As some of you may know, a few months ago I bought myself a very tired, neglected, '74 911. It had been sitting outside for 10 years so it has a few little rust issues etc, but being converted US delivered, factory non sunroof car, I thought it would be the perfect donor for my Hot Rod project car.

My idea is to build the car I like, which is basically the look of a '73 RSR, but with an interior more like a Singer. I want the car to be something that is fun and reasonably comfortable to take on an SMT, but also something I can take on track days and hopefully Classic Adelaide in The near future.

I'm not certain on what I am doing with the engine yet. Currently it has a 2.7 which has pulled head studs. My initial plan is to rebuild that engine and get the car on the road (as I have never driven it), but I will be looking at some form of upgrade in the future. I am not looking for all out speed, as I have always been a fan of driving a slower car to its limits, as opposed to just making the car faster and faster in a straight line.

The plan with this car is that I will be doing every part of the build myself, and I thought instead of just taking a few pictures of the build as I go, it would be good to film the entire thing as I go, so for those who are interested they can watch my actual progress. So I have a disclaimer to start that I am not a professional presenter (or car builder for that matter), so you can't expect too much, but hopefully it should be interesting.

Quick stop after meeting the seller half way in Albury.

Getting ready to unload after getting home.

Some of the rust patches i found under the very thick, flaky, bog.

The very tired 2.7

Does anyone know what the sticker/metal decal was/is on the 914 petrol expansion tank and where to source one?

Is there any known source, to purchase a 916 badge?

Petrol tank went to A class powder coating this afternoon and due for pickup Friday.

Anyway, would like to get a bigger pipe, a better sound and that elusive 10% horses upgrade of course...  I'm thinking a monty, dansk or M&K as they seem to have good "2 in 1 out" exhausts and SSI headers seems to be the go.

But, I'm worried about buying an off the shelf exhaust as I don't know if it would fit. My assumption is that having squeezed a 993 engine into a 3.2 chassis gives me less room to work with. What do you think? Anyone got experience with this....  Do I need another proper custom job or can I get an off the shelf jobbie?

Here's what my butt looks like now. The exhaust seems to only cover half or 2/3 the width. Should be right across to get a good full sound... I've been told.

I was able to swap the seats back to the previous owner,for the original seats,which are in ripper condition. The seat carriers were showing their age,so I had them sand blasted and powder coated at A Class Powder Coating,of 39 Cochranes Road, Moorabbin. They did a great job, at a very reasonable price.

As the interior will be re trimmed,ratty seat carriers sitting on new carpet really doesn't work for me.

I found a couple of photo's of the WEVO  shifter kit fitted to the gearbox, so I thought i'd post those as well.

We have decided to fit a Patrick Motorsports header/heat exchanger kit to the car, to allow for a better airflow,both thru the exhaust as well as heating/demisting for the interior in Winter.

We also require a clutch cable adaptor bracket,but both of these items are currently out of stock,so we are awaiting notification that they are available and we'll continue on with the project.

The body is at the Panel Beaters,but unfortunately he is not well at present,so there has been no start on it yet.

I did not get around to posting any photos initially,so i'll give it a try now and hope i'm successful. Three of the car with the advertising stickers and four with them removed. (using my thumbnail)

Also included are two photo's of the engine as it stands now. Look a lot better when the new headers arrive.

Cheers all.

Ken. 

After Lee assisted with the lighting quick sale of my previous car, i have sourced the engine, gearbox and chassis for the new build - so it’s now full steam ahead  (link below)

A little unconventional I know, but the first order of business was to lock in the colour - Karminrot POR009

Before I get hazed, Lee agreed to link the build thread (rather than try and run on two forums)

D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/985164-project-77-new-build.html

So documented my 911 (Barney) journey on another forum and though it would be good to include it here:

March 2011

Back in 2011, we were living in Vancouver Canada and stumbled across this mid year 911 which had been sitting at our  mechanics garage for 4 years (under tyres and car parts). Story went that the mechanics garage neighbour had an agreement that if he stored his 911 at the garage, the mechanic could use the neighbours shop's parking for customer cars. Once the neighbour moved out of that space, car had to vacate the garage and his wife told him to get rid of it. Previous owner had owned it for the past 15 years and when it developed some fuel injection issues, he basically never got around to fixing it so there it sat.

I was able to pick it up for a good deal. 

It was in need of a bit of work to get it running but otherwise body was in great shape. Engine had a rebuild many years ago with all the upgrades done to make up for the shortfalls of the notorious 2.7 engine(chain tensioners, head studs etc) but was undocumented. 

Initial plans was to restore it to original. Fuchs and exterior was in pretty good condition, interior needed work.

Few pics taken when we went to look @ it! 

April 2011

So mechanic where the car sat was not a porsche specialist and didn't want to touch the car anymore so he recommended another shop in North Van called Scan Automotive. I had it towed there and they did a bunch of work to get the car running. In summary, had to have the fuel tank drained, recoated and rust repaired as the car was sitting for so long. Few of the CIS components were replaced and compression tests done. Fuel lines had to also get replaced as the existing ones turned to mush. Car was running but was still a little rough. At the time, i thought it would get better as I drove it more. I remember driving across the bridge and almost rear ending someone as non power brakes operate quite differently to modern cars. Took a while to get used to as well as using my right hand to change gears.

Looked much better in the sun!

Pretty low for stock!

At this point, the tyres on the car were about 20 years old and selection in the 15'' size was lacking. I ended up scouring craigslist and finding a set of genuine powdercoated 16x7 Fuchs for a good price. Guy i bought it off was building a VW bug and changed his mind about mounting these wheels. I was pretty stoked with the wheels and ran them for quite a while.

I was worried that wouldn't fit and to be honest, it did rub if i hit a bump at speed but i didn't care. It looked much better.

May 2011

 I had a hefty bill from the mechanics and they still were unable to get it running lean enough to pass emissions. They wanted me to change the fuel distributor which would have cost me an arm and a leg so decided to get a 2nd opinion at another recommended porsche mechanic. He was able to lean the car out by making an adjustment to the WUR and I passed my emissions test.

True what they say that rims really do transform the look of a car. 

April 2012

So rest of 2011 was spent just enjoying the car. Had a few electrical issues but other than that car was running ok. Highlight of the year, we decided to test it by driving from Vancouver to Portland. Did the Oregon Coast drive which to date is one of the best drives I've done. Miles and miles of coastal twisties. Heaters on this wasn't great but we were lucky to get warm weather during our trip. Mrs got to drive parts of the twisties. Up to date, if my odometer is correct, I've been getting 300 miles city driving out of a tank which wasn't too bad. It's a 80L tank i think? On this road trip, we got 550 highway miles which we were pleasantly surprised and there was some aggressive driving on the twisties. We ended up in Portland and got to watch a OKC / Trailblazers game which was epic. All up we did about 1500 kms and had no issues 

We were planning on moving back to Syd end of this year & will be shipping Barney back so decided to get the car in for paint as labour in Canada is a bit cheaper than Aus. Found a trustworthy panel beater(he actually ended up doing the RWB build in Van) as well so bit the bullet and decided to get some of the rust repaired and get the car repainted all in 1 colour (Sticking with purple). The clear coat on one side of the car was non existant so that had been bugging me for ages.

Some pics of the process

Passenger door had the most amt of rust before we started this process

This is the piece that was cut out from the bottom corner

Lucky smash repair had a good welder and repaired it properly by welding in a new steel piece rather than just use filler

Suspension pan was quite rusted when I got the car.

Battery tray was actually rusted through

Had to buy a brand new suspension pan piece from Restoration Design and get a new battery tray welded in. They have done an awesome job on this!

Spot welds used to repair rust pin holes in the fender

Needed to buy some new headlights so bought czech made bosche genuine H4s.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v406/privatepang/1975 911s/NewH4.jpg

i also wanted some new buckets as the existing seats were ripped. Oddly enough, I was offered a used passenger side GTS Classic seat from a guy in Brisbane. 

I bought it and had it shipped to our place in Sydney. Ordered similar seat from the GTS Classic. 

Used seat:

June 2012

Went back to the panel beaters and progress was a little slow and he was running behind schedule.

Also bought a few more goodies:

Suede Momo mod 07 w/ momo hub (Still yet to install)

Focal speakers to replace my 36 year old stockies. These were the only ones that didn't look so bling. Surprising how hard it is to find a pair with just black mesh

Cassette was stuck in my existing blaupunkt so decided to replace it with a 90's CD player with AUX out. Didn't want one of typical sony xplods with crazy equalizer graphics. Seen a few and to me it doesn't look quite right in a 70's porsche

July 2012

Colour came out better than expected. Its hard to get the right shade of purple as you don't want it to be too red. All up, we got 7 coats including clear and paint. Would have loved to do glass out but my budget didn't allow for it. Masking was done really well. Just stoked that my car is all one colour now rather than the matt finish on one side and gloss on the other lol. End to end process was about 4 months all up. 

Been checking out the tartan and houndstooth look. The houndstooth is so classic and stylish, like it heaps. Very tempted. So 911R.... But for my car being all black in and out, I want  more colour... more bling to lighten it up a bit. So, leaning towards the tartan. The search continued...

Ive  updated my exterior decals to  red (was orange... was not a fan of the orange), so with my black car, I'm looking for a red/black tartan. Its been a challenge as so many tartans are loaded with blues, greens or yellows... and I didnt want the base colour white as it would be too bright for me. its been hard finding one without those other colours and with the right proportion of red, black & white. Then there's the fabric... light, heavy, pure wool or synthetic, etc... Hmmm, its hard finding out stuff.

Here's my original interior,  pre-red belts. A bit dull/drab, eh?

I've now weened my selection down to a few:

Coming in at 4th:  

In 3rd place:

And in 2nd place... and almost got pole position:

Sorry, about the lousy pic quality above.

But... sitting up in 1st place... the winning entry is (drum roll pls):

I got a sample of this winning entry shipped to me to be sure it looks the same as the web pic. Hello!! 20pounds postage thanks!  Over $40 AUS to touch it. Ouch!

Anyway, a few emails later, this only comes in a lightweight pure wool (10oz) fabric ... which is not ideal but in checking with my upholsterer he's ok with its hardiness. After all, the car is not a DD so it wont get sat in every day. Polyviscose or a heavier wool (13oz, 16oz) is better I'm told. I need about 2m in length.

I'm going to replace just the centre corduroy inserts. The black sides will remain. For the head rests I'm thinking of not doing them in red tartan but just replace the corduroy with a like for like black vinyl as the sides (bolsters) are. So, the head rest will just be plain vinyl black.

Booked in for early next year.. pics and update hopefully by end of Jan 2019. I'm excited.

Before being that stupid the car did have a PPI which showed up it needed some work on the sunroof (did I mention it was a kinda green 996.1 cab auto 911… lucky I am not looking to part with it anytime soon), brakes were worn, CV boots shot, indicator stalk issues, some missing rubbers in the engine bay, noisy solenoid on the fuel cap and a few other minor things. Got a quote to fix and nearly fell over but an awesome bargaining tool as I knew I could just about rebuild the car from ground up (just don’t like cracking open engines…).

The drive home showed it was mechanically rock solid as noted in the PPI, it had a replacement engine (now a none matching car, resale value huh?) but that was a bonus as it had an upgraded IMS bearing (maybe increased value on that one…).

My wife is not a fan of the colour but I have grown to like it, so for now it gets to stay unwrapped. But when my pelican part order came in with Jelly Beans my wife looked at the car and those and said “you have purchased a Jelly Belly!”… so the car is now called Jelly Bean.

This thread aims to document what happens when someone who was boxster shopping buys a 911 for the same price instead! I am very DIY happy having designed and built a Lotus 7 replica a few years back and armed with a pretty good garage but even better a friend with a workshop.

First job: Rear disks and pads all around, following the 101 projects guide all pretty easy once you find the anti-theft socket thing.

Some air filters and the rubber things that were missing:

Indicator stalk didn’t set off the airbag or the warning light so win!

No photos… woops! Didn’t do the 4 stalk upgrade as picked up a 986 one for a good price.

Installed an android double din head unit so I had blue tooth, sat nav, and can add cameras later (the reverse camera is actually in the dash as I don’t feel like running the wires the length of the car!). Someone had already played with the wiring so some fun was had but enough trial and error with wiring diagrams got it sorted and rocking the usb and Bluetooth tunes!

CV boot replacement… the instructions are wrong on pelican parts. Auto = fat box = undo suspension to get clearance you need = totally crap job.

Softop issues, not got around to solving these yet as I leave the hardtop on anyway. The PPI said it was stiff to move. Something happened between the PPI and me trying it out as it didn’t work at all. Manually opening it turned up that the issue is the clam not moving, everything else works fine.

Clam wise the motor runs but it won’t move and the LHS hinge is broken. Since I can manually drive the clam with the allen key tool I am hopeful the drive screws are fine and its just striped the connection shaft. Hinge wise tossing up trying to weld it and see what happens as worst case it breaks again best it fixes it for cheap. Don’t think I will find one at the wreckers for cheap.

Also found someone butchered the rear plastic parts over the pop up roll bars… that will need to be replaced.

Some photos of it getting torn down, the top up (really good condition it turns out) and broken things:

Future projects:

·        Baby seat… why not buy a 911 when a baby is due in a few months? Cab +baby seat = passengers face on the windscreen J.

·        Solenoid for fuel cap

·        Oil and filter change

·        Gearbox oil and filter change

·        Reverse camera and a forward facing dash cam

·        Exhaust mod (expected more noise from the flat 6)

·        DIY Hardtop hoist in the garage

i found this vid and thought it useful, interesting for those just starting out, thinking of hotrodding, etc..or maybe just thinking of the next upgrade item on your hrod!!  it’s based on the “bring a trailer” us website... the guy reviews a few hot rods sold on BaT in 2018 and shows pics of the cars and their upgraded bits n pieces (a few close ups) and a short vid of the car being driven (all just grabbed from BaT)...

Towards the end he plots a few. graphs to show trends if anything... what influences sale price. A look at what’s happening in the US anyway.

Was going to put it in the video section (of PFA) but it’s so hotrod specific thought it might get a better viewing here....

Philby

Already Haltech EFI converted 3.6 varioram 964 motor with ported heads, 993 RS cams,ARP stud everything. Fabspeed headers, 12xLS1 coils etc etc, G50 gearbox, 996tt brakes.

Inside is 964 everything including dash and Porsche script seats. 

Plans are another custom turbo set up but this time twin turbo, because if one is good two should be better right? 

I picked these up for it today. For me they are THE quintessential wheel. They are genuine 1991 date stamped non denloc RUF Speedline.

Will post some more pics when I get the car home. 

Not real nice.

It''s been converted to RHD and has the 916 body kit fitted as well. 7's & 8's Fuchs wheels, 930 Turbo hubs,930 Turbo brakes,930 turbo seats,large oil cooler

with RSR catch can, 3.6 (993) RS engine with 915 gearbox. A Wevo side shift kit has been found and purchased in the Netherlands. Last one available until

late 2019. (phew)

As the engine hasn't run for 10 years,it will be removed and fully checked,as will the gearbox.All oil lines will be replaced as will all the fluids.

Some exhaust modifications to be done as well as fitting of new tyres.

Body off to my Panel Beater for some small mods, eg an access panel like the Boxster, to change fan belt etc. Some minor body damage to be repaired, fuel filler

to be installed in the bonnet and ex spoiler holes to be repaired in rear boot lid.

No photos yet,but they will be posted as available.

Should be a fun car!!!

Almost a year into ownership so I guess it's about time to get documenting. When looking for a tool that is just going to get wailed on, it didn't have to be the neatest example with low kilometers and perfect paint and to be honest it didn't even have to be a clubsport as you can buy a lot of extra stuff for the $25K premium that the second-hand market was charging. I didn't have a modification plan or anything but knowing myself the car was not likely to remain bone-stock for long so deciding between the nuanced handling aspects of the series 1 996 GT3 through to the series 2 997 GT3 wasn't really an issue. I just like the more classic look of the 997, from the round headlights to the dash design and from there it was hard to justify the difference between series 1 and series 2. 

[The car]

Relatively speaking, my car is not so special, but it's perfect for me. I'm not sure about anyone else, but when buying a car I tend to start at the bottom and work my way up and fortunately for me my car was right at the bottom. The car presented as a touring model but after chatting to the previous owner about it and mentioning my intention for the car he happily proceeded to tell me that he had a whole host of track-day stuff that he'd acquired for the car during his tenure, including CAMS approved half-cage, bucket seats, harnesses, a spare set of wheels shod in A050 tyres and a fire extiguisher; pretty much everything the budding track-day enthusiast needed to get going and that he'd really only used the car to do track days himself. As the car was quite remote a bit of due diligence had to be done on my part but in the end a deal was struck and I organized to fly to Adelaide and pick the car up mostly in track-ready configuration and have the additional bits palletized and sent to my warehouse.

[The Goal]

When you read or watch any car-related material, the GT3 is supposed to be the epitome of handling and feedback. Combine that with the reputation the 911 has as being "the thinking man's sports car" and I was keen to see what all the fuss was about. There's also plenty of data out there about what lap times others have set as PCV is very active on all the various Victorian circuits. Ultimately the goal for me is to (relatively safely) see how quick I can make this car. Ultimately I've always had the view that as a driver you need to adapt to the way a certain car drives but as a tinkerer you can also bring the car towards you and meet somewhere in the middle, so this thread will mostly be focused on my observations of driving this car on the track, what changes I've had to make to my own driving style and what changes I've made to the car to make it drive more like how I want. 

[Insert random track-day photo]

Must be manual trans.

1st pref is Silver exterior with Boxster Red interior. 

2nd Silver with Black interior.

3rd pref Black exterior w red or black interior.  Maaaaybe a tan interior at the right price.

Exterior/interior doesn't need to be perfect.  Suits me better if not at the appropriate discount.

Don't really care if 2.5, 2.7 or 3.2, but must be driveable and mechanically sound.

Pref in VIC, but will buy the right car interstate.

$10-15K or a little more.

Current pic of the car below. 

Plans are to shed some weight from it via fibreglass panels and a few other strategies and add a little HP via some independent throttle bodies with a MoTeC ECU for the tune which should complement the RS cams and fabspeed exhaust already in it. Have got the Jenveys and have a local CNC company working on some adaptors similar to the Rothsport Kit to adapt the 964 intake plenum. Might try to set up the air filter as per a recent singer image (sans the hollywood bling finish  ) I spotted and fit an oval filter between the plenums. Might be a bit of a challenge with the resonance flap on the 964 plenum.

Also some wheels to fill the guards a bit with better rubber selecction than the 17's on it. Don't like the full Rauh Welt stuff in its entirety, I reckon its a bit over the top, but I do like the JDM wheels. So I have some 18 x 9 and 18 x 11 SSR Professor SP1 on the way. 

And will finish off by making the cockpit a little more ergonimic. Just installed a momo wheel with 70mm offset to bring it closer and have a WEVO shifter in the race length coming. Also keen to tidy up the dash. Dash pad is suffering the usual cracking. Probably go for something in fibreglass to shed some weight and cover it in alcantara. The rest of the interior is quite good with race seats, lightweight carpet and colour coded full CAMS roll cage with bolt out side intrusion. 

Would be happy with this kind of look, sans the OTT rear wing and canards and splitter, and maybe not quite so "hella flush" as it will be a track car so needs to have workable clearance. 

thought I should share my air cooled project,

as anyone who has seen my v8 boxster they will tell from that I like to do things the hard way,

I picked up a reasonably rust free 67 912 shell that was bare except for rusty front guards, rer deck lid and a set of pedals,

it was too cheap to pass,

biggest issue is its had the quarters chopped off,

so far Ive scored a glass bonnet and a set of swb indicators from a mate for nix, a whole front end except for brakes and hubs for $800, a complete rh door for $500, a LH door and a spare rh both empty shells for $150 and I have a 2.2 engine and box from my first T thats been sitting for 25 years haha,

also have a rear cut coming from the US so I will have rear quarters just 10 inches short of the b pillar...

so getting there, just slowly

Technically I guess it's more of a resto mod because I don't want to be constrained by correctness.

The aim is to do everything on my own in my shed in about a year.

Rethinking that, some things like machining, and as its turned out paint removal will be farmed out.

The car was  originally delivered into Perth in late 1965 and purchased by me from Melbourne in pieces about 18 months ago.

It had already had a 2.2L six cylinder installed and was early enough to be a Porsche built 3 Gauge painted dash model.

It is the 696th 912 to roll off the line.

Pics below show the trip home from Melbourne to Adelaide and the bits and pieces laid out.

Since most of the panels on these early cars are stamped with the body number I was keen to repair and keep them all.

Although I did source some brand new front guards from Porsche Germany just as back up.

Below shows a bit of the details involved with saving the old ones.

Firstly the flange that bolts up to the body was rusted away.

Also the complete last section of the guards back towards the doors where it is double thickness was dodgy.

I used two later model guards as donors and cut off the fender joining lip and grafted it onto mine.

Next I cut a vertical line down through the donor guards to replace the rear section.

Pictures probably show it best.

It was important to have the doors on in their original position and also the bonnet to get good alignment and gaps.

Once the guards were right I drilled out the spot welds and removed the old turn signal buckets and welded in new Porsche ones.

.

Several false starts of projects over the last two years, but maybe the recent selling of a local yellow 'street find' 912 tipped the balance. That and the fact that this dusty, engine-less example was being saved and the seller only wanted $9K

This could be fun. A journey to be had back from the US, a possible 4 pot engine build on route, design and planning. The end game?  Not sure yet...

Anyone care to share their experience ?

The premise is a safari style 911 but based on a cabriolet not a coupe.  Why?  Why not?  I think it will be fun - a concept lacking a little in recent times in the air cooled Porsche world as prices rise.  A parallel could be the Ducati Scrambler - think street bike with some classic off road style - as this is intended to be nothing more than a fun street car (that doesn't have to brake for speed humps).  Hopefully a few folk will enjoy it in the spirit it is intended - and the haters will have something to talk about...

On Friday I took delivery of an 88 3.2 cab and the fun has begun.  Insta pics to follow. 

Next jobs are order the 195/70r15 rally tyres and get a roll hoop fabbed up. 

Light pod has arrived, lamps need to be sourced. 

Basic specs:

• US LHD 1987 Carrera
• 3.3 Turbo from a '91 964 Turbo
• G50

It was modified in the US by the second owner and imported to Oz a few years back and previously issued with club permit H plates. With the rule changes, it needed to be issued with a VASS certificate to be legitimately issued with a club permit. So I went through the hoops. Not too bad really as it was nicely put together.

Issued with VIC club permit M plates today 

Future plans include:

• Sports seats
• RUF Speedlines
• Momo Prototipo
• any other suggestions?