Saving a 73 from the crusher...
 

Late Introduction:
I have been hanging around the forums for many years off and on learning what I can, but only became active recently.

Thanks to everyone who has offered advice so far.

I believe there are three types of 911s.
1. Those that you have to take apart
2. Those that are already apart
3. The ones that have just been put back together

With this in mind, I went shopping, and narrowed my search down to these two cars, but in the end, my deciding factor was age. I knew that I wanted one from the light weight long hood era , and I found one that needed saving.

Here was my short list (guess which one didn't need saving)



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1314036311.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1314036337.jpg


Am I crazy? Did I pick the wrong one?

'wayner' - Thanks for starting this thread. I'll be around to read and comment as you continue to "save the 73 from the crusher." looking forward to your updates, as you progress through the build.

Thanks for the encouragement Sam :-)

sub'd.

Hey, didn't PCA just do this? :-)

They had a nicer trailer and probably not as many boxes of parts...;)

Another "before" picture. How bad could it be?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1314099206.jpg

Subscribed...this is going to be exicting!!! We'll be here to keep your fire fueled!

Thanks! I'm sure I'll need it :-)

Following my belief that:
there are three types of 911s.
1. Those that you have to take apart
2. Those that are already apart
3. The ones that have just been put back together

An aging car with original paint is on its way to needing to be taken apart. Who knows what lurks...

This red one had new paint and was still apart giving me an opportunity for an up close inspection.

Like I said, surprises, how bad could it be?

Cue ominous music...

-Dan

... But seriously...

What is the story with the front end mods?
Was this a V8 conversion car?
What did you get in the way of mechanicals? Motor, Tranny?
What was she before all the bodywork? T, E, S?

She looks like a great project. :)

I'm a bit envious (but don't tell my p-car! She might never forgive me!)

-Dan

Very appropriate :-)

The story on the front end mods is that it was inspired by this car but never quite got there...

It was a 73 E

oops, forgot the inspirational picture

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1314114488.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1314116672.jpg

We've reached the interactive stage of this rescue.
At this point, what would you do?

Dan, To answer the questions about what mechanicals I got with the car, this is where it gets interesting...

I looked at the car, and sat on the idea for a few weeks. It is a huge project and there could be many better starting points out there. Ideally this particular car would be one that I could just take to the next step, but the ducted hood wasn't a direction I wanted to go, so not only would I have a lot of work to do, but I would have to undo some things, and that would take time. There were still some chassis unknowns, and I would be taking a risk without digging deeper (I've seen other people's restoration threads and they could scare anyone off).

I decided to give it a pass...until I factored in this:

The binder of receipts on the battery box!

I woke up at 2am, sat bolt upright and almost called then and there. Holy crap! the binder!
I had to have it!

it was this car that needed bodywork, but had all the goodies, or another car that had a solid body but needed the go fast parts. I could make this one mine, with an accumulation of parts from two previous owners, many still new in boxes.

We made a verbal deal over the phone, but I was heading out on business and couldn't get there before I left...but we had an agreement (but no time to firm it up with cash before I left). I was nervous that it would be gone when I got back.

I was now traveling the Canadian north with spotty communication and was frantic that I wouldn't be back in time. If not for that binder, I would have passed.

As for the tub, how bad could it be? Looks good so far, especially with the binder...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1314187511.jpg

What's in that big binder of reciepts?

What did it come with as a powerplant?

Personal opinion, loose the hood cut. As racers or street cars, the longhood lines are great, and that cutout is a heck of a blemish. Unless you're putting out some insane heat, you don't need that. Even the meanest racing 911s simply mount two factory coolers in the front wheel wells and seem to do fine.

If you're going to run a N/A system, there is no way in he** that you'll ever need that kind of oil cooling.

If you're planning a water cooled car, then the scoop could be helpful.

Great project! Keep up the updates.

-Dan

Seriously man, you're jinxing yourself. These old girls hide rust everywhere. There have even been a couple of cases where the torque tube in back rusted from the inside and dropped the rear of the car on the ground. Rust lurks everywhere. Chances are good that Bondo also lurks in many places. Start stripping down to bare metal, get a good look at what lies beneath the old paint and undercoat, then see how bad it really is.

On this forum, I've seen beautiful cars go in for a little bit of cosmetic work, and end up completely taken apart because of ancient botched repairs, hidden rust, and many other problems. To continually say "how bad could it be?" is an invitation to disaster.:eek:

That said, I hope you get the paint stripped and you find perfect virgin sheetmetal under there. SmileWavy

Good luck!
-Dan

I know what you mean.

Chris Harrell did a particularly nice 73 and I learned a lot from two specific pictures on his thread: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/570175-my-73-hot-rod-home.html

About half way down he shows a picture of a leetle teeny tiny rust bubble on the outside by the rear window, followed by...well, I can't even describe the condition of his parcel shelf.

Here are Chris' pics:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1314202252.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1314202284.jpg

I looked at many cars, and left when I saw a bubble like that in both the rear and the front cowl. (I peeked under the dash cover of one, and found that its dash was almost completely missing).

I hedged my bets by buying a car already apart, but there is still a huge risk, so with binder in hand, worst case my cars becomes a donor before heading off to the crusher, but I intend to save it. (Again, these last two rusty pics are of Chris' car, not mine).

P.S.
Thanks for posting those pics Chris. It really helped knowing what to look for when I purchased mine

...and here is mine as purchased:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1314202578.jpg