I had a bit of a financial windfall recently, and have decided to get
myself a fun car.  I've narrowed it down to a Datsun 240Z, a 914, or a
911.  I'm leaning strongly to the latter, as I've been a porschephile
since I was a kid.  I'll test drive all three, and likely throw in an
early 90s MR2.  I'm going to keep my corolla for most daily driving, but
will likely drive it in a couple of times a week and probably do
driver's education/track days and/or autocross.  I don't have a garage
or covered parking, so whatever I get is gonna sit on the street most of
the time.  

My first car was a 914, but I let my dad play mechanic when we checked
out the car, and he didn't notice crippling rust.  I got to drive it a
couple of weeks before the right rear suspenstion detached from the
frame.  I couldn't get anyone to work on it, and the car ended up being
parted out at a huge loss.

I'm hoping I learned enough from that to avoid repeating history.  I'm
hoping to educate myself as best as I can and would like to take it to a
mechanic for pre-purchase inspection.  

Toward the first point, I've read Paul Frere's _The Whole 911 Story_
cover to cover, and gleaned what I could from this newsgroup and
rennlist.  Unfortunately, the book didn't have much on common problems
to look for in a used 911, and most things on the net point to books for
sale and don't give out the information for free.  I did pick up on some
things to look for like some common rust points, the timing chain
tensioner, and the axiom to buy the newest 911 I can afford.  The axiom
puts me in a 1977-mid 80s 911.  There are a lot of books out there.  
Does anyone have a reccommendation on which one is best?  

After asking around with Porsche people I know, I've settled on John
Walker's Workshop to be my 911 mechanic, and to do my PPI, here in
seattle.  The problem there is that there are a lot of 911s listed that
are just too far away from Seattle to reasonably ask the owner to take
it (or let me take it) on a multi-hour drive for the inspection.  

Case in point-- a 1977 911 is listed on the PCA NW website that seems
pretty solid.  I'd certainly prefer to buy from a PCA member.  But it's
in Bellingham, a good hour and a half drive from Seattle.  Does anyone
have a reccommendation for a good 911 mechanic in Bellinham for the pre-
purchase inspection?  Alternately, I suppose that I could just ask the
seller to allow his mechanic to talk to me about the car.  Bellingham is
a small town, and it might be that the porsche dealer is the only
specialist in town.  But I'd prefer to have an independent mechanic give
it a thorough shakedown.  

Any help is greatly appreciated.  

Shamus