I’m a stickler for originality I’m afraid, Just got to be careful overtaking large trucks on single lane highways [emoji33]
Here you go,cheap as chips matching numbers and colours and L o R...it'll go down reeely well at your local cars and jars: https://www.justcars.com.au/cars-for-sale/1983-porsche-911-manual-cabriolet/JCMD5258039
I see many L to R 911 conversions. I've probably had 50 across the alignment ramps. I've never seen a good one. The floorpan bodywork is assymetric on the air cooled cars and unless you cut the floor out, you can't replicate it. And how do you put the galvanising back? Not to mention small incidentals like the pedal box, a new wiring loom, mirror controls, electric window switches and a myriad of other items. Basically these cars are converted by people who operate their classic car on the cheap. And we all know how that ends up. In tears.
For what it's worth, I owned a 1987 3.2 Carrera and a 1986 Mondial 3.2 at the same time. While the 3.2 Carrera was a great car, the Mondial was just so much more engaging to drive. Even for daily driving use, the Mondial won out. I miss the Mondial a lot, don't really miss the 3.2. I think most of the air-cooled 911's are a bit overrated. The late 60's/early 70's 911 "e" model is "the" air cooled 911 to get in my opinion (at least among naturally aspirated) -- those were back when the 911's were truly lightweight sports cars and the "e" model had a ton of usable power, but an early 911e is very expensive to buy today. The later air-cooled cars (2.7 liter and up) just felt heavier, and just not the same as the early 911's to me, and not that fast. I'd opt for the Mondial over an air-cooled 911 on a driving enjoyment basis alone, but given the inflated cost of air-cooled 911's, that would tip the scales even more towards waiting for a Mondial (QV or newer, not an 8!). My two cents.
One major drawback of owning the Mondial , is whom do you get to service it? That aint COOL. At least with a 911 there are many shops that look after them without reaming the owner .
Anyone who has had experience at both brands will find that is pretty much the case......irrespective of power output...IMO
The QV feels like it has more grunt than the 3.2 I had and much more torquey especially going up a big hill
I think part of the stratospheric rise in the price of air cooled 911s is the stellar efforts on behalf of Porsche AG with the supply of classic parts. There's no issues with buying anything mechanical to keep these cars going, and that includes what's on the shelf at the local dealer. Porsche have even started recasting the 7R crankcases and it's very easy to build an engine from scratch. Contrast that with Ferrari, 360 parts or earlier come from overseas if it's anything beyond an oil filter. The only reason Greg's Mondial was turned around in a few weeks was because I had most of what we needed on shelf, apart from the header tank There's a lot of very competent Porsche mechanics that can maintain your 911 to varying degrees of detail, from putting your blinkers on and just replacing or repairing the broken part to cleaning the entire underside before a suspension bush is replaced. Porsches are also quite tough mechanically, but that brings its own issues, because some owners take that as meaning you don't have to spend money on them, and you do have to very careful when looking at a used model. However there's plenty out there to chose from. And as I've mentioned before re: pricing on 911s, Magnus Walker and his vacuous YouTube Martini striped cronies have a lot to answer for, along with their Instafool following worshippers.
It's a great engine no doubt, that Qv. The 911 by comparison is quite long geared however, at 100km/h the 3.2 911 is doing 2,400 rpm, the Mondial 3,100. The 911 is also quite peaky despite its modest 6,300 rpm rev limit. Perhaps that masks some of its flexibility.
I don't find that the case, I find both the air cooled 911 and the 308 series of all variants equally engaging for different reasons.
Like any 308, they are very easy to service, parts are reasonable, some RHD stuff is a bit hard to find, but basically it's all off the shelf from MCP in the UK. A Mondial in particular is a very viable home maintenance proposition if you're that way inclined. They do swallow labour at a horrific rate though, that will be your main cost. They're now 40 years old, you'll be fixing items that were either neglected or not done properly in the first place.
