Finally bought a car

[NYNick]

Nice SC!.... umm I'm mean 996 Turbo!...umm I mean middie!

You're something else Rickster!

Let's go for a drive!

[76_rookie]

Love Gemini blue!!!Goes well with yellow.

[David Borden]

beautiful car! love the color with the targa and cookies...

david

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by Rick Brooklyn

In reality though like I said the car is highly imperfect...

Congrats! Are you planning on doing a lot of DIY ?

Is the engine lid misaligned or is the latch the issue?

Were the door speakers cut for larger holes?
If not, you can easily revert to regular 5.25" round speakers and find OEM style grilles.

[Rick Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Congrats! Are you planning on doing a lot of DIY ?

None. Don't have the time (or the skills, really) for wrenching, with a big daily commute and two small children. Whatever time I manage to eak out on weekends, I'd rather use it to drive. I plan on having Auto Associates in Canton CT do most of the work

Is the engine lid misaligned or is the latch the issue?

Latch

Were the door speakers cut for larger holes?

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to check...

[War584]

Congrats - really a gorgeous car - all the way around. Engine the Targa experience!

[sugarwood]

Do you technically have a space to work on the car? Private driveway or garage? Don't rule out the oppty to try little projects.
Some repairs just take 5 minutes, but your mind needs to be open to that possibility.
My best advice is to do ONE simple repair to the car yourself. See how it feels. Even if it's just changing the air filter.
You might even like it more than driving. For the cost of one repair, you can buy a lot of basic tools.

Latch might be a simple adjustment
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/818595-how-realign-sticking-stuck-engine-lid-latch.html
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/897964-engine-hatch-popping-open.html

Or, you can try removing the speedo to mail to N.Hollywood. Very doable for a beginner.
Push out from other side with broomstick (or pull it out with fingers)

Also, just yank out the clock and make sure it's connected in the back. If so, mail that to N.Hollywood also.

[sugarwood]

It looks like the Canton shop is a race shop.
PM me if you want some closer local NY options (besides Cheech) that might be more suitable for basic stuff.

[sugarwood]

Wow, that steering wheel is actually from '74
Top five Porsche 911 steering wheels of all time | Total 911

If you find a used replacement, that's another very quick little project for you!

[manbridge 74]

Technically not one of the top five as I believe they mean the Carrera wheel with equal spacing between horn hub to rim. Slightly different diameter as well.

Still this is an awesome wheel compared to the rubbery standard one.

[Brokentoy]

I was always told to stay away from those awful middies.
Terrible cars with none of the class of the long hoods, and lacking the performance of the SC and Carrera.
I accidentally ran across a 74 Carrera Targa last year, and bought it with the help of several here on the forum.
I wish I had looked closer at the middies sooner, a wonderful car!
Secret now seems to be out.
Love the color and wheel combo!

[sugarwood]

Why the middle hate in the first place?
They basically look identical to the SC/3.2 to me.
It's weird that a '73 is $150k and a '74 is $30k.
2 extra inches of hood are worth $120k ?
Did the middies get dramatic HP cuts due to emissions, just like the USA cars?

[ficke]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Why the middle hate in the first place?
They basically look identical to the SC/3.2 to me.
It's weird that a '73 is $150k and a '74 is $30k.
2 extra inches of hood are worth $120k ?
Did the middies get dramatic HP cuts due to emissions, just like the USA cars?

There were real issues with the mid year, 1974-77 cars when they were new. Pretty much every thing has been corrected and attitudes have changed.

In 1974 the most dragon of the emission/safety laws went into effect, everybody had to have 5 MPH impact bumpers and the body design of car started to have heavy influence by the government. MG lost the chrome bumpers and got big ugly rubber bumpers, corvettes lost their chrome bumper and got some sort of body shaped plastic that is always wavy, Porsche did its best with their accordion style impact bumpers.
Also at the time the side impact protection became mandatory and a few other things, all this added weight and changed the look of the cars, not popular.
To add even more insult to the sports car enthusiast, at the same time, 1974, stricter emission requirements were mandated, cutting HP and engine life.
Porsche replace their header system and put on a restrictive log style, catalytic equipped exhaust system that also held a lot of heat next to the heads. It became mandatory to have the emission cut sooner and the cars warm up faster, Porsche quick answer was less fins on the cooling fan, now couple that with the hot catalytic converter exhaust system, overheated engines.
Porsche also had to drop their race style MFI injection for the emission complaint CIS. robbing the cars of power.
There were other problems, but I think you are getting the idea.
But today the impact look is now the "norm" and excepted, along with the weight. The fix's to the engines are well documented and legal since the cars or so old.
So today they are good cars, with a lot of nice unique features that make them special fun.

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

It looks like the Canton shop is a race shop.
PM me if you want some closer local NY options (besides Cheech) that might be more suitable for basic stuff.

They aren't just a race shop. They have turned out some very very top notch restorations.

[dienstuhr]

Originally Posted by ficke

In 1974 the most dragon of the emission/safety laws went into effect, everybody had to have 5 MPH impact bumpers and the body design of car started to have heavy influence by the government. MG lost the chrome bumpers and got big ugly rubber bumpers, corvettes lost their chrome bumper and got some sort of body shaped plastic that is always wavy, Porsche did its best with their accordion style impact bumpers.
Also at the time the side impact protection became mandatory and a few other things, all this added weight and changed the look of the cars, not popular.

Yet so many longhoods were "updated" to impact bumper spec back in the day, because the owners wanted people to think it was a new car, or as repair from crash damage. If you told somebody in 1974 that people would be changing new cars to look like older ones they'd've said you were crazy!

Cheers

d.

[TH_DUDE]

Fantastic looking car, Rick! Congrats and enjoy!

[christiandk]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Do you technically have a space to work on the car? Private driveway or garage? Don't rule out the oppty to try little projects.
Some repairs just take 5 minutes, but your mind needs to be open to that possibility.
My best advice is to do ONE simple repair to the car yourself. See how it feels. Even if it's just changing the air filter.
You might even like it more than driving. For the cost of one repair, you can buy a lot of basic tools.

Latch might be a simple adjustment
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/818595-how-realign-sticking-stuck-engine-lid-latch.html
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/897964-engine-hatch-popping-open.html

Or, you can try removing the speedo to mail to N.Hollywood. Very doable for a beginner.
Push out from other side with broomstick (or pull it out with fingers)

Also, just yank out the clock and make sure it's connected in the back. If so, mail that to N.Hollywood also.

Great advice. But dont overdo it Rick. I started out driving the cars 23 years ago. Then it turned in to wrenching (which I like more than traffic). Now with 2 small children the old cars stressed me out - so I suggest you keep driving and let others wrench when time is of the essence!

I will buy my next Porsche whrn my boys have the interest and want to drive it. It will be Ronnies booster. Of course it has to go through a chemical clean and I will have to remove the tacky aftermarket parts.

Enjoy!

[pmax]

Originally Posted by Rick Brooklyn

Can't recall the vin off the top of my head but yes it was on ebay a few months back. I was tempted too, passed on it, then ended up buying it for a few grand more from the guy who bought it on ebay. The flip of a flip...

You did check all the VINs, right ?

Is it me or the hood is off color from the TRISSL SPORTS CARS pics ?

[christiandk]

Originally Posted by pmax

You did check all the VINs, right ?

Is it me or the hood is off color from the TRISSL SPORTS CARS pics ?

It is off. But cameras tend to get the "worst" of a repaint in some lightning.

All in all it looks very nice for a 42 year old car to me👍🏻

[Rick Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by pmax

You did check all the VINs, right ?

Is it me or the hood is off color from the TRISSL SPORTS CARS pics ?

I didn't notice an issue with the hood color in real life, although Jim did describe it as a "average quality repaint".

One thing I noticed is the hood is in fact slightly misaligned at the top edge. We'll fix that eventually...! I'm 100% committed to go way down the rabbit hole