Picked up this 1980 911 SC

Hey Guys,
Just snatched up this 1980 Porsche 911SC for a pretty fair price and, just like Ferraris, learning new things on it daily before it gets delivered. Pretty cool car!

It doesn’t get here for another week, but I’m looking for parts places and searching for any mods that one should do to these early Porsche’s to make them more sporty. This already had the tensioners swapped out. Think this is the only needed mod on the motor.

Good places to get parts, etc? Good performance upgrades? Forum for these?

Thanks guys! More pics when it gets here!

cheers
Dave
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Whoops! I overlooked the Porsche section! Mods, could you move this over there?

cheers
Dave

 

Congrats! Pelican parts is great for parts, diy stuff and they also have a forum I believe. There’s also the rennlist forum.

 

Congrats on the cars, she is a beauty! I concur on pelican for parts. I am also on their forum with the same username. They are a great bunch of guys. It looks like your car already has some of the common mods: H1/H4 headlights, Euro tails, lowered. Not sure on your exhaust from the picture. It may be stock, it may be aftermarket. The rear spoiler is a factory one, but is very heavy as it is solid rubber. Get another decklid if you desire to put on the period correct Weissach style spoiler, or a more moderns Carrera spoiler. If you want ac, Griffiths or Kuehl makes good products.

Good books to read. 911 performance Handbook, 101 Projects for your Porsche 911, and a Bentley manual.

My $0.02. Get used to driving an air cooled 911 before making more mods. Don't lift in a turn, or you will be swapping sides.

 

Great! Thanks guys! I'm excited for the car to get here. Exhaust is stock from what I gather. I have all the maintenance records and nothing shows it being replaced or a new one installed.

I just joined that forum and will post up shortly. Looking forward to working on it some.

Cheers
Dave

 

Per WPOZZZ ; “Don’t lift in the turns” Best advice you will get!

 

She is beautiful !!! Good Luck with her
I am an addict, first step to recovery, I have 9 Porsches - most air cooled.
Your best mods will be suspension. Talk with guys at local porsche club that have modified their cars. See what you like, save old parts. Engine mods that add real power are really aimed at complete engine rebuilds in my opinion. If she runs well, shifts well etc - modifying the suspension will be the best bang for the buck and then when you feel/master her - then go for the engine/tranny...
I have found that my favorite cars/ most fun are the ones that have the least hp but the best suspension - I can use the car at her limits and not feel like I have a gorilla on a leash.
my two cents
vdm

 

Great stuff, guys. Just read a long thread on Rennlist about lifting in a turn. Very interesting. I don’t think I’ll be at that stage for a while, but might play around in a few wet parking lots to build up senses for it.

Can’t wait for it to get here!

cheers
Dave

 

I love 911s, hope to always own one. I had a 79 911SC for a few years, my first Porsche. Fantastic car, so much fun. Then I decided I needed a Targa, so sold it and bought my brother's 85. 20+ years later, my brother wanted the 85 back, so I bought a 75 911S. They are all wonderful.

FYI, there is a Porsche forum on F-Chat...

 

It gets here tomorrow and I couldn’t be more excited, but I’m out on a trip and won’t be back until Monday! Luckily, I have a very understanding wife who will take delivery for me. Should be a fun car to enjoy for a while until I move onto the next one. Having a car addiction is a bad, bad thing. Much like my plane addiction, expensive!!!!

Cheers
Dave

 

Just make sure you have the pop-off valve installed on the airbox so a random backfire won't blow it up. This almost certainly has one by now, but it doesn't hurt to check. The SCs are also prone to breaking their head studs ... so worth taking a look. Beyond that, the only real quibble with that vintage of a 911 is the anemic AC. There are some mods you can do on that end with varying effectiveness, but even then I'm not sure if will stand up to a Texas summer. The clutch should feel as a light as a Honda, if it feels heavy, there is a helper spring that can break and increase the pedal feel dramatically. The CIS injection can be a little finicky to adjust. Also not sure how kind ethanol is to the fuel system but it's probably been sorted by now.

My first 911 was a 1980 911 SC and I loved it. Also had an 83 911 SC ... first two in a long line of various 911s for me. Not a quick car by today's standards but lots of character and analog enjoyment.

 

When you hammer the throttle in a turn and the car hooks up, it will put a smile on your face!

I'm sure any of us would take delivery for you and break her in. You may want to move onto another 911, but if you can, have a NA and a turbo. A NA is much more enjoyable to drive on a daily basis.

 

I blew up the air box on my 911SC!

The air conditioning on air cooled 911s really isn't worth the trouble. I removed it from my 911S.

 

This car has the pop-off valve installed along with the better tensioners, so those two items are done.

Never had an air cooled 911, and you’re right, the next one I get will be a turbo for sure. Our 07 I just sold (non-turbo) was a great all around car. But the next will be a turbo for sure.

cheers
Dave

 

This thing is AWESOME!! I’m surprised at how smooth the car is for a 1980. What a wonderful machine! The clutch takes a bit getting used too, much like the Ferrari, since the pedal placement is a little goofy with this one coming up from the floor. Other than that, very pleased. Got some paint touch up to do and think I want to upgrade the exhaust next for a little nicer tone. Time to start searching Pelican!

cheers
Dave

 

One thing about exhausts for air cooled 911s, if you get a dual out, you will get resonance in the cabin from around 2500 rpm. If that will hinder your experience, get a single out. I had a B&B 4" dual out on my 930 and that made me nuts. Lots of Pelicans like the M&K exhaust. To me, it sounds great, but again, it depends on your noise tolerance. The single out has no resonance, but may be too loud for you or your neighbors. A great bang for the buck exhaust is a Bursch.

 

The original 930 is a beast -- I had an 87 myself -- just be aware that only the 1989 cars have a 5-speed gearbox, the 77-88 cars all have four speeds. Car is slooooow off the line then when the boost kicks in all hell breaks loose especially if you do the exhaust, boost controller and put a bigger intercooler on it. Like I did ; )

A fun weekend toy but not the most driveable car with the 4-speed, could not deal with traffic in the summer, oil temperatures would start getting way too hot. And a 4-speed is not good for creeping along on the freeway. The SC, in comparison, is really a pretty tractable car, I daily drove mine.

The 90-92 cars were basically the same motor in the more refined 964 chassis. In 93-94 they turbo'd the 3.6 motor in the 964 chassis, it became a twin turbo in the 993.

 

Been crawling around the car lately in between trips, and it looks like factory options on my car are A/C, cruise control, automatic heat, and dual adjustable mirrors along with the front and rear spoilers. Not sure what that pad is there, I'm thinking aftermarket alarm or maybe something to do with the radio? Beats me! Haven’t messed with the climate controls yet although I brought the manuals with me and read about the operation. The previous owner did a number on the paint with, what looked like, a contaminated rag with metal shavings on it. Swirl city! I did a light wetsand with 3000 then hit it with some compound and problem solved.

A couple service questions for you guys. During oil change time, do you all run an oil that has ZDDP in it like Valvoline VR-1 for wear issues? Curious if these cars need the zinc in the oil like the American cars with flat tappet cams. I don’t know much about these engines, so any insight would be great. What about gas? Highest octane I can, and try and get the Ethanol free or does that matter?

This is a fun car!!

cheers
Dave

 

The keypad appears to be a Clifford Alarm which was popular in the 80's. I would recommend Brad Penn straight 30 weight. These old Mezger designed flat sixes are pretty much bullet proof for the bottom end as long as adequate quantities of clean oil is present. They get a large portion of their cooling from the oil circulation. I would also recommend the highest octane you can find as the compression ratio was raised starting in 1980. Ethanol free would also be good especially if all the rubber hoses have not been upgraded. The CIS injection system has some pretty large pressures in some of the fuel lines. Another maintenance item that is often overlooked is to replace the fuel strainer in the bottom of the fuel tank. It is a little messy as the tank needs to be drained and should be done with lots of ventilation (outside if possible).

 

I don't know about 1980, but my 1985 Carrera owner's manual specifically allowed up to 10% ethanol. I wouldn't be surprised if the 1980 car did as well.

I always find "Brad Penn" oil somewhat hilarious. I'm sure it's a fine oil, in fact I think I use it myself. However, as a kid of the late 70s-early 80s, the caricature Porsche owner was a dude named "Brad" who wore tennis sweats... I figured Pennzoil wanted to make an oil that appeals to Porsche owners, hence "Brad Penn" oil!

No idea if that is true, and apologies to any Brads who wore tennis sweats and drove 911s in the 1970s.

 

The oil was originally Kendall oil manufactured in Bradford, Pennsylvania. When Kendall sold off this facility the new owner renamed the oil "Brad Penn" and now it has been rebranded as PennGrade 1.