The comeback of "Blu"

[sundevil64]

As my signature says "I blame and thank the Longhood Boys of Austin". I blame them for filling "my plate" by exposing me to the "Por-sha" 911. It's like saying this cake is the best I've ever had. I had to have some. I know I am the only one responsible for myself, but it's more fun to deflect.. I thank them for exposing me to the Porsche 911. I also thank them for the wonderful friendships I have been so fortunate to be a part of.

In the last 3-4 years I have gone from old school American car guy to air cooled Porsches. As you can see in my signature I have a few cars; of them is a recently acquired 71 911T that has been sitting on an hill for, oh I don't know 15+ years, here in central Texas. It is a complete and original car, for better or worse. It was parked by the original owner who moved and never came back. I have wanted a long hood 911 for some time and had even thought of selling my 78 930 sunroof delete to get it. I now had the opportunity afforded to me by others and I took it. The car sat for several more months until I was able to start on it this last weekend. I haven't pulled the color code, but it is blue in color (my favorite, my wife's favorite) and I decided to name it "Blu" hoping it will be loyal to me as well.

There is significant rust due to leaking window seals, but the longitudinals are sound for the most part. The rear floor boards are gone, the rear seat and parcel shelf are gone, rear portion of the tunnel is gone, the front suspension pan and tank support are gone, and parts of the cowl are (what I would consider) gone. It's not damning, but close. I have seen much worse. The big thing for me on this car was the color (I'll keep it this color), it was a whole car, it is an early car, it wasn't a rare "E" or something like that. Which leads me to the future of this car. The intent is to build a car that is quick, reliable,fun to drive both in the hill country and some light track, and will have reasonable value when I am done.

The build plan will include a 3.2 from an 85 donor targa with sufficient oil cooling for both engine and trans. I may (depending on budget) put in 964 or SS cams and M&K exhaust with a tuned chip to match it all.

It will have either a 901 or 915, most likely a 901. I like how they shift, I can build it up and shift with finesse to keep it alive.

I will run either 15" fuchs or cookie cutters, most likely fuchs. I will keep the "S" trim, which should tell you no flares. Yes, I know, I know...

The car will have a Spartan, but comfortable interior that will include Recaro SE seats, Lizard skin sound coating, RS door panels or something along those lines, RS carpet, Ipod and amp for sound, Safety Devices component roll cage, double wrapped 4 spoke steering wheel, and that's about it for the interior.

The suspension will be turbo tb's with Bilstein dampers, alum front cross member,Carrera front brakes with cooling ducts (removable for street), Elephant racing or Rebel Racing bushings (can't decide), Rennsport tower brace, adjustable sways, corner balanced, and I think thats it for the suspension.

Paint will stay original color, I will shoot it in my garage. Why? Because this is my project and I want ownership of it. For better or worse. I may do some fiberglass parts (hood, deck, maybe bumpers) to save weight and tuck away the metal parts should I change my mind.

Now for the real goal. The car should not cost more than $15k all said and done. I have a saying, "The hobby should pay for the hobby". I will achieve this by doing my own work and by using a donor car(s) for parts with minimal aftermarket parts. I have two donor cars that I have acquired. They will pay for themselves via "part-outs". The donor cars will contribute necessary funds and parts to keep this project in budget. If I do this correctly, the car will be worth at least the money I have in it and will ultimately be an asset consequently not costing me any money should I need to liquidate it.

"Blu" has been abandoned to the fields of Texas and I will bring it back to the roads of Texas hence the thread name "The comeback of Blu".

Here are some pics from this last Saturday and late last night. I gutted the interior Saturday and pulled the motor last night.
*disclaimer-this thread may slow down at times as I have two young children, a beautiful wife, and a job that requires extensive travel... I will do my best to keep up the thread.

First at home.


The awful rust in the interior.


Rust in the cowl and dash area.



Front suspension pan, or what's left of it.


Passenger side long.


Tunnel


All origina engine area.


Removed the engine last night. Yikes it got cold!

[GH85Carrera]

WOW that is a lot of rust. Are you sure that tub is worth the effort to fix?

I admire your dedication to that project. You have a lot of work to do. Good Luck!

[Morrie]

Subscribed. As one of the "longhood boys of Austin" and your neighbor and sometimes partner in crime (that's a story for another day folks) I will be here to help wherever and whenever I can on the car... and of course with the kids and beautiful wife. (another long story)

You have a vision, John, and the tools and skills to make it happen. Sometimes its more about saving the car than about finding an easy car to save. This one will live again folks.

Morrie

[Kemo]

looking forward to this project. Im in austin as well and hopefully will get a chance to see this as it unfolds and in person at some point. good luck to you saving this tub. This will be almost as challenging as DarrylD's 912 restoration...which was amazing.

thanks for posting!

[$ Short]

I'm just up the road in Belton. Would love to see the magic.
Kurt

[4SFED]

WOW! I gotta see this!

[jpnovak]

I think my friends would somewhat call me an enabler. I take pride in being a part of this from the beginning. "yeah, we can do that" should be part of everyone's philosophy.

There is an entire story about picking up the car and having the front suspension disconnect from the body almost dropping it off the side of the trailer. We had to manually steer each side of the car while cranking the winch.

I agree that this is a serious project. John has the skills and desire to see it through completion. As bad as it seems much of the replacement panels will be in a single large area and are, in most cases not structural to the car. If the longs were gone it would be a donor for some other car.

There are few affordable early cars available these days. Have we reached the point in the market of the 356, whereby a VIN and a few scraps of sheet metal can warrant a restoration? Probably not. But is is heading that direction with skyrocketing prices. Somehow, the car just needed to be saved.

Blue will be lighter (OK heavier if you count rust repair), more powerful and more fun than she is now. Blu will drive again. And getting there is just part of the adventure of life.

[sundevil64]

Thank you Jamie and Morrie for the encouragement.

Ah yes, as Jamie mentioned picking up the car was a little bit of an event. When that car broke loose and rolled off the trailer breaking the front control arm mounts I have to admit I thought "Oh boy, what am I doing?" Pretty funny actually. Then there is the wasps that were living in it. Then while at my house sitting a ferrel cat decided to take residence using the hole in the floor as a entry point. So funny, Morrie walks over to look into the driver's side window to look at the car and the cat flies out the same window as he peers in the car. That's just funny.

Yes, this is going to be quite a project, but as Jamie said the car is, for the most part, structurally sound. I have been reading quite a bit the last several months trying to get my mind around this thing and how I am going to go about it. Like any other large project, you should have a general plan or goal broken down into steps and complete each segment. Eventually, in less time than it would take to understand the ACA the project will be done.

I was raised around "frame off" restorations with my Dad, and although this car does not have a frame I am aware of what it is I am getting myself into. I have most of the parts and all the tools to execute the project. I have to stay positive you understand.

The upside here is I don't have to worry about a slippery slope!

The next step is to get the front pan replaced.

I have this waiting for after the front pan replacement. I have put new hydraulics and tires on the thing. Really heavy duty. Used to be owned by a resto shop. It can be pulled around with a tow bar and swivels in the front.

[jpnovak]

You know John, Its somewhat ironic that Blu had air in her tires after all that time, yet the rotisserie did not.

Its just a sign that she is ready to drive again.

[porsche930dude]

looks like it came from New York! we bought a beetle like that a few years ago. Looked fine on the outside but by the time we took all the rust out all we had was a roof and some glass With a few donor cars it will be much easier for sure . Best I can suggest is bust ass on it and get it done before you get sick of looking at it

[sundevil64]

I have made a little more progress since my last post.

I put Blu in the garage so I can get it on the lift to do the front pan. It is very stable here and convenient. I will have to measure everything of course before I get the pan in to be sure I am within spec.


I will have to post the picture of the makeshift tow bar that was attached. I had to grind off the bolt heads. The bolts used were carriage bolts that were fastened to the battery boxes. Carriage bolts are fine provided there is a good seat for some things. This would not be one of them. All they would do is spin when you tried to turn the nut. So after grinding those off I removed the tow bar attachment and continued to remove the bumper.

I got the bumper off without too much of an issue. Thankfully, it appears it is repairable. I may go with a fiberglass bumper, but I like the chrome bumperettes. We'll see when we get there. Next I moved to the fenders. No big deal here. The fenders have some rust, but are salvageable. The cost of new metal fenders is CRAZY!



I then moved to drop the suspension as a whole with rack and all. Not too bad, but the steering coupler was somewhat frozen. PB blaster is my friend here along with a 3# sledge hammer and a brass drift to knock everything loose.




Time to get the kiddos. More later. Now it mostly removing metal. I am on the fence whether to use the suspension pan in the 84 targa or order one from RD. I can save the money if I don't mind the work of taking out the other pan. So not pretty.

[Unobtanium-inc]

Austin must be pretty close to New York -- that looks like some of our rust!
- Matt

[Horrido]

Sub'd

[TR]

subscribed too, love this shi8

[TR]

Just thought I would suggest you get the RD panels it saves so much time and hassle and the pieces are well made and fit nicely.

[mcaterino]

Looks like a fun and serious project. You've got your work cut out for you (no pun intended). Sounds like you've got a workable plan and lots of support. Will be fun to watch. I admit I'm highly skeptical of your 15K goal, but wish you well regardless.

Mike

[strikee]

Good man, another great car saved from the crusher. Subd.
Ed

[jpnovak]

Its funny that we see a lot of cars with unique rust situations in TX. The rear deck is a common problem. The TX sun destroys the rubber seals on the windows. The rain accumulates under the rear deck padding (rubber or hosehair depending on year) and it just festers until the entire panel turns to oxide. I have seen several cars that have this same problem.

The same happens with the corners of the front windscreen.

When the water accumulation/infiltration gets bad enough the water pools on the floors. Either the rear tunnel/heel panel goes bad or the front pedal cluster goes bad. This depends on the slope of the car when parked.

All of these areas are fixable and not really structural to the car. In fact, the longs are mostly original and clean. This is why these cars get saved.

[sundevil64]

Here is what happens when the seals leak and they are left for nearly nearly 15 years to stew.




DS rocker area. Both sides are like this. I will know more when I get in there.


There is some structural areas that need to be addressed. I will have to brace the car to some extent as I have to go into the cowl and a pillar area. There is some rust on the PS longitudinal that is stable, but will tell more when I get in there.

[sundevil64]

To address the concern(s) over the viability of a $15k "all-in" budget goal.

I have acquired a couple, okay three parts cars. The three cars will be utilized where for the saving of Blu. That can mean donors for sheet metal, donors for suspension and brake upgrade (carrera suspension and brakes), 3.2 motor and transmission, and possibly electrical repair (same color wires to repair old wiring).

The car had some good sheet metal in some areas that are consistent with an early car as it is a 70 or 71, I don't recall.

Dash will be utilized. As well as the area around the Kidneys and rear seat panels.
This car was bought as a roller with no engine or drivetrain, but everything else was there. It has obviously been parted out to some extent and will continue to be parted and utilized for sheet metal. I will have to clean the galvanizing off before I weld though, but that's not much different than removing the e-primer from RD parts.
The suspension and brakes will be used off of this car for Blu. If something is needed that I will not use (sheet metal) PM me.

Now this car...Is the donor for the drivetrain. It is a running and driving car that I recently took on a 400mi drive. I was intending to part this out, but I may sell it as a roller if I find an interested buyer. Sometimes these cars are worth more in pieces than together. If you are interested in the roller PM me.


All together including Blu I am much less than half of my budget. I have nearly everything I need minus some sheet metal, rubber parts (weather stripping and the like), paint, primer, and metal coating such as lizard skin for sound. As I get further along I will need to hone in my forecast for the budget.
I am pretty confident I can hit or exceed my goal.

The real goal for me in this project is to build a fun early car that is done for a reasonable amount of money. What I have seen lately is these cars are getting priced out of reach for most people. A guy once said about friend's car, "I sure wish I could afford one" as he drives away in his $40k truck. Well, I drive daily a $5k dollar Lexus. It's all about choices. I could sell my 78 sunroof delete 930 and send this car off for someone else to do the work. For that matter, just buy a much better car that is not as much of a project. That is just not me. In this case I am also saving a car that has been forgotten. Not many would want to throw $20k into restoring a "T" unless there is some emotional attachment. I also remember when 64 Corvettes were the least desirable of the mid-years. Now they are right in there with the others. The 64 will never be a 63 split window, as I know the 71T will never be a 69E. I'll get off my soap box in a second, but it's all about the hobby, learning, the journey, and making the most of what you have.