With all the hoopla surrounding mid years lately, I’ve decided to change my Pelican name from Rex Walter to Walter_Middie. I just finished a 15 month rebuild on the car, and thought this would be a good time to set my number of posts back to zero, start with a clean slate, and as is tradition, show my car in my first post.
When I bought my 1975 911s, I didn’t know what I was getting into. I didn’t know it had a 2.7L with a reputation for pulling head studs out of the block, I didn’t know what a middie was, I didn’t know what impact bumpers were, and I didn’t know what long hoods were or that I had CIS. I had fixed up several cars, including the Triumph TR3 that I had just sold to finance my next European sports car. The TR3 was a good car – I had fixed everything that was wrong with it, rebuilt the engine and transmission, recovered the seats, put in new carpet, and painted it red with black racing stripes. The car drove great, but the suspension was crude and the car would slide around at relatively low speeds, and with only a 4-speed, it really wasn’t comfortable on the freeway – but a lot of fun on the back roads. What finally drove me to sell the car was the top – or lack there of. It had a top, sort of. It had something that you could erect over the seats, given enough time. But with it up, it rained inside the car almost as hard as it rained outside the car. In the PNW, that’s a problem. I needed a coupe. My wife spotted the Porsche by the side of the road one day. I was off with my buddies building race cars, and they couldn’t believe my wife was calling to tell me about a car for sale. I had been showing my wife pictures of all these crazy European sports cars that I wanted but she didn’t like any of them – except the Porsche – that was the one car that we both agreed on. The newer Porsches had changed enough that a 1975 911s had that definite classic car appeal. I didn’t want anything with spoilers or hood scoops or flared fenders – I wanted a clean understated look that this car had. I had looked at lots of used cars, and knew what to look for. This car was used, but in good shape with no rust and no sign of the PO doing poor repairs, like strange wiring hanging down under the dash or running through the engine compartment. The price was good – too good – I had to buy it right away or it was going to be gone. No PPI - I was lucky. As usual with a “new” car, I spent a couple of weeks with it up on jack stands, checking the brakes, clutch, changing all the fluids, giving it a complete tune-up, replacing burnt out bulbs, and generally fixing anything that was wrong with it. Once it was on the road and seemed reliable, I sold the SAAB 900 that I was driving to work as it was just boring to drive, and everyone would pull out in front of me – it received little respect from other drivers. The Porsche was different. People would wait until I passed by, no-one would cut in front of me, I could see other drivers hesitate before getting in front of me on the freeway – I like that. My wife’s first outing in the car was a trip from Seattle to the 50th Monterey Historic Races. The car ran very hot, as it has no external oil cooler, but it never skipped a beat. We drove down in a caravan of Porsches, but my wife and I were the only ones that camped in a tent at the edge of the race track, so that we were awakened by the cars warming up before 1st practice. This was my first clue that most Porsche owners are not necessarily car guys. I still remember standing at the fence surrounding Laguna Seca and watching Hurley Haywood drive a 914 from the back of the pack to win on the last corner, coming from impossibly far behind.
I drove the Porsche to work everyday for the next 5 years. Very little ever went wrong with the Porsche. I changed the oil, tuned it up, learned how to do valve adjustments, but I really didn’t spend much time or money keeping the car going. It was very reliable.
After 160,000 miles without an external oil cooler, it was finally time for an engine rebuild. I had a couple of pulled head studs, and I could have re-torqued the nuts and driven for another few miles, but the paint was chipped, the seats were torn, and it was time for a rebuild. This is a picture of the car all back together after 15 months of rebuilding the engine, windows out paint, and a new interior. It was during the engine rebuild that I found Pelican, and I am very impressed with the member’s depth of knowledge and willingness to help.
With the recent rebuilds of several mid year (MY) cars, I am proud to be one of them. Being a MY makes my car different and unique from most Porsche’s. When I go to local Porsche events, I usually have the only mid year. My car retains its original engine and transmission, which may not help a mid year much with re-sale value, but it’s a standard for all well kept, well restored cars of all types.
When I was rebuilding my car, I’d tell people that I was buying parts or service from, that I wanted to drive this car to work everyday. They’d look at me like I was crazy, and say, “You can’t be serious”. But I remember something that John Walker said to me while I was fretting over my ability to rebuild the engine – he said, “It’s just an engine”. I have extrapolated that to, it’s just a car. Life’s too short to drive an SUV to work. I’m taking the Porsche. When you see me go by, you’ll know it’s me by my wave, a headlight flash, and the ***** eating grin that I can’t wipe off my face.
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