Everyone loves a good story, so let me give you mine. I'm the guy that bought this 2 years ago:
https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/1110607-1968-porsche-targa-project-sale.html
At that time, I had sold a business and was looking for a “project.” My background is engineering and project management so putting a car together seemed like a decent challenge. I turned it into this:
I’m not really even a “car guy.” I know enough to fix things when they break. On classic cars, I had no experience outside of a 70 VW Bug that I have. I tore that apart and had it repainted while I redid the interior vinyl & exterior trim. Dropped the engine & had another guy refurb it. But that was 20 yrs ago. I had no Porsche experience and the flat 6 engine is way diff than the 40 hp VW. But I wanted to figure it out & enjoy doing most of the work myself.
For the 911, I didn’t do the body work...I had a local guy sand it, prime & paint, and cut & polish. I also didn’t do the engine work. When I purchased the car in Dallas, the shop owner knew a former Porsche mechanic in the local area. He took the engine and did a total refurb (piston/cylinder, tensioner & timing chains, bearings, transaxle refresh). The engine was already out of the car…he came by and got it and 6 mths later I drove over and picked it up.
Outside of paint and that interior engine work, I did everything else…well, 98% of the remaining work.
As you saw in the listing, the car was literally in parts. I had bins and bins of parts and most I had no idea what they were or where they went. It was a hard-window targa, but given that the rear glass had a little chip & I really wanted a convertible, I converted it to a SWT.
First thing I did when I got the car was installed the suspension and wheels. I needed it to roll so I could move it around. I got the PET drawings from the Auto Atlanta website and determined all of the parts I needed…and compared that to the parts I had. I used Mike’s Restoration videos on youtube as my install guide. He rebuilt a 67 911 coupe and most of the work was similar to my car.
The paint job took forever. First shop I trailered it to took 3 mths to even take it…then it sat at the shop for another 3 mths. I found another shop and eventually got it done. But the process ate up a good 9 mths of my project time just trying to get it painted.
Once it came back from paint, I just treated it like a project to manage. I put the car in my garage and worked on it a few hrs every day. I don’t have any major auto mechanic stuff like lifts or presses, just basic hand tools and a Dremel. (If I needed a press or a unique auto tool, I have a friend with a shop). I did the electrical first. I purchased a brand-new complete wiring harness from a guy in Germany and installed that.
