54 hours in a 69 E

Shaun @ Tru6 · 06-23-2003, 06:25 AM

I can't thank enough those that responded to my query on what to do with a 69E I found in CA while out on business. The car is a 99K mile 1969 E coupe, no rust whatsoever underneath, silver body is in great shape with never an accident and only one respray, interior should be rehabed to make a beautiful car. When testing/considering, I thought the motor was down on power, but the rest of the car being what it was, thought $6400 was a very fair price.

Now, how to get it home to Boston. My 84 was shipped cross country and I'll never do that again, so I guess that means I am driving home.

I brought the car to Gavin Autowerks in Oakland (great guy!!) to have the original alternator replaced as a precaution and have motor and trans oil changed. Gavin gave it a clean bill of health and off I went leaving at 2 PM Thursday.

1000 miles into the trip, some car god flipped a switch and the motor felt like it was putting out 30 more HP. Clearly this car had not been driven and was used to CA low octane gas. Sunoco 94 makes this car scream now and has better top gear acceleration than my 84. But what made this a special trip was that 90 mph was the standard across most states (no tickets) and the car just kept going and I pretty much ran it straight through in 54 hours total time. Never even a hiccup. It could have been a Honda S2000. It even burned less than 3 quarts the entire way.

I will definitely make this trip again!

As promised, attached are a few pics. Only the sky was particularly interesting. Took about a 100 or so, these are probably the best.

poorsha · 06-23-2003, 06:29 AM

Sounds like a fun run. Car is beautiful and the sky pics are great. I'm sure they do not do either justice.

McDaniel · 06-23-2003, 06:29 AM

How do you spell "envy"?

Thomas Owen · 06-23-2003, 06:31 AM

You will probably always look at that car differently after having made such a drive. Congratulations on the car and the trip!

dotorg · 06-23-2003, 06:37 AM

Wow, I'm so jealous... I wish I had the time to spare to be able to to that kind of cross country trip!

Car's beautiful!

Hald · 06-23-2003, 06:44 AM

Verrry Nice, Shaun. Great choice of color, too! ;^)

304065 · 06-23-2003, 07:00 AM

Beautiful, man, just beautiful. I see you were cruising just under 100[, did you ever open her all the way up? My 2.2E was good for 127 on the back straight at Watkins Glen, with an S spoiler and ducktail. Much less than the factory marketing literature claims.

Congrats on the trip and on a great find.

Shaun @ Tru6 · 06-23-2003, 07:21 AM

I was a little hesitant to open it all the way up for top speed. I hit 110 easily and what amazed me was how stable the car was, even with tall 70 series tires on 14 inch wheels.

My main fun was slowing on stretches downshifting to 3rd and going up to 7K through the gears. Felt and SOUNDED like a real race car.

Deeks · 06-23-2003, 07:30 AM

She's a peach

yelcab1 · 06-23-2003, 07:33 AM

Nice car. Good price. And to think others are still demanding $12K for a car that is worth $6400.

dotorg · 06-23-2003, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by john_cramer
Beautiful, man, just beautiful. I see you were cruising just under 100[, did you ever open her all the way up? My 2.2E was good for 127 on the back straight at Watkins Glen, with an S spoiler and ducktail. Much less than the factory marketing literature claims.

Congrats on the trip and on a great find.

127's not too shabby on the back straight there... You've got to either have really sticky tires to carry a lot of speed through the esses or you have to have a big motor. I top out a hair above that in my S4 at the Glen. (Although it is a pig weighing in at 3800lbs!)

jluetjen · jluetjen's Garage

Welcome to the cult of the MFI!

It's interesting that in spite of having "only a 2 liter" how fast these early 911's can be without all the excess baggage of the later cars. Your observations comparing the performance to your later car confirmed my own experience in a back-to-back test drive. Compare a 2.0 911 E or S's performance to any other street legal 2 liter prior to the S2000 and you won't find anything that can touch it. Not a Bimmer 2002 (even a tii!), not an Alfa, not a Capri nor any other Ford for that matter. Not even a Fiat Dino. The only possibilities are a Ferrari Dino 2.0 or maybe a Lotus. But then how many of either of them did you pass on the way home???

Are you going to register it on the 911 E registry?.

John Cramer, I know that you've spent a lot of time on the track, but I suspect that your E's "sub-par" top speed has more to do with the uphill climb and limited length of The 'Glen's straight rather then any defecit in your car. But then again we'd all agree that more is better!

VincentVega · 06-23-2003, 08:02 AM

Very cool! Thanks for posting. Great looking car.

Rot 911 · 06-23-2003, 08:13 AM

I'm just wondering why it took you 54hrs to cross the U.S. in a 911?

724doorE · 06-23-2003, 08:26 AM

Very sweet indeed!

Hope to see it on the E registry!

I once pulled 7000RPM in fifth in my then stock 2.4E way back when which calculatetes out to 150 which would be more than the factory stated 138 of my 72 so who knows. I also did have a top speed go with an SC (in the late 80's) and he could not pass me top, bottom, or in between. So there is nothing wrong with an early E

69 Soft Targa · 69 Soft Targa's Garage

Nice find Shaun! And what a great way to bring her home!

Now... How about this?

Quote:

Originally posted by 724doorE
I also did have a top speed go with an SC (in the late 80's) and he could not pass me top, bottom, or in between. So there is nothing wrong with an early E

Gotta love it!

RickC · 06-23-2003, 08:45 AM

Glad to hear it went well. Enjoy the memories!

304065 · 06-23-2003, 09:55 AM

Quote:

John Cramer, I know that you've spent a lot of time on the track, but I suspect that your E's "sub-par" top speed has more to do with the uphill climb and limited length of The 'Glen's straight rather then any defecit in your car. But then again we'd all agree that more is better!

Ahh, excellent point. The 3D map shows that the straight begins at 1550' and ends in the bus stop at 1575'. The straight is 1839' long. . . so its a 1.4% uphill grade.

Do any of you fellas have an extra "E" tach lying around? PM me if yes.

jpachard · 10:14 AM

Shaun, We should get together sometime for a beer. I still work in Cambridge!! My '72 E is silver as well. Great to hear you had such a good trip.

Cheers, James

Ps. Be carful parking that car around here...People like to "aquire' parts from cars like these, ask me how I know sometime. Looks like we will have to hold a MFIWDP meeting around here soon, I would be happy to have a coffee run/drive start from my house sometime!! John L. is up near me and I'm 15min from Crane's Beach and some great back roads.

Cheers, James

Shaun @ Tru6 · 06-23-2003, 10:50 AM

Thanks everyone for your good cheer!

James, sent you an email, we should all get together sometime and take a drive up the coast.

Kurt. 54 hours. Well I did stop for a McDonald's hot fudge sundae when I hit the Mass Pike. That ate up some time.

John, thanks for the E registry link. It will go up very soon. Need to get the CA plates back where they belong.