so this is how a backdate project starts...

[Jonny042]

Looking great!!

[will hung]

Mike,

Just logged on for the first time in a while and just saw your to do list post. In case you didn't know, a little tip I found on the EarlyS forum is to use TarnX to clean the center caps. It cleaned mine up so they looked brand new with very little effort.

Happy New Year!

[SpyderMike]

Jonny and wh, thanks for checking in!

I will definitely try the tarnx.

Cheers!

[SpyderMike]

So, I took care of a few things I wanted to do before I drove the car:

Replaced this main oil hose-



Grounded the fuel filler tube-



Then I started it up, warmed it up and pulled out of the garage only to find a trail of fluid drops. I thought it might be from the oil line replacement. It wasn't. It smelled like fuel. I pulled back in and shut it down. Sure enough, it was the the high pressure line from the fuel pump. It had failed me before in 2008 and I had it repaired at a known Porsche shop.

What I found its that, although they used cheap hose clamps, that wasn't where the leak originated. The hose material itself was disintegrating. This was Continental COHLINE 2134 .0600 fuel injection fuel line. It lasted less than 9 years while the car sat most of the time. Yikes.







I think I will patch it again so that I can drive it, smog it, align it, and wait on new lines. Coincidently, I was just emailing back and forth yesterday and today with Len about new fuel lines...

[Trackrash]

Wow. How lucky to notice before you got on the road you were leaking fuel.

I and many others have had issues with rubber fuel hose. I wish there was a way to know what hose will last.

I recently converted both of my cars to aircraft stainless braided hose.

[betterair]

Yes but ,Braided steel lines still have organic rubber inners,so still susceptible to ethanol deterioration .

[Trackrash]

The ones I bought are "rated" for alcohol fuels.

BTW, I should have mentioned that this is the second set of Aeroquip stainless braided hose I have had on my 911. The first set lasted 25 years. YMMV.

[SpyderMike]

Today was a milestone day. I was a bit nervous...not sure why really. I suppose it was because after 3 years of off and on work (mostly off), I ran out of excuses to get it smogged. Something in the back of my head said it might fail. After all the motor has 32 years and 250,000 miles on it with little maintenance. So I started by fixing the fuel line at the pump, checked for leaks and then replaced the splash shield.

I then hooked up the charcoal canister:





I cleaned the ICV as it was giving me a little fit when starting cold. What a difference that made! Just about the best 10 minutes of maintenance I have done:



Put some fuel in it and it passed smog! Here she sits. The blue tapes denote chips in the old paint that need to be addressed.





Now I need an alignment while I wait for the tags...! Yippee.

I few more details to take care of and then I drive the car - as much as I can.

[will hung]

Jesus. That looks brilliant. Great job.

[Jonny042]

Congratulations!

Very nice job.

Perhaps you've considered it but to my eye a "T" rocker deco would look great on that car and hide a few mounting holes?

[obscene]

congrats, Mike! long time coming!

[Uwon]

Congrats!
Feels great, I’m sure.
Now drive it like you stole it.
Johan

[SpyderMike]

Thanks for you support guys!

I am pretty happy to be nearing the end of the project after some 3 years. I got bigger and more involved than I imagined, but it has been really rewarding.

After getting an alignment, I still have the door, targa and top windshield seals to install.

Then it is my daily driver. I imagine I will still tweak the look here and there (metal engine lid grill, rocker area deco type trim (as suggested by jonny042), wheel caps (maybe), etc.

Ultimately, I plan to do a full suspension upgrade down the road, but it drives real nice now, so that might get pushed out.

[Jonny042]

Really envious that you get to drive your car!! I keep coming back to look at the pics. It sure looks good.

I have to move somewhere warmer. We are having unseasonably warm weather for a few days but it's still below freezing

[SpyderMike]

Yikes! There is something nice to be said about it being 75+ degrees in mid-January! One can get a lot done.

[SpyderMike]

Got her aligned today and got new license tags. Time to drive her.

I still need to install the door, windshield top and targa seals and take care of a few other minor cosmetic issues. This was post alignment:





Not sure they parked it in the handicap spot. I am kind of liking the 2007 Carrera S next to it though...hmmmm

[Jonny042]

Looking great!

[SpyderMike]

Thanks!

I had some time to spend so I looked at seeing if I could save my wheel caps. Back some 20+ years ago rather than replaced them as the paint in the emblem feature was worn off, I bought some small emblems and installed them. Well, they didn't stand the test of time. Also the dissimilar metal cause corrosion on caps.



I removed the emblems and used 100 grit and finer to remove as much of the corrosion as possible. I then set about making them usable by masking off the area I wanted to paint, shooting some satin black from a rattle can, and letting it dry overnight.





I few minutes wet sanding with 600 grit and they are okay.



From normal viewing distance they look fine - for now.

[Jonny042]

That really finishes off the looks of the wheels. I also like that the black inset helps to hide the holes left from removing the emblems.

[Hellraiser]

Nice!