noob pics & intro...finally

[disfin]

I have perused the board a couple months, but have neglected to introduce myself and "Delta". (She's silver and my wife thinks that every time I turn her on our money goes down the....). Really I'm just catching up on a handful of minor things neglected by the PO.

I bought an 87 Targa here locally in Orlando about 6 months ago. The PO had it for sale for a long time, but it showed horribly, and I mean horribly, and didn't pass the compression test. So I began my job of getting her back into the condition she deserves. After adjusting the valves and driving the hell out of it, I redid the compression test and it passed with flying colors. Two of the intake valves were too tight forcing the valve open slightly.

Luckily I found Pelican right off the bat doing just a simple google search, but I didn't notice the BBS until January. Wish I had known about it before buying the car. I have learned alot from reading all your threads and could have used your help while shopping.

Since buying it, I've done a few projects:
New targa skin
Stripped and repainted spoiler, headlight rings, and a few other body parts
New turn signal assbly
New Tires
Trunk/hood struts
New fabspeed dual out exhaust
Lots and lots of polishing and waxing
New targa/windshield seal
Adjusted Valves
Changed oil/air fil/fuel fil/plugs/cap/rotor, etc
Kenwood head unit. PO put in an alpine that died, so no I don't still have the orig.
And a dozen other little things.

Current projects:
My smokey speedometer. Feel free to follow along with the progress. smokey speedo --- Warren Hall is THE man.
Replacing my v regulator and having my alt rebuilt. Anyone know of a good place in Orlando to do the alt?

Future projects:
Partially gutting my cat. I have a bypass pipe which, combined with the dual out is a little too loud for my taste. With the cat its a little too quiet. I need middle ground! And I'm hoping that with most of the cat still intact it'll be a little louder than it is now, and I won't get the no-cat aroma we all love so much. Suggestions?

I am heading down to Sebring for the HSR races so if any fellow pelicans want to meet up down there let me know.

Here are a few pics. They are pre-fabspeed dual out addition. And a pic of the mess I made adjusting my valves.

Thanks again to all of you for your help and advice! I would have been scared to even attempt a valve adjustment without the 101 book and all your threads on the topic. Now I'm almost ready to attempt an engine drop. Almost. Really, my only goal is to have a car that runs great, that looks great and that preserves the name.

John Meyers

[JV911SYDNEY]

congrats!

[Cooper911SC]

Nice car...love to see 'noobs' diving right in! Welcome.

Coop

[Evans, Marv]

Welcome to the board. 87 is supposed to be one of the best years for these cars. Hope you enjoy it for many miles.

[cantdrv55]

Another targa lover. Woohoo! Congrats.

[450knotOffice]

A belated welcome to the forum! I expect we'll see more of you around here.

Nice Carrera, btw. Silver is really growing on me these days.

[lonewolf]

welcome

[haycait911]

is that carpet on the garage floor!!??? nice, clean, car. welcome! Don.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Another welcome, you'll never regret it!

[Dueller]

Welcome to the affliction.

Nice ad for Wayne's 101 book there

[slodave]

Originally posted by haycait911
is that carpet on the garage floor!!??? nice, clean, car. welcome! Don.

That's a rubber strip, glued to the concrete. The door closes on it, hopefully keeping water/dirt out.

disfin: Very nice car!

Dave

[disfin]

Thanks for the kind words. I like the car too! Targa's in Florida are so much fun.

Yes that is carpet in my garage and a rubber strip sealing it down. I don't like it in there unless I'm walking out there barefoot to grab a tool or something. Otherwise I'd like to have a nice sealed concrete.

I'm tooling around with the idea of building another garage on the side of the house to give me more room to work and a better, more organized work space. Of course as a DIY guy I want to build it myself, or at least GC it. We'll see.

JM

[kwm]

Wow great job. I am starting to feel bad about myself. I will have had my 83SC a full year next month and I have not gotten to half the stuff you have yet. How long did you say you have had the car again?

So far I have done:
Porsche short shift, rebuild all calipers, new alt., new MSD igniton, new oil level sending unit (didnt fix the problem), removed alot of stuff I don't need/want to lighten and back date and that is about it.... Keep DIY and keep posting pics. Thanks

[DaddyGlenn]

Very nice Dis. Don't be affraid of an engine drop. When you're ready let me know and I'll drive over and lend a hand.

[zrdstr3]

Nice car, you've been busy. I 've had my Targa over a month and all I've done is replace the headlights, stereo and trunk carpet. I'd love to hear that fabspeed exhaust, been considering getting a 2 out.

[disfin]

Glenn,
I saw your thread on your engine drop, and I am impressed. Your car looks great, and very clean. I would love to have help when it comes time for a drop.
John,
Where are you in Florida? If you are in thet area let me know and you can check out the exhaust. It is quite subdued with the cat installed. Very loud with the bypass installed. I'll probably just keep changing it back and forth every few months. Someone just posted a DIY 2 out muffler mod. Actually sounds like a good idea and more cost effective.
KWM,
You've got me beat, I've never done a short shifter or rebuilt calipers. Sounds like fun though! I think the calipers are in Waynes book. Not sure about the shifter.

FL guys, let me know if you are in the area and we can grab a beer or coffee and swap stories.

[zrdstr3]

I am located in Kissimmee. Maybe we can get together after Bikeweek, the Targa has to rest next week while I get to ride the Harley.

[disfin]

Well, I had a few more projects this month. Some of which I would recommend.

I had a lot of momentum going after successful completion of my speedometer and alternator projects. Both are functioning fine now, so I felt like I still needed to be doing something to the car. I think this is a sickness.

First there was the installation of a mechanical brake light switch. I noticed my brake lights required more and more pressure to come on to the point that they were barely engaging. I researched on this board I found out that alot of people have installed a parallel mechanical switch as the hydraulic ones tend to fail. Using this thread I sourced the part from carquest, and installed using Andrew Bunson's method.
Damned BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH sucks in a dangerous way. Any better solution???

Then I installed a momo "race" steering wheel with the L231 hub. Its a perfect fit, and makes driving much more enjoyable. It looks great too. I really couldn't stand my factory wheel as it didn't look good and was hard to grip in cornering.

Finally, I wanted to fill out my rear flares. After looking at prices of 8's and 9's, and considering I just put brand new tires on my 6's and 7's I figured I give spacers a try first. Of course I'd much rather have a nice set of 7's and 9's - I'm jealous of all you guys with them already. I bought 21mm porsche hubcentric spacers on ebay and 67mm wheel studs from PP ($120 total). Using RoyB's tutorial Wheel Stud replacement...A pictoral..
I installed my new spacers. Threw on some new brake pads while I was in there. As a side note I smacked my hand so hard on the underside of the car when the socket came off the caliper bolt, that I thought i broke a bone in my hand. Its still sore.

I'd recommend these projects to anyone considering them. They are all fun, inexpensive, and take a nights work.

John, let me know when you'd like to check out the exhaust. Send me a PM.

[rdk409]

NICE! I hope to be in your situation in a few months...

Keep up the great work...

[azasadny]

Congrats! Beautiful car!!