1977 911s - setup to start project!

[Gonbad]

Well my son and I have enjoyed driving our 911 acquired on BAT 2 years ago. It has over 200k miles on its original engine and transmission. The car had been off the road for a few years and some things had been done. The seats had been recovered and the door seals replaced along with the carpet. However the paint is horrible, the suspension is dead and the transmission is a pain in the ass.

We drove the car from New England to Texas and did the Tail of the Dragon on the way.


It was a fun father son trip.

Now it’s time to start tearing into it and first up is a mechanical restoration / hot rodding it.

In order to that we have to make some garage improvements as it’s hot in Texas AC is in order and since I have an old back so was a lift.






My garage is small as it’s the third space but it’s attached to the house and insulated. So I needed a compact lift solution that would lift higher than a Quickjack but narrower than a MaxJack. So I got the Bendpak MD6XP. I ordered it through Home Depot so the shipping was free to my local store. We picked it up with a trailer and my son’s truck. Used a couple of furniture dollies to get it off the trailer. It was a little sketchy but we did it with no issues.

We built a wood frame around the lift because my 911 was just a little low to drive over it. Here it is parked over the lift.


So now it’s time to drop the engine and transmission. Then get to teach the kid how a manual transmission works and can be rebuilt.

[ToySnakePMC]

Awesome. Please post a lot of pics and updates on the transmission rebuild. Curious what you find in there. Great time to get the kid hooked on these. And best of luck.

[rwest]

Good luck!

Be interested in seeing what you find inside the transmission.

[tdw28210]

Good luck. the 1977 is a good starting platform. Less guilt than many other years.

[sean m]

Gonbad......I'm following this as I too have 77 911S, all original as well. I'm going to need to do my shocks this summer and can't wait to see what you and your son do on this car.

I have a son with 3 boys that I'm leaving my car to. Too young to help for now but will have a blast as they get older.

Keep us posted.

[bmoyer83]

Love this! I am working on a 77 911S also. I will be following.

[chrismorse]

Hi Gonbad,
I am "restomodding" my dad's 74, and so can relate. Wish i could have done it with him. this is a great way to relate to, teach and be a better father, 6 grand kids. They are going to have to deal with automobiles for many years to come, before electricity takes over.
You have a very small space to work with. How you use it depends on what you want to do, looking forward, Just storage, or moving up, simple car maintenance, or big time maintenance.
each of these has different requirements.
happy to converse on your future use.
i am a rabid car guy, tracking a 77, 308 and hopefully soon, my dad's 74 coupe, 2.8 twin plug hotrod.

Your future plans to work with your car and your son's involvement depends on Your knowledge, skills and desire to work with your son", given the level of his desire to go down that road.
Let us know where you want to go with the car and you will have lots of help

chris


boy

[al lkosmal]

My 1st 911 was a 77S....it was great and i kept it for 15 years.....i've had a few more since, but the 77S is one of my favorites. And it was the first time I rebuilt a 2.7 engine to RS specs....so i had the stock CIS engine and a 2.7RS build and could swap them in and out as needed/wanted. good luck with your project.

regards,
al

PS: I also have a BendPac Scissor lift....invaluable

[Gonbad]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

My history with the 911 begins with my dad. His first was a 69 911S that was silver and I remember being a little kid squished in the back with my older sister while my parents drove between Dallas and Wichita for family trips. His last was a 93 RS America with the only option being A/C - Texas heat is a killer. I never drove or worked on any of them. Not to say he didn’t share his passion for cars.

I bought (paper route money ��) a basket case 1972 Corvette coupe when I was 16. My dad and I spent almost a year rebuilding everything on that car. It was a 454 big block. He chipped in some nice upgrades like aluminum heads. We did everything ourselves except paint. I had a friend whose dad was a Dallas Firefighter and he painted custom cars on his days off.

Later in life I had a 98 C5 and spent a lot of time auto-x and up at Texas World wearing that out. Had to do the maintenance and repairs on that myself otherwise I’d go broke paying others to fix it.

So I am quite capable of doing just about everything this car will need myself. My son has always been out in the garage with me working on the family’s cars. We put a 4 inch lift in my daughter’s Jeep LJ and will be doing a LS swap in it sometime next year. Plus he has been taking welding and fabrication classes in high school for two years. Plus my wife’s stepdad is an engineer and builds experimental aircraft now that he is retired. So the kid and I have lots of skills and lots of resources to get this done.

Plan right now is to rebuild the transmission, suspension, steering and brakes. Will also do some top end work on the 2.7 to fix a god awful number of oil leaks. Enjoy for a while as we decide what’s next with the motor and what do we want to do cosmetically to the interior and exterior. The engine runs strong and I suspect it has been worked on before I got it. I will double check compression and leak down to see where we stand now.

The other concurrent project that competes with mine. My sons 97 Silverado 4x4 5spd with only 58k miles on it.



Of course he had to test the lift out. I don’t mind the truck as it is absolutely mint and he treats it better than his girlfriend. In fact she is jealous of that truck. I am too as I wouldn’t mind that truck being mine.

[jac1976]

Have a 77 S here in San Antonio. Silver. Damn near identical. Similar story traveling within Texas as a kid along with my sister in the back of my dad’s 73T Targa. Awesome that you and your kid are sharing the experience. Anytime my kid and I leave the house, the first question is “can we take the Porsche?”

[Gonbad]

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/1169086-1977-911s-questions.html

It has started finally - getting ready to pull the engine and trans.