I just acquired (paid what I thought was a pretty cheap price) my wife's uncle's 911E Targa as my first Porsche and first car of this vintage with any real value. He (hi, Rob - if you find this!) owned the car for over 20 years and it has been sitting in his garage for about 10. This is what I walked past in his garage until I cajoled him into letting me haul it away:
I knew it would be a project, needing floor pans and the passenger inner rocker replaced and plenty of sprucing up needed. It's numbers-matching (if that matters), has an interior that is useable (needs driver seat upholstery and door car work, but dash is in good shape), and a mediocre re-spray that I was hoping to sort out after a few years of enjoyment and saving money.
I was able to get it running and after adjusting the valves and ignition, it starts easily and runs smoothly and shifts reasonably well, so I've gently puttered around the neighborhood to get a feel for what the car needs and priorities.
The good:
The bad:
The doubt about how (or whether) to carry on with the project came last night while I was crawling around under the car, trying to make sure that I hadn't missed any major rust before ordering panels from Restoration Design. It looks like the torsion tube is kaput!
the ugly:
Now I'm wondering whether I have the tools and technical ability (and dedication) to get this car back on the road. My questions to the fine Porsche People of Pelican Parts are:
- Is it possible / reasonable to replace the torsion tube without a chassis table / lift in my 2-car garage (plus ~900 sq. ft. of climate controlled basement storage)?
- What other big issues should I consider? I've already budgeted for engine / MFI work sometime in the future.
- What are my options?
After reading through so many other interesting thread with amazing and helpful input from this community, I'm really looking forward to hearing what you all think.