Michael's 1966 912 Restoration and Conversion

[Breamo]

OK, so first off I'd like to thank Pelican Parts.... They've been great, and have helped me source hard to find parts. Thanks Wayne.

Secondly, please don't flame me for this, but I am restoring a 1966 912 that I found rusting away in a garage. There was no motor with the car, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to convert this to electric drive. The motor I have chosen will give me about 220bhp (more than double an original 912) and about 330 pounds feet of torque, so she should be a nice fast 12 when I'm done. I really hope that I'm not performing blasphemy by doing this, as I am a gas engine fan, and even own and race a BMW e30.

I thought that I would share what I've found and learned along the way. I have read up on other restorations, and when I feel like I can never win the war against rust (the red worm) I read up on someone's progress, and feel that it can be done. (thanks Jerry, Darryl, and others.) I seriously would have given up about a month into it if it wasn't for these guys who have cars worse (?) than mine.

OK, so I have a 1966 912. All the date stamps on the car are from 1964 or 1965, and it's a 3 gauge. The VIN is 454 026, (door stamp, and under the hood up front) although on the dash there is a 350 646 stamped and 646 is written in grease pencil on the top of the instrument cluster. I'm not sure if the 646 number is a production number (pre VIN) or if it's from a clip from a former accident. I'll post pictures of these later, but I have followed discussions here about VIN's, so this should be interesting to some.

So here's a shot of how I received her:



Original color was creme, but it was repainted Bahama Yellow. I have posted my progress so far on a blog that I set up, but I will also cross post some of the more gory details here.

Here's a pic of my recent C-Pillar clip that I cut in. Not welded in this pic, but it's all welded in now.



More progress on the blog here: VoltsCar - A Restoration and Electric Drive Conversion of a 1966 Porsche 912

I just want to repeat that I'm not a hippy that wants to save the world. I'm a car guy that believes that the time has finally come when a car can be incredibly fast, quiet, and cheap to operate. And I've been in love with 911's for as long as I can remember, I just couldn't bring myself to 'hurt' one.

[Jerry1]

Looks like a great car to start with. I have a friend that converted a VW to electric. He gets about 50 miles a charge and he can cruise about 65 mph. It wasn't cheap. It sounds like yours is going to a rocket. Keep us updated on your progress.

[WFBowen]

Michael:
I've seen all sorts of conversions on 912's over the years including some very impressive electrics (& Subaru, VW T1&4, V8's, Buick V6, etc.) The good thing about these cars is that they're a great platform for experimentation - so much development has gone into these cars by both the factory over the years and aftermarket sources, that just about anything you need to upgrade can be purchased off-the-shelf.
Good luck with your project & hats off to you for realizing that it's no longer that cool to drive the 600hp monsters some of us grew up with (JMO.)
BTW, if someone does flame you for doing this, just scan a copy of your pinkslip to remind them of the car's ownership.
Good luck & please keep updating your progress.
Bill

[Breamo]

Thanks. I really feel like I saved this one from forever rusting into the earth. The guy I got it from had no interest in preserving it, and since it was missing the motor and several mechanical parts, it would have been quite the project for someone to restore the original engine configuration.

I did manage to get the fender rails all patched up this past week.









A little more work on the parcel shelf, and she should be ready to go to the sand blasters.