Wanna play, "What the ___?" with my '84 Targa?

[911Texan]

Hey. I'm new to board (been lurking a bit). I'm new to Porsche. And I'm new to my '84 911 Targa. Frankly, I wouldn't have bought it had it not been for this board. Great resources. Compliments and advance thanks to all.

Now, if I may be so bold for my first post, can I suggest a game called, "what the ___?"

It's a picture game. I've taken pics of stuff and I'd like to see if you guys would be interested in helping me figure out a) what this stuff is, b) what it does and/or c) what I should do about it (if anything). In places where it's obvious, don't feel too compelled to detail. But maybe in others, you can enlighten the uninitiated. Thanks for playing and I look forward to generally reducing the average IQ of this board over time. - Rich


Okay, I got this one, it's called a Targa top. But my choice to have the vehicle delivered via open transporter through a terrential rainstorm tells me it's not very good at keeping water out. Look at those gaps. 27 year old seals. What do I do? (besides keep it in the garage and only drive on sunny days?) Oh, and it howls at speeds over 45mph.


I'm going with "heater box" or "flapper box." I get the intended purpose (we use these on aircraft too). But I'm guessing the "patina" and broken cables are less than desirable. Who do I order cables and flapper boxes from?


I love little tabs to nowhere. This one's on lower left rear side below brake lines.


Brake line on left, ? on right?


This is how the one on right (above) terminates. Cute bundle. Just wanna pull the string and see what happens, don't ya? ? ??


Munched armor shield. Do I have to R/R or can I buy a replacement - where?


I love the way the gear box "sweats" its contents (through its pores?). Is this a self-induced corrosion preventative? Clutch cable look kosher to you?


What the? Is this a lockout for the cruise control or something? Put in the clutch and it disengages the cruise mechanically with the little coat-hangar like metal art piece? Oh yeah, I'm shamelessly sharing my ignorance with thousands here...


Couldn't help but add a shot of the right side flapper box patina. Hate for all that beauty not to go unshared.

...to be continued on next post...

[911Texan]

...continuing our little game...


While not an engineer, I am tempted to guess that something should be clipped into this fixture. Am I in the right ball park?


A/C condenser is in front. Heat is via aforementioned heat muff over exhaust. So this must be oil cooler in front of cylinders on right side?


This shot just makes all of you jealous, don't it? PO must not have had wire cutters handy during last radio install. Generous, aren't they?


One of my favorite mystery compartments. Like a German treasure chest of the inexplicable. Anyone?


My first "what the ___?" observation: What's with the fitting between the sun visor mounts. What goes there? Whatzit?


Jealous again, aren't ya? Same guys who left me the quarter mile of coax for the antenna left me this old world charm on the radio install as well. I'm the luckiest idiot in the world!


And that there, folks, is what we refer to in Texas as "duck tape." Sorry the flash washed out the silver color. I love when electrical stuff under the dash is mended (?) with duct tape. Time to cancel my cable subscription. I won't have time to watch the tube now that I own a 27 year old 911!


And when I'm not working on it, I'll be reading about how to work on it.

Glad to be here!!!

- Rich
Granbury, Texas

[CCM911]

OK. You'll need to do this in sections.

Let's face it. Your car needs a good cleaning. Before anything else, get this done. Your hands and clothes will thank you for this as you go in deeper and tackle bigger jobs.

I would start with the heat(because it is winter). I don't know how cold it gets in Texas, but I do know that you will either need to replace the Sensor between the visors, or convert to the old school levers. And shoot some WD-40 on those flapper discs.

[chris.817]

The "flapper boxes" and cables are easy enough to replace. Buy all that you can from Wayne.

The wire tied cables by rear brake lines are for brake pad wear sensors and install in notches in the brake pads. There is one for each wheel. The one pictured fits in the mystery holder.

Yes, that's the engine mounted oil cooler. There is another in front of the passenger front wheel fed via thermostat in front of passenger rear wheel.

The mystery compartment is called the "Smuggler's box". Those are A/C components.

I won't comment on the wiring...

I'm not a targa guy so I can't comment on the seals.

[chris.817]

And the coat hanger thing is the throttle plain and simple.

[seamore2001]

I can't tell from the pictures, but the targa top seal where it meets the top of the windows on my '84 Targa are pretty worn and are about to be replaced. Those seals are running me ~$200. That will hopefully take care of the window gap and reduce wind noise. Replacing your seals may help you with the same problem.

[Ron.G]

The thing in the middle of your visors "was" the auto heat temperature sensor.
And the torn heat shield covers the catalytic converter.

[Porchcar guy]

Good luck on finding the heat sensor on the headliner. There should be a heater control box between the seats with a dial on top and attached to the side of the E-brake is a red knob on a handle. This the cockpit section of auto heat. I backdated mine to a 2 knob/lever system between the seats as I could not find the sensor. I like this a lot better as it is a positive sytem...pull up the left or right lever and you get heat. Your flapper boxes look in need of replacement for ANY system to work.

[masraum]

What it looks like to me is that your vent window is out of adjustment or has been pried out by someone (probably for nefarious reasons). It's kind of hard to say for sure because of the weird angle of that pic.

Buy as many of your parts as possible from Pelican Parts, anything not available new, you may check the used parts classifieds or Oklahoma Foreign.

Disregard previous info about the heat exchangers...

You might find this handy...
Pelican Technical Article: Heater Box Replacement

Basically, what we're seeing is that you've got a LOT of work to do before you'll have heat.

And it's not unusual for those brake pad wear sensors to not be installed. When I had my old '88, they weren't installed when I got it, and I never felt the need to add them back in.

You should post some pics of the rest of the car, maybe even something shiny.

[dhagood]

Originally Posted by Ron.G

And the torn heat shield covers the catalytic converter.

yep. you could buy a replacement from wayne (the purveyor of proper porsche parts, aka pelicanparts) but most people take it off and toss it. if you do this (i did, btw) just make sure that you're careful when parking in tall grass as it is possible to start a fire that way. since i never ever park in short, much less tall, grass i have not found this much of a burden.

and welcome