Bought 82 SC, lots of questions for experts

Hello everyone,

Well I just flew out to Milwaukee and picked up the 1982 SC I bought. Drove 1000 miles back to PA without any major problems, the car seems pretty tight and well cared for.

I do have a few questions concerning some things I want to take car of before any damage is done. I'm hoping some experts out there can help me out.

1) How do I verify that the Carrera tensioners are present? I saw a receipt, but I'd like to be able to pick out the oil lines and just reassure myself that they are there. Same with the pop-off, where is it normally installed?

2) Does anyone know the best source for AC lines? I need to replace the one going from the rear condenser to the front. I assume "barrier" hose is best for 911s. I'd also like to upgrade to the Seiko rotary compressor if anyone knows a good source.

3) The PO installed a front-mounted oil cooler which kept the temp below 180 the whole trip, except when I was caught in traffic outside Chicago and the temp spiked to 250! I'd like to put a thermostatically activated electric fan behind the cooler, but I have no idea what brand cooler it is. Does anyone know of any generic set-ups that will pull some air through the coolers when I'm not moving?

4) The PO also put in the H4 headlight upgrade, which is confusing me a lot. The low beams seem to work OK, but the activating the high beams causes the right beam to point up at about a 45 degree angle with an extreme brightness, while the left bulb may be activating a fliament, but no noticeable light is added to the low beams.

5) Finally, the shifting of the tranmission is very difficult, specifically getting from 2nd to 3rd. Since this is the first Porsche I've driven, I'm not sure if it's normal, as the mechanic said it was. It's like there are no springs help guide the shifter into the next logical gear as in my other, more modern cars. There is some spring resistance when moving the shifter to the right, and 3rd is found when I push about 1 cm past the beginning of this resistance. There is no resistance at all moving the shifter to the left side of the pattern and the shifter moves freely left and right even when it is left in a gear. I've seen a lot of spring helper kits and replacement bushings advertised to correct this condition. Does anyone have any experience with this feeling and what may be the best solution?

I apologize for all the long questions, I just want to make sure I don't screw anything up on a car I hope will be with me for a long time.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Olivier


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Olivier Hecht
1982 911SC

[This message has been edited by ohecht (edited 05-26-2000).]

Congratulations. I took the plunge in October, and WOW are these great cars.

Take the air filter off. the popoff is like a toilet lid on the area with fins.

Open the deck lid. Look at the cam chain covers, at the ends of the cylinder heads on the part of the motor closest to the rear bumper. There are oil lines running from the engine case out to the cylinder heads. Look for smaller, metal lines branching off from these lines, down the chain covers and going into the chain covers. Voila, hydraulic tensioners.

I know nothing about A/C but the non-porous type sounds best.

Don't touch the glass on the halogen bulbs, but you might want to take the lamps and bulbs out for inspection. Maybe installed wrong.

The transmissions in these are a bit 'notchy.' Use Swepco 201 gear oil. Really. Big difference. Shift bushings may be needed, particularly if it's hard finding gears when shifting.

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'83 SC

Hi Olivier,

Congrats on your new acquisition!

Here are a few tidbits:

(1) You should see oil lines around the chain housings, like this:
If you don't the pressure fed tensioners are not there.

(2) Check Pelican Parts first, of course, remember that they can get tons of parts not necessarily listed on the web site. Otherwise, major parts houses like Stoddard or Vertex should be able to get them.

(3) I'll leave this to the gurus, but I am not aware of many "generic" fan-fed oil cooler setups for the SC. There may be a problem with the oil thermostat on your car if it hit 250 in just a brief spat of traffic.

(4) Your headlights may have wiring problems, but first make sure that the bulbs are both good -- the H4's are dual filament bulbs I believe -- and also they are aimed properly. It sounds like they may just be aimed way too high and possibly the left bulb highbeam filament is out.

(5) My experience is primarily with the lighter-shifting (but more fragile) 901 trans, but the 915 is generally known for being a strong but not terribly "graceful" tranny. You may have shift fork adjustment or synchro problems, esp since the rough shifting is in 2nd/3rd gear which get the heaviest use in most street driven cars.

I hope that is a start -- I'm sure you will hear more from the real p-car gurus soon -- enjoy the car!!!

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[This message has been edited by campbellcj (edited 05-27-2000).]

Ditto on the Congratulations! Welcome to the "club" First thing you need to do, if you have not done so, is join the Porsche Club of America. (www.pca.org) And then become active in your local chapter and get to know local folks. In addition to this and other similar boards, local knowledge of good mechanics is invaluable particularly if you don't have the time nor inclination to do the heavy work yourself.
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Oil Coolers - do a search on this board - there are a number of threads addressing this area. Also do a search on the www.pcapotomac.org Porsche Talk board. Discussion there as well.
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You need to determine if the cooler installed by the PO is a later model Carerra cooler or a third party cooler. If its a Carerra cooler, you can purchase a fan from Mocal in Florida. As I understand it however, unless the cooler is from 87 or 88, that had fans as stock, you will have to use a manual switch to operate the fan. This is my view has advantages since you only really need the fan sitting in heavy traffic (or coming off the track after a hard DE).
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Another addition is an Oil Cooler Scoop - being sold by Pelican - go to this link, and then to "page 3" Several of us are back ordered on the item. http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/911M/por_911M_oilsys_main.htm -
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chuck
83SC

Did you buy the white 82 SC coupe with all the good upgrades, I looked at that car on the internet?

Yes,

It's the one from Brookfield, WI with a RUF style spoiler and oil cooler, turbo tie rods, shock tower braces, H4s, C2 wheels, etc.

Olivier

Have fun, I bought an 82 coupe ayear or so ago and I love it. My brotherwas looking for a car and I called about your car. We were just to lazy to go get it. I've spent the last little while installing all the parts your car has on it. You have done well. Happy motoring.

Thanks, it really is a great car. It has an Earl's oil cooler in the front spoiler that I'd like to add a fan to for occasional traffic jams like the one I hit in Chicago on the way back. There doesn't seem to be a lot of room behind the cooler. Does anyone know of a source for such a fan?