SeaDweller

Greetings,

As a fairly new Porsche owner ('78SC), I've relied heavily on this BBS to resolve some issues, and I'd like to thank everyone for their unselfish assistance. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to spend much time in the car, so I'm still finding out about its idiosyncrasies.

I embarked on my first "road trip" last night, a 1.5 hour drive in very humid conditions from St. Petersburg to Orlando (FL). The car seemed to run perfectly the entire drive, but I ran across some of the following items that I wanted to run by everyone. Again, I'm new to this, so many of these things may be part of Porsche ownership!

1. After leaving the interstate and coming to a stop at a light, I noticed smoke coming from the exhaust. Although it was dark, it looked like oil burning to me. The engine was rebuilt approximately 80K miles ago, with Carrera tensioners, Turbo valve covers, oversize valves (I believe 45MM), pistons, rings, etc. The oil was changed around 100 miles ago.
2. During the drive, I felt cold water dripping on my legs, which turned out to be the underdash A/C unit. The entire underdash unit had heavy condensation on it, and was literally soaking wet around the entire exterior of the unit.
3. 2 of my gauges fogged up.
4. The car rides so rough that it regularly skipped my in-dash CD player.
5. The interior noise level is quite high.
6. The wind noise is quite high.
7. When I started the car from cold, the turn signal indicators on the tach glowed until the car was driven for 10-15 minutes.

It's been mentioned to me that these cars do smoke slightly, and that the pre-'80's models are quite unrefined, being designed specifically for sport driving. As such, the suspension is tight, they're noisy inside, etc.

I hope I'm not expecting too much from a 23 year old car, but I have to say that I did not run across these problems with my '74 VW SuperBeetle, which also had a rear engine, underdash factory air, etc.

Is what I'm experiencing normal for a car of this vintage, with the current accessories? How much more "refined" would an '85 or '86 model year be? I'm battling with the prospect of "restoring" the one I have, or selling it and buying a newer model.

Any input or advice is GREATLY appreciated!!