So, I have been a long time lurker part time poster here for awhile and have yet to formally introduce myself, or more importantly my ride, so, here we go. Sorry bout the lack pix. I'll post more soon
I saw my first turbo 911 in 1977. I watched in complete awe as it blasted by me and disappeared over the top of the counterbalance (one of Seattle's steepest hills) I was left with a felling that needs no further explanation to this group. I was 14 at the time, and as impossible as it seemed, I told myself, someday....
16 years later my dream was a reality. I searched locally for a few months and just didn't find the right car. So, I widened my search to include California, and that's where I found what I was looking for (or so I thought)
1981 Euro 930, Sunroof delete, Pacific Blue, with a black interior. The car came with a few tasteful mods. K27, B&B headers and exhaust, Momo wheel and shift handle. Unfortunately, the original owner traded out the Fuchs for C-2 wheels and 2" spacers. He also thought it wise to loose the sport seats in favor of what I call Recaro airplane seats from the early 80s. Really heavy heated seats with all kinda buttons and gadgets.
I flew down to San Francisco, met up with the owner and after a spirited test drive I handed over seventeen and a half thousand very hard earned dollars. No PPI, no leak down, nodda. So, off I went on my way up 101
back toward Seattle with ear to ear grin plastered on my face.
That is until I reached Kelso (about two and a half hours from Seattle) where I pulled over to relieve myself. I left the car running, and upon my return I saw a cloud of black smoke the size a large house belching out of my tail pipe.
My sh**t eating grin was replaced by a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Knowing jack squat about 930's ( I had a 78 911 prior) I assumed the worst. The next morning I had a flatbed come out and tow me back to my buddy"s German auto repair shop. Luckily, it was just the turbo. However, we discovered that the car had been worked on by some ham fisted hack
who, among other things, literally had oil lines held together with hose clamps and duct tape. Good news was, the leak down #s were 2 to 3% across the board. After paying the bill with $ I really didn't have I had two profound realizations. One, I'm an idiot for not having done a PPI. Two, the only way I can own this car is if I learn to work on it myself. That's where you guys come in. So, if any of you are still awake, a huge thanks to all who selflessly help out the less knowledgeable. There's no way I could have tackled some off these projects otherwise.
-Paul
