Saving another '73
 

I have owned my ’77 Targa for a long time (decades) - and now that I recently finished its long (8 year) restoration, I am thoroughly enjoying it again. But, I have always also wanted a coupe (I only drive the Targa with the top off), and in particular, a longhood coupe.

So, a few years ago I started looking for longhood coupe project that I could start restoring once the ’77 was finished. I figured that if I didn’t make the move now, that I would soon be priced out of the market.

In the Spring of 2014 I saw a Craigslist ad for a ’73T coupe shell in San Antonio (the owner turned out to be a fellow Pelican). I drove down to take a look at the car and assess the amount of sheet metal work it was going to need. The car had been sitting outside, under a tree, for a number of years with the glass and interior out. Having the interior out was a good thing because we’ve all seen the pictures of what happens when water gets under the trim – it gets absorbed by the horsehair and then slowly rusts away the metal under it. Of course, the water had to go somewhere, and given that the car was listing such that the water collected near the pedal cluster area, that whole area of the floorboard and tunnel is gone (I’ll post pictures later).

Here is a photo of the car's "good side" as I found it under the tree – although I probably don’t need to mention that it was under a tree once you see the amount of leaves :).

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436917599.jpg

I decided to purchase the car, but needed return with a trailer to tow it home. I first needed to make the car into a roller - as you can see from the first set of photos, the car had trailing arms and control arms, but no struts, or wheels. With a quick email to the local 911 group, I was able to find everything I needed, rented a trailer, and brought the ‘73T home. There was some drama on the tow home, but I’ll leave that story for another time.

The ‘73T sat in my garage untouched for nearly 18 months while I finished the ‘77. I did begin a massive parts hunt for all the missing pieces during that time, including trying to track down the matching numbers engine and transmission. I should mention that this is a RoW ‘73T, hence the engine is a 2.4 with Zenith carbs (type 911/57), unlike the MFI or CIS 2.4Ts for the US market. My hunt for the engine dead ended in Australia – I’ll provide more details later.

Two weeks ago I finally started work on the ‘73T, and will provide an update of my progress in my next post – this post is more of an introduction. In case you're wondering, my plans for the car are to perform a mostly stock restoration, with a few practical changes/updates along the way.

A few more photos before putting it on the trailer:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436917824.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436917895.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436917924.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436918474.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436918175.jpg

That is an ambitious project. Looking forward to following your progress.

Good on you for saving one. He should have paid you to remove it for him. Looking forward to watching it come back to life after that neglect.

Wow, good work mate. I can't wait to hear the full story of this car!

Frank. I can't wait to see it in its former green glory.

Thanks for the interest - I'll definitely be learning a few new skills as I tackle this one.

Jamie,
While you'll be measuring the completion time for Minne in months, I'll be measuring this project in years :). I hope you won't mind me bothering you too much for your sage advice on this one - I'm going to need it.

Damn, that will be a seriuos project!

I would love to follow it!

But great that someone is saving 911's from srapyard

Looks interesting :) I sure want to follow your work on this one!

This is a scary sequel ;)

Subscribed!

Fortune cookie say" The quest will be worth every minute!"
Looking forward to future posts.

Frank you are a hero.

More photos and story please !

Very interesting find, for further 901 details check out the 901 register located in Australia lots of good 901 connections there.

I can't even imagine.

Richard Newton
Gauge Restoration

You are one hell of a man! I admire guys and guys like you that save these old cars.

Since some folks were asking, here's my story on the car (so far).

After purchasing the car, in addition to constantly monitoring the Pelican and Early911SRegistry sites for parts, I kicked off three tasks; request a Certificate of Authenticity from PCNA, try to find previous owner(s), and try to find the original engine and transmission.

Obviously requesting the CoA was the easiest of the three, and it revealed a nicely equipped ‘T’ (see below) with “Paint to Sample” metallic green paint, Sport Seats, S Trim, Sway Bars and Cookie Cutter wheels. The car came with a pair of 69/70 seats when I purchased it, so obviously the sport seats were long gone.

Using information from the Title, I was able to trace back three owners of the car, and upon finding some contact information, I reached out to him via email. Fortunately he responded and we had a nice chat over the phone (he is also a car guy). He lived in the area where I would be picking up the car, so I dropped by his house as I was trailing the car home so that he could see it in its current state. He mentioned that he started stripping the car himself for a restoration many years ago, but then ended up selling the car as-is to a guy that planned to use it as a father-son restoration project. Apparently that project never happened, and the car was finally sold to person from whom I bought it (either for parts or to turn it into a track car – I’m not sure). As a stroke of luck, while I was at his house, he gave me some photos he had of the car, and then he mentioned that he still had a box of parts from the car in the garage, and asked me if I wanted them. Yes, of course! The box turned out to contain all of the lighting, horns, horn grilles, seat belts, wood floor boards, and other miscellaneous items. Not all of the parts are usable due to the car being hit on the left front at the time it was disassembled, but certainly a nice bonus never the less.

Regarding the engine and transmission, they were still in the car when the PO bought it. He sold the engine to a local guy, who subsequently moved to Australia, taking the engine with him. He is also a fellow Pelican, so I reached out to him but did not receive a response until nearly a year later, stating that he sold the engine sometime around 2007 in Australia, but has no record of the transaction – so that’s as far as I got.

The transmission was also sold to a Pelican, but when I contacted him, he did not recall the transaction, nor did he have the bellhousing with the S/N I was looking for. So another dead end there.

This leaves me with a few directions that I could go on the drivetrain. I would like to keep a Mg case engine in the car, so one option is to go with a 2.7 with Webers & RS P&Cs– the same as my ’77 setup. The other option is try to find a correct year and type engine (1973 Type 911/57), but those are hard to find in the US since they were never imported here. I have found one for sale so far, and a couple others where the owners may want to sell.

I would like to find out more history on the car, e.g.; in which country it was originally sold, and when it was imported to the US, but I don’t know if this information is available anywhere. I requested a Title history from the Texas DPS, but that only went back as far as the owner I already contacted. Any suggestions are welcome.

Here is the CoA. Notice the “Porsche Script on Door – Green”. Since green script is not available as a one of the standard colors for the door scripts, I’m wondering if this was also a special order color like the paint.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437108811.jpg

Great story so far....will keep reading for future posts

The first order of business to begin working on the car was to remove the suspension and steering rack, and then put the car on the dolly that I built when working on the ’77 (I did this work two weekends ago). This will allow me to better inspect the chassis for rust and any other damage, plus move it around in my garage much easier.

I started with the rear suspension. The four bolts for the spring plate bushing cover came out without a fuss. I should note that so far I am very pleased that I have been able to remove all the fasteners without snapping off any (knock on wood). I was even able to remove the nuts for the heater control boxes without breaking those small studs. I have been spraying everything with AeroKroil every few months over the last 18 months in preparation for this day – so that probably helped :). I was also pleased to see that, even though the heads of the bolts were rusty, the threads of most bolts still had the original Cad plating on the, so the water didn’t get far.

A few obligatory photos:

That is one crusty spring plate bushing cover. It came off without too much effort, as did the spring plate with the torsion bar.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437195459.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437195510.jpg


There was not too much drama on the front suspension either. The only issue I had was that I was unable to separate the control arms from the front crossmember (rusted in place) with the crossmember still bolted to the chassis, so I removed all three pieces as a single unit and then used a hammer and chisel to separate them.

A few more photos:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437195559.jpg

Plating still on bolt threads:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437195576.jpg

I think the splash pan was home to more than a few critters over the years:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437195599.jpg

Control arms fused to the crossmember. I'm hoping all these pieces will clean up well and look nice after powder coating:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437195613.jpg

I'll clean up the aluminum rack and have the caps re-plated. And turbo tie-rods, of course.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437195630.jpg

And here it is on the dolly. The fenders were just temporarily bolted in place for a test fit (purchased from a fellow Pelican).
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437196133.jpg

I know folks are wanting to see pictures of the areas that will need repair. I will start gathering those and post them after I finish the disassembly.

Next up - removal of the ventilation system under the cowl, and the dash pad.

Love me a good build thread! Are you going to strip and media blast it?

Wayner,
Thanks for the inspiration for the thread title :)

I have inquired about media blasting the whole chassis with the shop that does my blasting and powder coating, but I have not decided if I'm going to go this route yet. I want to get the car on the rotisserie first and will then decide. Besides, having the car on the rotisserie will allow the better access for blasting.

Last weekend I removed the ventilation system and dash pad. Given that there was no windshield in the car, I was a bit nervous about what I would find under the dash pad. I have seen photos where the sheet metal under the pad is severely rusted from water getting trapped between the pad and metal. I was lucky in that the metal under the pad appears to be rust-free.

Here’s a photo of the area before I started:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437244849.jpg

This fan obviously hasn’t been run in a very long time.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437244900.jpg

With the ventilation control boxes out of the way, I was able to get a better view of the debris that accumulated in those areas. With all the extra plumbing and wiring harnesses on the left side of the trunk, a lot more debris built up on that side.

Right side:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437244958.jpg

Left side:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437244934.jpg

It amazing that the leaves managed to squeeze their way through the defrost vent and end up here:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437245003.jpg

I was very careful and managed to detach the dash pad without breaking or spinning any of the studs, or snapping any of the plastic clips. Notice the production number in grease pencil still visible.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437245025.jpg

After cleaning up the area under the dash pad (being careful not to wipe away the production number), I was very happy to not find any rust :).
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437245066.jpg

The dash pad may be useful as a core to be re-covered, but the metal at the ends may be too rusted.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437245085.jpg

(continuing from previous post as I hit my picture limit)

Here are some shots of the area with everything removed (except the wiper mechanism) and cleaned up. The right side appears to have only some slight surface rust. The left side, where most of the debris collected, has much more surface rust - hopefully media blasting will take care of this.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437245107.jpg

Right side:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437245121.jpg

Left Side:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437245134.jpg

Cleaning day
 

This weekend I just cleaned up some areas of the car to help evaluate which panels need to be replaced completely vs. patched (plus, I was getting tired of the musty smell in my garage). I also removed the excess wiring from a radio installation and some sort of kill switch.

The bottom of the car and wheel wells had been sprayed with some undercoating that was flaking off, so I rolled the chassis out into the driveway for good power washing. Here is a before and after shot of the right inner fender.

Before:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437367356.jpg

After (with the car’s hidden custom green shining proudly):
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437367377.jpg

Does anyone know what these little spikes are at each of the spot welds? My ’77 does not have them.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437368178.jpg

I missed this last week when I was cleaning the dash area. I’ve seen others post theirs – I believe it is a signature/mark by the painter. Is there a collection of these things?
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437367446.jpg

I was doing some cleaning up in the cabin, and all these hack wires under the dash were bothering me – they had to go.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437367475.jpg

There were four wires spliced into the ignition switch harness (wonderful) - they went to an added relay in the trunk. I’ll need to repair one wire in the harness that was cut, the others were just vampire taps.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437367494.jpg

And then there is this secret switch behind the ash tray – I suppose it was used to trigger the trunk relay.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437367514.jpg

I removed the door panel to fix the window regulator, and found this gem inside the door :).
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437367539.jpg

Speaking of doors, I was planning on removing the right door (the left door was gone when I purchased it), but thought that perhaps it is better to leave the door on to make sure the gaps are right when fitting panels. What do others do? Or perhaps I should remove it for now (using the hinge pins), and then simply pop it back on when fitting the panels around the door?

I started gathering photos of the known rust areas - I say known because I know I will find plenty more when I start cutting and grinding. I plan to post these in my next post – perhaps I should name that post “the good, the bad and the ugly”.

Frank,

Yes, you can remove the doors by pulling the hinge pin. This does not disturb alignment. Leave them on if you are working on rockers or QPs. Use the factory door position for alignment.

Funny Minne had similar wiring under the dash.

Love that green. Had a friend that had a 76 Euro Carrera in a color that looked almost identical.

If you do have a need to remove the hinges from the doors/posts, a trick is to drill one or two small alignment holes that you can later insert a small punch or pin into while you reinstall the bolts.

Hey Mate,

Thanks for posting the story and all the pics, good on you for taking on the task. Sounds like it was a pretty sweet car when it was new!

If there is anything I can do to help out with your engine tracing given that I am in Australia let me know.

I am in the Porsche Club Victoria and would be happy to post an add in the newsletter etc. if you think it will do you any good.

Cheers

Stewart

That cassette was released in 1997. 18 years ago.

Hi Stewart,
Great idea - thanks for offering. The engine was sold to someone in Melbourne, so at least you are in the right area. As you can see from the CoA, the engine number is 6530449, and should be a 2.4L 911T motor with Zenith carburetors (or it was at one time), and was sold around the 2007 time frame. Send me a PM if the newsletter editor would like me to contact him/her directly.

The lower door pin doesn't want to budge. I'll let it soak in Kroil for a few days to see if that helps.

I don't have the proper door pin tool, so I'm using the long punch method. Any other suggestions?

Looking forward to seeing this come together.

One of the reasons I'm on Pelican regularly....the great resto builds...looks to be a pretty solid start point too. Luck.

Very cool, looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

Between traveling and guests visiting, I haven’t had much time to work on the ’73 these past few weeks. I did manage to remove the sound deadening material from the floor pan to see if the pan is salvageable with a few patch repairs, or if I’m going to need to completely replace it.

I went around the car to take a closer look and photograph some of the known rust areas, and I have posted some of those photos below. Many areas of the car are in surprisingly good condition, but due to the way that the car was leaning when parked outside, there are some areas that are bad – pedal cluster area really bad – due to water pooling in those areas.

I have been spending a lot of time on Restoration Design’s website recently trying to determine which sheet metal pieces I can purchase, and which I will need to fabricate. I also need to take inventory of the parts that the PO sold with the car – he included some new and used sheet metal panels in a box of parts.

Note that I would like to get the front trunk area of the car repaired first since my original plan was to attach the chassis to the rotisserie at the bumper mounts. Another option would be to attach the rotisserie at the front sway bar mounts (a la Octisserie), but that would require long rotisserie arms. This is the first big decision I need to make on the direction I take on this project. If I attach the rotisserie at the front sway bar mounts, then I assume it would be possible to have the chassis on the rotisserie for the front suspension pan replacement (I would prefer not to weld while lying on my back)? And likewise, I assume that one cannot attach the rotisserie at the front bumper mounts with the suspension pan removed as there will be too little structural integrity in the nose at that point?

So without further ado, on to the rust…

For the first photo I thought I would go for the maximum shock and awe. Yes, this at one time was a pedal cluster, but now it looks like something retrieved from a centuries old shipwreck. The only thing supporting that whole chunk of iron oxide (other than force of habit) is a remaining sliver of metal at the rear, and the brake lines attached to the master cylinder at the front.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1440391143.jpg

And here is the view of the pedal cluster area from the bottom. Needless to say I’ll be needing a front floor and at least a part of the “hump” section.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1440391287.jpg

Outside front right corner – obviously patched once before. Fortunately RD sells a repair piece for this section.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1440391320.jpg

Inside front right corner. This has me a bit concerned as part of the inner fender has rusted away (water trapped between inner fender and bumper bracket). I’ll probably have to fabricate this piece as RD only has a SWB repair panel for this section. On a positive note, the battery box is in good shape :).
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1440391353.jpg

Outside front left corner – again, previously patched.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1440391391.jpg

Inside front left corner. Not nearly as bad as the right, but will need a small patch at the bottom.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1440391628.jpg

From the top, the suspension pan looks pretty good (and appears to be original).
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1440391676.jpg

But as you can see from the bottom, it will have to be replaced (as do most).
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1440391728.jpg

I’m stopping here for tonight and will post more photos tomorrow.

I involuntarily shivered when I saw those. One bit at a time I suppose. Press on and keep us posted.

You deserve a medal for rescuing this car. Seriously, it should be criminal for someone to place a car outside only to have it rot into the ground.

I was in Tennessee last week visiting family and a neighbor of my father has a Austin Healy Sprite under a tarp that is literally being absorbed by the soil. I asked another neighbor and he said that the father had died few years ago and the adult son (prob in in his 50's) was in an accident so he has left the car at the vacant family home.

Good luck with your build. Luckily San Antonio is fairly dry so your tin worm is not as bad as it could be...

Great work so far!

Your photos really show how complex even an old car like a 73 is.

To be fair to the PO, I do not know the condition of the car before it was placed outside. By speaking to the previous PO (PPO), I do know that there was enough rust on the car at the time when he owned it for him to cut off the left rear quarter panel to begin a restoration, but then he stopped when he saw a hole near the tail light assembly - so the car was certainly not rust-free before being placed outside.

I'll post more pictures later, but being from Central Texas, some of the areas where I typically see rust appear to be in good condition on the car (I'll know more when start exposing metal). It appears that the areas that had no paint on them from the factory, or where puddles formed from rain, are the most affected. I am originally from NE Ohio (rust belt), and if these cars have ever been exposed to road salt, the salt creeps everywhere and the rust damage is much more pervasive and severe.

The PO could've sent it off to be crushed, so maybe we should all just be happy that it has been put into good hands.

Keep going Frank.

btw, the upper corners of the inner fender well do not look patched to me. At least the DS doesn't based on the pictures. The final corner where the fender bolts on is a separate piece from the factory. Also the exterior has the thick doubled up section where the bumper mounts. It just looks really crusty.



Its always funny to me where and how these old cars rust. Sections you expect to be clean are rusty and sections you expect to be rusty are clean.

@tdskip. Yes. times have changed. I can admit to sending a few tubs to their grave in better condition than this. Just did not have the place to store them a decade ago when no one wanted them.

My thoughts exactly, Jamie. Case in point: I've seen many 911 projects where the gutter at the base of the cowl is rusted away, but on this car it is rust-free - perhaps all those layers of paint are not such a bad thing :).
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1440556580.jpg

But then there is this rusted area at the top of the door hinge post - how does that happen? I wouldn't think that water would accumulate there. It’s even been patched once already.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1440556651.jpg