My build thread

mreid · 06:47 AM

Okay, it's official. After building a couple dozen muscle, sports, and classic cars, I've caught the Porsche bug bad!

My wife is at her high school reunion and left her shopping money in the safe. I got bored and found this sweet little 1984 carrera for sale. When she finds out, I'm blaming you guys.

Two owner 111,000 miles. Runs great, but nothing has been done to it. No valve adjustment, no new clutch, no new paint, just regular oil changes and preventive maintenance. However, its' never seen rain (until today) or snow, the paint is excellent (one tiny door dink with slight dent). Suspension squeaks, but is solid and it handles great. Engine starts right up, but often sticks at about 1500 rpm. No biggy and I got it cheap. Almost too cheap to cut it up, but it needs some TLC.

I have a 50,000 mile 1995 3.6L engine and lots of other thoughts, but what would you do? Here are some pics:

Here's her sister:

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

Looks like fun!

zippy_gg · zippy_gg's Garage

I hope you have a good divorce attorney!

Seriously, both are very nice looking machines. Have fun with the 84 and watch out for that slippery slope...!

Oh BTW you need to update your sig!

wildcat077 · wildcat077's Garage

You could keep it bone stock and sell me your 95 3.6 ...

If it ever takes up too much room,feel free to let me know !

Cheers !
Phil

widgeon13 · 10-28-2012, 11:38 AM

Nice, why can't I ever find things like this.

Theoretically, it is rain but in actuality it's no different than a good car wash since you really didn't drive it in the rain.

motley911 · 10-28-2012, 03:26 PM

You are brave man Mark - you had better make up a good story before the wife gets home. Telling her that you brought it as a project for her, always works for a while - that is until you start down the slippery slope.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this progresses - keep us posted.

Richard.

mreid · 10-28-2012, 05:23 PM

It seems her flight from St. Louis back to Philly was cancelled and she won't be back until Wednesday. I was so sad, I ordered up a bunch of fiberglass today. If I don't post again after Wednesday evening, you'll know why...

redturbo911 · 10-28-2012, 05:44 PM

LOL thats great..

Quote:

Originally Posted by mreid

If I don't post again after Wednesday evening, you'll know why...

eolson · 10-29-2012, 05:50 AM

Nice car! Looks familiar, though yours is in better shape...

If it were my car I'd go one of two ways: Put the 3.6 in it and leave the rest alone to have a nice sleeper hot rod. Or, drive the 3.2 until it dies and then put the 3.6 in it to make the hot rod. I don't think you can lose either way.

mreid · 04:12 PM

Here's a little inspiration for me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dlxFF6VEos

Such a sweet song!

mreid · 10-30-2012, 05:48 AM

The power went out last night at 10:00, so I went to bed. I was lying there thinking about my build and had a big idea (apparently I think better in the dark, with the power out, and my wife out of the house - go figure). Anyway, I ordered up fiberglass flairs with the intention of triming the steel fenders/quarter panels and bonding the flairs on with Norton 04617. It works great and is stronger than the steel. Also, it bonds best to a primed steel surface, so you don't get trapped moisture that rusts over time.

As I was lying there, I realized two things:

1. The 11" rear and 9" front flairs are 930 dimensions and probably available in steel (Yes, our host carries them - ordered).

2. If I take the bumpers and engine lid off the car now, when my wife finally gets home tomorrow, the car will look less perfect and more like a rescue. She takes pity on rescues.

For those who suggested I call it her car, that doesn't work with Andrea. I recently sold three projects (still have the 1966 Mustang fastback in the other garage) and she's too smart for that approach.

Off to the garage to strip the "rescue". Sometimes I am brilliant...pictures to follow.

mreid · 02:42 PM

She'll never accept this as needing any additional investment:

However, after a few hours work (I got to get a better camera):

Definitely looks like it needs a home and some attention. This way, when all the boxes start showing up next week while I'm at work,she'll know they are going towards a good cause.

Now to go post some parts for sale.

Phares · Phares's Garage

Freaking priceless. You are either very very brave, or very very stupid. I hope she doesn't ever discover Pelican. Do you have a will?

mreid · 10-30-2012, 03:16 PM

The irony of my will is that all my cars go to my brother.

mreid · 11-04-2012, 09:35 AM

Well, I'm back and I survived. She always takes things in stride and is usually a good sport. I showed her this video and even though I am building an IROC car, the RSR is close enough. I thought it would help, but her response was, "Don't expect me to ride in it if you're going to drive like that." My plan is working:

Porsche 911 RSR - YouTube

Nothing new to report that pictures will help. I pressure washed the undercarriage of the car and got a ton of gunk off of it. My steel flares showed up, so I'll weld those on next weekend. I'm expecting the fiberglass bumpers and tail to show up this week. I'll need the bumpers to align the new flares.

I also worked out my bumper mounting system. Turns out that 1 3/4", 16 ga exhaust tubing bolts right into the stock bumper shock mounts and 1 7/8" tubing slips snuggly over the smaller tubes. I'm going to mount the smaller tubes and weld up a bar connecting a larger tube on each side. I'll then glass the bar into the bumper to strengthen the bumper and give me a solid mounting system for front and rear bumpers. A couple of bolts with u-nuts on the side flange to fender/quarter panel and it will be solid.

I also ordered my front and wheel well oil coolers. I'll going with 16AN connectors throughout.

My biggest ah-ha however, is with the engine. The 3.2L has 133k on it and is solid, but needs a reseal. I wanted to upgrade it with cams, dual plug heads, and 3.5L piston/cylinders. When I added it all up, I realized that my buddy's 3.6L 993 engine is a much cheaper alternative, even with the new intake system planned. So, I'll be puting the 3.2L up for sale here shortly, just want to perform a leakdown test and make sure I have testing to back up my claims of a solid engine.

I'll post pictures and document my progress as the real work begins.

weseeeee · weseeeee's Garage

Nice car, can't wait to see everything you've got in planned for it. Keep the pics coming!

kgs365 · 11-04-2012, 11:22 AM

Mark

back date it!....no IROC...look at some of Magnus's stuff...back date or RS with the 3.6!

mreid · 05:23 PM

I'm gearing up for the weekend. I'm going to try to get the rear bumper mounted and the rear 11" flares welded up. Now I understand my brother and sister-in-law are coming for the weekend. Their not connected, but my wife would LOVE to see that hook up happen. She's really hot, but it ain't going to happen.

Anyway, here are a few inspiration pictures for the weekend:

mreid · 11-08-2012, 05:27 PM

I also sold my last muscle car today. It will be sad to see it leave...but...it will fund my engine build!!!! Yea!!!! Here's the ebay link:

Ford : Mustang Fastback in Ford | eBay Motors

mreid · 04:58 PM

Finally got a chance to work on the Porsche. Tried on Saturday, but the guy who bought the Mustang was supposed to have it picked up and first the battery died, then the starter went out! Spent all of Saturday replacing the battery and starter, then packing it up.

Anyway, I decided to start with the front bumper. The Rennspeed fiberglass is nice and comes with 8mm studs bonded into the bumper. I found that 16ga aluminumized exhaust tubing is a perfect mounting system. A piece of 1 3/4" slips snuggly inside of a piece of 1 7/8", all available at Pep Boys for less than $10.00. The 1 7/8" fits like this:

And the 1 3/4" slips inside:

But you need to mount them to the car and bumper, so I cut 1 7/8" circles:

opened up the pilot hole and inserted a couple of bolts:

I welded the bolt heads to the washers I made and than trimmed the 1 7/8" tubing and welded the stud into the end of the tube:

It helps to have a good welder (yes, I know the nozzle is missing, I just changed over to .024 wire):

For the bumper side, I welded a flange to the end of the tube after trimming it to the same angle as the bumper shock. I elongated the holes to provide some adjustment, but then discovered that the tubes on the car are 36 1/2" inches apart and the studs bonded into the bumper are only kinda close. Good thing I only tacked the flanges on. Once I repositioned the mounting flange I was good to go.