JohnJ's 82 SC Coupe Ownership, Repair and Maintenance Experience

[jjeffries]

Washing the car: do we do it too often? You hear of classic Ferraris rotting out their exhaust systems because their owners are forever hosing and sudsing them and the water goes down the tailpipes and lingers, causing inside-out corrosion … or maybe that’s just apocryphal? It’s a good thing that our cars don’t have front rear piping.

I do enjoy the process, always have. I used to make some money doing it. But now I also like the car to reflect that it’s used as a transportation device and can get dirty and still look fab.



John

[jjeffries]

Greetings All,

In no way throwing any shade - as the kids say - to those who modify their 911's, but my 82 SC with CIS just starts on the button and runs so sweetly. Sure it has cams from the inestimable Mr. Dougherty and some real SoCal SSIs to add some va va voom but I still maintain that K-Jet is such an excellent system with, I'd say, better throttle response the L-Jet/early Motronic. Sure, it looks like the control closet at a Soviet nuke reactor but I can live with that.

Another thing I always mention about this car in the summertime is the A/C. Original owner, Tony the Architect, spent oodles on the system, with some of Mr. Griffith's excellent hoses and hardware. I've now had the car since 2014 and still have not had to add any R134a. I used it today and it made me chilly with ca. 85F. I don't understand those who rip out the air conditioning.

Some recent photos:

If you have to visit your physician, you may as well take your fun car.



When I returned, this handsome fella had shown up. Olds Cutlass, right? 69-70? Someone help me, please, because I could tell you each generation of the MG Midget but am no expert in US metal.



I see this same CRXSi every year in Maine. Great car, and at the time of it's launch (84-85), there was nothing like it. I've always thought that if there was a true successor to the Porsche 356, this was it. Back then all Honda's looked good and the CRXSi was a particular gem.



I'm waiting for the 924S's nose panels to come back from the paint shop.

I finally found the issue making my 924S run on less than its full four cylinders. I'd previously identified a broken exhaust spring (#4) and replaced it in situ (using compressed air to keep the valve in place) but didn't realize that had tweaked the valve itself ... it passed a leakdown just fine. Thinking it must be a broken ring, I pulled the engine (less easy than an 82 911 SC), checked rings (OK), pistons, bores, etc. It was in the (my?) head all along. A replacement valve, a few hundred more dollars in gaskets plus careful reassembly and we're all good. The 924S will be for sale soon.

Happy Independence Day to All.
John

[jimtweet]

Painting nose panels red?

[jjeffries]

Jim, the panels are off getting painted red. Others didn’t appreciate my sky blue nose-look. I thought it was cool. It was inspired by the Maranello Concessionaires race team’s color scheme for various hotrod Ferraris.

But we don’t need to add questions to a car for sale, right?

Cheers, John

[RDM]

Originally Posted by jjeffries

I may have a hard time getting you to be as enthusiastic about this W116 Mercedes-Benz S-class as I was. Just another 70's Benz barge? Hardly ... it's a 350SE, and:

- Italian spec, so the bumpers it was built for, not the mondo structures required for the U.S. market.; clear turn signal lenses.
- 3.5 liter version of the SOHC V8.
- Short wheelbase (SE, not SEL)
- Manual 5-speed
- Green velour upholstery ... nicer and more luxurious than leather, let alone MB-Tex.

John

And the hubcaps, John. The hubcaps! How cool are those!



I just read through your 924S thread, being referred there from here, and interested because I've always liked the idea of it. Funky 70s interior (why no tach pictures yet?), elegant, non-hyperadrenal-gland shapes (looking at you, 944), and all the goodness and go of the 944 hidden inside. In fact, I look at this view every day when I leave my house, and I think about what might be.



However, for the previous ten years I looked to the same neighbor's house (under the carport) and saw this parked.



It's a California car that came to him 15 years ago with a ventilated block and shrapnel in the oil pan. He installed a replacement 2.5, but beyond his obsessively collecting parts, the project stalled there. Immediately pre-pandemic I bought and brought Beverly (swimmin' pools, movie stars) across the street and have gotten the motor running well, but need the transmission to hold oil before I can drive the frustrating thing. Your experience is my experience: If it's not one thing, it's another.

What can Jonny042's thread lead to? This...



Oh, and we (the neighbor and I) are building a proper 2.8 MFI motor, ever so slowly.



Next stop will likely be to get in touch with Len Cummins about coolant lines and oil lines and fuel lines and power steering lines and transmission cooler lines. Yikes! Mercedes are complex cars- it's no surprise they were so stinkin' expensive.

So thank you so much for taking us along on your adventure! There are a lot of connections being made.

Once Beverly goes, I will have Alfa questions (talk to me about a 1750 Berlina. It may be the only one left I can afford)

[jjeffries]

Hi Dru,

Thanks for this most excellent reply. Yes, the hubcaps: Indeed, I have one that exact color in my collection of Mercedes Benz hubcaps. All except one were found on the roadside when I was a pre-teen and my family lived near Munich. The spring clips would fail and they'd fall off! Must have been extremely annoying for those M-B owners. I have maybe a half dozen. The one I didn't find was brought to me by friends who'd heard about my hobby and brought over a couple they'd acquired the night before; hopefully the statute of limitations has long since expired. It's coral red color and now hangs in my home office.

I have to go do something right now but will come back to you about the rest of your reply.

Safe to say you're living in Der Vaterland?

best,
John

[jjeffries]

Greetings Friends,

As my 924S project closes in on completion and readiness to offer for sale here on Pelican, I have my eyes and mind set on something completely different ... please stay tuned if you're interested.

"How's the 911?", someone asked. "In regular use", I reply.

How does a nice, relatively stock, well-loved SC run? Incredibly well. And not to take a shot at those of you sweating over your ITB linkages and VE tables, but I'll do my best broken-record impression and remind everyone that CIS is just a beautiful system. First nudge of the key, hot or cold, 2 weeks or 2 minutes since it last ran ... burble burble and off we go.

I'd go further and say K-Jet has nicer throttle response than the early Motronic on a 3.2 (or 944/924S or all the Euro cars with L-Jet/Motronic 1.0 et al). Call me the CIS Evangelist ... trying to save those souls tempted to go EFI.

Another element of my proselytizing is Thou Shalt Leave Thy A/C system Within Thine 911 installed Just modernize it with Griffiths barrier hoses, an extra condenser or two and a Sanden compressor: the car will deliver SO much utility and pleasure. "But I want to get rid of mass, man ... to make my Porsh LIGHTER and FASTER!", said the young hot rodders. Real race car, not street legal? Of course. But for the open road? Maybe you'd also like a bed of nails to sleep on after your hot, sweaty, fogged-up drive?

Enough of that; no one likes to be told how to live, not least us 'mericans.

New Haven Railroad Station, an elegant edifice and where I venture to pick up my brother when he'll agree to escape Gotham and visit his country-mouse brother in Connecticut's Quiet Corner.



A pleasant homeless fellow greeted me to extoll the virtues of German engineering and compliment me on what a great guy I am and what an excellent driver I must obviously be. Compliments are always welcomed.

Part of the lure deployed to get my brother to see us was the annual Tolland County 4H Fair ... always a satisfying couple of days that make you realize we DO have many great kids here in the USA who ARE willing to work hard, learn, care for animals and each other, working towards common goals, using their heads, hand and hearts.

A nice diesel Farmall, with diesel pump, piping, water separator, etc ...



... but wait, why does it also have a carb, distributor and coil on the other side ... what gives? Asking someone in the know, I learned this engine is set to start-up on gasoline, then switch to diesel once up and running. Same engine, not an add-on. How cool!



Why this narrow front axle we see on older tractors? To help it turn around on a dime at the end of a planting row; there are probably other reasons ... please feel free to add to my knowledge.



Once last thing: adjustable rear track, so the farmer could adjust the wheels to suit the width of whatever crop he was planting.

In addition to tractors, we saw beautifully cared-for cows, sheep, goats and pigs, and the whole fair/show was organized and run by the kids, with some volunteer parents there to gently guide the process. This ("our") 4H chapter also has a club for small engine repair ... the "Piston Pushers", which my elder son was in in addition to animal husbandry clubs, Alpaca wool weavers, etc. He and other club members have all happened to go on to well-paying jobs where their common sense and work ethics are heartily welcomed.

If you're a parent or grandparent of young kids, 4H, especially in this day and age when keeping children centered is so difficult, where our kids are silently screaming for us to take them away from their computer screens, to offer an alternative to organized sports and give them someplace to learn about hard work, responsibility and generally becoming a good, independent citizen. I recommend it.

https://4-h.extension.uconn.edu/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-H

Kind regards to all,
John

[Coastr]

>Another element of my proselytizing is Thou Shalt Leave Thy A/C system Within Thine 911 installed Just modernize it with Griffiths barrier hoses, an extra condenser or two and a Sanden compressor: the car will deliver SO much utility and pleasure. "But I want to get rid of mass, man ... to make my Porsh LIGHTER and FASTER!", said the young hot rodders.

I agree so much. It’s part of the car, it should be repaired and made to work correctly. Most of the ‘I took it out for weight / simplicity’ actually means ‘it’s too hard for me to learn AC systems / I’m too cheap to repair my car properly’

Only the true weightloss chaser / race car preparer can use that excuse. You better have some lightweight bumpers, no sound deadening and be shopping for some race seats before saying it’s for the weight savings.

[Discseven]

The BLACK looks very fine John.

I shall now and forever think of you as the "country-mouse"!!!!!!!!!!!! (Your fault )

[Mixed76]

Fun stuff, John, glad I found your thread and thanks for creating and updating it!

[jjeffries]

Karl, I’m that guy who when I’m in NYC walking on a busy street is saying “Excuse me” about every 15 seconds. I guess where I lived in Connecticut is kinda suburban/rural in a way New Englanders will find familiar. I just spent a week in the DC area, staying near Dulles Airport where construction still seems to be booming, one five story apartment building after the next: absolutely soul destroying. Glad to get home today where change is minimal. So you can amend that to OFCM … Old Fart Country Mouse.

Mixed 76: thanks for stopping by.

John

[TheSecondChris]

Originally Posted by jjeffries

Another element of my proselytizing is Thou Shalt Leave Thy A/C system Within Thine 911 installed Just modernize it with Griffiths barrier hoses, an extra condenser or two and a Sanden compressor: the car will deliver SO much utility and pleasure. "But I want to get rid of mass, man ... to make my Porsh LIGHTER and FASTER!", said the young hot rodders. Real race car, not street legal? Of course. But for the open road? Maybe you'd also like a bed of nails to sleep on after your hot, sweaty, fogged-up drive?

Enough of that; no one likes to be told how to live, not least us 'mericans.

John, Riddle me this: Why is it not OK to remove the AC system from a 911 but totally fine to lighten up a 924S by removing the rear seating?

I'm just teasing. Maybe your thinking is that the AC is functional while the rear seat is vestigial or ceremonial.

Chris

[jjeffries]

Ha that’s a good one Chris. I like getting rid of silly vestigial rear seats in little coupes; did it in my Alfa GTV and in my 911 I keep the rear “seat backs” folded flat to yield a shelf. As much as anything, this rear seat delete precluded recovering the 924S’s rear seat top and bottom sections, but mostly I think it’ll look cool, especially with my Brey-Krause harness bar (added to provide more strength to the unibody, after seeing Byron surviving his 968 getting t-boned thanks to his B-K bar). It also adds utility … I’ve heard great stories about 924/44/68’s being unexpectedly good tools for moving houses.

Regards to Herman.

Best, John

[breakerbar]

John, so glad I came across this this thread today. I've reached the CIS portion of my own 82 SC engine rebuild. Every other thread on the forum makes me doubt that keeping the original system is wise. The cost of a new cold start valve makes me wonder if it is worth it. Hearing your admiration for the system gives me the resolve to keep going forward with it. Also, in between trying to shock the CSV to life and soaking it in carb clear, I pulled out the driver's seat with the intention of restitching the cover to give it new life. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks the factory seats are worth a little effort and a small amount of $ to keep the butt feeling good while ripping down the highway or twisty back roads. Looking forward to the next update in your adventure!

[jjeffries]

Hi Breaker and thanks for stopping by. CIS is a system used by pretty much all the German (and Swedish) manufactures in the late 70’s and into the mid/late 80’s. Contrary to internet gossip it’s an effective, reliable system that, with some basic understanding and maintenance will continue to serve your SC admirably.

I’d recommend you send a PM to Tony, aka boyt911sc here on Pelican. Tony is pretty much the patron saint of all things CIS and - this could be really helpful for you - he overhauls and recalibrates CIS components. Great guy, amazing resource.

Best of luck, John

[jjeffries]

For those who subscribe to/read Excellence, my favorite subject du hour - how good CIS is - is mentioned in an article about an Andial-built hotrod motor in this 911T:

https://www.excellence-mag.com/issues/294

Cool reading.

John

[Discseven]

Originally Posted by jjeffries

Karl, I’m that guy who when I’m in NYC walking on a busy street is saying “Excuse me” about every 15 seconds. I guess where I lived in Connecticut is kinda suburban/rural in a way New Englanders will find familiar. I just spent a week in the DC area, staying near Dulles Airport where construction still seems to be booming, one five story apartment building after the next: absolutely soul destroying. Glad to get home today where change is minimal. So you can amend that to OFCM … Old Fart Country Mouse.

Mixed 76: thanks for stopping by.

John

"Soul destroying" is poetically descriptive John. I get it. (My pref is to be in the mountains out west. Am working on that. Few chains binding me to were I'm at need to be cut.)

OFCM-LOL
.

[jjeffries]

This will be a So What? post for most reading this, but here's a couple of piccies of my interior. Following up to what I wrote yesterday, I love the look and utility of the rear seat backs folded forward. Just me, maybe a passenger and that's it.

I think I wrote about my B-K bar when I installed it. No plans to do any track work or put go-fast five point harnesses in; I just believe it might help me survive should I suffer the indignity of being T-boned.

That lovely full grain German leather. At some point the seats would benefit from new foams and the attention of a skilled upholsterer. Unless I can tempt Discseven up here for a working vacation, that will be a pro-shop.

I was out running errands this morning, enjoying one of my all time favorite albums (remember them?), Steely Dan's Aja. This car has a circa 2005, properly installed Alpine CD receiver. Tempting though it may be to put something Bluetoothy in, this car is a place I enjoy listening to CD's. The Stones' Sticky Fingers also fits the bill.

Best, John

[jjeffries]

I normally eschew cars shows but today went to a Sunday Cars & Coffee at the Connecticut Valley Brewing Company in South Windsor, Conn. with my elder son and was glad that I did.

There were some other Porsche's there, including a 991 GT3, a nice stock (with sport seats, yummy) 85-86 (?) Carrera cab and a couple of 930's, one also a cabriolet (seems goofy to me, but ... ). I have to say I wasn't too interested ... I know "our" cars pretty well and would rather look at other stuff. So I did:

This 84 RX7 has >100K miles and original paint, looked new. Great care over its life, of course, but higher-end Japanese cars of that era were build with incredibly fine materials. I understand why people are into them.



When I first my wife, she had an '87 Accord hatchback, LXi, stick. It too was made similarly this this Mazda, a great dash, carpets, door panels; a memorably fine automobile. Honda went "cost down" for the next gen Accord. I can't speak to how Mazda made subsequent cars but this one was a gem. Yes, it has a live rear axle but it's a better copy of the Porsche 924 ... prettier and a way better interior IMO.



Cool Buick GNX engine. Remember when these were among the fastest production cars and Buick motors were still competitive at Indy?



I guess this is why they call them Stepside



We appreciate today that a machine so prosaic and utilitarian can have such artful design. No wonder so many folks want to restore or retromod them.



The fellow who brought this delicious Lincoln had literally pulled it out of a barn. Worlds apart from the Mazda, it too nonetheless impressed me with the quality of certain components. The leather, the stitching in the vinyl roof and the (apparently, factory applied) pinstriping were all top-notch. I watched the TV series "Cannon" as a kid and the central character, Frank Cannon, drove something like this. As his car came to a stop, you could see the shocks doing their work for a good second or two to arrest the motion of the body. We used to laugh at cars like this, but ... nowadays I think they're rather cool and speak to an era that looks pretty good through my rose tinted memory specs.



I cropped the photo this way to show just how long this bad boy is.



What does the Opera window make you think of? I think of the behavioral liberties folks got to take in the early 1970's in places like Marina Del Rey in SoCal. Life in the naughty lane, everyone else was doing it, too. But maybe a Lincoln is actually more redolent of a golf club in Orange County, filled with Nixon fans, or the thoroughbred track at Santa Anita.



This T-bird was bodacious ... and pure Jet-Age in design and detail. The panels in which the taillights sit are metal, beautifully cast with an almost Moorish pattern. Those would have been expensive for FoMoCo, but these cars likely had fat profit margins for the factory AND the dealer. And when you have, say, 30% market share, you can keep the accountants at bay when it comes to spec-ing-out your top model.



Here's my (dirty) SC, just to keep the pedants happy that there is really some Porsche content. I love the brand's history and meaning but was happy to see these other vehicles today. I like that F-body next to my car, the accessible and likely better-engineered Aston Martin V8 for the regular guy. That 240Z was getting a fair amount of attention, and that Studebaker was sweet.

My stock-other-than-964-cams-and-SSI's SC ran perfectly. I don’t have to drive it fast to appreciate it. Ummm, I like CIS/K-Jet. As noted before, the equipment looks like a science experiment but to me it's the perfect ha;fway point between carbs and EFI. Your views may vary.

John

[jjeffries]

Greetings,

I haven’t posted in a while because my SC has simply been in occasional use but not subject to maintenance or repair.

It’s due an oil & filter plus a few other items, such as brake fluid flush, speedo pulse sensor replacement, hand-brake adjustment, new door seals and chasing a couple of rattles. General TLC for what’s been a reliable motorcar.

One thing made itself obvious as soon as I put the car in the air and pulled the wheels: both rear sway bar links clearly hadn’t enjoyed the compression they endured with the car being lowered. That certainly explains the car feeling a bit squirly and some noises I heard the last time I drove it. I’ve ordered adjustable rod-end type replacements.

Last October I sold the ‘87 924S I’d rescued from the junkyard and invested much time and effort in rehabilitating. I used PCARMARKET.com and did ok. Within 48 hours of receiving the money I’d spent it on something else, a ‘57 Willys Pickup. I’ve always thought they’re the coolest looking machines; I already had the Jeep penchant having owned a 77 CJ5 in college (which likely means my Dad was the one on the title). I’m keeping a thread about it on oldwillysforum.com.

Having two similarly-purposed collector/hobby cars never works for me, and I never had any intention on keeping the 924S. But a sportscar and an old truck? That works great.







Best wishes to all,
John