911 1970T Restoration / 3.2 Conversion

[Bird911]

Hi Everybody, this is my first post on this forum.

I bought a 1970T Coupe roller a few months ago from a fellow Pelicaner (Hi Brent !) with the intend of restoring it as a hobby. The car was pretty much naked when I bought it, without any interior parts included, so it was easy to inspect for rust. The body show signs of past repairs, but so far everything seems to have been done fairly well.

My goal is to restore the car as a lightweight narrow body, 911R inspired, no radio / AC / backseat… The car will be used as a summer daily driver and for DE track events. Since there was no engine and transmission, and under the recommendation of the previous owner, I bought a accidented 1986 3.2 that will be used as a doner.

So far the dismantling went really good. I just removed the battery boxes to make room for the oil cooler under the fender, and I’m about to weld the sheet metal to covered these holes. This is where I am, and I now have a few questions:

1- I would like to fit the 3.2 oil cooler and oil lines (Drilling holes and welding brackets) before sending to the painter for final preparation and paint. Since the fitting are not the same on the 1970 oil lines than the 1986, should I keep the 1970 oil tank and just try to find adapter for the lines, or should I put the 1986 oil tank in the 1970 ? The second option implied lots of cutting and welding inside the engine bay, so I will only take this route if I really need to do it.

2- The car came with the original steel front and rear bumper, but I would like to put fiberglass 911R type bumper instead. I first intend to buy from GT Racing, but doing a search I also found Rennspeed Motorsports (rennspd.com). Can somebody comment on the quality of their fiberglass product ?

Here are a few pictures of the car when I bought it, the donor car and some of the mess in my garage …

[bbthomson]

Hey Hugo,

I just came across this thread. Great to see progress on the car. Looks like your garage is getting setup for a significant amount of work. The front bumper you have is from Rennspeed. I gave you the contact information of the guy I sold the rear bumper.

Glad you got a donor car, it will allow you to get this thing running sooner than later.

Note: Until your thread gets some traction, I suggest you ask your questions separately so that they don't get lost in the shuffle.

Keep me/us posted!

Brent

'79 - 911

[911pcars]

I have a 69 with the same 3.2 engine project.

I believe the 70' oil tank is similar in that the orientation of the oil filler and oil filter console are different on later models. if so, there is some engine compartment sheet metal work to make a late tank fit.

You can fit a 74"-on factory external oil cooler system to your chassis. You will need an oil line fitting adapter to fit the cooler line (30mm fitting) onto the 26mm threads on the early tank. Otherwise, the late cooler system will work.

The donor car will provide the correct fuel lines and installation path for your chassis. Your existing fuel tank may or may not have a fuel return inlet built into the tank. That depends on whether your original chassis was equipped with carbs or MFI.

The front bumper hanging on the wall looks to be an RS-type with a front cooler opening. Do your plans still include a fender-mounted cooler? A front cooler is more efficient, but the RS bumpers look better with flared RS wheel wells (rear).

Sherwood

[Bird911]

Hi Brent, Yes I did follow your advise regarding the donor car. I'm glad I did so, considering all the small insignificant parts missing on the 1970, that would have cost a fortune to purchase separately.

The garage is indeed now totally dedicated to this project, with parts hanging everywhere !

The body is about to be send to the soda blasting company, so that it can be bring to bare metal. I will also have them put an epoxy base primer to protect everything. Some minor body work will have to be done here and there, but mostly on the rear left quarter panel, as it was repair in the past, but not perfectly. The bump between the back seat will also have to be modify to accommodate the 915 transmission. It will then be send to the painter before reassembly.

Regarding the bumpers, I have decided to order the front and rear fiberglass 911R bumpers from TRE Motorsport.

Most of my recent time was used to build a rolling ''stand'' so that I can get the body out of the house. This should be done this weekend.

[Bird911]

Sherwood, thanks for the tips on the fuel and oil tank. I will probably use the '86 fuel tank, as it has more capacity and still look brand new (in fact, the whole donor car was almost mint before it got smash).

I will not be using the RS type front bumper, going instead for the 911R look. The oil cooler will be placed under the front fender as in the '86. This will be much easier to do, even if it's true that I'm loosing some efficiency. I have just removed the battery boxes to make room for it.

Regards,

[Trackrash]

If it were me, I would use the Carrera oil tank. The newer tanks are better in that they have larger oil passages internally to better match the oil flow of a 3.2. The older tanks also have been known to starve motors under track conditions.

In addition if you keep the '70 oil tank you will have to figure out a way to hook up the S hose from the tank to the engine oil cooler.

It's not that big of a deal to modify the sheet metal in the engine compartment.

One other problem I ran into when I switched to a Carrera tank and front cooler setup, was the lack of the indention in the frame in the wheel well where the oil lines go. This may not be an issue for you depending on what tires and wheels you use, but you may want to check it out. I just pounded on my frame for extra clearance.
Have you test fitted the thermostat and the oil lines from it to the tank?

[Eric D.]

Would it have made any sense to just back date the 86?

[bbthomson]

Hugo,

Great to see you are making progress on the car. Very happy that you got that donor car - it will make completing the project allot less expensive and reduce the time to get it on the road. Modifying the 70 tub to accommodate the new parts should not be that hard as there are people on this board who have done it before. (getting good at doing advanced searches will really help)

My project is also going very well and I will also be starting a post to show what I am doing.

Brent
________
'79 - 911

[sundevil64]

Bird911,
Nice project. I am also doing something similar with a 71 and a couple donor cars. I am going to keep my 71 oil tank and use the correct 71 fuel tank. I intend of running the return to my vent line. Another guy on here did it and it has worked fine. He is also running a 3.2L. It looks like you have a nice foundation to work with. Mine is pretty rusty.

[E Sully]

Using the later gas tank would be best. The whirl pot in the later cis, motronic tanks prevents fuel starvation during cornering, along with the internal filter to help keep the fuel clean. You will need the return line, and now is a good time to pull it in while the engine is out. You will also need to add a couple of wires in the tunnel for the electronic speedometer used in the later transmission.
CIS Gas Tank

[Bird911]

Gordon, I have to say I'm still undecided on the '70 vs '86 oil tank. The only reason I wanted to keep the original tank was that I would not have to modify the engine bay sheet metal. I wanted to keep the car as original as possible, and just change the power plant. Now that I have already cut the battery boxes to make room for the oil cooler, I wonder if I should stick to this ''as original as possible'' idea.

Since I the car did not came with his original engine, a full original restoration was out of the question, but I still wanted to keep as much original parts as possible.

I did not yet test fit the thermostat to the tank, just the oil lines and the front cooler to the front fender. I still need to make a better bracket for the cooler, but it seem to fit well.

Thanks for your comment, I might get back to you if I have question on a possible sheet metal modification for the Carrera oil tank if I go this way.

[Bird911]

Eric,
The '86 was bought only as a donor car. You can't see it on the previous picture, but the car was hit badly on the driver side. Here it is;

When he got hit in the accident, the PO told me the air pressure pop-up the front windshield from the car. He found the windshield in the street, unbroken, 50 feet in front of the car !

Notice that even the side windows were not damaged, even with the force of the impact.

[Bird911]

Ed, good point about fuel starvation during cornering. I only see advantages going with the Carrera fuel tank, and that's what I will do. About the extra wires for the electronic speedometer, I will use instead the whole harness from the '86. I will need it anyway for the 3.2 EFI.

John, I had the chance to buy a rust free car from a fellow Pelicaner, Brent ''bbthomson'', who took good care of it. Can't wait to have the entire car soda blast to see what is the repair history from the earlier years. Don't worry, I will keep the 70 fuel tank in case I decide to modify it for a center fill hood

[Eric D.]

I guess it did get hit hard! Looks like a great project.

[Trackrash]

Hugo,
Here are some shots of my oil tank upgrade. Only a small circle needs to be welded in and some trimming around the new filler location, not a big deal IMO. Otherwise the tank bolts in.


If you stick with the older tank you will have to make up a custom hose like this, although in reverse in your case. I'm not aware of anyone who makes an adapter from the tank to the motor oil cooler.

[Bird911]

Thanks for the pics Gordon. I was indeed wondering if the Carrera oil tank was a direct bolt on, aside from the sheet metal modification for the opening (I did not drop the engine yet and remove the oil tank from the donor car).
You just answer my question !

[pors1968]

Hi bird911 if you need any help just pm me .Parts or advice went throw same project whith 69 3.6.

[BoxsterGT]

Here's a Oil Tank to Engine S Hose adapter I made up for a fellow Pelican some time ago.......





The above is for a 71 oil tank that has M30 threads on the supply to the motor. Your 70 oil tank has M26 threads. A similar adapter can be made to fit your application.

I am happy to help if needed. I also have custom fuel hoses available for your 3.2 conversion if needed.

Len

[pors1968]

Youre carrera oïl tank fit whith sheet metal mod better oïl tank more oïl and flow and probably better than your 71.

[Bird911]

Pors1968, thanks for the offer. I might contact you later on this winter as the project goes on. Nice to know that you are also located in Montreal !

Len, great job on this hose adaptor. It just look like an original Porsche part ! Thanks for the pics and the offer.