by John Glynn | Sep 20, 2009 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
I collected my ‘new’ classic Porsche 911T project this weekend. Worked out quite well as the seller (good friend and superhero, Mr Bosman) was coming over for the Goodwood Revival, and offered to trailer it across on the ferry for me. Here was a kindness I could not refuse.
We met early today and I borrowed Bos’s trailer to bring the car to a buddy’s secret storage yard, where some nice project cars are stashed in sea containers. I wanted the T out of the way for a few months, while I get finished with the projects I have on the go, pay for this new one and get my garage building moving on apace. Once I have a better grip on my to do list, I’ll drag this out again and get properly stuck into it as a spare-time R Gruppe build.
The easiest thing for me to do (to get this back up to speed fast) would be to buy a bodily ruined SC, break it and put all the mechanical bits into this after a refurb, and I’m pretty sure that’s how I’m going to go. Rusty SCs are getting ever more common in the ‘States now, so it should be easy enough to find something mechanically sound that would otherwise be on its way to a breaker. I will put my hot rod 3 litre motor into this one – not the tired original from a scrapper.
This T is in good condition to look at, but it’s not perfect. It has serious paint issues in the luggage compartment for example, where the painter has simply painted the whole thing rather than taking stuff out. It’s not a big deal for me, as I am ripping out all this early stuff anyway (hate fiddly twin batteries and that messy-looking fusebox) and reworking the loom to run an in-dash fusebox. I will also bin the early dash column switches and run IB stuff. Same with engine bay wiring etc. Also same with suspension and brakes, though I will not run a servo. Oil system will be bespoke: a front nose cooler with a relocated tank – things like that. The oil tank that came with this is one step from scrap anyway so that has to go somewhere else.
None of this is said against my buddy, as it comes to me almost exactly as it arrived at Bos’s place from Canada. He started doing stuff, saw the work involved in getting it nice and it was just not a project he fancied finishing, so it has come to me instead. I have wanted to try early car ownership since driving one of Tuthills early rally cars many moons ago, so this should be fun to play with. I don’t want to build anything remotely factory original: it is hot rod all the way, with no “bolting back to standard” in this car’s future.
by John Glynn | Sep 17, 2009 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods
Sheena Easton had the look back in the day, but this R Gruppe Hot Rod Porsche 911 T has it now. The owner has asked me to keep him out of the limelight, but I can’t resist sharing some pics. This car looks amazing: almost exactly how I want my own longhood, which arrives in the UK in just over 24 hours.
You just can’t beat the look of these custom Minilite equivalents – available through secret channels only heroes know about. I also love the centre filler, the track rubber, the wider front arches, the simple bumper etc. Race numbers are the icing on the cake, and are not for show: the car competes at the hands of both husband and wife.
The power in this one comes from a custom Euro-spec 2.7 built into a ’66 2.0 case. It runs 46mm PMOs, custom cams, a strengthened 901 transmission with 915 LSD and some sweet internals. The front end is Carrera (classic early-car mod) and the exhaust is SSIs with a Monty muffler. The owner did everything himself, including the 8″ flares and the paint. The inside is wicked also but I’ll save those pics for another day.
I’ve put a hat on now, just so I can take it off to the man who built this car. Thanks for the inspiration and for sharing some details. The car is perfect – hope to see it in the metal one day!
by John Glynn | Sep 15, 2009 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
Having diagnosed the source of the torrential cabin leaks on my 1983 Porsche 944 Restoration (rotten battery tray), it was time to extract the damaged interior and get the car dry. I started by taking out the front seats.
These are proper Recaro sports seats, so I was hoping to save them. No chance – they are ruined. One front runner bolt on each had to be assisted in release with a crowbar: classic 944 front seat mischief.
Front seats out, you can see how different the footwells are. On the left is the swamp. On the right is dry and lovely. I am so disappointed that someone didn’t do more to save this car early on. The trim is a very nice combination and works well with the white. Must have been a great looking car back in the day, especially as it’s such a lightweight thing. It wasn’t owned by a cheapskate either: I pulled a nice-spec Pioneer DEH-700 out of the dash. Shame no face but the chassis is rusted away anyway.
Front seats out, I started slicing carpet and rear seat squabs. Took a while to get that done and mop up the water (both sides), then I took out the rear seat back before sorting out a cover of sorts for the front glass. This will keep the worst of the rain out of the cabin until such time as Rob Campbell at Racing Restorations – UK Porsche Rust Repair experts – has an open space in his diary to weld up the battery tray, nearside sill and the front seat mounts – might as well be done while everything is apart.
I also replaced the rear lid latches and pins and adjusted the whole thing – such a lovely job using good parts taken from last year’s breakers. Must break a 911 sometime, see what that’s like.
Has returned to the farm for now. We should be able to get back on the case in October some time.
by John Glynn | Sep 6, 2009 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
Ahead of starting the 911 engine strip down today, I had a major tidy-up in my little garage, which had turned into one of those places where you can get both feet in the door and no further. Five hours later I had floor space and could work on the motor right next to the toolbox. I call that a success.
Most of what is in my garage is parts and trim for my white Porsche 944 project – that bargain eBay purchase from last year (at least I hope it was last year). I look forward to starting the job of taking the 1983 944 Lux apart and putting it back together as soon as my little Landcruiser is finished.
Upgrade parts include full Porsche Recaro sports leather in black, fresh carpets and headlining etc, power steering, new engine mounts, new window and rear glass seals, Weltmeister throttle cam upgrade, decent tyres and so on.
This Porsche 944 project is a fairly low mile, two or three owner car, so I am hoping to use it quite a bit when it is back on the road and fitted with the all-important PAS and leather. Think it will look great in Grand Prix White with black hide, plus clearing out all that 944 stuff will give me my garage back.
Was using the parts washer for much of today – did a lovely job on 944 hubs, struts and crank sensors etc. Found the new ECU for it too. Sorting through some more bits tomorrow. I took so many usable parts off the two I broke last year and have such a lot of stuff in the garage. I’m not sure that it’s all going to be required: eBay beckons.
by John Glynn | Aug 23, 2009 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
Had an update from my buddy John last week on my California Porsche 911 purchase “The Varmint”: that 1980 Porsche 911 SC I bought off the San Francisco Craigslist. John Holleran had gone over it and decided a few things needed doing to make it ‘basically sound’.
The Turbo tie rods were past it; boots destroyed and binding in lock so they needed changing. The clutch release arm was fouling the SSIs hence the weirdo clutch feeling underfoot, that needed sorting. Most other stuff was OK, all except these oil leaks. Inter shaft gasket looked buggered and the crank seal didn’t seem too happy either, so they both needed doing.
John H estimated 4 hours work, plus parts, plus time to do an alignment which sounded sensible to me so I gave him the go ahead, as well as asking for an oil and trans fluid change. My amigo John also suggested we get some parts to replace some missing interior and sort some door rattles while I am over. That sounds cool to me: there are two great Porsche breakers near him and I am keen to visit both.
The car should be ready some time Monday, so am looking forward to a happy driver’s report next week. I hope the seals fix the oil leak. If not, then it could be the number 8 nose bearing shell/O-ring leaking, which is a different kettle of fish, though the problem often results in just dampness as opposed to a full-blown leak. It’s an engine out & case split job to fix it properly, though I could live with a weep for a few years no problem. Fingers crossed, then.
