Potential 911 SC revival.

[sociallobster]

Hello all,

New poster here. I am a car enthusiast (mainly european 60's stuff) living in the US. My wife's uncle has a 1983 911 SC Targa that he pulled off the road in 2003 for an 'oil leak' (which is common from my research)

I did attempt to get it running one weekend we were visiting him in 2016 but upon inspecting the rust filled fuel tank I decided against contaminating the injection system.
When I got to the car, the first thing I did was look at the tank and it was a holy mess. Left half filled and the upper half had rusted so badly that the fuel was dark brown. I know enough about K-jet systems to know that even turning the ignition on would have ruined it so with my limited time and tools, I left it. I did get to pull the (nylon) injector lines and they looked dry and clean, which was at least a bonus.

As time goes on, my uncle in law keeps dropping more hints about me having it if I can get it running, but is equally happy to leave it in his garage is seems for now. I have said that the work it needs is more than just a weekend in his garage with some tools, and that I'd rather move it to my garage where I can take my time with it and absolutely fit a new fuel tank before doing anything else to it.

With that in mind, I'm trying to formulate a plan and parts list to get it running and then driving. Noting that it was taken off the road in 2003 for 'an oil leak'. So far I have:

Change fuel tank
Clean fuel system, new fuel filter
Remove lines by injectors and flush them with clean fuel
Flush injectors with clean fuel, check they are spraying properly

Attempt to start
Check engine starts and runs without major issue
Check and catalogue oil leaks

Repair:
Remove engine and replace all seals highlighted in the guide here:
https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...Leak_Fixes.htm
I cannot confirm, but believe the car has the original valve covers so for the moment would plan on just replacing the gaskets with a view to updating to the aluminum covers later.
Would it be simpler/cost effective to simply get a gasket set and replace everything?
New oil and filter after re-install

Assuming I replace the above, and I plan to replace any rubber components like tyres, brake hoses etc once the engine is running ok, is there anything else I should look for? I have a friend with a 1979 (I believe) SC who has all the specific tools needed to work on these engines that I can borrow, so that is not something I have to factor in.

I do realise that there will be likely other issues to address, but am concentrating on the main focal points above that should get it running and driving.

Thank you in advance. I hope to have developments on this sometime in the near future.

[30westrob]

I did a similar project 2 years ago. Low mileage 911SC parked for oil leaks.
Fuel system: drained, removed, and white vinegar cleaned the inside of the tank. Took about a week of sloshing with multiple vinegar changes. Also painted exterior grey to match.
Fuel pump replaced as it was seized
Removed fuel distributor as piston was stuck. Several days using carb. cleaner and full function was restored.

Engine: oil leaks were caused by oil return tubes. Further inspection revealed 5 broken cylinder studs. Out came the engine and disassembled to the case. New seals and 12 studs. Fortunately top end was found to be in excellent condition.

Brakes: master cylinder replaced as leaking. Rear brake calipers rebuild for s**** pistons

General: all engine tin was powder coated and hardware yellow zinc plated.
A very rewarding project with a great outcome. Go slow, and enjoy the journey. Rob

[PeteKz]

There are several threads within the past year or so about reviving cars that had been sitting for years. Search for those and read them.

It sounds like you are going into this project with some knowledge and caution, and that's good. Insist to your uncle that you need to take the car to your garage to replace and clean the fuel system, and remind him that you are about to spend at least $1000 or so on replacement parts for it, so you want to make sure it's done right. Promise him that you will get it running, and you will take him for a ride, or he can drive it, before Christmas! That should seal the deal.

How many miles on it? Is it a Euro car? I ask becuase you said the fuel injection lines are plastic, but the US SC's have steel lines in that year (along with an oxygen sensor system).

CIS is generally simple and you can figure it out with the help here. One component that will probably need to be replaced is the Fuel Accumulator (FA), unless your uncle can verify that he replaced it before it was parked. At this age, most of those are leaking internally, causing hard warm starts. But wait until you get it running first.

In general, I encourage people to take the "Roadkill Garage" approach to getting an old car running. Get it running and driving first, then drive it and find out what else it needs before you plunge down the slippery slope of improvement. It's ALWAYS better to do a driving repair/restoration, than to do major disassembly, run into delays and high costs, and risk it becoming a long-term project and garage ornament.

Do the simple stuff first: change the oil and try starting it on starting fluid. It should fire up for a second or so. If it does, then congrats, you have spark. If it doesn't, then you will need to troubleshoot the ignition system. also pull out the spark plugs and crank the engine until you get oil pressure showing on the gauge. After 20 years, the oil has probably drained out of the oil galleries and lines.

Re the old fuel and gas tank: Look closely in the tank for actual corrosion and poke it with a long screwdriver. Old fuel will leave brown stain in the tank too. If the last fuel put in the tank was in 2003, it may have been free of ethanol contamination, which absorbs water, and greatly increases the possibility of rust. If there is significant rust, just replace the tank, and you will save yourself more than $500 worth of headaches down the line. Pull the fuel pump and drain out the old fuel and any crud that collects in there. Run some kerosene or such through it and connect it to a battery both forwards and backwards to flush out any crud. Old rubber/cloth fuel lines are probably in need of replacement at this point in its life, so get new fuel lines.

Fuel injectors: After you get it running, you can pull those out and take them to a local shop for cleaning and testing. In my area, a lot of NAPA parts stores offer this service.

Don't drop the engine until you get it running. The oil leaks may be easy to fix, or at least reduce to a few drips, without dropping the engine/tranny. Dropping the engine leads to a lot of other "while you're in there" sub-projects, so avoid it for this year.

[brianlay]

Mostly agree with Pete.
Pull the fuel tank and try to get it running from a small gas can.
May need to flush the pump and change the filter depending on how many starting attempts on old fuel

[sociallobster]

Originally Posted by PeteKz

There are several threads within the past year or so about reviving cars that had been sitting for years. Search for those and read them.

It sounds like you are going into this project with some knowledge and caution, and that's good. Insist to your uncle that you need to take the car to your garage to replace and clean the fuel system, and remind him that you are about to spend at least $1000 or so on replacement parts for it, so you want to make sure it's done right. Promise him that you will get it running, and you will take him for a ride, or he can drive it, before Christmas! That should seal the deal.

How many miles on it? Is it a Euro car? I ask becuase you said the fuel injection lines are plastic, but the US SC's have steel lines in that year (along with an oxygen sensor system).

CIS is generally simple and you can figure it out with the help here. One component that will probably need to be replaced is the Fuel Accumulator (FA), unless your uncle can verify that he replaced it before it was parked. At this age, most of those are leaking internally, causing hard warm starts. But wait until you get it running first.

In general, I encourage people to take the "Roadkill Garage" approach to getting an old car running. Get it running and driving first, then drive it and find out what else it needs before you plunge down the slippery slope of improvement. It's ALWAYS better to do a driving repair/restoration, than to do major disassembly, run into delays and high costs, and risk it becoming a long-term project and garage ornament.

Do the simple stuff first: change the oil and try starting it on starting fluid. It should fire up for a second or so. If it does, then congrats, you have spark. If it doesn't, then you will need to troubleshoot the ignition system. also pull out the spark plugs and crank the engine until you get oil pressure showing on the gauge. After 20 years, the oil has probably drained out of the oil galleries and lines.

Re the old fuel and gas tank: Look closely in the tank for actual corrosion and poke it with a long screwdriver. Old fuel will leave brown stain in the tank too. If the last fuel put in the tank was in 2003, it may have been free of ethanol contamination, which absorbs water, and greatly increases the possibility of rust. If there is significant rust, just replace the tank, and you will save yourself more than $500 worth of headaches down the line. Pull the fuel pump and drain out the old fuel and any crud that collects in there. Run some kerosene or such through it and connect it to a battery both forwards and backwards to flush out any crud. Old rubber/cloth fuel lines are probably in need of replacement at this point in its life, so get new fuel lines.

Fuel injectors: After you get it running, you can pull those out and take them to a local shop for cleaning and testing. In my area, a lot of NAPA parts stores offer this service.

Don't drop the engine until you get it running. The oil leaks may be easy to fix, or at least reduce to a few drips, without dropping the engine/tranny. Dropping the engine leads to a lot of other "while you're in there" sub-projects, so avoid it for this year.

Apologies. I posted this post then life got really busy in the fall with traveling and other things. Currently, my wifes uncle and we are playing call tennis, whereby we call him and leave a voicemail, then he does the same. At some point we will catch up!

Thank you very much for the concise post. It was very helpful and definitely in line with my game plan on getting it running. I made the mistake of trying to bare metal restore a car once and 6 years into it I move country and had to leave it behind. I'm very much on board with the 'get it running, drive and enjoy while working out issues' club.

Regarding the gas tank, it's toast. With new ones available for $500 it really is a no brainer to replace.

To answer your final question, it is a Euro car! He bought it supposedly from a serviceman who got it in Germany and it still has the KM/H speedo in it. Currently reads ~48000km which is ~30k miles.

Here is the engine bay:

[PeteKz]

Good to hear you didn't ghost us.

So it's a RoW car and has only 30Kmi? Sounds like a great find.

Suggestion: Come to an agreement with him to buy it or whatever, before you put much time and money into getting it running right. I don't know the nature of your family relationship, but you want to prevent misunderstandings or the sense that one or the other did not get fair value in the exchange.