915 Advice

[chrismorse]

Dad passed on a couple of years ago, left me his original, sepia brown 74 coupe. He paid quite a bit to keep it over the ensuing years, enjoying it greatly, (he was a mechanical engineer, but never wrenched on it), couple of engine overhauls, repaint, new front pan and a lot of little niggling stuff.

I drove it home, 500 miles, unbeknownst to me, leaking gas, on 20 year old tires, thinking of the great times we had discussing the "fine old German racing machine" and my green Italian one. Man, I miss Him.

I proceeded toreplace both axles, install a much needed 85 Carrera front fender cooler, t'stat & lines and rebuild everything out from the long block when the block oil thermostat jumped out of the block with stripped threads.

moving on, I set out to restore the front end with new paint, bearings, brakes, shocks, brake cooling and a lot of new stuff, but I am pondering the noisy 915. I have read a lot of threads, with scarey $$ and I need a bit of advice about how long a noisy 915 will run with a stock 2.7 cis??? He drove it like the "old man' that he was, not like I am driving it and want to drive it.

So, how long will a noisy 915 run???

Is it better to stump up the $3k for a "rebuilt", (isn't this just the cost of the bearings???????).

Are there "good" used units out there, or is that just a crap shoot, (possibly literally??)

I am a fairly handy guy, having turbocharged a 914, bored, stroked, flared, big braked and rat raced the holly living stuff out of the old silver dog, rebuilt numerous engines & suspensions, brakes and wish not to spend unwisely on dad's old 915. I am considering doing this in the old single car garage, perhaps with a bit of help from an experienced, but not a Porsche mechanic.

If it is not too dear, I would like to slip in a posi, while at it.

Once again, I am mired in ignorance and hopeing for a bit of advice.

With the foot flat on the floor of everything else, I remain
modestly ignorant,
chris

[Josh D]

My advice would be to have someone knowledgeable with 911's with a 915 drive the car and asses the noise. The noise you hear may be normal, these are not quiet gearbox like something modern. Then again, there may be a problem. Someone with experience will know.

[Reiver]

What Josh said and if you have a bad throw out bearing you can get noise (chatter) that sounds like it is coming from the gearbox

[howard freeman]

I am sorry you lost your dad, but don't give up on his car. Contact my friend Tony Callas @ Callas Rennsport in Torrance . If you are close to him, that's your best solution for sound advice. Don't start looking for a tranny if nothing is wrong. Let them drive the car & listen to the sound you are hearing. 310 370 7038.
Howard

[kugelfischer]

An additional 2¢ would be to keep the original 915 and have this box rebuilt if needed. Keeping the numbers matching drive train will help maintain some value for the car.

[howard freeman]

Originally Posted by kugelfischer

an additional 2¢ would be to keep the original 915 and have this box rebuilt if needed. Keeping the numbers matching drive train will help maintain some value for the car.

like !!

[notmytarga]

I took my 915 with a similar story to Bend OR - not that too far from you and had German Transaxle service it. Out of there the same day - including full disassembly, hot dip and replacement of synchros, a few bearings and the problem part - the 2/3 slider. That was 10 years ago and the bill cam to $1000 - about half was the labor. However, I still don't like the noise it makes - whining, Your sound may be as "normal" as mine.