Mexicali Blues

[JanusCole]

Mexicali Blues

No word in the Porsche lexicon carries as much history, emotion, and magic as the word Carrera. First used by Porsche in 1955 to identify the new, four cam version of the legendary 356, the name has become synonymous with cars that straddle the line between street and track - usually leaning heavily towards the latter. An elite moniker within an elite marque, Porsche's Carreras have become a mythic feature within the already grand Porsche legend. After applying the name to an illustrious line of production racing cars from the 356 to the 904 GTS, Porsche reintroduced the Carrera nameplate in 1972 with the release of the first 911 style car to carry the badge. This new generation of Carreras gained an instant place in the history books when Peter Gregg drove a 911 Carrera in RSR trim to an outright victory at Daytona. In 1974, the classic 911 Carrera reached its peak of development with the introduction of a 3.0 liter motor based on Porsche's new turbo powerplant. With 200 bhp under the hood and gently flared fenders, this car came to define the Porsche image during the 1970's and beyond. Nowadays, genuine Carreras of the 1970's era are collectors items and highly sought after by enthusiasts.

Seduced by the subtle flares and classic lines of the Carrera, Dave DelPico bought his first Porsche in Portland, Maine back in 2001. It was a 1977 Carrera 3.0 - the real deal with matching numbers and euro specs to boot (car number 1336 of the 1473 Carrera 3.0's produced that year).



But Dave knew very little about cars in general and Porsches in particular. And soon he found himself neck deep in a full-blown restoration project as decades of spotty maintenance began rearing up in the form of mechanical problems and tell-tale bubbles in the slate blue paint. The motor had received a proper rebuild less than ten years past and so the foundation for a restoration was sound. In his first few years of Porsche ownership, Dave ended up replacing the starter, the WUR, AAV, injector seals, motor mounts, points, and a rocker arm.The tired 915 transmission received new synchros, sliders, and dogteeth by the capable and "Irrationally Exuberant" hands of Pelican member Chris Bennet and his "Messin' With 911's" gang. That's got to be a tough laundry list for a new owner. But it's not entirely surprising to those of who have owned (and maintained) vintage Porsches over the years. But the body was a different story.It had been involved in at least one major accident and had received a less than professional repair. There were hidden dents along the passenger side of the car from the door to the right rear flare. The last foot of sheet metal and the rear bumper had been replaced. As Dave dug deeper, he found rot in the fenders, rockers, door sills, and bondo filler hiding some amateurish welds. Overwhelmed by the size of the task at hand, Dave turned to the members of the Pelican Parts 911 Technical Forum for help. Over the course of the next year and using the User ID of "Argeo", he posted a series of threads which, if read in sequence, provide a complete education in bodywork, welding, and painting (see below).

The restoration project began in earnest in the second half of 2004 as Dave began stripping away years of paint, bondo, and rust. The chemical strippers revealed brown paint beneath the slate blue and OEM arctic silver beneath the brown. Unwilling to do a hack job, Dave brought the car all the way down to the bare metal, leaving nothing on the chassis that did not roll out of the factory at Stuttgart. Bumpers, decklid, glass, doors, and trim all came off the car for restoration. Oh yeah, and did I mention this was his first automotive project of any kind? The job continued into the winter of 2004 as Dave cut away rotted sheet metal and sand blasted away surface rust. He borrowed a slide hammer to pull ancient dents from the fenders. He welded in patch panels and hammered out minor imperfections. Limited to just a cramped and unheated, single car garage, Dave persevered through endless hours of painting, priming, sanding - sucking fumes and showing admirable fortitude as the Fall turned to Winter and Winter gave way to Spring.



All the while, Dave kept up a constant stream of posts to the Pelican forum and drew in a crowd of supporters and fans who followed the project in earnest and offered help and advice at every turn. These threads form a loosely linked "blog" - telling the story of a complete beginner's path through the arcane arts of Porsche restoration. Updates were posted. Questions were answered. And at least one group "intervention" was organized when the project seemed hopelessly lost.



But Dave did more than simply restore his car to its factory spec appearance. He viewed the stripped down chassis as an opportunity to build the car of his dreams. The inspiration for the transformation came during a trip to Hershey. As Dave says, "At Hershey two years ago there was a white 911 that one of the parts dealers brought in, I think Proline out of Maine or Vermont. Anyways the car was not a garage queen or even near perfect by any means but by the way it was done it just grabbed a person's attention. I guess the best way to describe it would be that you could put it next to a $60K new car and though this car was a 1/4 of the price (I am guessing it's worth) it was just more interesting to look at." Since the chassis was stripped bare, Dave could paint the car any color he chose. So after a lot of research (including a brief flirtation with orange), Dave decided on Mexico Blue (color code 336), a standard body color offered by Porsche for the 1974 model year. But the word "standard" conveys nothing of the impact that color code 336 makes when seen on a Carrera. It is an eye-popping shade that grabs your attention away from the multitude of silver, black, and red 911's plying the highways.



To compliment the vibrant color scheme, Dave chose a very clean, streamlined look for the rest of his car. The rocker panels were removed and he replaced the whale tail with a duck. He also replaced the stock engine grill with a wire mesh cover that allows the "3" part of his C3 to be seen. A period correct "Carrera 3.0" badge (made from the purest German unobtanium) graces the deck lid. The side panels bear the unmistakable Carrera script that dances through so many motorhead dreams.



The completed car saw its debut at the Larz Anderson Car Show on Saturday, Sept 10 of 2005. Onlookers were stunned to learn that this gorgeous blue beauty was the "learning project" of a complete newbie. The hot Mexico Blue jumps out at you and, yes, draws your eye away from more expensive cars. Future plans for this jewel include an interior restoration and a performance boost through the tried and true technique of "adding lightness". Dave is also pondering a conversion from the antiquated CIS managment system to modern EFI in order to perk up the already boisterous Carrera flat six.

An iconic sports car is restored and reborn in dazzling form. Such is the stuff of every auto enthusiast's fantasies. Television shows, books, and magazines dedicate themselves to this very dream. Countless projects are started with high hopes only to be sold in pieces on eBay. Dave DelPico's Carrera is an example of the dream made real.