Yawn… Yet another 911R Clone build thread…

[R_Builder]

… and this one will even be painted Ivory White, but…

THIS ONE IS MINE!!!

Welcome to my project. I have been threatening to start a build thread for this car for quite some time, so I am using the occasion of its 2nd anniversary since arriving in my garage to get it going. The long and short of it are as follows…

What I started with was a 1968 912 that had already been converted over to a 911 vintage race car with a full (but poorly executed) cage, fuel cell, fire system, upgraded suspension, S-brakes up front, and a fresh 2.4L S-spec motor (with Webers) hiding in the back. Here is how it looked when I got it home:



Fast forward 2 years, and this is where we are at:




So, needless to say, a lot has transpired and I have been busy. What I at first was calling a “conversion” slowly but surely drifted towards a full restoration as I dug in deeper and deeper. The usual things that are hard to ignore (rust, poorly done repairs, strange mods that can only be explained by its “race car” status, etc.) kept creeping up so I would dig in a little more, do a little more disassembly, and usually end up saying, “yikes!”

I bought the car sight unseen, which was a big step for me. I am the kind of person that can spend 2 hours looking at a parts car candidate! I got as warm a feeling as I could before sealing the deal since the car was in Tennessee and I am in California. Was it what I was expecting? Not totally. Any regrets? Not really. It has been, and will continue to be, all worth it in the end.

In the past, all my Porsches had been “tributes to originality”; the price for being a patient and thorough used Porsche buyer. Well, I was getting tired of that! Time to find one that was already so messed with that I would never have a tinge of regret as I cut and welded on it.

My plan/goal for this car project has changed very little from my original intention, even with the shift to a full restoration. I wanted to build up an R-clone on a SWB chassis… LWB would not do. Not planning to go crazy on lightness for this project. The car will get a complete lightweight interior and have heat and a radio system. For the most part, all the R-ish exterior details will be present. I want it to be a fun street AND track car, and there will certainly be some autocrossing in its future. But when at a decision point, I tend to lean towards longevity and “streetability” for the best solution. This car will be a driver…

Hope everyone enjoys following along!

[R_Builder]

I know most everybody loves pictures more than words, so I will try to not get too carried away with descriptions. I am a “the devil is in the details” sort of a person; like to think things through a lot, and have a real good memory, so sometimes TMI kicks in…

Like I said in the first post, I have had the car for 2 years. I tore into it pretty much right away, the first episode being to get it registered in California. Here it is stripped down and looking a bit more mild-mannered for the DMV:



No problems there. I put about 100 miles on it searching for issues, giving friends and family rides, and then promptly started to take it apart. I sooo wanted just one track day in it, but the to-do list was just too long to make it safe enough. By July ’08 the engine was ready to come out:



After a multi-month detour to address engine issues on my SC, I got back to it. This is when I starting finding more rust issues than I had anticipated and reality started to set in. Jack points missing, front pan and latch panel not so hot:








Metal work has been covered extensively here as of late, so I won’t drag everyone through all that stuff again. Suffice to say, I let TRE handle the front pan/latch panel and jack point issues. At the time, those were definitely out of my league. Up to now, that is the only time the car has left my garage. And, it may be the only time it EVER leaves during the project if I can get up the nerve to paint it myself…

New pan welded in with prep underway:




Hmmm… It may take a few posts to get everyone caught up…

[R_Builder]

Once the car was back, I continued with more disassembly and metal work to get the body pointed in the right direction. Sometime in the spring of last year, I decided to focus on getting the entire undercarriage repaired and sealed up. Admittedly, this had a lot to do with wanting to get something DONE on the car. I figured if I worked front to back, I could mix in a little assembly work as I went. Here is the front of the car in work:





That let me install the front suspension back on the car:



Up front, the car came with re-valved Bilsteins, 23mm torsion bars, S-brakes, and an aluminum cross bar. The a-arms were also not the stock ’68 versions. Aside from a lot of clean up work and throwing brake shields back into the mix, I put it all back together with new PolyBronze bushings, the collinear kit, and DOT-rated stainless steel brake lines. I ditched the long wheel studs, too…

[R_Builder]

The floors went relatively quick. Lots of little issues to deal with (some rust spots, dents, lots of holes from harness tiedowns, etc.):





I hope I don’t regret not replacing them. They had been worked on before and not repaired in the most elegant of ways. But, they are solid, and heck… it’s the bottom of the car and I am the one who spends most of the time looking at them! I have yet to spray the floor with undercoating, but at least it is all sealed up…

[R_Builder]

More holes to fill, rust to address, and some enhancements to make. Just a lot of dirty, noisy, and messy work that takes time. Repeat after me… clean, cut, patch/plug/fit, weld, grind, clean, Metal Ready, POR-15… over and over until all the spots are ready for seam sealing and undercoating. Overkill? Maybe in some spots, but it’s the bottom of the car and I am going for longevity here..

Before Undercoating (lots of work to get to this point):







And after:

[R_Builder]

Sometimes I just needed a break from working on the body. Motors and transmissions are ALWAYS a nice distraction. The car arrived with a 2.4L S-Spec motor with Webers and “2 hours” on it. Nice place to start, I think. The tranny was the original ’68 912 box (902/02) with the stock A-F-M-S-X gear set in it.

Engine before, ala race car:




Engine after, ala street car:





Work involved: Had solid tensioners, those needed to go. Had the wrong alternator installed, that needed to go. Checked the cam timing since it was opened up, all good. Adjusted the valves, buttoned it up, installed the SSI’s and an M&K, wrestled the heater gear into place, and did some clean up. I never had the intention of making this motor look brand new… it may look a bit ratty compared to the “fresh” engine bay, but powder coating engine tin and re-plating hardware will have to come another day.

Transmission before:



Transmission after (wow, what a change ):



Work involved: Just needed to tear it down to see what I had. Turned out to be bone stock and in very nice shape save the usual first gear issues. I changed out the S and X gears for V and ZA (to stretch it out at highway speeds), replaced the first gear components, ditched the 912 support bar setup, bought the gasket kit, and put it all back together. I have a hunch I may have to get back in there to address the differential. I am reading up on that issue now…

[R_Builder]

More of the same routine here. Lots of little spots that needed “the treatment”. Note the cage is totally gone, to be replaced by a bolt-in roll bar ala TRE. I removed anything that I wouldn’t be using (rear seat/upholstery brackets and the like). The ’68-style seat belt hard points remain, but will not be used. I kept the luggage tiedowns, too, just in case...







Not much to look at at this point, but ready for the next step. I also cleaned up all the window/door jambs and sealed the window frames with POR-15. They were in surprisingly good shape, but I figured now was the time to bulletproof them in case I have a seal go bad someday.

[R_Builder]

I may have left out some pretty good gory details, but maybe some of them will come back around later as the thread progresses. I am crazy and actually keep track of the time I physically work on the car. By the end of 2009, I had racked up about 800 hours total, most of it in 2009 versus 2008. Sometimes I feel like I just work slow, other times it seems like I am doing all right. But what is there really to compare to since every project is different? All I know is there is no way I am going to try and account for all the time I spend thinking about the car, researching the next steps, or buying/selling parts!

[R_Builder]

Since spraying the engine bay/torque tube area and the rear wheel wells at the beginning of this month, I have been able to do some of my favorite type of work… installs. First thing on the list was to get the rear suspension back on the car:



This is a temporary install. The car came to me with 30mm rear torsion bars, Bilsteins, a Weltmeister sway bar, and worn out rubber bushings. I have already had it, meaning the stub axles, drive hubs, etc., all apart once to get rid of the long wheel studs and build up the parking brake parts. I am regretting not putting in new wheel bearings, but now that I have a press, I suspect it will all come apart again (off the car). For now I can at least roll it around if needed. The initial setup for the rear susp. will include the 30mm t-bars, PolyBronze bushings, the Bilsteins, adjustable SWB spring plates, and the sway bar.

Next up was to get the harness back in the car:







Felt real good to get that done! I didn’t button up the front portion yet, but everything from the area behind the pedal cluster back is where it is supposed to be.

[R_Builder]

With the harness installed, that means some more restored parts can go back on.

The oil tank: (I am NOT heading down the '72 oil tank road. That is one of the R-ish details I can live without... hats off to the folks that are patient enough to do that mod. This is the tank that came with the car and it will do fine. It is a '74-on style tank without the filter base/console.)





(That install went fast because of A LOT of prep work. During the initial conversion to a 911, the oil tank install left a little to be desired. While I could live with the ratty oil filter/filler cut out, the “swiss cheese” around the 2 mounting bolts and the missing rubber bushings was not okay with me. Think patching/welding, re-drilling and fitting, parts searches, etc. Not a big deal, just one more thing that takes time to resolve.)

The pedal cluster (trust me... looks great behind that floorboard ):



Some of the tunnel gear got stuffed back in there, too.

Well, I think that should get folks interested. Lots of other goodies in the cabinets and more to come. Thanks for following along…

[rothaus]

Originally Posted by R_Builder

Can I ask you how high your ceiling is ? I plan to get the same lift for my other garage, but the ceiling is only 10 feet.

Nice project !

[zippy_gg]

Nice! Keep the pictures coming...

[Rich Lambert]

Great project.

[Rebel911]

very nice. Love the detail for the undercarriage.

[w21055]

Fantastic project!

[luvndasun]

You have a lift....I dont like you...haha. That is going to be a really fun car. Thanks for the pictures!

[c0metdot]

Was the pan really bad enough to replace?

How are the rockers?

Love to see the early cars put right.


Thanks for the look see.

[Vintage914Racer]

R_builder, I'm fairly certain that car used to be in my family. The pegasus and gulf decals were on the car when you bought it, right?

If that is the car, which I'm fairly certain it is, my mom actually vintage raced the car as a 912 for awhile. We then traded it locally for a 911 with imsa history, then I the car disappeared. I remember seeing the car on ebay a few years back. I'll try to dig up some pics to confirm it's identity.

[speedracer]

Very nice work. The amount of knowledge and skill on this board amazes me even after 6 years of being here. Nice lift and shop too!

[mycastle]

Excellent project - great pictures and story line - don't sweat TMI - we are all addicts for this kind of stuff! Keep the info coming.