1976 911S – from garage find to on the road

[NeedSpace]

I have been making progress on my 1976 911S. I have been posting questions here and there but I thought it would make more sense to put all this together to show the progress.

IN THE BEGINNING
While I have been searching eBay for a few years for a 911, with a young family blooming and a very small garage, I didn’t think it was in the cards. However, an understanding and adventurous wife and a lucky opportunity presented itself in January of 2010. A friend of mine mentioned a guy who had a 911 in storage and he needed to get rid of it. It had no engine but was a California car. A couple of hundred in storage fees and it was mine.

Jumping in with both feet




After getting it home, there were a few surprises, some good and some bad.



The car was in good nick. The interior was in good shape, the vinyl seats were in great condition and there was little rust anywhere on the car. Body work looks good with only the engine hood needing repair and a small bit of rust next to the rear vent window.



The bad news, it didn’t have a transmission and the title turned out to be an issue.

TITLE WOES
So here was the problem, I purchased the car from someone who was Israeli and out of the country, but the car was purchased from the US with the intention of taking it to his home country. It made it to the docks and there is stayed for over a year. The car was purchased over eBay, the guy the Israeli purchased it from also never registered the car, so according to the title, someone 3 owners ago was the rightful owner. To complicate matters, I was in NJ, the car in NJ, and the previous owners were in Israel and California. It took a lot of legal BS and a number of letters to previous owners and some DMV people giving me nasty looks (thinking I had stolen it). But after a year, I had the title in my name. I now have it insured, registered and with classic plates. All in, it wasn't too expensive, about $100 with no lawyers. You have to be patient though.

LIFT!
I needed a little help to do the work on my car. I did some searching and purchased a great lift by Dannmar. Great price, fairly easy to set up and it fit. My little 1 car garage now can sport 2 toys and give me something to help me work on them.
I need a lift!
Engine Install Question



MORE POWER
Prior to titling, I kept my purchases to a minimum thinking if this car was had illegally, I didn’t want to get stuck owning an engine with a car I had to sell for parts or return to the previous owner. With title in hand, I started my big purchases. I first found a 915 transmission on pelican. Got a respectable price from a good guy…still jealous of his garage.



For the engine, I was open to any 2.7, 3.0 or 3.2. I leaned toward a 2.7 to avoid any conversion issues but was open to anything. One came up for the exact year of my car in not too many miles (83k) with a recent top engine rebuild (NOT BY MM!). After some haggling, it was delivered and in my garage.




The engine overall, looks pretty good. It’s a 2.7 with a number of new parts that are readily obvious. It has carrera tensioners. Plus there was no oil leakage on top of the engine but definitely some below. It looks like the lower value covers and the oil cooler. The exhaust system was a bit of a disappointment. It has been repaired a number of times and downright ugly.




I think they are functional, but they were definitely on the replace list. Happily, I lucked out. On craigs list I took a chance and purchased this for a couple of hundred. It looks like a good fit, but we shall see.



Next on deck...let the cleaning begin...

[KNS]

What a great project! Please keep the narrow fenders.

Those heat exchangers are for a 3.2

[szyzygy]

awesome. Can't wait to see how it turns out

[NeedSpace]

Damn! I was hoping they were the right ones. Oh well, perhaps I can find a trade somewhere.

Ok, back to chapter 2.

[NeedSpace]

GETTING TO WORK

I brought her home and immediately got started. A cold wet day, but at least she was in my garage and not 3 towns over.


Ask me how many times I have hit my head on the lift crossbeam!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/641431-begins.html
The original “prime directive” was to do the minimum to get her on the road and keep the “while I am at its” to a minimum… where I am right now, I have done a little more than expected, but I have kept it fairly reasonable.

CV JOINT
First, my CV joint was in bad shape with a ripped boot.



I removed it and cleaned it. The parts are in good condition so I don’t need to replace any. I purchased a new boot and lube from pelican. I decided to hold off on CV 2 until the engine is in and I am ready to install them. Still, they look pretty eh? I had a "zen" moment laying out the parts.



WINDOW REPAIR

I turned to repairing the window regulator as the window wouldn’t go up. Thinking there will be days I’ll be wheeling her outside to work on the engine. I replaced the pivot pin and the window will now stay up. I still doesn’t open and close well, but at least it will stay up. (NB-I eventually just shot some WB40 down the window tracks and the window goes up and down without a problem).



Don’t use this pic as a point of reference as the window still doesn’t work properly. I did properly line up the rectangle with the geared bit, but still, it doesn't go up nicely. I think the track is gunked up and needing a cleaning.



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/639725-window-regulator.html#post6389682

In the link below, you can see a video how it doesn’t go up easily. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Porsche Window - YouTube


CLEANING ENGINE COMPARTMENT

While waiting on some parts I had ordered, it was time to clean the engine compartment, it was very oily and made for messy work. After a few nights, I had some really great results. I tried Purple Power but it didn’t work well. In the end, I used old reliable - GUNK, this stuff is amazing and works oh so well.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/565722-your-favorite-degreaser.html

Check out the before and after!




BTW, do you notice in the before pictures how the CV is shiny metal where the fan belt wraps around it? I didn't know that this is how they were strung up. I drove at about 50-60 MPH on the NJ turnpike with this towed behind my car. Just lucky that they stayed on! All the bolts were present as well.

Up next – to the engine!

[NeedSpace]

Originally Posted by KNS

What a great project! Please keep the narrow fenders.

Those heat exchangers are for a 3.2

BTW, absolutely NO CHANGES to the body. I love the narrow fenders. The only possible "change" i am considering is the rear deck lid, i might purchase a duck tail but still keep the original. Perhaps while I am fixing the original i'll get it.

[pookie]

From one 76 911S owner to another, good job and keep up the good work.

[dave 911]

Originally Posted by pookie

From one 76 911S owner to another, good job and keep up the good work.

ditto . This looks like an awesome project! Great to have another middie saved!

Let me know if you need any photos or reference info, my car is pretty much stock.

[Howard M]

Love my 76 Targa, original 2.7. You will too. Good luck. We'll all be watching. I'm from northern NJ also. If you join, find me at a NNJR meeting.

[Jdub]

This is great - thanks for sharing! I have always thought a well-sorted 2.7 is a superb powerplant. How many others of us can say we have a mag. case just like the big boy racers do?

I also rescued a 911 from a dusty underground garage. You will know that car inside out when you are done.

[NeedSpace]

I like the idea of putting the original engine back in. I hope my decision fares well. Howard, hopefully, in the next few weeks, we can chat at the next NY/NJ run!

[NeedSpace]

VACUUM HOSE

I finally unwrapped the engine and starting my to do list. To start, a vacuum hose was not connected properly. Upon further inspection, the hose was severed at the pipe that connects up to the air filter.



Also, the bracket was bent as well. After some futzing around, I managed to get it all back together. The only problem I had is I didn’t want to purchase a new hose. To get it all to fit, I flipped the aluminum L pipe and it fit nicely.



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/645566-breather-hose.html

While I was there, I noticed the fuel distributor was rather rusty and looked bad.



It was in good shape other than the outer surface rust. I sanded it down, cleaned it then used Rustoleum Rust Reformer. This stuff worked really well. So well, it wasn’t necessary to paint it. These results are the dried rust reformer. Neat eh?



I also got some new copper washers. I couldn’t easily find them through the normal channels. As luck would have it, this was when I went out to Rennwerk to meet Cheech. Nice guy, he set me up.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/646625-fuel-distributor-cleaning-help.html

OIL LEAKS – FIXING THE EVIL TRINITY

While the engine looked rather clean from the top, I wasn’t planning on replacing any oil seals. But after pretty much everything I read say to replace the evil trinty of leaks and the relatively low price to repair, I complied. And let me tell you, I am very glad I did!

I took off the fuel injection system and was off and running. So this is what it looked like before, not that bad.



I found some odd sealant on the thermostat, cleaned that up and installed all three seals.



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/645781-engine-out-oil-repairs.html

WATER IN THE ENGINE

Yes, it was going far too well right? Looking over the engine, I made a nasty discovery. When I first looked at it, there was a lot of water. Actually, you can see the water line. I took a paper towel and soaked up the water.



Luckily, the valve was closed tight. I VERY carefully cleaned it out with q-tips. It took quite a long time but I managed to get it spotless. I also turned over the engine and it is working nicely. Phew.



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/649472-water-fuel-delivery-valve-help.html

I put some lubricant on it to keep it from getting any rust until the engine is installed. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me until I figured out what probably happened. The engine has been sitting in my garage for about 8 months, but it has been dry. However, I think when the engine was removed it must have been outside for a little while during transport. A little water leaked through the injector and into the valve area. This looked like about 8 months of damage. Happily, I found it before it made too much damage.

Unfortunately this water also pointed to the fact that I had a rather bad injector leak. Only 1 injector, however, while I was at it, I decided to replace all of the sleeves and both seals per injector…I know, I know, the prime directive…oh well. When you look at the injector sleeve, you can see why I made the decision I did.



Next up, the valve covers…

[RSBob]

Great story. A delight to read. Will definitely be following your progress. All the best to ya.

[NeedSpace]

VALVE COVERS

So next at bat was the value covers, based on some of the oil on the engine, it made sense to change the gaskets. My plan was to sand down the covers to “unwarp” them and put back on. Here is what they looked like before, you can see the oil in the tins for the upper, and everywhere on the lower.




I took off the valve covers, they are both the original magnesium, they definitely had a little warp in them. I put the covers on my granite countertops. In the video below you can see the warp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8UOc34f4SA

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/645781-engine-out-oil-repairs.html

I brought them to a machine shop. A number of machine shops could not work on them because they were smaller than their machine would allow. When I finally found a couple that could do it, the prices were over $200 for the 4. Given a new set is not much more than that. I decided to purchase new turbo covers, but try to fix the upper ones myself.

I put sand paper on the counter then sanded the cover. It took a little time but eventually got them both nice and straight.



Then a good cleaning while the wife was out.



Once complete, I installed them with new gaskets and new bolts. I torque them down to 8nm. Surprisingly light tightening, but who I am to disagree. I really don’t think I needed the new bolts, but they came with the gasket kit. Here is the final product. Looking good.



Next at bat, all those frigging vacuum lines!

[NeedSpace]

Originally Posted by dave 911

ditto . This looks like an awesome project! Great to have another middie saved!

Let me know if you need any photos or reference info, my car is pretty much stock.

Dave, thanks for the offer. I think I may take you up on it. Hmm that gives me an idea! Look for a PM.

[1976 TN Porsche]

Nice Work.

[NeedSpace]

RANDOM ENGINE BITS

Now that the valve covers were complete, it was time to finish up that other bits to finalize the engine before putting it in.
I installed new gaskets for injection system. Those six gaskets went in easy enough. I also noticed the warm up regulator wire was in bad shape where it connected to the adaptor.



A quick search on the internet for "Fuel Injector Repair Kit; Terminal Repair Kit For 2 Prong Bosch Injector Type Plug” and I was good to go. You can read more details here

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/661427-ignition-plug-broken-wires-help-w-pic.html



ACCELERATOR CONSOLE

This little guy didn’t look that great but I was willing to live with that. The one problem was the throttle moved only with a decent amount of force.



I took it apart. All the parts were in good shape. It had a nylon washer on each side that was gunked up. Some GUNK, elbow grease and a little sanding and this puppy was in great shape. I also fixed the support bracket and repainted it. It now moves very freely.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/660616-accelerator-console-engine-movement.html

[NeedSpace]

VACUUM LINES

Before putting the engine in, I wanted to replace all the vacuum lines that had become brittle. Finding the tubing was a bit of a pain. I found a german parts place in AZ that had the hose at a reasonable price. MAKE SURE THE HOSE IS FUEL COMPATIBLE. A number of places tried to send me vacuum hose which would not be appropriate.

While tracing the vacuum line, I found some little critter remains. Happily, long gone and no poo.



Vacuum hose front Pic below– Going clockwise from lower left to lower right, here is the broken line from the left inner fender (the expansion tank was completed disconnected and sliding around-seen already take out-the upper tank is the expansion tank-bottom windshield washer fluid). Upper left-You can see the small hose broken here. Upper right- going through the firewall (wait is this called a “fire wall” on a rear engine car?). Lower left-into the passenger compartment to where it joins with metal line.



First, I had to fix the expansion tank, as the bracket had broken off. This was an easy fix. I cleaned the tank, sanded down the bracket and place where the bracket went, then..the fun part, used my blow torch to melt them together. Grunt grunt grunt.




Here it is fixed, same order in pic below. Sorry, it isn't the final pics, I guess I never got to them (probably because it was 1:30am). I used larger hose in the inner fender…I had the tubing and I felt better about it. It is 3/16 here and you’ll see I used it in the engine compartment as well. The outer dimension is larger than the german stuff, but it was beefer and rubber on the outside.



Then the vacuum hose in the back. Again, I used the 3/16 id with larger od for the engine compartment, again, because it was beefier.

Here the vacuum hose has been replaced where the tranny meets the passenger compartment.



Here is at the canister.



Next, the engine goes in!

[NeedSpace]

ENGINE INSTALL

Before I attach the tranny to the engine, I need some nuts. I notice, unfortunately, one of the bolts is smaller than the others. My plan it to replace this but not until on the car.





Here she is ready for a life of fun times. My original 1976 2.7 Engine for my 1976 911S…a happy day.



Fellow Pelicaner Sonnet came by along with 2 nephews to put it in. We lifted it on the cart and were ready to go.



Now, part of the way in.


Now all the way in…Click on this link to see step by step. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/666042-engine-going-tomorrow.html

[IMG]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads20/install51332012759.jpg

Next - hooking it up.

[NeedSpace]

Oh, here is that final picture with the engine in...