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Project Mickey Mouse - Build thread of 79 SC I bought on eBay
Well, I'm several years late to the party on documenting my build that is still very much in progress, but better late than never, right?
As background, I'm a CPA car enthusiast that has played around with cars but never a full rebuild. Always wanted an air-cooled 911 and had been keeping my eye out for quite some time. The day is April 30, 2019. The last day of personal tax season. I take the train to work because I know as is tradition, I'll be having many, many cocktails this evening. On the train I'm looking at various 911s on eBay and other sites. I click watch on a few, but don't pay much attention to which ones. 2PM rolls around and we've started having a few pre-drinks while we wait for a few stragglers to sign their tax returns. I get an alert from eBay - AUCTION ENDING SOON, DON'T LET IT GET AWAY! Who am I to ignore the internet, right?? I open the page, see a red 911SC that has about 10 minutes left. It's at $22k and looks decent. I bid $23k. I'm now the high bidder but confident I'll get sniped. I go about my business and get another ping - AUCTION ENDING SOON! I look and think cool! I'm winning! Then it's one minute left and panic sets in...I'm still winning....aaaaaaaannnnnd I bought a Porsche. I look closer at the listing. '79 911SC, sitting since 2004, 110kms, original from Germany - not bad! Paint looks decent, window seals are shot, for sale by second owner who bought it from the estate. I'm thinking I can change the fluids, do a tune up, get it safe, drive it for a year or so before starting on a restoration. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642802724.jpg |
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Welcome to the slippery slope.
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yeah, drive it.. get a feel for her. So when its time to refresh... you will know the difference it makes and will appreciate it even more when its done.
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Great start to the story so far! Looking forward to this one.
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So picking up where we left off, I had now committed to buying a car that looked pretty good in pictures. I talked to the owner and he had other projects and decided not to go further with this one (insert bad omen here).
Now, how to get this thing home. Porsche was in North Carolina, I'm in Vancouver, BC roughly 5,000kms away. I find a shipper who can get the car to Blaine where I can load it up and trailer it across the border and complete importing the car. Being proactive I order parts from our host so I can do a tune-up, change all filters and replace some fuel injection o-rings. Car is set to arrive within days of my 40th birthday and I'm psyched that I'll be driving this thing by summer. The seller helps get the car loaded up in Carolina and it's on its way. Awesome! The car gets delivered in May of 2019. I arrive easily 2 hours early to meet the truck driver in Blaine. Having been on an open trailer for 10 days, it's a bit dirty, but otherwise looks pretty good. I start checking out the car and see the tires are all cracked and mismatched. I notice something else. A smell. No, not a smell. A nauseating mustard gas like stench that gives an immediate headache. Turns out that the side window seals are badly cracked and leaking and clearly the door seals are leaking too. The result is that at some point in the trip water got in the car and reconstituted the mixture of mouse urine and feces. The seats were spotted with mildew for good measure. Opening the door was absolute hell. The small tear in the headliner spilled mouse turds on to the floor. Optimistically I say to myself, Self, we can clean this up and maybe make it safe to drive for early fall. I get the car loaded on to my trailer and get across the border somewhat painlessly. Next stop, car wash as the car is dirty and I want to really see what I've got. That and there was a bunch of dirt/mud around the muffler I wanted to power wash off. The previous owner told me this was a "dirt dobber" nest (whatever the f*ck those are) but that the mud wasps are all gone. The Mud Wasp situation will play a key roll later in our story. More to come.... |
I like where this is going… :)
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Suspension first!
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I disagree. Interior first.
Make the car pleasant to set in and drive. I did mechanics fist one time. All the power, suspension and brakes won’t make a turd not feel like a turd. That’s my experience anyway. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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Because this thread is so long in the making, we are currently at May, 2019 in our story.
I should also add that this car was never going to be a daily driver, but rather a fun car to enjoy. My daily is an M3, so don't go feeling bad for me! |
So, it is now late May 2019.
I snapped a few pictures as it came off the truck and after the car wash at my house. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642880967.jpghttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642880992.jpg |
i am pouring myself another beer ..and i wait;-))) btw welcome the 911 jungle uah...i see some creature lived at the bottom of the engine
Ivan |
I didn't take a picture, but when I went to check the plugs, there was lots of evidence of mouse activity, dirt/mud everywhere and the crank pulley was completely submerged in dirty mouse water.
The dream of a tune up and oil change getting this thing on the road was quickly evaporating. I power wash the engine bay and drill a hole in the engine mount to allow the water to drain. Turns out the small drain hole was hopelessly plugged with the mud wasp nest that has the consistency of high strength concrete. After reading the forums and acquiring enough knowledge to be dangerous, I take off one upper valve cover and find 2 broken head studs. I head inside, pour myself a beer and come to grips with the fact the engine is getting dropped sooner rather than later. I start looking the car over closer and closer and come to the realization that there isn't a hope in the world this thing is going to pass an out of Province inspection to be able to register it without a lot of mechanical work. Knowing it needs paint, body and interior as well, tells me there is no point in spending time on mechanical only to strip it all down for paint and body. |
I have seen many 911s driven with 2 studs broken...your main concern i'd say, when was the last time the engine ran? regarding the fuel in the tank.....get it running clean up the engine..in Canada you do not need smog pump right or? If not remove the air injectors and the x mass tree to it plus the pump...it doesn't really look that bad have a patience ,dude you got a 911, be happy
Ivan |
^ Remember this thread is chronologically only in mid 2019 right now, the car has already come a very long way since then.
Looking forward to hearing this story, Focker ! |
Yes, tuned in and ready for the next installment!
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Unfortunately Ivan, that was 2 broken headstuds under one intake side. They weren't alone....
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So with limited garage space, I figure I will start the rebuild by pulling the motor and transmission, pushing the car back to the driveway, tear down the motor for rebuild, then while it's at the machine shop start on prepping the body for paint and body.
Step 1, Jack up your car. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642897536.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642897551.jpg |
Oops, forgot to mention that with all the North Carolina salt air, the fan was seized to the shroud.
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For those who were doubtful as to whether the engine REALLY needed to be pulled, take a gander at what greeted me after unbolting the engine...
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642897786.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642897801.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642897817.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642897830.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642897844.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642897857.jpg |
The 15 year-old oil smelled like death.
The fuel in the tank was worse. The muffler basically fell off the engine after the muffler straps were undone. Did I mention how smelly this thing was??? |
Was it sitting near the ocean or IN the ocean?!
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Next step was to carefully remove all the CIS injection pieces. The injectors were rusty and the injector insulators were crumbling. Everything was carefully bagged and labeled, but as we will learn later, plans would evolve and the CIS would get sold.
The exhaust including heat exchangers went in the trash as they were gross and had more mud wasp nests inside the tubing. |
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So you may be wondering, why the Mickey Mouse reference?
Removing the fiberglass fan shroud reveals that answer. Pulling the alternator I was greeted with an ancient burial ground. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642899283.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642899299.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642899360.jpg |
Cause of death electrocution or just plain getting stuck ?
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Oh, this gonna be good!
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Remember those 2 broken head studs??
Well someone had 11 more friends hiding!! That's right, 13 broken head studs. Not sure of some broken from sitting, or all broke during operation. We also ran into another snag during disassembly. Galvanic corrosion reared it's ugly head. 2 head studs were welded solid to the barrels. Not an exaggeration at all. I had to use a chisel and hammer to get the barrel off. Good news was that other than broken studs, everything was looking pretty healthy with good cross hatching, no broken rings and the heads all in good condition except for corrosion and general nastiness. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642901608.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642901639.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642901668.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642901682.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642901703.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642901749.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642901795.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642901829.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642901975.jpg |
This is going to be the greatest "While You're In There...!" series ever.
Thanks for sharing! |
I love it.
It’s easy to be excited about how ugly this is because I know how good it gets. |
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Mud daubers! Those things are known to have brought down complete passenger jets. Looks like it was sitting outside for a long time.
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I was fortunate that the rod bearings and main bearings all looked pretty good. Other than some staining the crank was great.
I boxed up the cases, cam towers, flywheel, crank and rods to the machine shop to be gone through and readied for a rebuild. New ARP rod bolts, rod bushings and clevite bearings all went into the bottom end. Since one cylinder was destroyed from chipping it off the stud, the only logical solution was a Mahle Motorsports 98mm 10.2:1 piston and cylinder set. Since these are meant for MFI or carbs, the CIS system was no longer needed and sold on the forums. The heads were sent to local Porsche cylinder head specialist Lance Hayward. To "future proof" the build, we decided to twin plug the heads. You know, while we are in there... As there was some corrosion on a few of the valves, we decided it made sense to replace all 6 intake and exhaust valves. For good measure, all valve springs were replaced too. I also picked up a set of the Supertec head studs to hold it all together. The stock cams were refurbished and reground to 964 specs before I had pulled the trigger on the piston set. Under the tutelage of William Knight, we spec'd out some Web cams that would better suit the pistons. William also set me up with an aluminum Kennedy pressure plate, clutch and 46mm PMO carbs. I also figured, in for a penny, in for a pound and picked up a gently used xdi ignition system from Jeff Gamroth, including a crank pulley. In the words of Ron Burgundy... http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642909969.jpg |
Jesus, I bought mine based on photos and explenation of the seller.
Shipped it from Verginia to Belgium and was hapilly surprised everything turned out as I thought. I think this all could have been avoided by simply a few good pointed photos and an honest story of the seller.... |
Note to self: Don't drink and shop on Ebay.
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I was in the hospital recovering from surgery on morphine and ended up on eBay- luckily I only ended up with a $3k set of racing wheels for my road bike.
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The title was still in the name of the estate. There were more surprises to be found, some good, some downright comical. |
Quickly becoming my favorite thread of 2022. Love the mouse graveyard.
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So with the motor out of the car, boxed up and sent to the machine shop, I disassembled the interior.
Dash was perfect, kneepad was perfect, rear seatbacks were good and seats were repairable. Door panels, carpet and headliner all went in the trash. Not much else happened over the winter as most of my time was occupied by finishing a gti project and dealing with the split up of my accounting firm and launching our new firm. I would putter around doing some stuff in the early spring, but dove back in a bit deeper in May of 2020. I removed all the glass and found that the front and rear seals were still in pretty good condition, but rear quarter seals were badly cracked and were the cause of the massive leaks. It was obvious this car had more than one repaint. Something in particular caught my eye on the drivers side door jamb. A small crack in the paint right on the edge between the door and rear quarter. I can't seem to locate the before pictures, but what I found was a layer of bondo that covered some very shiny metal. Interesting! That shiny metal turned out to be aluminum foil tape. The first bit of rust has been found! http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642958854.jpg And he has a little brother too! http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1642959054.jpg |
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