Intro of my '83 SC Project
 

I have seen a few of these posts, and think it is going to be a great way to look back at the transformation of my SC over time.

Anyway here are the basics as of December '10:
- 1983 SC
- Black over Black - Not how she was delivered from the factory
- 150,000 - Just under
- Almost stock (euro ride hight, MSD, Monte Carlo Wheel)

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Great looking car(s). What are you plans for the SC?

The 535 is great looking, 240k on the clock and the paint and interior are both at 8 or 10. The SC, well lets just say it is a 20 ft car.

As for the plans, I have been tossing a lot of ideas around, but right now there are only a couple things I have decided upon (for now):

1) I want it to be a street car, but available to see double duty at the track.
2) The car will remain a narrow body. Smooth factory bumpers, Yellow Bird styling, or maybe a narrow RS look? Regardless I would like a ducktail to be worked in somehow.
3) The original color is going to make a comeback, or at least something in the original family. From the factory she was painted in L661 or Glacier Blue Metallic, something like this:

http://www.rennsportmotors.com/image...eblue911/8.jpg

So far I have collected a wide set of Fuchs 16x8 and 16x9, RS Door Panels, and I will be ordering the parts to backdate the heat.

Nice . . .
And +1 on the Glacier Blue Metallic -- love that color

Dale

It is a great color, really works with the lines of the 911 IMHO, but the Glacier blue transformation is going to be at the end of the project given that one of the previous owners did a fairly comprehensive job changing the car to black (door jams, under the hood and deck lid). Once the weather gets a bit warmer I am going to get it on jackstands in the driveway and scrub the underside to see just how far the repaint went. Most of the time people hope for a complete repaint, I am hoping that it was a half way effort (and judging by the finish odds are good).

I love a black car, but think the Glacier Blue looks fantastic on a narrow body. Keep up updated w/ your progress.

Great colour that, will look nice when done.

A couple of updates on the car, put in some RS door panels, and a set of 951 8s, and 930 9s.

Fenders will need to be rolled on the front for sure, and I might need to dial up the camber a bit. Will try the fender rolling first and see where I stand. Also I think the rear needs to come down just a touch to complete the look.



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Klaus, I had 9's on another SC and they fit fine, no rolling needed. Finding a good 245/45x16 maybe the toughest part here. And since the fronts are from a 951, I think they will be ok as well.

FWIW, stay with the black. It looks great.

Lots of good Porsche people and shops here in Charlotte. Keep us posted on your project and progress.

Hal,

The rears fit just fine, in fact they could use a small spacer to fill out the arches a little better. It is the fronts that are rubbing. I read up on this wheel combo and some people say they fit without any problems, others swear you need crazy camber in the front to make it work. I am hoping the truth is somewhere in the middle, and after rolling the lips I don't have any more issues.

nice start... welcome to the madness!SmileWavy

Black finish looks pretty good from the pictures. Unless, you see major imperfections, I wouldn't go for the original color, unless you are chasing concourse quality.

Klaus,
I have the same car! I put Rotas on mine and lowered it a bit. The fronts are 7.5" and I had to roll the driver side lip because I'd get rub on bigger dips in the road (I'll roll the pass side later). Also I have tire rub on the inside of the passenger wheel well (had it with my Fuchs 16"also) so I'm putting on a Weltmeister tire rub kit next week. I'll let you know how it works put if you're interested.
BTW, I say stay with black, it's classic.
Where did you get your door panels? It's on my list :)

The black finish isn't good, looks good in low resolution pictures, but has some major flaws. Front drivers side fender and rear passenger fender have some cracking. Other parts of the car look as though they were painted with a roller, and then you have some drip marks and orange peel to round things out. I am not chasing concourse quality, but I would like something a bit higher quality.

Is it normal that the drivers side rubs and the passenger does not? I remember from my 944 days that the cars were not quite the same side to side, and I wouldn't be shocked if 911s were the same way.

Please let me know the results in the weltmeister kit, I'm not sure where the tires will be rubbing yet, but odds are there will be more than one trouble spot.

Door Panels were off of the used parts board. They were used and in decent shape, I figured if the car isn't perfect I could deal with door panels that were not quite 100% as well. I do love the look, nice clean and simple.

I will definitely let you know how the kit works out, Klaus.
As for whether it's normal for side to side inconsistencies, I can't say, this is my first 911 but, I'm not surprised either. I chalked up the driver side rub on bigger road dips to the battery being on that side and maybe the driver side drops a bit more as a result. As for the passenger side inner well rub, not sure. I initially thought it was rubbing on the oil cooler but it was the inside toward the center where I saw the marks. Hopefully the kit will eliminate it.

Klaus,
Just wanted to give you an update on the wheel rub kit, I picked my car up today and drive it about 40-50 miles on the highway and city and it is much better. I plan to get it into a parking lot and do some lock to lock turns to see if I get any rubbing at speed but nothing at lower speeds at all.
Also the bumpsteer kit seemed to help as well. I wasn't getting a ton to begin with because I really didn't drop it that much but it seemed a little tighter in the city.

Did a little test fit of a fiberglass ducktail today, and now I cannot wait to get it painted and mounted up. Also had to mound the 16x7s on the front, the 16x8s can be made to work, but for now I am going with something that already fits.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1295813950.jpg

Well my wheel madness has gotten out of control, I saw a set of polished Fuchs and thought they might look nice on my car, so I snapped them up. Now I have three sets of Fuchs in the garage, but these are by far the nicest.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1296741098.jpg

Three sets of Fuchs.....
 

Yikes,

If you decide to sell, I'm sure the 16" x 8" inchers will sell in minutes if the price is reasonable....

The 16x8s are for sale, as are a set of 16x6s (Prices might be a bit high, but I am not in a hurry to see them out the door even if the wife is.....)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-used-parts-sale-wanted/589234-fs-16x8-951-fuchs.html

A couple changes to the 911 over the last couple weeks.

- Gold Centered Fuchs (16x7 and 16x9s)
- RS Rear Bumper (front coming soon)
- Ducktail Painted Black
- Test Pipe (flow master coming soon)

Special thanks to John Helgesen for putting the work in to get the car to this point.

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Nice looking car you have there. I'm just down the road from you in Spartanburg. I just bought a SC, and have an e28 as well... look forward to seeing your updates on your SC.

Nice looking car. I am working on an 83 SC too.

Ian looked pretty good for first drive in anger :D

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...k/DSCN0363.jpg

John,

Thank you for posting the picture from the auto-x, from that shot the car looks fairly composed, perhaps the cars suspension is in better shape than I had thought at first.


What year is your e28? I find the SC and 535is make great stable mates, both have proved to be reliable and fun transportation, and they are both fairly easy to work on. Now I could just learn to leave them both alone and enjoy them I'd be all set, but if my history is any indication I will continue to fiddle with both.

Getting a little bit closer to having the exterior finished (for now).

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1302784851.jpg

Just got a set of track shoes for the 911, 15 inch HRE 7s and 8s, with 205 and 225 Nitto R Compounds. Going to try it out at an auto-x this weekend, figure the sticky rubber will expose some of the suspension flaws.

(I know I need to get the back of the car to come down, I couldn't find my 24 & 34mm skinny wrenches, so next weekend).

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This past weekend I decided to tackle the re-indexing of the rear torsion bars to bring the back end down a bit. I tried to get it done on jack stands in the garage, but some very sticky bolts halted my progress. Thanks to John Helgesen for letting me borrow his lift I was able to get the rear end re-indexed in a couple of hours. Right now the front arches are 25 inches off the ground, and the rear are 24.5 (roughly) and I might fiddle with that a little bit but I think we are getting there.

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Nice
Prefer the black wheels though. Looks really clean!

Could you share some details on the headlight swap?

Nice progress!

I love the back end, really like your track wheels and the polished (I'm a sucker for them myself obviously). The gold not so much.

Do they make a front bumper replacement like that w/o the guppy hole?

Great looking car -why are the gauges tilted/angled? Not a fan of the gold wheels but it's not my car!

Funny I love the gold wheels. Really show the contours of the Fuchs.

That Momo makes it hard to see your prime spots while driving so twisting the guages puts them back where you need to see at a glance.

Love the progress. Love the look. Where do the bumpers come from?

I prefer the black HREs as well, but I don't think I am ready to paint the Fuchs back to black, the gold makes the car pop a bit.

Sure thing, this is the fairly common euro H4 upgrade, a step by step process to swap over the parts can be found here: Pelican Technical Article: Installing H4 Headlamps

I'm not sure anyone makes it without the oil cooler opening, all of the RS / RSR styles bumpers that I have seen have it.

Gauges are indeed tilted to make it easier to read them at a glance, it is a little odd when your turn signals tell you that you are about to go up or down, but to me it does make them easier to read at speed.

The bumpers are from Renn Speed Motorsports. They are a nice high quality fiberglass setup, and I would say they fit fairly well right out of the box.

Nice! Are those the wheels I sold you?

Cool thanks for the headlight link!

Actually these are another set of Fuchs that I had picked up, I ended up trading the 16x9s I got from you for some other parts, and still have the 16x7s in the garage.