2.2 litre distributor woes + first class fix

[BMEPdoc]

Hello folks. Just wanted to post a few pics of what, hopefully, you'll never have to deal with so let's start with a short foreward.

A couple of months ago I was fortunate enough to have acquired an early 911. Actually, a '66 factory sunroof car fitted with a 2.2 at some point. It was a knee-jerk purchase as I knew well these were relatively rare units and though I sure don't need any more vehicles in the stable, this one was difficult to pass up, especially for the price.

Anyhow, I was out evaluating my purchase when my spirited sojurn came to an abrupt end at a busy intersection. Motor just died suddenly, without rhyme nor reason. Fortunately, a good friend and ex-business partner's shop was relatively close so I had the car towed over and left it there until he could determine the source of the boggle. The next day I was informed to come by - he had something to show me. Here's a couple pics of what they found:




Ugly is putting it mildly. Sinful is more like it. As you can see, some hapless soul who evidently considers himself, most erringly so, a mechanic or technician, bench grinder artiste or some such thing took an 930 electronic distributor and hacked it to fit! Now, the problem turned out to be unrelated to the adaptive precision machine work. The entire advance mechanism had unindexed from the driven shaft resulting in an out of phase firing order, naturally, killing the motor when it occurred.

Now, I'd only had the car a short while and put a whole 45 or so miles on it when it died. Still, I noted lethargic throttle response and an overall lack of power and an unwillingness to rev - making a mental note of it to be addressed at tune-up time which ended up coming sooner than later. --- The fix:

After coming in and searching through various threads and posting pics, my post (under another, now deleted psuedonym) was commented on by several pelicans and technical contributors, including Aaron at Rennwerks. I made it a point to contact Aaron after he mentioned in his response the electronic distributors could be properly adapted and appropriately recurved resulting in superior function and peformance to the original kettering type distributor, and in the meantime, since originality wasn't as important as functionality, I decided to take a leisurely motorcycle ride down to Camarillo and discuss my options. Now, folks. I've been in the automotive industry, one way or another for well over 35 years and can quickly assess one's knowledge. In other words, my BS meter has been accurately calibrated from decades of dealing with, not only Porsche related subjects but, as is the case with many of you, a myriad of esoteric autotechnica and the people who surround it. Some are truly brilliant, albeit with a much higher percentage being brilliantly gifted in hyper rhetoric yet lacking in capability and others are just simply not sincere and full-of-it. I must digress.

Even though I showed up at Rennwerks unannounced with distributor-in-hand. Aaron took a big chunk of time to show me around the shop and, of course, chat about PORSCHE (and, and, and, ad infinitum). What became quickly apparent is this man loves what he does. He has a passion for Porsche and all things mechanical actually. A true gearhead. Needless to say, I was impressed with his professionalism and willingness to take the time needed to answer any of my concerns. The attention to detail in his work is truly worthy of even the most discriminating Porsche enthusiasts accolades. Yes, it's that good. After determining my needs he provided me with this ex-BMW , masterfully reworked and properly recurved distributor:





So, how does it run? - The old/new distributor pics are equally as shocking as the way the car runs. It now revs the way a Porsche should, starts, cruises, absolutely without issue. Sure, somewhere down the road I'll probably source a period correct distributor for originality, but for now, I couldn't ask for more.

Competent shops, service, and people are absolutely vital in our vintage Porsche world. Aaron is a prime example of the kind of service and people we need more of.

Kindest regards,
Jozef Schumann

[Oh Haha]

Great ending to a bad story, I would say.

Welcome to Pelican.

Now, how's about some pics of the car that new dizzy runs.

[jpnovak]

Yes, Aaron is top notch!

yeah, where are the pictures of this 66?

[BMEPdoc]

Thank you for the welcome, guys. I've actually been a pelican for many years, it's just until recently that I had reason to change my nick due to some unscrupulous lurker who caused some issues, hence the change - Okay - Here's a few until I get some better shots.




















As you can see, the car hasn't even been detailed yet. It's a very clean example. Original wheels are stamped with a production date of 3-66. I'll make certain to post pics when it's clean and in better, more fitting surroundings.

Regards

[Danimal16]

Aaron is assembling my 2.5 ss. He IS a master and a true gentleman. If you need it done right he is the professional to do it. His pedigree is superb and his integrity beyond reproach. (Oh and he does really "perty" stuff to metal!)

[911pcars]

Do you have any details on the Bimmer distributor (year, model, etc.)?

Thanks,
Sherwood

[Danimal16]

Sherwood,

Drop Aaron an email, he would be more than happy to get you the details. I saw that distributor on his desk and it is a nice piece of equipment.

DanB