Porsche 911: Guide to Purchase and D.I.Y. Restoration (Foulis Motoring Book) [Paperback]

Lindsay Porter (Author), Peter Morgan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Foulis Motoring Book | Publication Date: May 1988

Porsche experts fill you in on all the things you should know before buying or restoring a Porsche 911. Coverage includes: how to renovate chassis and bodywork; how to give new life to mechanical and electrical components; what to look for when buying a Porsche and the pitfalls to avoid; and what modifications are possible. Detailed appendix comprehensively lists changes in production detail over the years.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Haynes Publications (May 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0854296840
• ISBN-13: 978-0854296842
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,302,417 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth having, but not comprehensive, October 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Porsche 911 : Guide to Purchase and DIY Restoration (Foulis Motoring Book) (Hardcover)

This book is a good basic introduction to early/medium era 911s up to the 911 SC of the early 1980s.

There's a reasonably good section on troublesome areas to watch out for before you buy one, and a very brief history of the model. These sections are finished off with a series of random 911 photographs with some of the stupidest captions ever written. This is a British book, and it shows; the mechanical aspects of the car always come second to the dreaded rust and where to find it (answer = everywhere on early 911s).

The main part of the text is taken up with a very comprehensive chapter on body restoration - if welding up old cars is your idea of a great week-end, you'll love it! There really is a huge amount of information here, and the authors really seem to know what they are talking about. They even cover jobs such as head-liner replacement, and the dreaded windscreen replacement.

Its followed by a shorter chapter on rebuilding the engine, which has some helpful photographs and some good information. Its really more of an over-view though, as the 911 engine isn't something you can rebuild in a couple of afternoons, nor explain in less than 100 pages.

The remainder of the book is devoted to random jobs, such as fixing the electrically operated mirrors.

Anyone who has an old 911 is likely to find this a useful and informative book, but unfortunately there's an awful lot of missing information, for example minor components such as the transmission and differential barely get a mention.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not enough, November 11, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Porsche 911 : Guide to Purchase and DIY Restoration (Foulis Motoring Book) (Hardcover)

i bought the book when i bought the car, a 73 targa , and although the book covers some things , it's just not enough

it tells you a couple of things about buying one, enough to start thinking about it, but it isn't enough to be your main source of porsche knowledge, it's to average, and the pictures are just to dark and undetailed

the engine revision part is next to useless as it barely covers engine teardown , and doesn't cover the world of differences in types and models of 911 engines

for DIY , 101 projects for your 911 , for engine DIY , How to rebuild your 911 engine , both from Wayne Dempsey are more valuable, and indeed a must have...this one just isn't

and no , i'm not a kid, i'm just lazy and didn't feel like filling in forms and stuff

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Porsche 911 Restoration, January 8, 2008

By 

W. K. Bergman (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Porsche 911 : Guide to Purchase and DIY Restoration (Foulis Motoring Book) (Hardcover)

Highly detailed with many photographs, this British-centered
manual mostly needs updating and a lot of fresh editing. For example:
1. Photos nowadays must be in color - why not?? Much detail is omitted in B&W, and that's why one employs photos.
2. Editing example: the caption mentioning the placement of the rear torsion bar cover is accompanied by a photo where this placement does not show; it was trimmed off.
3. Dismissive text: the chapter on Engines and Transmission does cover the engine, but dismisses transmissions with one line: leave that to the professional. I am a rank amateur, but having restored I know that there is much about a transmission that should at least be told to amateurs, capable of doing the work or not. There are too many instances of such short cuts.
4. UK centered. That's OK, but about 50% of all Porsches extant roll in the US, with the Continent holding a large balance. One might provide at least some lateral references. "Exclusive" in this case is not a compliment.