The Red 911 - My MY84 Carrera 3.2 RoW Rebuild and Mod thread

[konrad911]

Hi All,
I've been reading this forum for years and now found myself in situation where I will need both your mental support and maybe some technical advice.

This is my 911 as of 2015. Bought her with engine cranking but not starting. Lots of rust and minor crashes all around. I made her drivable and enjoyed for 3 years. Then made a decision that the time has come and I will do a bottom up restore plus some mods.

I will try to catch up with photos and ideas in the next posts or so.

For the time being just wanted to say hello and warn you this might end up in a long long thread in the end, as I'm an advanced DIY person that takes no compromises

This 911 was built in 1983, so one of earliest Carreras 3.2. Heated windshield (wow! in 1983), automatic A/C, leather seats (manual) the 231HP RoW engine.

Photo as of 2015 (my GF driving).


Photo as of mid 2020 after stripping down for bodyworks at my friend's bodyshop.


More to come. There was a lot of rust as for a car that was zinc coated, but you will see later

[proporsche]

welcome to the Porsche 911 nuts

[konrad911]

Thanks proporsche

And here's the I think biggest challenge for my wizard of metal arts :-)

[Uwon]

Hello and welcome.
I don’t think I have ever seen an inner fender quite that bad.
Looking forward to your progress.
Cheers,
Johan

[pete3799]

This IS going to be a long thread.
What does the front end look like?

[75 911s]

Whoah!

[ab1752]

Wowsa! Was that Swiss cheese on the rear quarter presenting itself into the engine bay before being opened up? I know 911s are great at hiding rust but this is next level. Good luck, subscribed to the thread for sure.

[konrad911]

Well... I was expecting it would get rusty, but honestly not to that level.
I've had some cars from end of 70s early 80s rebuilt from scratch, but these were not zinc coated and looked better.
I expect this is due to the car having a long life as daily some place that had lot of rain/snow and used salt on the roads. That's my guess.

Front right corner... the nicer one :-)

As of the thread being long - I hope for two years from now. Not sure if it's realistic though, as I will be doing some experimenting with modding the car at the same time.

Keep fingers crossed. For sure that 911 is a keeper

[konrad911]

And the other corner... Well there was a lot of weight saving thanks to that for sure
I still wonder how this car kept tight altogether. I was never expecting that much of a Swiss Cheese under the wings.

[konrad911]

Adding few more close ups to the rusty side of this 911

[konrad911]

So where is your mental support to me?
Is it that bad?

[Garen]

Well, one thing is for sure... This redefines guilt-free carte-blanche on doing whatever you'd like with the car. Backdate, race car, restore, full color change, whatever. You want to put in a G50? sure... what's another cut or two!! With so much to freshen up, you really have no limits. That's a decent amount of freedom! I think it can turn into something quite special after all is said and done.

[Reiver]

Originally Posted by konrad911

So where is your mental support to me?
Is it that bad?

I've never seen rust thru that high on the rear quarter panel before... the bumper shock tube areas are known for collecting dirt and if often wet/wet climate then that can happen. It looks like someone drove thru something very corrosive repeatedly... a chem spill or contaminated ground?

Anything is restorable if you have the skill set... good luck to you. Good luck to you.

[konrad911]

Well it certainly will be a journey.
And for sure I will do some upgrades / strengthening.

More rusty photos and some new parts.

[Pedro '84 Coupe]

Looks like it's in good hands. Just needs some love

[konrad911]

Originally Posted by Pedro '84 Coupe

Looks like it's in good hands. Just needs some love

Well I'm emotionally connected to that car, as this was the first classic that my GF liked

Now just to make her healthy and strong

More photos below - talked to my friend that's doing the metal works and we'll try to save/repair as many panels as possible rather than replace them in full with new ones where possible and financially reasonable.






Sills / floor around sills needs to be cut out and replaced. The "big" floor seems to be healthy and sound though.

Do you have an idea what is covering the bottom and inner fenders? Kind of sprayed rubber?

My friend is saying he has never seen such good protection - still rubbery and soft and very hard to remove. Not even Mercedes had such good protection he's claiming. Best he has seen until now.

[Hulley]

I am going to thoroughly enjoy this thread! Best of luck!

[proporsche]

i assume your front hood is ok ? no rust there? looks like the car was sitting in the watter for a while..Where is the 911 from?

Ivan

[konrad911]

Originally Posted by proporsche

i assume your front hood is ok ? no rust there? looks like the car was sitting in the watter for a while..Where is the 911 from?

Ivan

I don't know the history of this car. My friend knows for years the PO. PO bought the car from someone that imported the car from abroad (small unofficial dealer/importer). No idea from which country, but for sure it was a European import.

And honestly I don't care. I don't need to have Porsche "Birth Certificate", I see this is an old 911 right?

As of rust - the area around battery was ok'ish, luggage compartment is healthy. In general the rust marked its presence around wheels and around places that transfer heat (sills mostly, but also exhaust / heat exchangers / heat ducts / those flaps that close/open to adjust temperature near engine - heavy rust). I will try to find some photos from disassembly.

I have not noticed any marks of the car being flooded. Maybe it was sitting on a loan for a longer while?

Aluminium parts mounted under the floor as well as bumpers have corrosion as well. Same for rear trailing arms. Front left A-arm broken (collapsed) due to corrosion - I was not able to adjust ride hight with the adjusting screw, as it was bending more and more

This brings me to a conclusion the car must have been a daily driver all year round in a place where they used salt on road during winter season. Or sat on a wet loan for long.

No signs of a major crash as well, but both sides were scratched rather more than less (fenders bent, doors bent, left mirror broken off - a line across both sides could be easily spotted). There was also a small crash in right front area - just like smn barely touched a corner of a building (maybe 5mm bump).

[konrad911]

Some more rusty photos







I'm seriously considering removing the A/C completely. There are at least three reasons for that:
1. I'm missing parts anyway - some corroded, some disappeared.
2. Weight saving
3. I want the 964 rear lid with auto opening and closing at 80 km/h - no place for A/C cooler.