New kid on the block

[Pete 41]

Hi

Here´s a picture of my new baby.
The car has spent most of its life in California, came to Holland in 95, and landed in Denmark in 2007 at it´s 3. owner....me.
911, 2,4 1972...everything original except steering wheel.

As told yesterday, everything is new to me including the noises.
When I start the car and the engine is cold, the car makes a strange sound, like banging to pieces of metal together. This sound doesn´t follow the engine cycles and is heard when the car eg stops for red light. After ca. 10 min, when the engine is warm the noise stops. Could it be metal expanding (exhaust?) when the engine is reaching the working temperature.

I will appreciate any advice.

Best regards Peter

[Jeff Higgins]

Very nice, Peter. Welcome to the board. Gotta love those '72's. Is it a T, E, os S?

Funny noises are almost impossible to diagnose over the internet. Having the noise stop when the car heats up should narrow your search a bit, anyway. It could very well be something on the heat exchangers or muffler, as you have guessed. Just crawl around it a bit and tap on things, wiggle things, and try to find anything obviously loose. Sometimes the muffler rattles on the straps, the heat exchangers come loose; stuff like that.

[Grady Clay]

Peter,
Welcome to the Forum.
You will find a lot of help here.

I agree that your description sounds exhaust related.

Another unique-to-’72 noise when cold is the “gurgling” of the oil tank. The oil tank bolted to the inner fender, the normal noises are transmitted to the cockpit.

Another tip; when you open the oil door, use your other hand to prevent the door from flipping open against the stop. The aluminum hinge can break off - embarrassing and a hard to find part. (The fuel door hinge is steel and doesn’t have that issue.)

You are going to want to make a serious effort to keep the 911 dry or get it very dry when it gets wet. An un-galvanized 35-year old 911 is rusting quietly as you type. I don’t think you can find a ’72 that has been driven regularly in Denmark (or Germany) since new.

Have you searched how to check the oil level?

I assume it still has MFI.

Best,
Grady

[Scooter]

Welcome to the forum. Beautiful car. You have come to the right place, Pelican and the early 911S registry are the places to be for early cars. Is that white or light ivory?

[livi]

Great to Welcome a brother from Denmark! Where are you located? I am in Helsingborg.

Lovely car! Superb model year. Any more pics - interior ?

Cheers!

[rcooled]

Nice looking car......congratulations.

Now for that noise. I had a similar issue with a '70 911 some years ago and it turned out to be a valve guide with too little clearance between the guide and valve stem. When the motor was cold, the valve would stick open intermittently and then be tapped shut by the piston at the top of it's stroke. Once the motor warmed up a bit, the guide expanded and the valve operated normally. I pulled the head, reamed out the guide and the problem was solved. A few ten-thousandths of an inch can make a difference here.