Barn Find 1984 M491 in Virginia

[Fairview]

My latest diversion is getting a 1984 Porsche Carrera M491 tidied up and running. This is coming out of a twenty year long storage and is an original paint, original interior car. It is a joint project with good friend of mine.

The Porsche comes from an eclectic collection that is featured on a Barn Find Hunter episode released a few days ago, December 16, 2019. There are some other Porsches shown and for sale from this collection, a couple 356s and 912s in restorable condition.

I just wanted to share the adventure with you all, and, as always, solicit your good advice and parts finding support.

Here’s a link to the episode: https://youtu.be/X6t_dqQnR80

Thanks, Jeff

p.s. a couple photos of the progress so far

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Congratulations, M491s are great cars. Car sitting for 20 years, obvious things to check are broken head studs but less obvious may be all plastic bushings: pedal cluster accelerator bell crank, shifter and shift coupler. My M491 sat for far less time and all of these bushings were either disintegrated to nothing or very close.

[tdw28210]

Jeff, that's awesome. I was chatting with another Pelican on Fbook that sent me the link and I said I thought it is an actual M491 because the calipers were hanging off the BACK of the rear rotors. (he agreed) I just wanted them to show the dang option sticker under the hood. Pretty sure it was there in the video. Congrats!

[Fairview]

Photos below

[tdw28210]

Doubly confirmed. Congrats again.

[75 911s]

Congrats! What a great episode! Cool m491!

[Baz]

Congrats...very cool!

From Wiki:
In 1984, Porsche also introduced the M491 option. Officially called the Supersport in the UK, it was commonly known as the "Turbo-look". It was a style that resembled the 930 Turbo with wide wheel arches and the distinctive "tea tray" tail. It featured the stiffer suspension shared with the turbo and the superior turbo braking system as well as the wider turbo wheels. Sales of the Supersport were high for its first two years in the United States because the desirable 930 was not available.

[Dpmulvan]

Saw that episode a few hours after it was posted on YouTube, always dreamed of finding a hoard like that, nice grab.

[Flojo]

A dream come true, finden a concour clean barnfind, amazing!

I'm with no luck... even my car, I regularly have to eat dust and fight grime all along, oh well...

[Fairview]

Thanks for the encouraging posts!

The latest completed item was replacing the steering column bushing just behind the steering wheel. ShaunTru6 above mentioned the nylon bushings being vulnerable to age and lack of use. Sure enough, assuming this is one of those, this bushing seems to have turned into an amber colored powder. The metal slip sleeve was very easy to install and makes everything good and snug.

The shifter is next as it is a little looser than I’d like, so new bushings and coupler.

There is no denying it, twenty years of storage, even for a nice car in a good environment, makes for some interesting challenges.

[Quasimoto]

Great looking car. Just been thru all those bushes that Shaun mentions as well. Feels great when they are back in good nick...

[Flojo]

Originally Posted by Fairview

There is no denying it, twenty years of storage, even for a nice car in a good environment, makes for some interesting challenges.

fluids and hoses are worse… and you are lucky if the injection system is not clogged

[famoroso]

Watched the episode. Thanks for the link and congrats on acquiring a unique example of an already unique model. As Game of Thrones taught us... It's all about the story!

Loved that the presenter and then owner thought the stock wheels & tires looked too narrow for the car. 🤣 Please keep the updates coming. I'd love to see your car someday.

[Coastr]

It was interesting watching Tom trying to figure out provenance from a place of low knowledge. He knew it was rare to see a wide bodied car and knew to look for welds. He knew the wheels were wrong and it wasn’t turbo. A bit more knowledge would have made for a really great piece of the show if he had known just how rare the car is, and increased knowledge on these cars to a wider audience. He could have found the 491 option under the hood and noted the 930 brakes. But nobody is an expert in everything and I enjoy his detailed knowledge on 60s fords.

[Coastr]

Oh, I meant to ask did you get the car before the episode came out?

[Fairview]

Originally Posted by Coastr

Oh, I meant to ask did you get the car before the episode came out?

Yes, by about six weeks. We were sworn to secrecy, no pictures etc were to be put out there until the show aired.

It was interesting to watch the show after having looked at many of the cars, and having bought the 911.

Even though I’ve been a car guy for decades and done most of the work myself, just seeing that many cars that need work in one place is very exhausting mentally. The mind just races thinking of how to fix this and that, where to get missing parts, what offer to make, what would it be worth when done, what problems lurk unseen, who will haul it home, etc. good golly....

[Rleog]

I recently saw that episode of Barn Find Hunter and knew that someone was going to get a valuable Porsche from the Ford dealership owner who bought the collection. There were many Porsches in those barns, but you have the one that looked the most appealing to me. Nice find. Have fun.

[slow&rusty]

Originally Posted by Coastr

It was interesting watching Tom trying to figure out provenance from a place of low knowledge. He knew it was rare to see a wide bodied car and knew to look for welds. He knew the wheels were wrong and it wasn’t turbo. A bit more knowledge would have made for a really great piece of the show if he had known just how rare the car is, and increased knowledge on these cars to a wider audience. He could have found the 491 option under the hood and noted the 930 brakes. But nobody is an expert in everything and I enjoy his detailed knowledge on 60s fords.

I agree 100% as thought the same thing.

Congrats to the OP on the purchase and glad the car is going to get the TLC it deserves.

[bavaria911]

I wonder who picked-up the silver 356C ?

[plexiform]

nice find! congrats!