Zoidberg, my 1978 911SC

[jrwilson]

Since I got the replacement WUR the car is running so much better. Still a bit of a stumble at low load at 1500RPM but I suspect that's a weak fuel pump. Just waiting for some more pieces to cobble together the newer pump on that.

On another note, I have an existential question for people. My car has what I thought was bright trim, but reading up on things I believe it's the extra cost for '78 black anodized trim that's faded with time.

The question is, do I restore it to the stock black, or do I continue the process and polish the trim? It looks so good polished and that's my preferred look, but I feel like the original owner ordered the extra cost trim and I should honour that decision.

[shoooo32]

I love early SCs (and middies) with bright trim. It bridges the gap between the the chrome longhoods and 80s monochromatic look.

As for your car - it's yours. Do what makes you happy.

[jrwilson]

Among the other jobs I worked on today, I decided to remove the defunct A/C. I thought it was originally an A/C car but it turns out to be some aftermarket dealer install built by a company that went out of business decades ago. That, plus the fact the mechanic who rebuilt the motor kept the condenser and compressor, made me decide to just trash the whole thing and go with a modern replacement this winter.

Unfortunately, whoever installed it totally hacked the car up pretty bad.





Yes, that's a giant hole in the smuggler's box right into the passenger compartment, and that's the trunk you can see from the vent. Also, there's two round holes in the bottom of the box and I can see the ground, so there's a direct connection between the outside and the cabin!

Wondering how I should address this - weld in a replacement panel? What should that hole and vent look like from the factory? Any suggestions welcome!

[jrwilson]

Oh yeah, here's the 20lbs of junk I pulled out. I'll get the hoses and dryer later.

[franklinstower]

Love it!
I have a '78 GP White SC too. Another PNW car, but nothing crazy like your lobster red!

[Robey5]

AC removal —- Mine had a “York” brand set up, and by the time i got to it, it had been well out of service for at least 20 years. SO: I trashed the lines, and the clamps/screws and all the junk associated. I “packed away” (for future usage or future garbage) the condenser, dryer, compressor and the little blower thing in a Tupperware container. That said, it appears that someone did a real number on your smuggles box area, and if it were MY car, I’d find a way to weld in a patch panel there. I can tell you that - not having AC in my car has not changed my willingness to drive it during a “hot” day here in Michigan. I’d imagine that you should be OK in yours in the “great white north”. If you are interested— I have always been intrigued by the AC retrofit kits that are available from the host. Not cheap, but also is not going to require invasive surgery to install. Lots of posts on that (I think they are “classic retrofit” or something like that).

Regarding the polished trim versus the black anodized — I am a big fan of the black anodized look, but this is YOUR car!

[jrwilson]

My plan was to drive with the original shifter for awhile and see how I liked it. I didn't, it was like churning butter and the lack of a centering spring was weird. So I decided to install a Numeric shifter. I looked at all the options and the fact that it was an all-new part appealed to me. Plus it includes the shift coupler.



Getting the console out was really difficult! it got caught on the carpet at the front tab and I spent a ton of time trying to not tear the carpet or break the tab on the console, but everything else came out pretty easy.



Clearly the original 44-year-old bushings for both.



I also took the opportunity to install one of jpnovak's bushings. It's not a slip fit, it has to be really pushed into the bracket.



The rest of the install was pretty smooth - I even managed to nail the shift coupler on the first try! They make it out to be very difficult but if you're careful and put the transmission in 3rd first it's easy.

I also went with one of the TRE Motorsports 917 knobs in a gloss finish. It also turns out to use set screws instead of a press fit which makes it easy to get on and off since I plan to put a new rubber bellow on the shifter at some point.



I haven't decided if I want to reinstall the console. It's pretty useless and it looks a bit cleaner without but there's screw holes and pressure marks from the console in the carpet, plus the sun fading, and the hole for the shifter is a bit ragged. It's not too bad but it would be nice if it was trimmed.

As for a review, the new shifter is pretty slick. Shifting is much more like a modern car and it's fun to drive. There's still a bit of that 915 coming through in terms of the force required to get it into gear, and also there's more mechanical noise since the shifter has big holes in it both on the top and sides. Can't say I care for that.

With the old shifter it was sometimes hard to get into gear, and I'd hoped the new shifter would fix that but it's still there - occasionally I can't get into first, like maybe 1 in 100 times. I guess that's the nature of the transmission?

[jrwilson]

My oil temp gauge never seems to go much above 150 to 160 even after a long drive, so I decided to test the sender using the boiling water technique with some jumper wires.

Seems like it reads about 10 degrees low? Even still that seems far too cold. Maybe the external oil cooler is opening too soon.

[Darkly-Noon]

My 1980 3.0 runs cool too, rarely going above the 8:00 mark on my (numberless) gauge. The only time the oil temperature rises a bit is stop-and-go traffic in hot weather. I live in Ottawa, so similar weather, but not Arizona hot. I also have the A/C compressor and rear condenser removed, so lots of airflow through the engine grille.

[911SauCy]

This thread is great.

Also, I'm finding it quite interesting that I have never seen a Lobster interior until this thread was posted....since the OP, I have seen 3, in person, all in Targas.

[jrwilson]

Someone started a Lobster-specific Instagram and he's found, like, 37 or so?

https://www.instagram.com/savethe911lobster/

I was a bit surprised as well. Seems quite rare. Also what I thought was an original pattern to the vinyl turns out to just be UV damage over time, but it's funny how much more it looks like a lobster with the funny pattern! I quite like it, makes it unique.

[jrwilson]

It's been quiet on the update front since I've just been out driving a ton. Finally worked out a parking scheme in the garage to maximize space use just in time for winter - parking diagonally! It works because I have both a laneway door and driveway door so each car can come in each side.



The parking brake has started to stay engaged even when I release it, and if I force it by driving it releases, so since the snow has started to fall I decided to dig into it and lube it up a bit. Up on the Quickjacks it goes. Also a good opportunity to finally pull out the useless A/C lines and dryer. It left a lot of holes in the body - anyone have a good suggestion for plugging those up to avoid water getting in?




What a sight - wheels off, hood and engine lid open. Very exposed. I expect it's going to look like this for awhile as parts start arriving.

[berndtj]

I just dabbed some black permatex on all of those little a/c hose bracket holes. I’m happy with it.


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[AlKidd]

I was able to order some sheet metal plugs on Amazon to fill the big hose holes. 1 3/8 was the size that worked. A little bit of adhesive, makes sure it stays in and seals the cut edges. Part number is . 014973175924

[jrwilson]

Santa came early and over the holidays I will be replacing the decade old stereo and upgrade the speakers and re-dyeing the leather seats.



I also need to come up with a plan to deal with this mess the dealer made in 1976. Yikes.

[jrwilson]

'Twas the day before Christmas Eve and all through the garage a creature was stirring - finally getting time to check what's up with the parking brake.



Everything looked fine if a bit dirty, so I sprayed a bunch of brake cleaner on it, blew it out with a few shots of air, and slightly lubed the pivot points on both wheels.




Engaged and disengaged seemed smooth with no binding, so I buttoned it all up. Did a roll test, it seemed to disengage fine. Won't know for sure until spring!

Next up, interior work.

[jrwilson]

Whatever glue they used in the olden days was terrible and left stains in the vinyl headliner after a few years. Plus it was generally dingy looking.





So I decided to fix it with SEM Color Coat Mystic White. First you spray on SEM Prep, which is a pretty good vinyl cleaner and conditioner, the Color Coat, then optionally with SEM Tac Free if the final result is slightly sticky. Mine wasn't so I skipped that step.

Unfortunately the recommended Mystic White doesn't actually match the real Porsche colour. So much for Google searches. So I also did the visors.



In this case since I'd be handling them a lot, I did the Tac Free final step.



Came out excellent.




I also installed all the stereo equipment. Since I was replacing the door speakers, the panels had to come off. The window wires were so short just pulling the switch out disconnected them - no chance to take a picture for reference.



Door panel off.

[jrwilson]

Quite a pile of parts started building up.



Although it's technically "DIN" sized, I found the opening needed some serious massaging to actually fit a DIN sized stereo. Hand built! There was some junky 90s DIN stereo in there before but it was kind of wonky and didn't fit properly.



Thankfully there were plenty of holes pre-drilled and plugged in the firewall and I was able to easily run a power wire for the subwoofer.



Hooked it to the headlight washers spot since I don't have those anyway.



Although everything I read said 6.5" speakers would fit, these ones didn't exactly sit flush. But I didn't butcher the doors anymore than the previous owner did with some small screw holes. I never like to make big modifications to cars just in case.



In contrast the deck speakers fit without issue.



My rear defogger doesn't work and I suspect this is why. Anyone know where these wires should go?



Sub neatly tucked under the seat. I did not drill through any carpet - it's solid mounted at the front but sits on the carpet in the back. Seems secure enough.



Works! Sounds amazing too.



Sit back and enjoy some tunes.

[ToySnakePMC]

Nice updates on the White and Lobster SC. Such a pretty combination. I, too, did the mystic white SEM headliner respray this past Fall as my headliner looked identical to yours. Once my car is back from upholstery shop next week or so, I’ll compare it to the repop sunvisors. I love the headliner color - not white but not beige either. Stereo update looks great too. Nice work. Happy 2023.

[Bimmers4Life]

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