1986 911 M491 Targa FL to UT "Top Gear Challenge"

[winglesss]

Pakled motion restored?

[porsche930dude]

If you cut the old crimps off you can put in a new hose piece with regular clamps

[famoroso]

Spoiler alert: we did finish the road trip, but not in any way we'd originally envisioned. Stay tuned for the reveal.

So, we hit the Nighthawk basement music bar in the Hotel Kansas City (purely for scientific purposes of course) as we felt compelled to test the ambient noise levels (and the Old Fashioneds + Scotch). Guess what? The club was quieter, with the DJ spinning, than the inside of the Targa at 80 mph. Doh!





Hotel Kansas City's idea of Valet Parking (gee, thanks)...



Fueling up in Elsworth, Kansas. Note the Post-It Note signage (in case you've never had a hot dog before). We did not partake.



If this were a slot machine... Wet 'N Wild, GENUINE [emphasis added] Horny Goat Weed and Pandora's Box ...would be a total jackpot!



Mobile workstation...



I lost four pounds during the trip. #BeefJerkyDiet



Deutsche auto. Deutsche Gummibärchen. Richtig.



Random act of Rennbow parking at Walmart in Hays, KS...

[famoroso]

Today in short attention span theater, I present... this SWEET lil' Venetian Blue rig that was street parked in downtown Kansas City on Saturday morning...

[Mr. Merk]

I believe that car is/was for sale here on Pelican recently. Moved out from California to KC

EDIT: Found it!

1988 Venetian Blue 3.2 Carrera Coupe, Kansas City, Missouri

[Joesmallwood]

THIS IS AWESOMEEEEEE! It looks like sooo much fun!

[famoroso]

So, this happened somewhere near Brewster, KS...



Man cannot live on Beef Jerky and Gummi Bears alone...



9+ hours and 603 miles later, we rolled into Boulder, feeling strong (but smelling like gasoline)...



When we rolled into my friend's house in Boulder, they left this for us. Komos Cristallino Tequila, UH-mazing! Also, ZBiotics probiotic drink, that you drink before you drink, to prophylactically avoid a hangover (can recommend)...



Dinner at Centro Kitchen, after sniffing around the car for an hour, post reaching our destination that evening.



Topo Chico toast, which we've done with every car pickup roadtrip so far (992 Carrera S from Las Vegas to SLC and Ram TRX from Omaha to SLC)...



Since we couldn't do anything to repair the fuel leak on Sunday, we opted to hike Mount Sanitas in Boulder. We both needed proper footwear however, so off to the Boulder Running Company for some flash new Salomans. Twinsies!



Sniffing around the engine compartment. Note the Black Diamond adjustable prop rod. AGAIN with the red cooling fans.



View from the top of Mount Sanitas trail. Magical.



Sunday evening supper at Oak at Fourteenth. So damn good. The Seoul Sunset (Suerte Blanco, passion fruit, Coco Lopez, gochujang, agave, bonfire bitters, lime) was surprisingly good and, surprisingly, didn't have anywhere near as sweet a flavor profile as expected...

[boogieman065]

Thanks for the spot! I hope you enjoyed Kansas City.

[maverck]

This thread is AWESOME!! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

[ahoch]

Inspiring thread. Thanks for sharing your trip!

[darrin]

Would love to hear how this ended up for you all and how you ended up handling/resolving your fuel line mishap in boulder

[famoroso]

Originally Posted by darrin

Would love to hear how this ended up for you all and how you ended up handling/resolving your fuel line mishap in boulder

Well, we can title the next chapter of your intrepid Porsche Missionaries' saga... "Two Cars, One Road Trip"

Before we get there though, let's go to Monday morning, where we brought the car to two local Boulder, CO independent repair facilities, hoping that at least one of them would channel their inner sense of adventure, get on our (road) trip energy and help us pitch a save.


]

Will the real M491 please stand up?




Alas, the first shop was overbooked / understaffed and the second shop was just too busy. They said that they "might" be able to look at the car the next day, but no promises. To their credit, they did get the car up on the lift and quoted us ~$2,500 to replace...

911 356 066 08
911 356 062 14
911 356 202 03

...but wouldn't be able to get to it for at least a few days.

During which time, we worked for a few hours from my friend's back deck...






Ultimately, we decided to transport the 911 to me in San Diego (where I'll work on the entire punch list, including fuel lines, over the winter and deliver the car, cocked / locked / ready to rock to SLC in the Spring). Lining up a transport became a bit of it's own saga. More on that later.

In the meantime, my friend opted for an impulse vehicle purchase, because... The Road Trip Must Go On!...

This was a good sign when we arrived at the dealership...



This was an even better sign as we exited the dealership. Anyone care to venture a guess as to what we left in?...

[draperjojo]

Looks like a fun trip. I use to live in the Sarasota/Bradenton area, but in Utah now. I'm currently working thru issues on a 83 911 Cab that I trailered home a month ago. It was parked years ago in Palm Springs due to a fuel leak, electrical troubles, top shredded, etc. Parts arrive weekly for this car... lol.

[targa72e]

Looks like a Audi. I think it's a TT RS.

John

[famoroso]

Originally Posted by targa72e

Looks like a Audi. I think it's a TT RS.

John

Yes John, it is indeed an Audi!...




...RS!...







And a quiet one at that (at least on the inside)...






Not a TT, but it is a twin turbo...




...a "Gray Station" one to boot:

[famoroso]

It has been awhile, including RR7 (which was UH-mazing), and work travel to NY, London, etc. I realized that I needed to update this thread for the conclusion of the road trip and plans going forward.

So, yeah, once we pivoted to transporting the '86 Targa (which became its own saga, including the first driver, who did not speak a word of English, loading the car into the trailer at midnight, only to have his truck immediately breakdown, unload the car and leave it for another transporter a few days later) an Audi RS6 was procured to complete the original road trip...







First mod complete!...




All loaded up and ready for the final leg from Boulder to SLC...







1,086 miles later, I met the transporter at my Uncle's house in North County San Diego (seven miles from my place)...




Up on the lift, and with the right tools & parts, I made the temporary fuel line fix (that we went to two shops looking for in Boulder) in thirty minutes. In retrospect, we should have just found an old school gas station that was willing to "get on our trip" and do the temporary fix for us. We woulda been back on the road in an hour.

Replacement fuel lines are atop the to do list.







Someone had buggered up the threaded bosses for the sway bar mount (and mismatched the hardware), so took ~15 mins to clean up the threads.




A few weeks and 3,082 total miles later, displayed her at the PCA SDR concours at Spanish Landing Park..




The to do list is being refined and parts are on order. I'll work on the car in the interim, but the plan is for the owner & his wife to come out to SoCal for a road tour at some point this winter and then re-home the car in Utah come the Spring.

[famoroso]

Update

The red 1986 continues to deliver stylish smiles per mile...








In October of '24, she gained a stablemate in the form of a 1988 3.5L Motec overly athletic younger sibling...

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1988-porsche-911-carrera-targa-



Another epic road trip ensued to get the car ~875 miles from Columbia Valley Luxury Cars in Redmond, WA. It was far shorter than the Red '86's journey and less eventful (in that the '88 completed the journey under it's own power).

The trip itself started Friday evening at the 000 Turbo 50 party in Northern California, followed by an EARLY AM flight from SFO to SEA and the ensuing road trip that had us stopping in Boise, ID the first night, hitting a PCA social / charity fundraiser event, catching up with Porsche friends the next morning, swapping keys for an '89 930 and '78 SC Targa 3.2 SS hoon and then making the rest of our way to Park City.







Anywho, fast forward to this past weekend and I got to spend some time with both cars. Dueling Porsche 911 M491 Targas, as it were. Hanging out in Midway, UT on Fri & Sat, for Swiss Days, followed by a Sunday Funday run over Guardsman Pass.

The cars represent two VERY different air cooled Porsche 911 driving experiences... 915 vs. G50, ~225 hp 3.2L Motronic vs. ~360 hp 3.5L Motec, standard curb weight vs. fighting weight, Pirelli P7s vs. Bridgestone Potenza Sports, etc, etc.

[famoroso]