3000 miles in my new 911

[hcariss]

On Saturday morning I arrived home after 5 days driving my new grey 1986 911 from LA to NYC. It was quite a trip. The car never missed a beat and felt really comfortable and planted in the road and was fantastic to drive. A huge thank you to Bill Kelley (Techweenie) for making it possible for me to buy the car and brokering the whole deal, really going above and beyond on my behalf. Also a big shout out to Robbie over at Dutch treat for a really solid appraisal of the car.
The only real glitch came when I went to get new rubber put on the car in LA. John at Wheel Enhancement discovered that my 8x16 R/R Fuchs had a balance problem which required so much lead it meant the wheel had a structural problem. Luckily the guys at W.E hooked me up with a pair of 16x6 Fuchs, and though they are far from pretty they did a great job to get me home. I will be on the hunt for an 8x16" once I have given the car some well earned TLC this week. The craziest part of this whole thing is that I would happily jump back in the car and do the whole trip again. We saw some amazing stuff on the way, I'll never forget the magic hour drive through canyons in Utah and the early morning drive through Colorado springs the plumes of steam rising and the sound of the 911 in the tunnels there.
I really like the color of this car and plan on keeping it mostly stock. except for removing the wing and sorting out the 'bling' look the PO gave the Fuchs.

Before we left LA

3000 miles later in NYC

[stephens_kj]

Nice car, Sounds like a cool trip also - very jealous. Almost as jealous as they guys posting the Australian weather report !
Why you losing the tail?

[BIGW]

Glad that you had a nice run across country. Enjoy your new toy!

[hcariss]

Thanks !
The tail is going because I prefer the body shape better without it. I will also be adding the european bumperettes (eventually)

[t6dpilot]

Cross country trips in a vintage 911 are the best. "Magic Hour", eh? You must be a pilot.

[WIL84911]

Very cool.. congratulations..

[Jrboulder]

Nice 911!
A guy 2 blocks from my house has an 86 exactly like that.

[hcariss]

Thanks for the kind words about the car. I am really happy with it, and will post some better pics after I give the car a well earned clean up. One thing I am curious about is where it was looked after. I know the last owner did most of his own work and prior to that I know that the car spent 91-99 being looked after by Dieter Oest from Oest enterprises. I wanted to see if I could contact them to see if they had any more information on the car but the number is disconnected and they are not listed anywhere new.
Does anyone know what happened to Dieter Oest, and is he still in business ? I know from a Google search he was active in racing.



I wish I could say 'Magic Hour' comes from being a pilot, but sadly I can't, its a term we use at work ; )

[regency]

hcariss: I'm with you, off with the whale tail.

Steve

73 911T MFI Coupe, Aubergine

[WIL84911]

Just re-read your post. So you drove 3K miles with 6 inch right rears & 8 inch on left?

[andyt11]

Nice car!! And a nice trip too. My wife and I drove our 88 from PA to Manitoba this year and there is something so good about one of these cars on a long trip like this. Something everyone else on the road is not enjoying in their modern insulated, smooth, quiet boxes...!

Congratulations again, its a sweet looking car. The tail is a matter of preference, however you should start a poll since everyone will have an opinion. Would be interesting.

(Will - my understanding was he put a pair of 6's on the rear for the drive and needs to find a replacement 8 before putting the 8's back on - thats how I read it anyway.... )

[Poor-sche Lover]

I'm hoping he had 7's and 8's, took off the 8's, moved the 7's to the back, and put the 6's on the front!

[Drisump]

When I was looking at 911's, I was looking at only the "wingless' variety and in the process, found my "wingless" 85 Targa. Since having been immersed in Porsche-dom for a few years now I can now appreciate the "winged"...... (or "wingless") coupes......still prefer the "wingless" Targa though. Great looking car, I agree about the wheels though, glad the trip went without mechanical trials. Have fun

[hcariss]

The 7's moved to the back and the 6"s went on the front.
Thanks to this forum I have already tracked down a replacement 8". Next up the economy RSR look for all four.

[hcariss]

Its been quite a while since I got to see the 911, let alone drive it. After I got it work took me away for 3 months and by the time I got home we were knee deep in snow.
Some of my work time was spent in the UK where I picked up a pair of the smaller European bumperettes I'd been lusting after. I sourced them from a dude over at impact bumpers and packed them up in my stuff, hauling them around all over Europe, luckily they are so much lighter so I still wasn't overweight
Finally I took them to Bill Rudtner at his shop Rudtners racing in Freeport LI. Bill helped me out with welding the larger bumper holes shut on the Carreras aluminum rear bumper. The parts were painted and the car back together on Friday. I wanted a clean look to the rear and I'm really happy. Next up, sorting sunroof seal, stripping the PO's bizarre paint pattern on the Fuchs, lowering the car to European height and then corner balance .... the list goes on and on. Sadly from this week onward I'm away for work again for another extended period so I'll miss the car and Hershey which I was really looking forward to.
Heres some pics.

[silver69]

Nice work, your car looks great.
The smaller bumper guards look so much better.

[calling911]

In the photo the paint doesnt look to match on the rear lid compared to the fenders.. is it a lighting thing?

Wings annoy me when they are transplanted.. Im such a snob.. so I like it.. I would have however, eliminated the bumperettes.. my thinking would be more early looking and you could easily put them back.. although you have to deal with the tag lights..

[hcariss]

Thanks.
I thought the paint didnt match at first but Its a lighting thing. If you look at the top right and left corners of the decklid you see the true color, the yellow is a reflected light source.
I didn't want to eliminate the bumpers altogether, tbh I really like the look in IB cars.
Cheers

[tcar]

You should have just moved to the car...

Gone to CA and stayed there.

[hcariss]

Tcar I wish !
I would have done that in a heartbeat, except I would be getting divorced. My wife grew up in CA and swears she will never move back.

Saw Volvo 1800ES wagon listed in your sig. Awesome ! I love the design of that car