1977 911 Turbo Carrera #411

[Komenda Fan]

Just picked up my car last weekend. Many projects to do, but she is sound and only missing a few tools and the rear window wiper. A check of the bodywork with a paint meter didn't turn up any bondo, so I'm quite pleased about that.

Paint and interior could use some tidying. I originally thought the car had a Can Can red style of interior that had faded, but looking behind areas where sun couldn't penetrate, it appears the leather really is more of an orange - red than the Can Can colour.

Just after arriving home last Sunday...





Making friends with our 1960 MGA...

[matt f]

You covered a lot of ground w the pics!
Turbo, girls and cars, pet and the garage threads.
Well played.
Congratulations on your new car, she's a beauty.

[coldstart]

Sweet car!

[Six Gun]

Originally Posted by matt f

You covered a lot of ground w the pics!
Turbo, girls and cars, pet and the garage threads.
Well played.
Congratulations on your new car, she's a beauty.

I agree, all three!!

[canamfan]

Yeah, great entrance! Congratulations on a real "stock" looking beauty , hope to see it cruising around the roads of Southern Ontario. This board is full of awesome, knowledgable & passionate folk that contribute so much to make for fun, enjoy! BTW did it come with a rear wiper, or you just want to add one on? how about some interior pics., eh?

[voitureltd]

[QUOTE=Komenda Fan;7362317] .

I originally thought the car had a Can Can red style of interior that had faded..


Nice car. I believe in that year the interior is Lobster, a classic German racing color.

[willtel]

I think that interior may be the "lobster" color. voitureltd has\had a few that color, he may be able to help you with the color codes.

Great looking car.

Edit: I see the man himself beat me to the punch.

[voitureltd]

Originally Posted by willtel

I think that interior may be the "lobster" color. voitureltd has\had a few that color, he may be able to help you with the color codes.

Great looking car.

Edit: I see the man himself beat me to the punch.

Heh heh, thanks willtel, you got to be pretty quick to keep up with this"old guy"

[Komenda Fan]

Lobster red - good to know. The leather is a bit dry, faded in places, but no rips, which I'm thankful for. I have used a leather cleaner and then applied a conditioner, already appears softer, so hopefully no lasting damage.

There is a water stain on the dash, quite large, there must have had a bad seal at one point. I understand that I can lightly sand and re-dye the red, does anyone know a good match for the colour?

Carpets are a bit dirty and show varying levels of fading, but again they seem to be all there, so I'd like to fix them up rather than replace them if I can.

As for the rear window wiper, my understanding is that they were standard equipment on 3.0 Turbos, so I presume someone removed the unit. Is it the same unit that would have been used in a 911 or 911S in 1977?

I will be looking for the missing tools and spare tire air compressor, and for the moment will just set to work tidying the car. I am debating keeping what currently is a stock exhaust on it. Not sure what exactly goes into a "thermal reactor" but I am wondering if whatever it was is burnt out now and therefore won't be a culprit in creating too much heat?

I also picked up an original style battery, but it's huge! Right now it interferes with what appears to be a headlight relay and some sort of canister, so not sure I will install it. I will have to take some photos and ask the brain-trust here to help me identify the canister if I can't find it in the parts catalogue (which has been an amazing resource so far).

Thanks for the comments. I'm really excited about my scruffy but largely original car. I have ordered a COA, so it'll be interesting to see if any surprises are found there. I do know that the car is black according to the factory (I asked when ordering the COA) and that the tags on the car say as much, and yet the first layer of paint is actually white. And thoroughly white, it doesn't seem to be missing anywhere. Not like an aftermarket repaint where they might have missed inside the smugglers box, or other hidden areas. It will be interesting to get under the dash leather to confirm. The guy who came to do the insurance appraisal, a long time Porsche guy with fantastic knowledge of the little details, thought the car was repainted by the factory prior to being completed. Perhaps someone changed their order from white to black after the car was painted?

[Ronnie's.930]

Originally Posted by Komenda Fan

I am debating keeping what currently is a stock exhaust on it. Not sure what exactly goes into a "thermal reactor" but I am wondering if whatever it was is burnt out now and therefore won't be a culprit in creating too much heat?

The following thread, and many like it on the 911 Forum, discusses thermal reactors. The bottom line is you need to remove them if possible, though it is often a tough job due to corrosion on the fasteners.

Are these thermal reactors?

I see that your 930 came with the "good lookin woman" option - nice! Does she have a sister?

[Komenda Fan]

Thanks Ronnie,

I wonder if I can gut the thermal reactor insitu through the end of the cylinder and weld the cap back on? Anything massively toxic or radioactive inside these things? Right now I am weighing my options on how much to keep stock and how much to modify. A nice performance exhaust is tempting.

Oh, and yes, she does have a sister, but her sister is 7 years younger and a fitness expert, so nothing interesting there then...

[cellison]

Nice looking car. where did you find it?

[Ronnie's.930]

Originally Posted by Komenda Fan

Thanks Ronnie,

I wonder if I can gut the thermal reactor insitu through the end of the cylinder and weld the cap back on? Anything massively toxic or radioactive inside these things? Right now I am weighing my options on how much to keep stock and how much to modify. A nice performance exhaust is tempting.

Oh, and yes, she does have a sister, but her sister is 7 years younger and a fitness expert, so nothing interesting there then...

Ha! Riiiiiiiiighttttt - nothing at all good about that!

Thermal reactors, like the ones on some early 911s, are essentially a multi-baffled chamber meant to hold/slow down exhaust gasses and thus generate extreme heat (an attempt to "burn off" emissions) - good eplanation here -

Emissions Control: After Treatment Systems - Petrol Smell*|*Petrol Smell

I don't know what you would end up with regarding exhaust flow and the like if you gutted them.

Are you sure they are on your car? I ask as not all US 1977 models had them.

[Simon930Berlin]

What a cool color combo... congrats!

I own a 77 all stock in Kupferbraun metallic w. tan intrior. Bought it 6 months ago from the 2nd owner that still calls me asking me how the Turbo is doing (selllers remorse? ...

Just added a new exhaust, front & rear valance and changed the BOV plastic rings for winter maintenance. For the exhaust I went for Dansk and am quite happy, but the Dansk is lacking sound, is fabricated a little careless, but then again the all stock press foto look is just unreal... I guess the 3.0 whale tail turbos are worth to be kept as is, not only for value...

I also got an original Porsche battery via the Dealership here in Berlin (says Porsche on there, you have to love that), and its interfering with nothing?

[redturbo911]

Sweet ride. Looks so pure. Enjoy.

[Komenda Fan]

Cellison - car is an original Toronto car as confirmed by the dealer stamps in the warranty book. Car was about 25 minutes down the road from me. Still working on getting the full history (MTO wasn't able to process transactions last night so out of luck again...).

Thanks Ronnie, that was a good read. Made thermal reactors much clearer, and I see why I don't want them! I will take some pics tonight to confirm that they are actually the reactors that I am looking at.

Simon930 - love your car, saw the thread you have. An original 930 in Kupferbraun metallic is such a classic colour for the car. I have thought of going to the dansk, do you notice an improvement in performance? I'd have to think the car must breathe a lot better without the thermal reactors. If I do swap out the original exhaust, I will keep it somewhere close by.

I think the "canister" that is interfering is a pump for the headlight washers. I was going to take the battery back and go the Optima route, but I think you have convinced me to give it one more try. Do you have a photo of the area in front of the battery that you could post? I think I have things mounted here that weren't originally located here.

Good news is that with a bit of carpet shampoo, the carpets are coming back to life quite nicely. I would rather have a nice patina rather than replace things for new, so if they end up looking decent I will keep them. A bit more leather conditioner on the bolsters and they will be looking good too.

Does anyone know where I can get the foam for under the seat leather? My driver side seat cushion seams to have been squashed. Checked Pelican but didn't see them.

[WPOZZZ]

That looks like a fun project! I looked at a friend's 77 turbo over the weekend and I'm having a PPI done this week when he has a chance to take her to my mechanic. Does your car have the original radio? I asked my friend what that thing was on the top of the center console and he said it was a microphone. He pulled it out of its housing and sure enough it was a mike! I sure would love to see how that works with the original radio or whatever records the messages/notes to self.

[Komenda Fan]

Battery issue solved. I had called the local Porsche dealer for the battery, and they suggested the 88 Ah battery. Turns out the 66 Ah battery was the right size (now superseded by the dimensionally identical 70 Ah battery). Good thing that I decided to call one more time to confirm, otherwise I might have spent another hour trying to fit the 88 Ah battery, which was never going to fit.

Only took 2 hours of driving through Toronto rush hour traffic to get the battery. At least the new battery fits perfectly and looks great.

[Simon930Berlin]

Originally Posted by Komenda Fan

I have thought of going to the dansk, do you notice an improvement in performance? I'd have to think the car must breathe a lot better without the thermal reactors. If I do swap out the original exhaust, I will keep it somewhere close by.

I think the "canister" that is interfering is a pump for the headlight washers. I was going to take the battery back and go the Optima route, but I think you have convinced me to give it one more try. Do you have a photo of the area in front of the battery that you could post?

The car performs much better, but probably also because I did a few things at once, when changing the BOV pastic rings to get rid of that annoying clack sound hitting the gas pedal, I found a ton of loose clamps.

The look of the dansk with the polished tip is awesome, and an overall tidying of the setup led to a much more active wastegate, and yep, some more performance.

I deleted the washing pump for the headlights, because it was leaking and almost made the whole area up front corrode. Kept the parts, if I ever think I need to put it in of course.

Enjoy your early turbo! And btw: All the "the old turbos are more dangerous because power kicks in more sudden" I find to be BS - the better the car is setup, the more constant power is developed past 3K RPM .. how about yours?

[mark houghton]

Love the color combo, the black exterior really offsets the interior color (or vice versa).
What really struck me in your post was the MGA. I too had a '60 MGA (but I painted mine Burgandy) until my ex took it with her a couple years ago. Had that car since I restored it in the early-80's. It was either the MG, or the 930. Guess which one I fought to keep?