1976 911s

[troika]

I just got back from a 4,000 mile, 11 state road trip in my '76 911S. She did great, but I also became aware of a few things that need attention, so I plan to get more involved here. Thought I would introduce myself and share a few photos from my trip before I started asking for advice.

[troika]

About the car:

My dad bought her from the original owner in 1988. When he passed away the 2.7 was end of life. I knew of a good '79SC that had been totaled from the front and managed to get the 3.0 out of it and installed. It's been de-restricted and has SSI heat exchangers, but is otherwise stock. It's lowered to European spec. New tires and an imperfect alignment.

It runs pretty well. I did use about a quart of oil per ~600 miles and I think it has a vacuum leak because it idols bouncy. I tracked mileage on my trip and it was kind of all over the place between 19.5 and 25 mpg. It's possible that I wasn't filling it to exactly the same place every time, but I tried to. Interested in what anyone thinks about those numbers.

I had a blast descending mountain passes and she did real well. That said, I drove a friend's 914 last month and I would like to do some suspension work. She might have the original shocks. If not, these have tens of thousands of miles on them and it's time. I think I will add a cross brace when I replace them and am reading about other suspension tuning tips as well, then she'll need a proper alignment.

As for performance, it's pretty good. I've not ever really been happy with the low end. It's kind of boring until it spins up pretty close to 4,000 rpm and then seems to red line as around 5,200-5,300. Is that normal or can I do better than that?

I've been doing a bit of interior work and am close to being where I want to be with it. It's tough to replace some of those pieces. I plan to keep appearances pretty close to original. It's my dad's car and I'll keep it and drive it until my son claims it, so focus is on drive-ability, rather than resell. I did one day of autocross in it and may get it back out or on a track, but it's meant to be a sports car for the real world, rather than a track car.

I'm reading old posts and some books, but advice and perspective is welcome and will be appreciated.

[Dmitry at Pelican Parts]

Welcome to the forum! The road trip sounds epic. 3.0 is a fun motor too.

I've attached a few helpful links below. The first is to our DIY tech articles for your '76 and the second is to our parts catalog. Let us know if you have any questions! Our community will be able to help you with pretty much any issue that you run into with the car.

DIY Tech Articles

Parts Catalog

[troika]

Originally Posted by Dmitry at Pelican Parts

Welcome to the forum! The road trip sounds epic. 3.0 is a fun motor too.

I've attached a few helpful links below. The first is to our DIY tech articles for your '76 and the second is to our parts catalog. Let us know if you have any questions! Our community will be able to help you with pretty much any issue that you run into with the car.

DIY Tech Articles

Parts Catalog

Thank you. I've been a customer for a long time and just ordered a few parts earlier today. Just new to the forums. I have been reading, though and will check the links that you sent as well.

[fanaudical]

Welcome to the forum. I have found lots of help here. I have a '75 Targa with the 2.7.

5300 recline doesn't sound normal. I recommend going through ignition and CIS. You should also get a baseline for compression and leak down.

Regarding suspension: Do a bunch or research before doing anything crazy. You can fix a lot just with bushing replacement, fresh shocks, and a good alignment.

Where are you at in Washington?

[Tony V]

Pop the distributor cap. I’d bet you’ll find a rev-limiting rotor in there.
Oil consumption and gas mileage look about right. Good looking car!

[QueWhy]

Good on you for driving it. 4,000mil is an epic trip.

[troika]

Thanks everyone. I'm in Seattle.

[Nditiz1]

Sweet trip!

I'm almost your twin with a 77 copper brown metallic targa. I have an 82 3.0 engine in mine.

[Pedro '84 Coupe]

Welcome and nice car!