HELP ID this for me

[No Signal]

Hey guys, new to the forum and new to the 911 ownership. Long story but I grew up in the back of a 76 and told myself I would one day own one like my dad had. Now its a reality, and I am currently trying to address some issues. Any help is welcome, as well as a gentle reminder to point out my ignorance, lol.





I'm trying to figure out why my garage smells of gas. That said, I have visited the other subforums to look for things to consider, and I don't seem to be coming up with anything.

I am going to replace all the rubber in this car slowly. Some of the pictures show the oil/residue that exists. Can that produce enough of a smell that I need to clean the engine bay thoroughly?

The other pictures are of the radiator. I don't know why the previous owner didn't have it mounted correctly, but I am trying to find the hardware to remount it. OEM is what I strive for, but I am willing to take anything at this point to get it secured.

Thank you for all the pointers, and I hope to be an asset to this forum in the future, thanks to the help I received from this post. All the best!

[A930Rocket]

Welcome.

Radiator? You mean the ac condenser on the engine lid? Nothing jumped out at me, but I’m on my phone and can only see so much.

[No Signal]

Yes its missing the mounting screws on both sides. just wanted to see if Porsche sticks with a traditional screw type or if its as easy as going to the local hardware store.

Picture two tries to show the two holes misaligned.

[nickelplated5s]

Find Len Cummings on this site for a set of fuel lines. Although you might need a tank you'll want those too. Any decent hardware store or Belmetrix for hardware. Post the year, surprised you could post pics with your count.

[No Signal]

1978 911sc targa.

[No Signal]

Is the stain down the center channel an indication that I need new fuel lines? Can it seep through the floor?

[silverlock]

For the condenser bracket fasteners: grab the PET and identify the parts you need. https://911-manuals.questionable.services/porsche-pet-911-sc.pdf

Illustration 813-55 on page 433 - should be an M4x10 bolt with a lock ring and hex nut (#6, #7, #8)

[brighton911]

I would sniff that area of the floor to see if it smells like gas. If it does, best not drive the car until it is repaired.

[Mark Salvetti]

Welcome! Car looks great!

Your third photo is just a rubber sheath on the polyamide fuel line. Not critical. And it's not unusual to have oil on that shelf near the fuel filter. Easy to spill during oil changes.

What is unusual is that stain in the middle of the floor. Only liquid above that point is fuel in the plastic tunnel lines. There are no fittings to leak, so if that's fuel, you will need to replace the lines. I think a leak from the plastic lines is pretty rare.

And yeah, if that is fuel, you should stop driving until it is fixed. Here is a recent post by Len with his contact info: https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/1089084-3-2-motor-fuel-line-re-make.html. A lot of us have used his products, including myself.

Lots of threads on how to replace the lines, here is a long one: https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/792001-okay-so-i-am-going-replace-my-main-tunnel-fuel-lines-tomorrow-any-suggestions.html

It is hard to do with the engine in the car, but it is possible. You have to get underneath and thread the lines through. Len provides a coupling so you can attach the new fuel lines to the old ones, so you can pull the new ones through while you extract the old ones.

Mark

[No Signal]

Thanks all for the help!

In comms with Len now, so on to replacing the fuel lines.

I appreciate the pointer on the manual; it will make things a lot easier to find.

[Rodsrsr]

Nice car.

[75 911s]

As the others have noted, you need to check all the fuel lines. The tunnel lines usually are the last to go, so that spot is unusual. You didn't happen to do any welding (like lowering the seat bracket) right? That would have melted the fuel line in the tunnel.

All the other lines in the front by the fuel pump, and in the back from the tunnel up need to be looked at and likely replaced asap. The accumulator and filter can leak if they were not put on right. The pump can leak if it's old.

Maybe do a full fuel refresh. Carry a fire extinguisher.

[Rodsrsr]

Another possibility is someone drilled into the top of the tunnel to mount something unaware that the fuel lines are directly below. Lots of YouTube videos on changing the tunnel lines and it can definitely be accomplished with the engine in the car. Lens kit makes this a very doable task.

[No Signal]

Putting the car on a lift this weekend so more to follow. However, I did more visual analysis of the stain and it is right under the stick shift. I am wondering, before taking apart the stick shift area, could it be grease from the stick shift area? Seems like a crazy amount of grease to be coming out of the center channel but more to follow.

Copy on the fire extinguisher

[Rodsrsr]

I don't think the lift is going to help too much in this situation. The leak appears to be coming from the tunnel which is accessed from inside the car.

The only fluids that run through the tunnel would be fuel and I believe a brake line, but if a brake line was leaking that bad you wouldn't have any brakes.

Grease is much too think to leave a stain like that and there's nothing above that requires that much grease. The shifter comes out quite easily. I would pull the shifter (make sure its in neutral), and start the car briefly to see if you can identify where the fuel is coming from, if there's a long screw that someone installed you'll need to remove it or you will just just damage the new line as well. There should be no screws going directly into the tunnel.

Fuel in the center tunnel is no joke.

[EC900]

They’re factory floor one/way drain plugs (?) along the tub, either to let any catastrophic water to drain out or maybe for when these cars were galvanizing dip process?
You could easily check inside tunnel by removing the rear shift coupler inspection panel for any excessive trans oil but doubt it would flow that far forward.
When I replaced my shifter bushings the rod was rusted stuck it needed heavy dose of PB Blaster to get it off, so that could be what leaked out from that drain plug.
No much grease used on the shift components.

[EC900]

Oh and the gasoline smell. Sniff around the trunk and at front left fender, behind washer fluid reservoir there should be an expansion tank holds the tank fumes, drawn back to the engine charcoal can while engine running. A hose could be disconnected or unit removed and tank fumes are dissipating into the atmosphere.

[No Signal]

Ok, after getting it up on the lift I poked around in search of gas smell. It turns out the stain was just some type of road debris so I cleaned that up and it doesn't appear to have anything under it.

Does anyone know if those center channel holes come out? As in, do I have to pull out a plug to get access to that area? When I was under the car the holes don't go visibly through to the channel. I just don't want to pull something that will break, causing a larger issue.

The small tube coming from the tank to the fuel pump had a little bit of a smell but that was it. So I guess I will replace that.



The main lines to the fuel pump looked good from what I could tell.



I did notice this grounding wire was soaked with some type of fluid. It didn't smell of gas. Could it be transmission or clutch fluid from a service? I did just have all the fluids replaced.

A couple of shiny spots on these areas, oil or some type of fluid, not gas. Not sure if it is just a tightening down of the screws? Would a reputable service really not screw down the sump plate?







These bushings appear to be toast, need some new ones for sure.



Would a crack in this pipe make the garage smell of gas?

Or oil running down these lines to hot components and burn off, would that give off a fuel/fumey smell? What a rat race trying to locate this issue.

[No Signal]

These were the photos regarding the comment about oil running down them. It is not an active drip but I can tell the metal to rubber connection appears to be wearing

[Mark Salvetti]

In the background of your third photo in your very first post you can see a black canister to the left of the oil cap. The fuel tank vents to that canister. You can see a braided hose that seems to be connected to that canister.

That hose runs along the back of the engine, then down into the tunnel. It's possible that the hose at the front of the car is cracked or disconnected. That will give you fuel smell. Check out this thread:
911sc Gas Tank Vent System

None of your latest photos throw up any flags to me. The rubber fuel hose feed to the fuel pump can only be replaced after you drain the tank. Looks dry to me, so I wouldn't rush to change that.

The ground cable could have gearbox lube on it. Gear oil has a distinctive smell, you should be able to tell if it's that. No drips, I think I would leave it alone.

If you are going to replace the tie rod bushings, consider upgrading to Turbo tie rods. You'll need an alignment after that. I think if you just replace the rubber bushings, you won't need to re-align.

You can bet that after all these years most of the rubber bushings could use replacing. Front A-arms, rear spring plate, sway bars. But you need to take the suspension apart to do all those.

The cracked corrugated metal pipe conveys air from the blower in the engine compartment into the heat exchanger to be heated. That hot air exits the front of the heat exchanger, through the heater control valves, and into the cockpit to provide heat and defrost. Check the other hoses as well, and the function of the control valves (they open and close with the levers between the seats). Although if you have auto heat, things are more complicated. If you have problems with heat (too much or none) we can help troubleshoot that.

The black sump plate just looks like it has oily fingerprints from an oil change. The sump plate is usually not removed, just the drain plug.

The plate you circled red under the transmission has a fork attached to the inside and positions the shift rods inside the gearbox. Also usually left alone. If it is leaking, you can replace the gasket but you'll need to drain the gearbox first. If you tackle this, first make sure you can remove the gear oil fill plug on the side of the gearbox. They can be a bear to remove. You don't want to drain the gearbox and then find out you can't remove the fill plug.

The oil lines in your last two photos look fine. Not unusual to have some oil on them, but if they are not dripping, just clean them up and keep an eye on them.

Hope this helps,

Mark