The ultimate 'lightweight Porsche'!! Not so much restoration as replacement! Maybe 200lbs of the original car remaining when you're done? All kidding aside, best of luck. If you can save this poor neglected car all the power to you!

PS: why can't they make a car cover out of the same stuff the documents go into? Those docs are in very good shape ;)

Lots and lots of welding to do...

Looks like a fun challenge Shaun! ANYthing can be fixed....it is just metal. Anyone in this hobby that thinks of money alone and may not posses the required skills, would not want to touch this, but as a fellow DIY junky, I can appreciate the desire to bring something like that back to life. No doubt you will score some inexpensive spare parts cut from donor cars and will have fun dealing on that stuff.

If you finish it, you know you will feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment. Have at it! :)

*****...my 69 S was born yesterday by comparison, and that is giving Shauns S the benefit of optimism.


The cost is going to be horrendous...better to turn 10 cars like this one and then buy a nice clean example with the proceeds...

No mention of the motor...does it still exist? If the motor is not original Shaun you are completely out to lunch on this one.

Let us call this Shauns Albatross.

hope, change...hope, change...;)

Hell!!!!!!:eek:, The rust on my front wings seems minor now since I looked at them pictures :D

Thanks Tim and Embraer for the good words! Geez, for a minute, I thought this had become a Viper forum.:D


Tim, you really nailed it, "Looks like a fun challenge Shaun! ANYthing can be fixed....it is just metal."

Oh Ted, I can guarantee you this car will be on the road before yours.;) :D Motor is original. deep 6s are original, matched set of 5 datecoded with nary a scuff, and of course all documentation since the day it arrived in the States, and my guess is that it's the only Velvet Green 69S in the world.

Cost won't be so bad. I figure $40K to make it flawless in every way, which is twice Darryl's 912 cost to date. Spread out over 4+ years, I think it's doable. Having built a track car from scratch, refurbished every part on my E for well under $10K, and parted cars for typically a 300% profit, I'm not so worried about the cost to restore. The motor will be the only BIG expense, budgeting $15K for that alone, but after that, it's manageable.

You got it my friend. But it will be before that. You'll need pieces/parts ecoated/powdercoated way before that!

Going to use this thread or start a new one as a journal for all of us?

I will be using this thread, no doubt about that! My next tasks are to get the motor out and finish pulling the car apart. That covers the next 4-6 weeks or so.

Mine's coming in at 40k including purchase price. I'm going to go $50k for yours - due to needing a top resto, more metalwork, and increased parts prices. Let's say $15k engine, $10k paint, $10k metalwork, $8k interior including top and sport seats, $2k trim restoration, and the rest in parts.

That sorta pales in comparison to the current sales prices of these cars. A 69S went for just under $200k in private sale recently. Even if you can only get half that when you're done (if you even want to sell), you'll still come out smelling like a rose.

OK, somebody start a website with a countdown clock to 2013!!

Good luck Shaun!!

Boy you sure have your work cut out for you on this one. I'm not sure I'd put the
self leveling frt back on. Even Porsche recommend replacing it.

Well, that's a start... :p


Just kidding. I've seen projects of a similar caliber successfully completed. Then again, I've seen enough that haven't as well. Wish you loads of perseverance!

Sure are some tough critics out there.

Yes, it's one of the biggest projects I've ever seen, but it is a high spec 69 S.

Hang in there Shaun, it will be something when you're done.

Regards,

Jerry

If that were a T it would be toast. The fact that it is an "S" means it can be saved, but don't expect to get rich doing so. Is the engine there? Gearbox? Harder to justify spending $50K without them.

Good on you Shaun. Good luck with this project. I will look forward to reading about your progress. What is that canister in the rear of the left front wheel well?

That's the air conditioning system's receiver/drier.

Brian

Thats nothing compared to some VW Micro Busses I have seen them save...

Wow...what a job.

subscribed

Shaun, I would love to stop by and see this some time! I work in Cambridge.

cheers,
Michael

John, matching engine, gearbox there, 5 date-coded original Fuchs in excellent, though weathered condition and all literature since new.

I'm sure 1 or 2 Speedsters went the way of the "hard to justify" brand sawzall, but this car won't.

I'll go so far as to predict 5 years from now 73.5 CIS T's in this shape will be saved.

Hey Michael, sounds good. send me an email later this week to plan for some day next week if that works for you.

That works great and will do.

Cheers,
Michael

That works great and will do.

Cheers,
Michael

Shaun, what a fantastic adventure! You should document everything and write a Porsche resto book!

Good luck

John from Norway

+1....

I've got 4 912's squirreled away ranging from poor to good.

I know of a 356 Super 90 GT that Ned McDaniel (4 cam guy) restored that made this car look like a concours candidate....

Take lots of pics Shawn, and congrats for finding a good candidate...

E

thank you John, I can't tell you how happy that I am the rear seats are in good shape!:D

If I get to 90% of your cars, and Eric's^^^, this car will be stunning. All about the journey, that's what I'm looking forward to.

Eric, I will be taking hundreds of pics and may ask you a question from time to time if OK.

Shaun,
My hat's off to you. I won't discourage you. I recently seriously considered a car of this caliber. It was the 743rd 912 ever built. And on top of a relatively early 1965 production date it was right hand drive to boot. I don't know how it ended up stateside but it enticed me. Then I spent about a dozen hours with it and I chickened out. But there are plenty braver than I and I put it on Ebay for $9.12 opening bid. It ended up going to $510, which isn't a lot. But when you add in the shipping across the pond to England the buyer is going to be into it for a fair bit.

Once I had made the sale, I got curious as to who my buyer was. I dug up his previous shop which was a 3 generations old Bugatti restoration business. Once I saw some of the projects on their website, I knew my little 912 had found a worthy home that would do right by it in a way that I could only dream of. Here's the pictures I put up on Ebay.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...1/IMG_0714.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...1/IMG_0715.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...1/IMG_0716.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...1/IMG_0720.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...1/IMG_0719.jpg

What you see is what the buyer got. No engine. No tranny. No interior to speak of. It's your most basic roller. Oh, and did I mention that it's going to be an FIA 2l class historic racer when they are done with it? :cool: And based on all the dirt on my garage floor and everywhere on this car I appears that it already had a life as a rally car. I have never torn down a car so filthy, and I have torn down a few in my day.

Embraer; Post picture of TR!

Shaun,
Get it bead blasted and primed quickly. Then evaluate!

Ju can doo eeet!

Very much looking forward to seeing this come together!

That looks like a big job; but the car is in better shape than I'd expected given it'd been sitting in a field in Texas for so long.

Good luck on your restoration, I'm sure the end result will justify all the money you dump into it :).

Made a little progress yesterday, got the car on roller wheels and Fuchs de-tired ready for cleaning and storage. Got the motor out too.

I've had cars that were seemingly cursed, this one appears to be blessed:

1. Every nut and bolt in pulling the motor, rear bumpers, etc. backed out like it was a new car, not something that sat outside since 1991.

2. the motor is not seized. pulling the pressure plate off, it spun (millimeters) freely. I'm considering rebuilding the motor myself this winter. It's possible that splashing a gallon of diesel down the intake at each stop bringing it home helped.

3. Rear package shelf is as solid as the day it rolled off the line. Just some minor surface rust on the motor bay side.

4. Fuchs look like they need a thorough cleaning vs. a Weidman restoration. Black is dull, but may be able to bring that back

Some pics

Fuchs goodness (motor is from my E)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1215270061.jpg


Afternoon sun
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1215270126.jpg


Motor out
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1215270197.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1215270278.jpg


Underside of rear package tray
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1215270332.jpg



Many parts look close to new.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1215270370.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1215270419.jpg


Might be able to reuse the clutch disc. pressure plate and flywheel show virtually no wear
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1215270519.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1215270586.jpg


Ready to go to storage

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1215270632.jpg

Wow! That is a lot of natural root-beer brown metallic on your car. I just finished a VW baywindow that was pretty much like that. It can be done, good luck! I can't wait to see the finished product.

Very awesome Shaun. Gonna go full restoration or hot rod, RS/RSR or some other variant?

this is going to be a straight restoration right down to the proper hardware (there were 5-6 different bolt suppliers over the early years) and anything that just needs to be cleaned more than it needs to be replaced will be so. I'm not a fan of just replacing everything and voila, you have a restored car. Some challenges will be selecting appropriate paints, the rear trailing arms for example. When I did the E's arms, it's future including track duty, I glass beaded them down to bare metal and POR15'd them. You can hit'em with a hammer (yes I tested) and the paint is fine. these I've got to be as close as possible to factory original.

Good for you Shaun. That's one hell-of-a-project. SIgning-up!

great. will follow in amsterdam.

You gotta love the enthusiasm Shaun!

How are you gonna do the bolts? Just replate them?