable
• I want to lower the car somewhat to get a more aggressive look

While these goals may change as I get into the project, I am comfortable with them for now.