Yeah.. doesnt look nice to everyone ;) And probably not the next buyer either.. ;)

Well, luckily, I am building this car for myself and not the next buyer. It makes good sense to me with what I envision for the usage of the area. Besides, I think it looks nice, and will look even better when I get it finished up. I'm not building a concourse car or a racer, just a great, reliable, fun car to tool around in whenever I get the chance.

Good attitude.

Did you have fun with Dave today...okay, how could you not? That was my former SC you were stripping.

Yeah, I had a great time with Dave. Even though it's a shame to see what happened to his car, I was a great learning experience for me to poke around in there. It answered many of the questions I had in terms of obviously hacked together electrical stuff in my car. Got some good parts that I will be giving a nice home to as well.

I need to find more people nearby that will let me poke my head into their cars. ;)

It has been quite a while since I updated this thread. I have been busy working and such, but have made some good progress on the car.

Rich76_911s pics of the rust on his car inspired me to take the front end of the car apart to inspect and give a proper cleaning. It is amazing how much dirt gets caught in those fenders. Thankfully, after a good power washing, there wasn't any rust in there.

But, just because fate seems to want me to replace everything on this car, I noticed that the washer fluid reservoir fill hose had been rubbing against the tire and had a several inch section that was paper thin. And the tubing to the fuel vapor catcher thing was rotted with the smaller tube being completely severed (that explains the occasional smell of gas near the front fender). Luckily it was easy to pull it all apart, get some fresh tubing and reinstall with some new stainless steel hose clamps. BTW, that washer reservoir is the damn biggest one I have even seen, they must have lots of dirt roads in Germany.

I then got back to my main task of rewiring the car. I got out the trusty multimeter and verified all of the lines in every loom as well as the ground points. I had already pulled out the fuse panel for some cleanup and fresh paint. So, I took on the task of re hooking up all of the wiring per the Bentley schematics. That took several days. While I was at it, I replaced all of the fuses and relays. The PO seems to have moved a few wires around, and a couple others were simply not hooked up and tucked behind the panel. I'm glad to say that everything is working correctly now. I also picked up the headlight relay from our host and put that in for good measure.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1245949789.jpg

The only change I made was running a new 14ga to the cig lighter and giving it a dedicated 15a fuse. Seems that the old line in the loom was cut and a new 20ga wire put in it's place with a direct connection to the battery (no fuse). It was just begging for a meltdown.

I threw in new bulbs all around since I was in there.

My CEET tubing came in, so I was able to also tackle the fresh air blower system. I broke open all the distributor pieces and game them a good soap and water cleaning. They can get pretty nasty in there. I then cut up the tubing and strapped it all together with some stainless steel clamps. I also pulled the control unit and gave it a good cleaning and adjusted the contact points. Seems that it previously wasn't able to reach the fastest speed. This is what it looks like now:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1245950684.jpg

I'm still having a great time!

You know, this guy is good.

Very good!

And here you all had me believing that stock 911 wiring harnesses were supposed to be jumbled messes . . .

Some idiot hack did the same thing to my passenger side footwell area too...giant hole into the smuggler's box. I'm going to use some paper to make a template and then cut it out of a chassis we have lying around here and either weld it or silicone it in place.

It looks like you're having a blast repairing / restoring / customizing the car.

Those hoses in the driver side wheel well all like to be rubbed by the tires I think. I just pulled the washer reservoir and the associated hosing out of the fender completely so I can put something inside the trunk instead.

time
 

Man what I would give to have that kind of time on my hands....... Looks awsome! You're making me want to dig in. Good luck with the rest and keep on posting.

Subscribed

Thanks for the nice comments!

I thought about doing that as well (without the other chassis sitting around). When I got in there and gave it a good look, I noticed that it wasn't really a flat area that would lend itself to easily patching like that. So, I got myself a hunk of 20ga aluminum sheet from the hardware store. I put it down there and proceeded to pound the proper contours into it with about an inch of overlap on all sides. I then scuffed up the overlap areas and gave it some JB Weld. I fashioned some clamps out of 1" wooden dowels with lag bolts sticking out one end and used 6 of them to brace it into place while the JB set. I then hit all the smuggler's box side edges with some (lots) silicone sealant. It set up nice and solid and looks good from the inside. Here is the ugly side of it:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1245963079.jpg

Pretty sure it will be water tight now. I'll just hit the passenger cabin side with some black paint when I give it all a fresh coat. Most of it is covered by the floor boards anyway.

I love the way you cleaned up the fresh air blower system. my car came with A/C and I have removed as much as I could. I always wondered what an SC that didnt have A/C should look like under the front hood.

excellent work btw...from the looks of your fuse area it seems you might have the Headlight Relay Kit in place too...

John, the hole in mine is actually not as tall, but wider. It's a flat area, but access is a b!tch because of the tunnel. I'm planning on tackling it next week, we'll see what happens. I guess if I get too frustrated, I'll try your method.

Good luck with your project. Take your time, enjoy the journey and after reading the posts I want you to remember a couple of key things. You bought an SC - giving you a galvanized body, the 3.0 engine has proven to be one of the best engines Porsche ever built and you got the rear flares allowing you 7 & 8's x 16". It has CIS injection it had a good torque curve and was a fun car to own and drive. The body style remained basically the same since 1966 - 1989 - so once you get yours the way you want you have a piece of history you can be proud of and enjoy for many years to come. Jim

Wow - those are big holes! You guys could've installed doors and used them as an emergency exit :eek: .

I hate when people do poop like that. Aftermarket installers - be it AC, stereo, or whatever - are the worst. Most of 'em will do anything to get through a job quickly and have whatever they installed working long enough to get the customer out the door (not all, there are a few guys out there who do good work - before I get flamed. I installed AC's for a while too...).

Very nice job on the wiring, kerthunk. I'm not a fan of the bedliner either, though, but it is your car and if you're happy, so be it. Do you still have the original felt - or are you planning on getting a set?

Nice work I don't think I have ever seen a wiring harness that neat and clean.

I think you have the right attitude John. Try not too start too many projects at once and you will be rewarded along the way with smaller victories (as you can already see).

Keep up the good work.

Tim K

Man, your work is looking good. I can't wait to start on my 81SC. I'm sure it will be much like yours before the work. Lol. Please take as many photos as you wish as I will be looking and learning as much as I can before I tackle the project. Looks good again and keep us updated.

It has been quite a while since I updated this thread, so I thought I would show everyone how far I have gotten on the project.

For the interior, I laid down a bunch of Dynamat Extreme for the rear shelf and seats and along the sides up to the front. I then installed a sliverknit carpet set, door panels and rear shelf that I got from AppBiz. Got everything cleaned up and put in pretty nicely (at least I think so). While I was at it, I decided to replace the seat belts with fresh ones (pricey, but I figured that I was worth it). I also have a bunch of other pieces bought from various folks here in the forums and from the last John Walker swap meet.

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I really tried to keep the interior pretty stock looking except for the controls (Momo steering wheel and shift knob) and the rennline pedals. I also pulled the ashtray out and mounted a voltmeter and vacuum gauge. The final touch will be some sport seats with a black/grey pasha center that I am having Stefan at GTS put together for me.

Probably the best couple of tools that I picked up have been a parts washer, blast cabinet and a powder coating setup. I've just been pulling part after part, cleaning, bead blasting and then powder coating. Works fantastic for things like rebuilding the pedal cluster, handbrake/heater levers and such. I've saved a ton of money with these things and they end up looking like they came fresh from the factory. Not to mention that I can pull a part and within 2 hours be reinstalling it looking like new. No more painting for me!

I also got all of the electrical stuff figured out. EVERYTHING electrical on the car is in good working order and functioning properly. Well, except for the lighter since I pulled the rusted heating element out and tossed it.

I have redone the front bearings/races. Rebuilt the brake calipers and dropped in some pretty cross-drilled rotors. Replaced a bunch of the old tubing and such. Just basically running around a cleaning/refreshing everything.

Anyway, all that I have left to do is the engine. Since I have no experience with engines really, I thought I had better get an expert opinion on the matter. So, I gave the engine a quick look over (fixing a couple of minor issues), threw an extinguisher in and fired the car up. The car was on the road again for the first time since the day I bought it and brought it home! Everything was working well. I drove around the neighborhood listening for any odd noises or smoke. Brought it home and looked over everything again and nothing had fallen off the car! So, I took it out again with the intention of breaking in the fresh brake pads. Over the next couple of days I put about 200 miles onto the car. Everything seemed to be working pretty well so I drove it into Seattle to have John Walker give it a quick look and run a compression & leakdown test for me. The numbers came out pretty decent but the engine is in dire need of some TLC.

So, I'm going to enjoy the car for a bit while I gather up the engine parts and the funds required to acquire said parts. Probably will have a fall engine drop and rebuild project.

I recently finished off a project for a client that also likes tinkering with cars. They were so happy with the work that they bought me a BendPak mid-rise scissor lift as a bonus. That thing is seriously cool!

John:

Great story- keep up the good work!

Cheers,

Paul.

more pics John...more pics...please...
Great job it sounds like...& fun doing it also...
Bob

Looks good, John!
Have fun with it.

I'm a big believer in doing the car YOUR way. Your car looks great - I like the bedliner idea - it wears well and looks uniform. make it your own and $#@! the purists...

Ditto, especially on a $9000 79SC... It's not like you are mangling a matching numbers 72S or a 1965...

Incidentally I did more or less the same on my $9000 83 ;-) plus a backdate... Only difference is I was the Previous Previous Owner, sold it to a friend who neglected it for 5 years, bought it back cheaper and made it mine... Enjoy, that kind of mileage is just the beginning for those cars...

Hey we need more pics!!!!

Like the finished front trunk and how them wheelwells are looking.
;)

Great progress on your car.
I am sure you are more than satisfied....and even more so proud.
Keep up the marvelous work.
Cheers

Well, there has been a slight change in plans. I'm thinking to take a road trip later this summer, so I decided to move up the engine rebuild in the schedule. It also so happens that my dad is in town right now, so I have someone to assist me in the process...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1277826619.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1277826657.jpg

As you can see, the engine is a tad on the messy side...but it won't be that way for long!

I'll get more pics together shortly.

You must be quite a guy for someone to give you that as a bonus! If you decide it's just getting in the way, I'm just over the hill from you. :)
There won't be any excuses not to rebuild your own engine now. ;)
Nice project, keep up the good work.

Well, I got the engine down to the long block...this thing is amazingly filthy! I had a good 1/4" of mud on the top of the engine that I have already scrapped off. :eek:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1278095600.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1278095627.jpg

Now I am at the point where I'm not sure how much farther I'm going to strip it down. It definitely needs a thorough cleaning.

The compression/leakdown results were:

1: 145/12
2: 145/10
3: 145/11
4: 140/15
5: 155/15
6: 155/12

I'm wondering if I can improve those numbers by re-ringing the pistons. I guess I first need to figure out if I have nikasil cylinders.

Things I have so far:

SSIs and the needed oil lines (I'm going to keep the blower motor in the engine bay).
Sach's Power Clutch
Carerra Tensioners
Turbo Valve covers
fresh Mounts
all the small stuff for a good tune-up (air/oil/fuel filters, spark plugs, etc).

The engine has been mostly dry with no real leaks, but maybe it is just the engine filth that is keeping the oil in. :rolleyes:

I snapped one exhaust stud getting the engine apart, but it broke off just under the nut, so it shouldn't be too hard to extract. I'm thinking that it would be best to put in a fresh full set of studs.

No barrel nuts fell out from the head stud holes, so I'm still hoping for the best there. I need to cut into the engine further to try the magnetic test for dilivar head studs.

I know that I will probably regret asking this, but is there anything else I should be doing? Do you guys think I need to split the case?

I dug a little deeper into the engine last night. Pulled the cam tower and heads for 1-3. I wanted to check for Dilivar studs and figure out wether I had Alusil or Nikasil cylinders. The exhaust studs are definitely not magnetic like the intake ones, so I'm guessing Dilivar. I also couldn't detect any magnetism inside the cylinder and I counted 10 fins, so I'm guessing I have Alusil. I also noticed that I had a slight bit of pitting on a couple of lobes on each cam, so I'll probably need to get them worked on a bit. I'm kind of bummed about all that since I am looking at probably needing to throw a good hunk of $ at the engine now.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1278702809.jpg

I've read a bunch of the threads about re-ringing the alusils, so I'm thinking that getting some new pistons and cylinders is probably on the menu. So, of course then comes the whole "if I'm going to get new cylinders, why not just turn the engine into a 3.2ss?"

Basically, this car is going to be 90+% street, so I want to make sure I can run on pump gas. I would prefer to keep the CIS setup as dropping another $3k for PMOs doesn't sound like a ton of fun. Probably keep it single plug as well. I want to put together a reliable engine that can provide a fun kick in the pants when I stomp on the gas.

I've been spending the morning drooling while looking at the Nickies website and reading every 3.2ss thread I could find. Of course, having never rebuilt an engine before, all this is just numbers and theory to me.

Any ideas on how to spend my money?

Given your parameters, and I've been over and over this for my own project...

I'd go with 98mm JE's @ 9.5/1 CR
Get an (out of spec) cheap set of 95mm nikasil's from a 3.2 and have them bored to 98mm and replated by EBS or have them do your Alusil jugs (not sure if they can do them with the CE ring groove)
964 cams

With this, you can add some SSI's, a hot cam and better induction later if you desire.

JMO

Have fun!

I just did a top end with reringed alusils. I've got about 1500+ miles on it and I haven't burnt a drop of oil. ( I swear and it's been really hot here) I know it's a little too soon to be totally confident but you'd think if something was gonna go wrong it would have. I too read about rerunning alusils and was skeptical but when you figure you can buy a used set of in-spec p&cs and new rings for $500-$600 what's to lose? If it doesn't workout then you can get the others and you're only out $600.
I toyed with the idea of 964 cams too and for me it came down to my car is a road car and likely always will be (unless I make it a dedicated track car), but since I don't really use what I have so wasting money on more power was just that, wasting money. If you do a couple track days a year I'm sure you'll have just as much fun as you would in a tweaked 3.2
If I was gonna split the case and go crazy with a total overhaul then maybe but at that point $3-4k for p&cs is the least of your money concerns.
I'm very happy with a stock rebuild and SSIs and an M&k.

I just thought I would update this thread a bit. My seats came back from GTS Classics a while back and I got them installed into the car. This means that the interior is now DONE! I had Stefan put convert my seats into the PanAm Sport seats with leather on the back, perforated leather on the interior of the bolsters and houndstooth inserts. I think they came out pretty great!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1295307930.jpg

For the engine, I had the cams reground to 964 and picked up some 98mm Nickies with JE pistons at 9.5:1. I chickened out on putting the long block back together on my own. So, I dragged a truck full of engine parts down to Steve Weiner @ Rennsport Systems and had him clean it all up and glue the long block back together. While he was at it, he reconditioned the heads, rods, rockers and just about every other "while you're in there" thing. I got it back and cleaned/rebuilt the CIS and everything else that is bolted to the engine. Steve is a fantastic guy and happily gave me advice over the phone whenever I needed an assist.

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With getting the engine all together, I figured that it would be best if I had the 915 looked at as well. So, I figured that I would drag it over to John Walker and have him give it the once over. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite prepared to have him call it a piece of junk. Pitting on the ring and pinion with a worn mainshaft bearing retainer and loose pinion race in the diff housing. Luckily he had an '83 915 sitting in the shop that he opened and spiffed up for me. New 1st and 2nd syncro rings, 1+2 shift sleeve and new gaskets and seals. He gave it to me for not much more than buying an unknown used 915.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1295309382.jpg

Now, I just need to finish up my suspension refresh and then stuff the motor back in the car. I am aiming for driving it around this spring! I'm kinda wishing that I had the cash to give the car a fresh coat of paint before I got it all back together, but too late now! I'm itching to drive it!

great job man! its great that you have SW and JW as resources you can turn to. thanks for posting.

You dont mess around. :)

Not to harp on this point, but the 944NA is one of the easiest sports cars in the world to drive fast. I think you're better off without her - you don't want a woman who can't even handle a perfectly-balanced, 160hp 944! Imagine what she would do behind the wheel of a 911 or a 951...

BTW, I think the bedliner looks pretty good under the trunklid, even if it isn't "proper".

Great project. Subscribed

Great build thread, John. Would love to see your baby the next time you are in Seattle. Let me know. Subscribed.

Hmmm....it would seem that I have just been pushing on getting the car finished up and not bothering to update this thread. Sorry folks!

The good news is that the car is "done" and I'm putting the miles on it now! I can't believe that I have been working on this car for 2 years! :eek: Anyway, I am loving driving it around.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1311800133.jpg

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Only thing is that I'm itching for a bit more now. A nice set of 46mm PMOs should be arriving soon...

You've come a long way John. Congrats! I've got almost the same car down the road in Gig Harbor. My engine is out for clean up and numerous other "while I'm in there" items but when its back together I'd look forward to meeting up. What kind of muffler did you use with your SSi's? Thor

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1311802037.jpg