1975 930 Restoration Project

[jjonesx86]

Hi,

I’m in the process of acquiring a 1975 930 and heading down the path of restoration. I’ve owned a number of Porsches over the years, and done some work on them as well, but this will be the most ambitious project by far.

Chassis # – 930 570 0106

Manufactured April of 1975. Ice Green Metallic with Black interior. Non-sunroof car. German car market, at some point imported to Japan.

The current condition – 91,226 km. At some point it was repainted white. Exterior in okay to rough shape without any obvious signs of rust. Interior is rough. Engine runs. Restoration candidate for sure. Not sure if whale tail is an all rubber option originally or a replacement but it is pretty ugly.

I lack the time and skill to do the bulk of the work myself and I’m currently talking to a variety of shops. I’m planning a bare metal repaint back to the original color, sorting out the car mechanically and it needs a lot of interior love. I’m going for a really nice cars and coffee weekend driver, not shooting for a top 1% concours restoration. Slippery slope I know 😃

Photos and a walk-around of the car in current condition here on my site - https://911maniac.com/1975-930-opportunity/

I’ll post photos here as well but I’m on my phone at the moment.

I love being able to read all your threads and learn from your experience. I welcome any thoughts, recommendations, gotchas, etc. I know what I’m getting into won’t be fast or cheap, but I’ve always loved these 930s and I just happen to share the exact same birthdate and birthplace as this car so I’m feeling like it was meant to be. Dangerous I know!

Thanks,
Jeff

[jjonesx86]

Some photos of the current condition:











The end goal:

[patina]

I would recommend joining and posting here: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/930-turbo-carrera.344030/

That thread is probably the single best point of reference/wealth of knowledge for early turbos in existence.

[66cal912]

Could be a unique project! Respect your enthusiasm as well!

Looks pretty complete, but definitely lived a couple lives over almost 50 years. Obviously not properly taken apart to paint at some point. Very odd someone has removed the aluminum paint code and vin placards and then reattached, doesn't look like it was just for painting either, I would have inspected by a body shop very familiar with 911/930 chassis to see if its been in a major accident. There is also a gentlemen that can verify the vin number stamped in the tub is legitimate. Service will cost you, but will give piece of mind the vin has not been re-stamped in another tub. the fact the vin drifts off at an angle and some of the digits are a fair bit off center seems a little odd, its got the stars on the end, but just looks a little odd to me, but hey maybe it was made on a Monday after a weekend at Volksfest in Stuttgart, ;-)

The vin inspection specialist: https://www.instagram.com/kobus_cantraine/
he uses electron microscope technology along with references of Porsche vin stamps of the proper era to verify the vin jives.

I'd just recommend doing your diligence to verify accuracy, due to the fact I m sure this is not a cheap endeavor to attain, let alone to properly restore. Obviously you'll want matching numbers on the powertrain if at all possible as well.

Best of luck!

[kev01]

Have a look at this link.
Pic of a car close to this in terms of vin and number stamping also not done very well.
Interesting that the engine and VIN number on yours are the same....I guess they got it right on some cars.

https://www.porscheregister.com/5700098#details

[jjonesx86]

Thanks for the advice everyone, I will need it as I go down this road! That 930 thread on Ferrari Chat is quite the time capsule! I’m enjoying starting from the first post and walking through time. It will take a while for sure.

I’ll get my first eyes on look at the car when it arrives from Japan. Until then, I’ll start reading Ryan Snodgrass’s book on the 3.0 Turbo - https://parabolicapress.com/products/porsche-turbo-3-0-book and chatting with some early Turbo owners in my area. I’m thankful the Porsche community is always so open and helpful.

Please keep the advice coming and thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[shlobeck]

From one ice green 930 owner to another, welcome. As noted the previous owner changed the paint tag to Grand Prix white 908. Something of note, the paint code for ice green changed between 1975 and 1976 from paint code 250 to 266. I think they added more bronze metallic to the paint mixture for ‘76. I’ve see a ‘75 ice green and I can’t tell the difference between the two shades of green. It could have just been that Porsche changed the paint manufacturer. ‘75s are special 930s, enjoy the restoration.

[jjonesx86]

Thanks, I would love to see more photos of your car if you have them posted anyplace.

I’ve been reading Ryan’s book and trying to learn as much as possible before going down the restoration path. Ryan is local and there are a few other 3.0 Turbos in the area as well and I'm connecting with those owners. Small but welcoming group!

The paint code on the car still lists 250 which is how the car left the factory. I’ve got no idea why someone would paint it white but I’ve never understood why aluminum windows became the rage at one point either 😃

The car should arrive in a few weeks and will be going through a number of close inspections (body, mechanical, etc) before I embark on the project. I’ve got a very experienced / reputable Porsche shop that will be determining the must do items to get it running well enough to put some shakedown miles on it. I’m talking to a number of shops about the project and still deciding how best to phase it.

Any suggestions on approaching the restoration are much appreciated. Ryan’s advice was to take particular care with the bodywork and repaint. Invest once to get that done right. Many other things can be staged and even redone later as needed. The total budget will really depend on how much $$ needs to go into the engine. It runs now and is still low mileage but has sat for a long time.

Thanks,
Jeff

[shlobeck]

Here are a few more pics of my ‘77. Yes Ryan’s book is definitely the authority and is a fantastic restoration resource. I agree with Ryan, please pay the closest attention to the body and paint. I have also restored a ‘79 and got a bit lucky on how well the paint turned out. Here in California they can only ‘legally’ use water-based paint which can be tricky, especially with metallic paint. You really need someone with particular care and experience for a high level finish. But I don’t know if Washington State has the same paint restrictions. Ultimately there’s no easy way to go about this restoration from a cost savings standpoint. With the color change the body will need to be completely stripped and painted. My ‘79 was a repaint in the same color but i paid close attention to anodizing, trim pieces, wheels etc. Everything was reconditioned or replaced. Once you go down the rabbit hole of spending tens of thousands on the paint and body nothing else should be compromised. Hopefully when it’s restored it should bring the value tantamount to the sale price and the restoration costs.

[jjonesx86]

Absolutely stunning car and I love the interior. Thanks for sharing the photos and your experience.

I know when the factory painted these cars, they didn’t do a complete spray of the interior, truck, etc. Just some overspray. Do you think it is important that a restoration paint job match the original process? I would prefer a complete bare metal refinish and paint job. Since this isn’t original paint, I’m not sure it really matters as long as the job is very high quality.

My car’s interior was all black, but I’ll be very tempted to do a tartan insert on the seats…I love the look so much! As long as the job follows the factory approach, I’m hoping a few period correct improvements from the original spec don’t hurt the value too much.

I know it won’t be cheap or fast, but I’m looking forward to the project!

[jjonesx86]

If anyone knows of a place to secure an original whale tail, I’ll be in need of one. Would prefer to avoid replicas if at all possible.

[jjonesx86]

I'm exited to say that the car is finally in the US! It made it through the export/import process and the did just fine on the long container ship voyage. I will put my eyes on the car for the first time tomorrow and it is heading to a Porsche specialist for a thorough mechanical assessment on Friday. From there we will either get it running for a while or go right into full restoration. Good times.













Also, I found a complete whale tail with the smaller, non-AC vent. I understand the 75s may have used a unique, all fiberglass whale tail, but this is from a 76 and is the fiberglass/metal model. Very complete...a nice score!

[fourblades]

This will be a really exciting restoration. I think you've picked an excellent candidate that will be really worth all the effort you put into it.

John

[tdw28210]

sub'd. Looks to be in pretty good shape. Congrats on finding this soon-to-be gem. Interesting. I would expect to see Euro side markers on the car as it was originally a ROW car for the German market. Did a quick image search and I seem to see ROW early 930's both with and without side markers on the front fenders. Not an expert on early turbos though. Hopefully somebody else will chime in. Regardless, great find and good luck!

[Mike80911]

Best of luck with the car, definitely worth restoring. Why anyone would repaint an Ice Green 930 white is beyond me. But I guess we all did crazy things to our cars back in the day.

[jjonesx86]

Originally Posted by fourblades

This will be a really exciting restoration. I think you've picked an excellent candidate that will be really worth all the effort you put into it.

Thanks for the encouraging worlds John. I’m excited about the project and I also feel this car is a good candidate for restoration.

Originally Posted by tdw28210

I would expect to see Euro side markers on the car as it was originally a ROW car for the German market.

I agree. I haven’t done the full assessment of the car and I lack any real ownership history, but there are plenty of things that will need to be put back to period correct. I have no idea what all rubber whale tail is on the car or why someone would do that. The mirrors are wrong. It may have gone through some changes to import it into Japan that I’ll need to correct. Fortunately I have Ryan’s book on these early Turbos to help guide me in addition to the expertise on this forum!

Originally Posted by Mike80911

Best of luck with the car, definitely worth restoring. Why anyone would repaint an Ice Green 930 white is beyond me. But I guess we all did crazy things to our cars back in the day.

Totally agree. I actually have a thing for white Porsches, and wouldn’t mind if this was originally white. Why someone would repaint an ice green car white is beyond me. I have so much still to discover about this car, and that is going to be half the fun I think. A mystery and a project all in one.

Thanks for the interest and support. I’m sure I’m going to need a lot of your collective expertise as I move forward!

[albinski]

Hi Jeff,
You got a great car and i will keep my fingers crossed for the restoration.
Would just mention that you oberbid a friend of mine who tried his luck in this auction too was wondering when and where it will eventually show up
Good to see the car already reached its destination.

Congrats once again and good luck
Krzysztof

76 930 turbo carrera owner, #489

[jjonesx86]

Adam, from Sodo-Moto was the person that found the car, and won the bid at auction. I purchased the car from him after he got it stateside.

I finally had the chance to see the car in person yesterday. Love at first sight, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. It's so hard to judge from photos. As expected, the car needs a lot of work, and deserves a full restoration, but I think it is a really good candidate. No obvious signs of past trauma, rust doesn't seem to be an issue (need to explore a lot more) and the car seems to be mostly original. Major exceptions being the paint, and some things that might have been done to import it into Japan (side mirrors, side markers, etc) and of course the whale tail. Brakes weren't locked up as originally thought and worked. The interior looks much worse in photos than it does in person, and the door cards are in good shape. Lots of originality throughout the car that I think can be restored. The engine even fired up on the first turn of the key, although we didn't leave it running for long. Zero paperwork or accessories with the car although I'm reaching out to some experts in Japan in hopes of chasing down some local records there. It will be fun to piece together as many of the period correct accessories for the car over time.

After exploring the car and taking some photos, we pushed it up on the flatbed and trucked it over to a local independent Porsche mechanic. He is giving it a complete inspection and then I'll have a much better idea of what I'm working with. The car, likely without the drivetrain, will head over to Haury's so they can give me a complete assessment of the body and paint work. The wheels are in motion.

A quick video of delivery day:


This was the first time putting my eyes on the car:


Checking out what we've gotten ourselves into!


Interior needs lots of work, but isn't as bad as I expected it to be. Lots to work with.


Not quite ready for a cars and coffee:


Loading up:


Does this count as the car's first roller


Thanks again to all of you for your words of encouragement. I'll update this post throughout the process.

Jeff

[fourblades]

Jeff,

If it is safe to drive, I would drive it for a couple weeks before taking it apart to paint it. Most project cars are in non-running condition and the owners have to wait years before they can drive them for the first time. If the engine and suspension are in decent shape it will give you something to look forward to while you're suffering through the long restoration process. Just a thought.

John

[infraredcalvin]

Nice score, the ‘75 TC is a very special car, congrats on the acquisition. I look forward to seeing the progress, please post all good, bad, and the ugly, we’ll be cheering you on every step of the way.

I love the ice green, but I’m partial to gp weiss!