by John Glynn | Oct 14, 2009 | Classic Porsche Blog, Road Trips
I had been talking to Phil Bell at Classic Cars about doing something for the magazine, and making suggestions regarding feature cars. A mate of ours over there is big into MoPar (short for Motor Parts, and all to do with big old Chrysler-built muscle cars) so I had flown some pics past Phil’s window. He was looking for a needle in a haystack: a rare groove muscle machine. Eventually my buddy Alex found it: a low mile, 2-owner Hemi ‘Cuda.
The Hemi is a legendary engine, and that motor in a Barracuda was seriously hard core. Phil loved the pitch, so we set up a shoot and met the owner one Sunday morning in the hills above San Ramon. I heard the V8s rumble while they were still a couple of hundred feet below. Suddenly the Hemi was here and it had brought a friend: another Hemi, but a Road Runner. They were absolutely jaw-dropping; Alex had struck gold!
I love Road Runners. They are plain and simple bits of kit that make a huge noise and an even bigger statement. “You don’t like big cars? Too bad!” says a Road Runner. One flick of the gas pedal is a big injection of space between it and whoever is behind. The ‘Cuda however is a whole ‘nuther thing. It is mean and takes no prisoners. It is grand theft auto, gun-in-the-glovebox stuff. The Hemi ‘Cuda is is the archetypal automotive villain.
Our Hemi owner was the nicest guy in history. I was so pleased about the story that went with this car. He had put heart and soul into achieving a factory restoration rather than a candy-assed, chrome-splurged show job. This car retained all of its manufacturing ‘defects’ for authenticity. All the nitty-gritty details had been meticulously photographed before disassembly and put back exactly as they had come off: paint splashes on the distributor base, unpainted screws under the hood, tiny differences in the door gaps side to side. Guys like this operate in a different stratosphere to the rest of us.
After the shoot, we all went out for lunch at some Mexican place that wasn’t up to much. Even though I am fairly new to Mexican I know bad stuff, and this was very boring food. Beware of Danville Mexicans that flatter to deceive! We went our separate ways afterwards, but vowed to hook up again next time we are over. It was an honour to spend time with the owner and his cars, especially in slightly cooler weather, but still with oodles of Cali sunshine to make the Plum Crazy colour really fly.
Can you believe that this is a regular working guy and yet he has 4 fully-restored Mopars in his garage and one more on the way? The Hemi is probably a half-million dollar car and none of the rest are that much cheaper. I know it’s not about the money – we didn’t even mention it on the shoot – but still, it goes to show what one guy can do when he really puts his mind to it. As we say in California: awesome!
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 12, 2009 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
As the 944 Turbo is sold, I was keen to move my other 944 project along; get it MOTed and then either start using it or get shot of it. It has to be MOTed to get the number plate off, so that’s a no choice thing.
Anyway, I collected the Porsche 944 from Midlands Car Storage and hooked up the A-frame. Towing with the Landcruiser is a dream, so we had a good run home, where I put the kettle on and wondered what to do next. I decided to start by getting the boot open.
The way a 944 tailgate works is it has a pin in each rear corner which locks into a recessed latch. To open, the key pulls rods inwards to slide the latch plates and release the pins. There are sponges (I kid you not) between the car body and the latch recesses and then the latch bodies have little reservoirs underneath, which collect the water which runs down the pins, and drains it out through the boot floor. It is convoluted but I think fairly clever. However, it is a bugger if the latches are not used regularly.
I bought the white car knowing it had sat unused for ten years in a leaky car port in Chichester, right by the sea – the house was a street away from the Channel. Imagine the steel pins and steel latches submerged in a salt bath for ten years: they seize solid and need smashing off. Smashing off window locks in a cramped greenhouse, in 26 degree heat, while lying on a floor and working over your head (in a car thick with mould) is a lovely job. I eventually got it all apart, opened the lid and checked out the boot. Dry and healthy and no rot anywhere, except the locks and the number plate lights. I have new ones of these so they’ll go on tomorrow.
I’d stuck the battery on a boost charge, so decided to try some electrics next. The door mirrors worked in 2 out of 4 directions – nice. The pop-up lights did pop up and made me want to keep the car. I love pop ups! The rest is fairly basic: this is mostly a manual car, which is great. The carpets on the drivers side seemed not too damp but the other side was soaked. I pulled the bonnet catch and noticed a lot of rust on the fusebox, the sort of rust that doesn’t happen with leaky rear window seals which is what I though I had. This had to be a hole in the battery tray over the fusebox pouring water straight down.
Battery out and project brakes on! A huge hole right across the front of the battery tray is just pouring buckets of water into the car, every time it rains. That has to go off and be fixed before we do anything else – have booked it in with Rob Campbell at Racing Restorations for some TLC next week. I’ll get the bit on the sill done done at the same time.
Getting the rest of the trim out should be fun – the front seats are seized on the runners which makes removal a job and a half. Will do what I can before the GP tomorrow.
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 | Mar 19, 2008 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
I have a bit of a 944 fetish going on at the mo, but in my defence it is all related. I have always dreamed of buying classic Porsche 944 Turbo, and watching 944 prices with the SC Cabriolet sale in progress led me to A911 DRY. Bought that and it needed interior and ideally a running car to sort the non-running problem. So I bought the 924 for the trim and the red 944 for the running gear to do some swapping.
No sooner have I agreed a deal on the red 944 than up popped an 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo at Autofarm for £1750. I thought it was an OK buy at that until I saw it at £1250, which is a steal on Fuchs even with a knackered engine. Emailed them and arranged to go and see it next day. Was waiting around for a look for a while but anyway, I eventually got to see it in the dark in a barn with only a candlelight torch to help!
The car presents itself well. Fuchs very nice, with track rubber and the half-leather sports logo trim also very nice. Panel gaps on one side not so nice, so I assumed it had been in a fairly decent smash a while back. Mentioned this to Josh and he said he didn’t think so, thought it was a nice honest car. I bid for it assuming it was on the hit list and the bid was accepted – it is really just in the way down there. Paid a 10% deposit and agreed to pick up at the end of the month, when my Cab has left a space.
Came home and HPI’d it: it was declared a Cat C total loss in 1997. Still I think it’s a good buy at what I paid, even with the damage and the engine in bits. Might make a nice article in the future about buying and repairing damaged Porsches versus buying a nice clean original car.
Went to see Bob Watson today for a chat, and he has plenty of 944 Turbo bits inc crank and oil pump etc. We will use his man to sort the cylinders out; some scoring on one apparently, though I didn’t see the engine either! Bob reckons 300bhp is fairly easy on any 951, I will shoot for 250 on mine. It is more of a family Porsche to replace the Cabriolet than anything, though it’s bound to see the odd French/Belgian track.
Anyway, the aim is to be back down to two Porsches by June at the latest, but we’ll see how that works out. Some pics of my new 951 are here: a long exposure makes it look much brighter than it was in there.
