My garage find

[ddubois]

After a year of looking for the right 1971 911T project car, Steve Watson at carplanet.com in CA found my car. It's a 100% original, 1-owner, non-sunroof, non A/C, 5 sp, S trim, CA car that has spent the last 20 years in a garage. The owner kept a stack of service records dating back to the 600 mile service and literally has not driven the car since 1988. It now has 157k documented miles. The only rust is some minor surface stuff, otherwise the car is incredibly solid. The interior is excellent and really only needs new carpeting around the door sills to make it a great driver. The only crack in the dash is one between the speaker and windshield.
I received the car 10 days ago and should be ready to start it this week. In that time I have:

- Installed new batteries, cleaned the fuses, checked for any shorts (none), and applied power and everything worked, including the clock and the original AM/FM Blaupunkt! I only had to replace a couple bulbs, no wiring issues.
-Completely overhauled the brake system. It appears to have received new pads and rotors about 100 miles before storing it for 20 years. Everything was brand new and all I needed to do was sand the rotors/pads, exercise the calipers, coax the MC to push some fluid, then flush the entire system with new ATE blue. The rubber brake lines looked good so I'll leave them for now. The brakes are ready to go.
-The electric fuel pump was seized, but a little carburetor cleaner broke it loose and it now runs fine. Flushed the gas tank and all I have left to do is replace all the rubber fuel lines (which snapped like pretzels), then do one last flush from tank to engine.
-I finished rebuilding the Zeniths over the weekend.
-Adjusted the valves.
-Powerwashed everything twice.
-Flushed the old oil and replaced with Castrol 20W-50
-Replaced all filters
-Stripped the interior down for cleaning and waiting for parts to rebuild the pedal assembly. Replaced all bushings in the throttle and shifter linkages, they were shot. The seats are in incredible condition. The rear door pockets were warped but some water/heat brought them back into shape. One was missing the top chrome trim, but Pep Boys has a plastic chrome door trim for $6 that is a perfect match.

Before I start it I'm going to check the mechanical tensioners. I did notice from the service history they had been replaced a few times and the protective stops were installed, but just to be sure. Oil tensioners will be installed in the near future. I'm thinking of replacing the trans fluid with some Mobil1 that I ran in my 964 for only a couple hundred miles before changing to Delvac, any thoughts?

Other projects for the future are:
- New carpet kit
- Glass out repaint. The original color is silver 8080 and it did have a so-so repaint (silver) at one time, but it's faded and scuffed pretty good now. There are no dents or body damage. I'm thinking of letting my son loose with a power polisher to bring back some shine in return for letting him drive it.
- Find a solution to replace the Marelli. If anybody has a good Bosch distributor they want to sell please drop me an email.

I'll post some more pictures as I get it back together, but here is how it arrived (that's the owners garage, not mine!)...

[mede8er]

Great find!

[Winter]

Nice score! Good luck with it.

---

Tom '75 Targa

[Carrerax]

Good find! Congrats! It sounds like you are doing everything properly prior to starting and driving it. The only thing I may have done different is replace the brake lines. The ones on my 1970 911t have been sitting since 83 and they were very brittle and not up to using. Just my .02. Cant wait to see more pictures!

[ddubois]

Originally Posted by Carrerax

Good find! Congrats! It sounds like you are doing everything properly prior to starting and driving it. The only thing I may have done different is replace the brake lines. The ones on my 1970 911t have been sitting since 83 and they were very brittle and not up to using. Just my .02. Cant wait to see more pictures!

Thanks. I was planning to replace the rubber brake lines as part of the brake go-through, until the metal-to-rubber fittings would not budge and started to round (even with a proper brake line wrench). I wanted to get the rest of the system checked out, and the rubber looked good with no cracking, so I rationalized for now they were OK. But I agree they need to be replaced. Once I get it driving I'll attack these with more liquid wrench soaking and likely some heat and get the rubber lines replaced.

[Carrerax]

That sounds like a good plan!

[John P (w/a T)]

Congrats on your find. We have similar stories, as my '71 T was only used for 4,000 miles over the previous 25 years. Same year, same model, same paint, etc.

I did everything you did, with great success. It really responded after putting a few hundred miles on it - these cars don't like to sit.

Some suggestions:

- I'm glad that you plan to replace the rubber brake lines. Even if they're not cracked, they swell on the inside and restrict fluid flow.
- Don't knock the Marelli before you try it. Mine runs great with it.
- On the Zenith's, I was chasing a tuning issue for some time, despite the fact that everything was to spec. The car would pop and not be as smooth down low. I read on this board that they respond really well to going up one size on the idle jets, as they don't like modern fuel. I replaced the Solex idle jets +1 size and what a difference - smooth! A tip is to buy the 6 jets from a VW place, as they are the same jet (including size) as the idle jet on a stock Solex 34 pict 3 (on the '71 and later Beetle). 1/10th the price and the same part. I bought mine from Art Thraen at Aircooled Engineering in Salt Lake City.

Definitely clay bar/ buff that paint - the patina looks tough and you'll get the shine back.

Enjoy your ride.

Here's mine with 26 year old paint (they're twins).

My 1.5 cents,

John

[jh225]

Now that is the proper way you post a garage/barn find. (Unlike another long drawn out drama over 3 weeks.)

Beautiful find, Good luck with the start up.

[CBRacerX]

Originally Posted by jh225

Now that is the proper way you post a garage/barn find. (Unlike another long drawn out drama over 3 weeks.)

Beautiful find, Good luck with the start up.

Nice job! The thread police approve!

Looks like a great find, best of luck.

[BK911]

Nice. I love hearing stories like this. Beautiful car.

+3 on the brake lines. Personally I believe stopping is more important than going. IMO I wouldn't even drive the car until the 35 yo brake lines were replaced.

[ddubois]

Originally Posted by John P (w/a T)

- Don't knock the Marelli before you try it. Mine runs great with it.
- On the Zenith's, I was chasing a tuning issue for some time, despite the fact that everything was to spec. The car would pop and not be as smooth down low. I read on this board that they respond really well to going up one size on the idle jets, as they don't like modern fuel. I replaced the Solex idle jets +1 size and what a difference - smooth! A tip is to buy the 6 jets from a VW place, as they are the same jet (including size) as the idle jet on a stock Solex 34 pict 3 (on the '71 and later Beetle). 1/10th the price and the same part. I bought mine from Art Thraen at Aircooled Engineering in Salt Lake City.

John,
The look of your car is my end goal!
I don't have anything against the Marelli, it's just the parts availability issue.
You touched on something that's been nagging me, and that is the correct jets for the Zeniths. By coincidence, I live in Park City, UT and will be driving the car between PC and Salt Lake for an average elevation of 6,000 ft. The car has spent it's life at sea level so I suspect some rejetting will be required but I'm having a hard time getting ideas. I called Gene Berg's shop and they have Solex jets, but no experience with the Porsche carburetor setups to help me with jet sizing. I'll try your recommendation in SLC. If you are at lower elevation and needed to go up a jet size, perhaps my higher elevation will result in the same effect with my current jets?
The current jets are stamped as follows.
Main jets stamped 0115 (I think, very hard to read even with magnifying glass)
Air correction jets stamped 195
Idle jets stamped 947.5P
I need to get a jet sizing tool to correctly determine the jet diameters.

Any input others could provide on jetting these Zeniths would be appreciated! My plan is to get it running and go from there as far as tuning the Zeniths.

Thanks,

[Craig]

Beautiful car, great find!
Just once, I want to find one of these 'barn finds' some day!

Just a caution, I would get new tires before you start driving it. I would not trust 21+ year old tires.

Enjoy the car!

Craig

[RWebb]

+! on new tires

the rubber brake lines swell on the inside & can look fine on the exterior

super dangerous if they have swollen, so try them slowly on the flats

use the new Loctite freeze off spray; Kroil or pb Blaster, maybe Wurth if Liq. Wrench does not work.

Great Car!

[ddubois]

Originally Posted by Craig

Just a caution, I would get new tires before you start driving it. I would not trust 21+ year old tires.

Amazingly, the tires are pairs of radial Continentals and Michelins in excellent condition. No cracks, 80+% tread, never even went flat in storage. They'll be fine to get it driving but I am planning on getting new rubber.
BTW, everyone's comments on the brake lines have convinced me to replace them now. Come to think of it, while I was bleeding the lines I noticed the LF would only dribble out while the other 3 flowed normal. Probably swollen inside and constricted as has been mentioned.

John,
I just got back from Aircooled Engineering and talking with Art for a while. Nice guy and he gave me some good leads for parts. My plan for the jets is to get it to him and let him hook it up to a meter and size the jets accordingly.

Thanks,

[John P (w/a T)]

Doug,

That is a good point about the altitude you're at (I didn't notice your location). I'm really glad that you got to see Art. He is indeed a great guy and vary knowledgeable with carbs. He rebuilt the 48 IDA Webers on the 2110 in my Cal-Look '67 Beetle and they are a dream! Hook it up and let the analyzer tell you.

You're smart to get a jet measurer; I don't trust what's stamped on old jets.

The Marelli parts are indeed hard to come by. I was able to find a couple of new sets of points and condensors a few years ago, and bought a couple of good, used spare distributor caps as well. I even bought an entire spare distributor for hardly any money that I keep as a swap out in case I have roadside issues. Never needed it so far (touch wood).

Here's a gratuitous pic. of my original paint '67 that Art has had a role in. I park the 911 and go for spin in the '67 if I want to go fast.

Enjoy that '71- it's really nice.

Cheers,

John

[ddubois]

I finally got the rest of my parts yesterday, put everything back together, a quick check of spark, one last flush of the fuel lines, and bingo - she fired right up!
Runs pretty smooth and I still need to tune the carbs with my new synchrometer. This is my first shot at tuning these types of carbs so your suggestions are welcome. I have the 101 Project book, Haynes manual, and I found a good thread on Pelican on tuning carbs, but I'm open to input.
No ominous smoke and no leaks!
Goal for today after carb tuning is to get the pedal cluster rebuilt, install the last of the shift and throttle linkage bushings, get the brake lines replaced and time for a drive!
Enough talk, here's what you really want...

Ready to go with the freshly rebuilt Zeniths.


Scrubbed and powerwashed the wheel wells and underside. I hate working on dirt and grease laden cars.


Car came with a cover and Porsche bra. All of the carpets cleaned up nicely.


The clock is still working!


The headliner has some stains, but no tears.


Door pockets straightened up nicely with some heat and water. That top edge trim piece is my $6 Pep Boys special.


Seats are excellent.


Pans are solid and as good as new.


Even has the original battery straps. No rust up here.


OK, time to get working on the car.

[Fishman7]

So how did all of the jetting of the carbs work out? Did you change them out? If so to what?

[Max Von]

What a sweetie! So nice and clean. Best of luck and many happy miles.

[Ray B]

Is the paint original? If so, clean it up and LEAVE IT ORIGINAL. Same for the interior. You can respray many times, but it's only original once-and probably worth more! BTW, the brake hoses should be date stamped so you can tell how old they are but undoubtedly need replacing. Great find. Congrats!

[Bobboloo]

Congrats! Great find.