'79 SC Project - That isn't a backdate!

[gsmith660]

Originally Posted by kerthunk

Well, I successfully yanked out the blower/heater/fresh air and all the related parts. I got some big cleanup ahead of me. I found a house key and a few assorted nuts and bolts in the ducting. Maybe I should visit the PO and ask him for some money back. I ordered a bunch of CEET duct to replace the nasty stock stuff since I don't even want to bother trying to clean that up.

When I was pulling the fresh air inlet box, I took a look at the drain tube for it and found this:



The red arrow is pointing to the drain tube that just dumps incoming water into the smuggler's box. I am assuming that it should be running out one of the holes in the bottom and not just turning it into a smuggler's foot bath. So, when I put a new tube in there, and run it out the bottom, how do I attach the bottom of it? Should there be some kind of fitting there? Does the tube just dangle out the bottom of the car? Anyone got some pics of how the drain tube should be run?

Not to mention that the hole in the picture to the left of the tube is where the unshielded battery cutoff switch was mounted.

And in case you are wondering, yes, that is a check valve for the washers sitting there. Found it like that. All hooked up except for being connected to the sprayers. The other one was disconnected in the same manner. Maybe it is set up to add bubbles to the smuggler's foot bath every time you try to clean your windows.

In a rainstorm you would have some soggy carpet I would look in that area for some possible rust my drain line is a cut down washer drain as the OEM drain is now NLA and hard to find from a dismantler that last part is great keep it up take a breath and enjoy it is a satisfing jouney.

[sailchef]

With 189K miles you should inspect your chain tensioners.

It doesn't look like yours have been upgraded to the hydraulic tensioners yet.

[Rob Channell]

If you cannot afford the hydraulic tensioners yet you can use the chain tensioner guards for some safety with a lot less dough. Search for the discussions but this is the $23.00 interim solution if you are worried. This might be a nice addition for the next valve adjustment timeframe. You do not HAVE to do it all at once unless you want to do it all at once.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/smart/more_info.cgi?pn=99-0458-053-M230&catalog_description=Chain%20Tensioner%20Slip%20Pre vention%20Collars%2C%20set%20of%20%32

You will may/probably spend more getting the car right than you would have by buying another already done car. The good part is that you can spread out your expenditure over time to fit the budget and when you get done it is YOUR car done the way YOU want it.

You don't sound like the type that wants to try a quick car flip for profit. You sound more like an enthusiast that got in at a comfortable purchase level and wants to have some fun and learn about these wonderful old cars. It will cost some money (a lot if you are picky and hasty, maybe some less if you wait for good used parts) but will be worth it in the long run in fun and personal satisfaction.

Keep going and Good luck.

[kerthunk]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, it is really keeping me psyched up for this project (since I can't drive the car right now). Tweaking the car really is like a sickness, but without nearly so much spurting bodily fluids! I'm sure that I will spend more cash working on this car than I would waiting for the perfect car to come along, but the "adventure" is a huge part of the enjoyment for me. This is going to be my car, built with my hands (with some occasional help here and there). I'm not interested in flipping it for a profit at all. I'm building my childhood dream car.

I'm going to take it out to power wash it asap. That rust damage doesn't look like fun at all to deal with. Maybe I should wait till the neighbor goes to work tomorrow and wash it in his driveway instead of mine. I'm sure he wouldn't mind...

I am definitely going to take a look at updating the chain tensioners. I think that sounds like fun. Not to mention the added benefit of helping to prevent the engine from chewing itself up. Probably also going to need to replace the valve covers, looks like a good amount of the leaking oil is coming from there...at least on the left side of the car.

Right now I am focusing on the front of the car and working my way to the back. I figure that will give me time to learn more stuff before I tackle engine work. Electrical and stuff like that I am pretty comfortable with.

Does anyone have a pic of what the drain at the bottom of the smuggler's box should look like? I checked out the PET looking for a part number, and went through the Bentley looking for a pic, but I can't find anything on it. If I know what it should look like, I can probably fabricate something to work there.

I have pulled the hood off and am cleaning up and inspecting all the wiring. Looks like there was some arcing in the fuse box, some new wires were run and there are other wires that are connected to the fuse box but cut on the other end and just laying around. I also pulled out the remaining electrical bits that pertained to the A/C. I'm probably going to need to yank the fuse box and do some proper cleanup and repair to it. How hard could it possibly be to rewire the car?!? I'll mark all of the wires with where they were connected to just in case. I think a whole new set of fuses would be a good idea as well.

I should probably also pull out the carpeting (since it is disgusting) and see if there is anything else underneath that I need to worry about or add to my next parts order.

[gsmith660]

Originally Posted by kerthunk

Thanks for the feedback everyone, it is really keeping me psyched up for this project (since I can't drive the car right now). Tweaking the car really is like a sickness, but without nearly so much spurting bodily fluids! I'm sure that I will spend more cash working on this car than I would waiting for the perfect car to come along, but the "adventure" is a huge part of the enjoyment for me. This is going to be my car, built with my hands (with some occasional help here and there). I'm not interested in flipping it for a profit at all. I'm building my childhood dream car.

I'm going to take it out to power wash it asap. That rust damage doesn't look like fun at all to deal with. Maybe I should wait till the neighbor goes to work tomorrow and wash it in his driveway instead of mine. I'm sure he wouldn't mind...

I am definitely going to take a look at updating the chain tensioners. I think that sounds like fun. Not to mention the added benefit of helping to prevent the engine from chewing itself up. Probably also going to need to replace the valve covers, looks like a good amount of the leaking oil is coming from there...at least on the left side of the car.

Right now I am focusing on the front of the car and working my way to the back. I figure that will give me time to learn more stuff before I tackle engine work. Electrical and stuff like that I am pretty comfortable with.

Does anyone have a pic of what the drain at the bottom of the smuggler's box should look like? I checked out the PET looking for a part number, and went through the Bentley looking for a pic, but I can't find anything on it. If I know what it should look like, I can probably fabricate something to work there.

I have pulled the hood off and am cleaning up and inspecting all the wiring. Looks like there was some arcing in the fuse box, some new wires were run and there are other wires that are connected to the fuse box but cut on the other end and just laying around. I also pulled out the remaining electrical bits that pertained to the A/C. I'm probably going to need to yank the fuse box and do some proper cleanup and repair to it. How hard could it possibly be to rewire the car?!? I'll mark all of the wires with where they were connected to just in case. I think a whole new set of fuses would be a good idea as well.

I should probably also pull out the carpeting (since it is disgusting) and see if there is anything else underneath that I need to worry about or add to my next parts order.

That squirting body fluids thing is a little creepy but all in all okay,I am not there right now to take a pic of my solution for the drain if you dont have a pic in the next week and a half to 2 weeks I will post a pic as for your fuse box I did this- My interpretation of the fuse panel upgrade and I also have the original stuff if you need to repair.

[80-911SC]

i just bought a 80 sc in feb and it is just like having a new girl, that you can drive and looks good in the garage. with that said if the ignition is original you can order a new key from your local dealer and it will come cut to the ignition that came in the car. i just had it done ran me 85 for the blade end. good luck nice start ... .

[80-911SC]

if im not wrong in 80( mine is 1980) porsche started with the factory black on the sc trim.
one other thing does wa have smog laws? looks like the smog pump was smuggled .
i'll take a pic of the bottom of the box and drop it in here . again good start just enjoy..........

[Doug&Julie]

I'm sure I speak for the whole community when I say thank you for taking in this poor, abused child and putting new life into her. Sounds like you're having great fun with this and have a great attitude toward the "restoration". Enjoy!

Cheers

[javadog]

The drain line from the fresh air housing just extends through a hole in the bottom of the smugglers box. There's nothing special about it.

Black trim was optional for a number of years before it came standard and when Porsche built a car with black trim back in those days, they just painted the standard plated trim. It wasn't done as well as it could have been. The PO may have just been touching it up.

JR

[kerthunk]

Originally Posted by 80-911SC

i just bought a 80 sc in feb and it is just like having a new girl, that you can drive and looks good in the garage. with that said if the ignition is original you can order a new key from your local dealer and it will come cut to the ignition that came in the car. i just had it done ran me 85 for the blade end. good luck nice start ... .

I should give them a ring and see if they can make one for me. But, I suppose that it isn't something that they would be willing to do over the phone and mail to me if I provided the vin. Is there any way to tell if my ignition switch is the original one (vin stamped on it, serial #, anything like that)? It would be quite a bummer to spend $85 on a key that didn't work.

Originally Posted by 80-911SC

one other thing does wa have smog laws? looks like the smog pump was smuggled .

Yeah, the smog pump was yanked out. Also looks like the cat went with it and a bypass tube installed. It kind of makes me nervous to start the car with my kids around. It wouldn't be cheap to put that stuff back together either. I might end up just leaving it as it is.

Originally Posted by javadog

The drain line from the fresh air housing just extends through a hole in the bottom of the smugglers box. There's nothing special about it.

Wow, that just seems pretty weak to me. What if something were to hit the drain line on the bottom side and knock it back into the smugglers box? I came up with an idea for fabricating a piece that could go there. Maybe I'll try to finish up the concept and make some drawings today to share with you guys.

Originally Posted by javadog

Black trim was optional for a number of years before it came standard and when Porsche built a car with black trim back in those days, they just painted the standard plated trim. It wasn't done as well as it could have been. The PO may have just been touching it up.

Please don't crush my belief in the greatness of Porsche engineering. I am already having a hard enough time accepting the fact that they used wood for the floor boards. Or that the brake fluid overflow dumps out by the front wheel.

[Carl Bauer]

Originally Posted by kerthunk

Please don't crush my belief in the greatness of Porsche engineering. I am already having a hard enough time accepting the fact that they used wood for the floor boards. Or that the brake fluid overflow dumps out by the front wheel.

Your belief if Porsche engineering is founded here. If you ordered black trim (window moldings & door handles) in those days the aluminum was anodized black. The anodizing fades over time to a very nice gunmetal gray that many owners just paint over.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Carl Bauer

Your belief if Porsche engineering is founded here. If you ordered black trim (window moldings & door handles) in those days the aluminum was anodized black. The anodizing fades over time to a very nice gunmetal gray that many owners just paint over.

Not necessarily. I happen to own a Carrera 3.0 that had black trim and it's a wee bit shiny under that black paint...

JR

[Carl Bauer]

Originally Posted by javadog

Not necessarily. I happen to own a Carrera 3.0 that had black trim and it's a wee bit shiny under that black paint...

JR

Well java, then your C3 was ordered with bright anodized aluminium trim and someone painted over it at a later date. Check your CoA or Kardex, I bet the option 'M496': 'Blacked out trim and body-color matched headlight surrounds' isn't on it.

Black trim was not standard on non-turbo 911 USA models until 1980. It wasn't standard on RoW models until sometime in the mid-80's.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Carl Bauer

Well java, then your C3 was ordered with bright anodized aluminium trim and someone painted over it at a later date. Check your CoA or Kardex, I bet the option 'M496': 'Blacked out trim and body-color matched headlight surrounds' isn't on it.

Black trim was not standard on non-turbo 911 USA models until 1980. It wasn't standard on RoW models until sometime in the mid-80's.

Actually, black trim was standard on the Carrera 3.0. If you wanted otherwise, you had to order M446. Anyway, when I disassembled this car for restoration work I could tell that the trim was original and was not painted by a previous owner. Believe me or not, it doesn't matter to me, all I was saying was that there are a lot of exceptions to what we think of as hard and fast rules and it's not unusual to find that Porsche deviated from those, for whatever reason.

JR

[kerthunk]

Well, the trim on mine is obviously just painted black (poorly). I can scratch it with my fingernail and see shiny chrome underneath. I will be switching it back to shiny chrome for this car.

I was able to roll the car out into the driveway and give it a power washing on the underside. The resulting mudslide nearly swept away 2 of my kids. As I was pushing the car, I came to realize that the brakes are adjusted very poorly. Seems that even with the parking brake disengaged, it is still grabbing a bit. I can barely get the rear tires to even budge when the rear end is jacked up. The front left caliper seems to be grabbing as well (and this after I pulled the master cylinder). I pulled the caliper off just so that I can roll the car easier. Seems like everywhere I look, there is something to work on. I need to keep focused on small projects before I get frustrated and turn it into a parts car.

So, I continued with the tear down and pulled the interior. I'm not sure what the factory option code is for it, but when I pulled the rear interior side panel, about a half pound of birdseed came pouring out. Here is a pic of the area:



Anyway, I got all the interior out. The pan had more waves in it than that Perfect Storm movie. A 3lb hammer seemed to influence things back into shape. This is what I have now:



The only part that I'm a little confused about how/wether to patch is this:



I am assuming that there was some A/C stuff here. Should I just try to fabricate something to go over these openings?

After all of this hacking, I needed to feel like I was making some forward progress, so I decided that since the trunk area was cleared out, I would clean it up and give it a fresh coat of paint. I am figuring that I don't want to put carpet back into this area, but wanted to still be able to put some stuff in here from time to time. So, I know that many of you may feel this is sacrilege, but I sprayed the trunk with truck bed liner. Durable, non-slip, seemed like a winner to me. Here is a before and after pic:




And yes, I did polish up the brake stuff. I also picked up the rennline smuggler's box cover and blower motor cover. Thinking of going with a shiny metal and black motif for the trunk. I have ordered some nice stainless steel hose clamps to replace the rusty junk that is in there right now.

[calling911]

Ugh.. liner?? oh please stop doing this to this car.. please...

[Brother]

The bedliner looks good in there. It would probably be good in the engine compartment as well.

You don't kneed to cover the holes from the AC evaporator, but make sure the drip line holes at the bottom of the smuggler's box are covered. or plugged.

[Rich Lambert]

John, looks like a great, but, large project. Good luck with it! I'll look forward to seeing updates.

By the way, the trunk looks good. It's always nice to take a step forward!

[DUK]

John, welcome to the madness.

I will add that you may want to pull the rear taillight housings out and clean the tops of those. You'll be suprised how much gunk is collected there. It's also a nice way to clean that whole area and check out the lights for corrosion and bad wires.

[80-911SC]

i like the liner look in the front (while not "proper") it looks nice,

it just might not look nice to everyone.