What a Long, Strange Trip ...

[1982911SCTarga]

It was almost four years ago (in September '07) that my story began with my '83 cabriolet. I had bought a non-running, forlorn, dirty and leaking, yet delightfully stock and numbers-matching, cab that, if things were left unchecked, was on an inexorable slide towards a parting out or worse.

Pelican "techweenie" was my invaluable valuation consultant and reality check during my negotiations to acquire the car and bring it back to life. So, the journey began.

I've had to do lots of things, including: a top-end rebuild and new clutch; CIS sorting; recovering a pair of standard seats in off-white vinyl (the original black leather sport seats are stored away and will eventually be re-covered); replacement of a broken shift knob with the correct original 915 shift lever and knob; paint spot repair to stop the rust at the lower windshield corners and below the headlights; window adjustments; replacing the blown-out door and rear speakers while keeping the stock and now getting hard-to-find '83 speaker grills; fixing the doors' "popping" on opening and closing; re-covering the steering wheel with a new leather wrap; repainting the wheels; and lots of other "little" things that add up (including tons of cleaning). I also rebuilt the leather-covered dash that was warped practically beyond recognition and re-covered it in black vinyl. Some tasks were easy and others were fairly daunting.

I did all the work myself except for machine work involving the top-end rebuild. My goal was to make the car a "driver" that runs well and presents well.

Yesterday was the big day, when, with plates purchased, I had the car inspected. I think I was more nervous over this than when my son was born. I shouldn't have been. It passed. I mean, it passed!

Driving home from the inspection, I noticed a clunk at the left front as I made a turn up a slight grade. I quickly put the car on the lift and found a front stabilizer attachment bolt that I hadn't fully tightened when I replaced the fuel pump, so the clunk was quickly remedied. The cold start pressure still needs to be tweaked in, too, which I'm getting close on.

This morning was the maiden voyage. What a blast! It lives! And, as Edd China would say, "Job done!" I'm well-chuffed, too!

Brian

[Scott Douglas]

Congrats Brian!
Great looking car!
The enjoyment of driving it will only be enhanced by the fact you did the work yourself.

[Rich Lambert]

Congratulations...and what a nice looking car!

[JerP]

Congrats and enjoy.

[R K T]

Looks like new!
Hope you weren't picking up bags of fertilizer at Lowe's......

[Techne]

It presents well, indeed. nice job.

[techweenie]

I love a happy ending!

[1982911SCTarga]

Me too! Thanks again, Bill. And thanks, everyone, for the compliments.

Brian

[ArcticOne]

Looks great. Am not a fan of open top cars, but yours does look wonderful.

[1982911SCTarga]

My wife's driving it today. Good thing I have my targa to drive daily.

Brian

[Caferacer]

A beautiful story of redemption for a beautiful car. What color is that?

[1982911SCTarga]

It's moss green metallic, which is a relatively uncommon color for an '83 cabriolet.

Brian

[JJ 911SC]

Look great, enjoy the (really) open road.

What is the last 4 of the VIN?

[MMiller]

She's a beauty.....well done

[1982911SCTarga]

Mine's the 876th cabriolet in the U.S.-version first-year (and last year for the SC) production run. It was delivered to the original owner by North Freeway Porsche-Audi in Houston, Texas, in September 1983. The engine has the late-SC Carrera-style engine case (still a good ol' 930/16 engine, but without the center oil drain sump).

The way I understand it, the first-year cabriolets were sold by dealers well before the cars reached our shores. Maybe someone who knows can chime in on this.

Brian

[JJ 911SC]

The Cab was introduce at the Car Show in the fall of 82.

A per other Porsche series, serial # 0001-0060 were reserve for test car, homologation and crash test (to confirm this, I ran a CarFax on 0001-0060 and nothing show up).

0061 was the 1st production car to be sold to the public. Was still on the road as of 2010 as there is a recording of a smog test in California.

0067 was the 1st in Canada and was still plated, as of last year, in British Columbia. Mine (0070) was the 3rd one in Canada. It was completed on the 27 of Nov 1982 and sold through a dealer in March 1983. Thanks to big brother, I got all the licensing history of its life. I'm the 6th and last owner. I drove to the original dealership and a older salesmen remembered that it was in their hand for about a week.

[1982911SCTarga]

The good news: My wife loved driving the cabriolet yesterday, even though she was "roasting at stop lights" (welcome to my world; I drive my targa every day). The bad news: My wife loved driving it yesterday. Darn, I want to drive it once in a while, too!

Brian

[KevinTodd]

Nice car and congrats!

[1982911SCTarga]

Woo-hoo! Enjoyed the first trip out since last November yesterday.

Where's the cabriolet parking area at Hershey this year?

Brian

[geoz]

Long live the cabs! Thanks for saving this one.