A Merry X-Mas 4 Me, Now I Really Have Some Questions
 

Oh, so you thought I came up with some stupid questions BEFORE I had a 911, well just you wait, because now I have my very own 20/ 20 car sitting in my garage, probably marking it's territory as we speak. The fun details: 70T, pretty much stock, some rust but nothing structural, interior decent, stock except Webers and oil fed tensioners, very recent total transmission rebuild and new clutch. With some rust repair and a paint job, it would be a very nice car. Cory at Planet 9Eleven in Edmonds checked it out, on his own time, and for free, and gave it his seal of approval. Now to my questions....
The car sat for a while before the previous owner purchased it, and the tires are hard as a rock, but still decent tread, should I be looking to replace these? Also, around 70 the front end has a vibration, not violent but quite noticable, what's your vote, tires or alignment? When I turn up the heater/ defrost controls all the way, the headlights dim, should I put in a relay (the wire from the headlight switch is hot as well). And finally, since it's late, could someone please decipher my oil temperature gauge, as in what position coresponds to what temperature, and what in the hell do each of the heater/ defrost controls do?

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Oh, and it's burgandy, not purple, so I don't want to hear it.

Beautifull car!!! Very nice color. As far as your tires, I wouldn't be going much over 70mph on tires that have been sitting for that long. And your vibration, the first thing I would check is the tires for balance, especially if they have been sitting for that long. After getting new tires, if it still vibrates, I would then suspect shock absorbers. Can't give any advice on the other questions, but I'm sure others will be able to. Good luck, and have fun with it!

no, its aubergine. Great color. Congrats on the find. I'd lose the tail (get a duck instead). I thought the old oil tem guages had numbers on them...at any rate, no worries unless it climbs past 9 o'clock. As for the heater, you have to figure that out yourself...right of passage ;)

Definitely get new tires if they have been sitting for a couple years...no matter what the tread looks like. That might solve your front end issue to.

I'd bet on bad tires, and I am not a gambling man. Tires are arguable the most important thing on your/our/any car, and they can very easily have ENORMOUS effects on the feel of the car when driving at any and/or all speeds.

The car is beautiful. I like that color. A duck tail would look good, but that tail is also not that far off as that is the earliest style whale tail, so was a pretty common "upgrade" for a car that was a couple of years old as this car would have been in the mid '70's.

I won't try to tell you about your heating controls since I'm sure a '70 is a little different from an '88, but I will tell you that once you understand them they work very, very well.

Somehow I got screwed out of the good gauges, Cory said he thought these might have come out of a 912 at some point, or maybe nobody sprung for the good options back in '70, I don't know. I don't have oil pressure or oil level either. The tail's days are numbered, right now I'm thinking duck or just a plain decklid, with RS front and rear bumpers, but that's down the road a little. Any tire recomendations? They're 205/60 on what I think are 15x6 Fuchs, I'll have to check on that tomorrow. Anyone try Yoko AVS dB S2? They have good reviews on tire rack.

Oh, and to hell with all of you for not telling me how to work my heater, I tried every possible combination of lever position, in conjunction with the constant yanking of the heater lever, with random results that seemed to vary each time I tried them. But I do have the manual......SmileWavy

New Tires, lose the tail
 

Matt:

I love the Aubergine color. Eggplant. Yummm. Car looks really good. I would certainly get the electrical system looked at if your headlight switch is heating up. That says that there is something electrical going on, and if you don't resolve it, you might be fighting a fire in the cockpit down the road. Not fun.

Regarding the tires, your safety is riding on those tires. I would ditch them, no matter what the tread is left on them. There are no extra points for "original" tires, only Shaking Heads from those who will question your sanity.

My opinion on the tail is LOSE IT!! I never liked the whale tails on any of the cars, even the ones that came with them originally. But I think that a whale on an early car is just not pleasing to my eye. I could see a ducktail on it, but on a T, a duckie is a little oxymoron. Doesn't go. I would ditch the tail and appreciate the lines of a nice early 911.

And for what it's worth, if you've got a manual RTFM (Read the F**king Manual) It will save you a lot of frustration.

Looks great to me, nice shape, great find.

Enjoy

larry

Larry, isn't that part of the reason a lot of people wire a relay in for the headlights?

Well, to work the heat controls: Top is fan/speed, center is fresh air (on/off) and bottom is defrost or footwell (or a blend). How much heat (temp) is on the floor. How the hell is that? :D

Matt, the upper lever of your dash heater controls is supposed to turn on or off a blower motor...if it's frozen, that could explain your lights dimming. Beware of an electrical short, burned wiring, if that's the case. The cure is a replacement motor since Porsche used one with a so-called "permanently lubed" bearing, which is known to fail. BTW, I agree with those who say lose the tail. And I'm not overly fond of the "modernized" rear bumper either. (Sorry 'bout that.) Gauges...looks like you got the standard gauge package, not the "S" gauges...

Matt: I know that people HIGHLY recommend using relays when installing H1 or H4 lights, because the Halogens draw more current. I am no EE, but I don't know that I have heard people say that you should put relays in if you are still running sealed beams. Isn't that what you have on your 70T?

Sometimes corroded connectors, sockets, bad grounds can cause the amperage to rise on any electrical circuit. In those cases a relay isn't going to solve your problem. You will still have a high draw on your wires. It is just that you might save the headlight switch and move the problem into the trunk.

larry

Oh, and about the headlights, I'd put a relay in the headlights quick, smock billowing out from the dash while driving would probably be pretty scary, and I'd also wire up a temporary voltmeter, or get one of the meters that plug into the cig lighter, just to make sure the voltage is good. I still don't understand why they didn't include a voltmeter in these things.

Great car! Probably your vibration is the tires, but at high speeds, the tail might cause you some problems too...without a front spoiler. Personally, I would backdate the rear to original. By the way...if you want your questions answered better, if they are unrelated (heat, tires, gauges), post each in different threads so they don't get lost. Congrats on a beautiful car!

Tires have a shelf life in the ozone about 8 years max, ditch the tire before you get hurt, Kevin

Looks GREAT , Matt
Enjoy!

Congratulations.http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/clap.gif http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/...s/beerchug.gif http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/.../leapfrogA.gif

Thanks for the compliments guys, trust me, it looks far better in the pics. From 20ft. going 20mph it looks great, closer you start to see the flaws, but it's nothing that can't be fixed. I posted all these questions to the same thread because if I posted every question that I currently have in a seperate thread, I'd be the entire first page of the board, which wouldn't be much fun for anyone else.

I forgot to add, the car does have halogen bulbs, not sure what type though, so could that be responsible for the hot wire to the headlight switch?

YUP - If your car has halogens, and doesn't have relays installed, get it done RIGHT NOW. That is a very safety related upgrade.

larry