MY 1970 911E Restoration Project

Although I don’t like to admit it to myself, I have been procrastinating starting this thread on my 1970 911 E restoration. The project has been ongoing since Aug of 2013 when I purchased the car as a roller with boxes full of parts in an estate auction. Progress has been slow but steady with the car in the final assembly stage at this point.

I had been itching for another project since completing my RSR clone in 2005. With the recent surge in pricing for early 911’s, it seemed the time was right to bring another old 911 back to life. I had been searching for a couple of months when the untimely death of a fellow PCA/CVR member resulted in invite only estate auction. One of the gems at the auction was an unfinished 911E project. It turned out that I had the correct numbers matching engine and gearbox in my parts stash from a previous local parts purchase. The odometer showed an original 85,000 miles. This was an opportunity I could not pass up so I made sure that I went home with the car.

Given that 95% of the original parts came with the purchase and that I had the correct original engine and gearbox, I decided to bite the bullet and make this a 100% correct original restoration. Since I do not have the metal, body and paint skills to do justice to the final results I envisioned, I decided to follow the same project plan that I did with my RSR. I would strip the car myself and outsource the metal repair, body and paint work to my trusted friends at Auto Associates in Canton, CT. Like the RSR project, I would do all the part prep, finished assembly and engine & gearbox work myself.

Below are some pics of the car as it arrived at my garage in Aug of 2013.

Like any project, once I got this one home, I discovered the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good – The chassis was fairly solid except for some improper repairs that had been made to the rockers and left rear torsion area. The interior, with the exception of the dash, was also in good condition. After laying all the parts out, it seemed like almost everything needed was there.

The Bad – The original wheels and front windshield were missing along with the steel front bumper and bumper guards. The radio appeared to be a Japanese dealer install.

The Ugly – The metal repair work on the rockers and left rear torsion area would have to be redone. The repair work on the left rear quarter panel would also need redoing.

Once the car was stripped, I delivered it to Auto Associates for their assessment and crossed my fingers hoping for as few surprises as possible.

Delivery for the body work..... January 2014

Nice Tom.

reminds me of my current project.

The Project Plan

A “100% Correct” restoration project can encompass a pretty broad work scope with a very slippery slope. This is especially true when you are faced with an unfinished project and baskets of parts. I am fortunate to have a large inventory of early 911 parts as part of my retirement business and the resources on this website to guide me, so I figured I’d give it a go and see how “correct” I can make this.

My philosophy has always been to not compromise functionality for the sake of correctness. The original hydropnuematic struts on the car had long ago been replaced by 3.0 “ Boges with M calipers. I decided that a pair of early Koni S struts with early S calipers would be the “correct” replacement for this project since I had both in my stash. The rest of the front suspension would be stock with the original 15 mm front sway bar, all new rubber bushings, freshly plated original hardware & fasteners and new Koni inserts. The rear suspension would remain original with all bushings, hardware and dampers refreshed just like the front.

It is important to me that the car look as original and “correct” as possible. However, a little extra pep in the engine is always nice to have. Since the original Biral cylinders were too worn to be useable at 84 mm, I decided to have them bored to 86 mm, use a nice 2.4/2.7 crank I had in stock and make a 2.45 liter. Since the car will be a street driver, I am going with 9.5 CR JE’s, and a set ModS cams. The heads, throttle bodies and stacks will be opened up to 34 mm and the injection pump recalibrated for the 2.45 application. The case will get all the standard mods and I will do the assembly myself.

Even though the original interior was in decent shape, I have chosen to have all the seats, panels and dash redone in original materials to ensure the right match.

Although the COA does not specify the options for the car, it appears to have been delivered with the appearance group options including the wide S bumper and rocker deco trim. I have chosen to include a date matched set of deep six wheels refinished by Harvey Weidman with Avon 185/70/15 tires. I also have a nice Blaupunkt Frankfurt to replace the Japanese radio. The finished color will be the original Bahia Red.

Metal and Body Work
The progress at Auto Associates was painstaking slow as some not unexpected surprises showed up. At this point I had decided to try to make the car as perfect as possible. With that in mind, Ken the body shop manager and co-owner advised me that the doors, engine lid, rear bumpers and front fenders would require too much work to make perfect. Luckily I had good replacements for the doors and rear bumpers in my stash and Ken had a good engine lid. We decided on factory replacement fenders as there are almost no good, used replacements available and aftermarket would not cut it for this project.

Both the left and right rockers, quarter and latch panels required extensive repairs as well as the left rear torsion area. Once again I had replacement panels that met Ken's approval in my stash.

Metal and Body Work
An unexpected surprise was some light damage to the right front wheel housing area from a previous collision and a rust hole in the right battery box. Both were repaired. The underbody was stripped, all floor jack dents removed and then primed.

Based on some research on the forums and Ken’s experience, we decided on the following finishing process:

http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...-E-trunk-color

http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...ls+paint+color

1) Primer over bare metal
2) Greyish beige undercoating was sprayed in the engine bay and the undersides.
3) Body painted body colour
4) Black paint was applied in the wheel wells and engine compartment

Undercoating

Underside Painted Body Color

Subscribed. Looks like fun.

Top Side Painted and Sanded

Finishing Touches

Back Home at Last 1-2-2015

Now my fun starts (Note we left the wheel wheels for me to finish in black).

Interior

I had the interior refinished by Euro Interiors in Bedford Hills, NY.

Always more fun when the owner participates as much as possible in the work process. Lookin good.

On another note, it seems that the COA's have more and more 'no information' notations.....

Absolutely gorgeous;) how long did the body shop have it? Looks like they did a great job on the metal work!

Auto Associates had the shell for just about 1 year. Obviously the work was not continuous over that period. They are clearly the best source available to me for early 911 work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by peko

Absolutely gorgeous;) how long did the body shop have it? Looks like they did a great job on the metal work!

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Front Suspension
The goal, once getting the car home, was to get it rolling so that I could move it around in my garage and make room when needed on the lift for my other cars. I had prepped and painted the components as well as had all the hardware plated ahead of time. This made assembly pretty straightforward. That is except when I discovered that the RHS A-Arm was a 914 arm with 29 splines for the torsion bar. Who knew that a 914 A-Arm is identical to a 911 arm except for the spline count. I found that out pretty quickly when the torsion bar would not go in. A quick posting on Pelican straightened me out. The only problem was that I had sold my last RHS arm the week before to a fellow Registry member. Luckily, I was able to swap locally with a spare LHS for a RHS and moved onward.

The pics below shown the front suspension with original fasteners replated, Koni S struts, and a pair of early S calipers that were rebuilt by our pal Eric Shea. I used the Elephant Racing rubber bushings on the control arms and strut tops. A set of Avon 185-70/15. CR6ZZ with A29 compound arrived just in time to mate up with Harvey Weidman's restored deep sixes and make the car rollable.

Rear Suspension
The rear suspension went together with no hiccups. Spring plates set at 35.5 deg with my IPhone. Same treatment here. New rubber bushings on the spring plates and trailing arms from Elephant Racing. Restored rear calipers from Eric Shea and 187/70 Avons on Harvey’s deep sizes.

She rolls.

Stance looks funny to me. Too high in the back and too low in the front considering no weight. Spring plates were set at 35.5 and 35 deg respectively based on the spring plate calculator.

Beautiful work Tom..........

Time for an update on the progress.

The time since my last post has been spent on restoring and installing the wiring and electrical components in the front luggage compartment and dashboard. I tested each wiring harness, all switches & relays and all other components separately before installation to make sure they functioned properly. I used the original style silver can relays rather than the newer black type. I also installed the fresh air blower system system. Next up will be the rear defrost system, dash and front & rear windshields.

I very interested in constructive comments regarding anything that may be incorrect or missing as I am trying to make this car as original as possible.

Tom,
The car looks wonderful.
What did you use to clean the fresh air blower system up front? I have to o the same on a 69E.
Chris

Great thread Tom and beautiful restoration you're doing.
Good luck finishing it up.-Matt

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cmpski

Tom,
The car looks wonderful.
What did you use to clean the fresh air blower system up front? I have to o the same on a 69E.
Chris

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Chris

The unit from this car was fairly clean. I disassemble it and cleaned the housing & distribution valves with soap and hot water. This was followed by a wipe down with interior protectant.

I have cleaned other units that have had over-spray and road grime. On these I have had to use lacquer thinner and lots of patience.

Tom,

Looks great, my karmann built 70E has a tach with a 7,000 rpm redline.

Ed

small detail Tom: the basketweave insert on the dash was installed incorrectly. Anyway thats what I think.
Cool project Tom !

Tom,
You're killing me! you're about 6-8 months ahead of me. It looks so nice!! Congrats. I agree that an E tach should be a 7000 red line. Also next to the drain pipe by the smugglers box that hole should be plugged by a cardboard plug. I'm sure you just haven't installed it yet.. Keep the updates coming, it's very inspirational...Cheers Steve

Tom, did you leave the original interior floorboard undercoating original.? Car looks awesome, remember seeing it when I picked up some parts a few years ago. Good luck with it.

Thanks for all the comments and keep them coming.

Regarding the red line on the tach, The factory spec for the 1970 engines shows 6700 RPM for the E model (see attached from the little spec book). The Tach in my car had a 6500 red line before I started and I had North Hollywood replicate it. I have no reason to believe the tach was not original to the car, Date codes on the tach matched the other instruments. I would think the red line should match the spec book. Not sure what to do about this one just yet.

JB....Not sure what might be wrong with the basket weave on the dash. The original fascia pieces with the original basket weave were restored with new material. See the before pics. I am not sure I see any differences.

Jim...We did not touch the floorboards since they were in very good condition.

Agree with others, tach on a 1970E is at 7000rpm.
I know because at my unrestored RoW 2.2l T its already at 6500rpm ish (see below).

http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/...psfvsha0ca.png

Are you planning to treat the underside of the car and spray the engine bay black, as edmayo described ?:
"The engine bay had body color overspray on the undercoat, then was finished in satin black over that. Rub off the black and you'll find body color overspray".
Just asking.

beautiful work, keep 'on going…

(Arrow, engine bay…(tangerine) body color overspray seen underneat black finish)
http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/...psgimux3b1.png

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tom1394racing

Chris

The unit from this car was fairly clean. I disassemble it and cleaned the housing & distribution valves with soap and hot water. This was followed by a wipe down with interior protectant.

I have cleaned other units that have had over-spray and road grime. On these I have had to use lacquer thinner and lots of patience.

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Tom,
Thanks for the quick reply.
Chris

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 911T1971

Are you planning to treat the underside of the car and spray the engine bay black, as edmayo described ?:
"The engine bay had body color overspray on the undercoat, then was finished in satin black over that. Rub off the black and you'll find body color overspray".

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Karim

Check the beginning of the post where I describe the chassis prep process. I am trying to make all the surface finishes correct. Looks like I will need to have the Tach redone. I can't understand why the original had a 6500 red line.

The RPM in the spec book is not the tach redline. Note the 'S' one is only shown as 6800, when we all know the tach is marked at 7300. I would install your washer squirters and plastic tubing now while you have some access. The tubing follows the wiring harness clips down the fender. The squirters are hard to get in, I do those right after the wiring, before all that other stuff.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by edmayo

I would install your washer squirters and plastic tubing now while you have some access. The tubing follows the wiring harness clips down the fender. The squirters are hard to get in, I do those right after the wiring, before all that other stuff.

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Ed

Thanks for your input. Can you recommend a general reassembly sequence from this point onwards that will prevent me from going backwards.

Tom,correct me if im wrong but I think your luggage compartment lift struts are mounted backwards, well you asked lol!

ACCESS! As per Ed....As I've gotten older and stiffer the last items I install are the gas tank and driver's seat. Access to the back of the dash and wiring issues are so much easier with the tank out, and getting to the tunnel and footwell for linkage and final cable adjustment likewise. Detail: the washer line from a short flexible piece at the squirters to the flexible lines at the pump is a greenish/turquoise rigid plastic line.....it's NOT flexible tubing the entire length. Never seen it available from suppliers...hopefully you have yours or can harvest one from a donor.

Mark, I get that rigid tubing at my local ACE hdw. It doesn't have that greenish tint, but I wonder if that isn't obtained over time from the washer fluid?

As Mark said, last things to go in /on are gas tank, seats, and drivers door. Gas tank for access to trunk, and emergency access to front trunk latch. (just in case you get it wrong!) Seats last for access to all the tunnel work, throttle bushings speedo cable, hand throttle, hand brake cable equalizing, shift linkage. Drivers door for antenna install, plastic cable guide for fuel filler door and paint I.D. plate. All electrical is tested before tank install, better access for trouble shooting. Rear glass after quarter windows, gives better access to latches.

Agree When I stop to think about it the soft tubing discolors with age from the blue stuff in the washer fluid....stands to reason the same is happening to that rigid stuff. I had a stash of original pieces from parts cars. So I never went on a quest for new stuff....It's probably a rigid polyethylene...hello McMaster Carr...or your local ACE! All the clear tubing in our hardware stores is inch sized...always just too small or just too big. I have a Porsche friend in the Netherlands who went to his local hardware store and bought me several lengths of various metric diameter clear tubing! Spot on for washer and gas tank venting. I found metric from domestic suppliers, but only if I wanted 100 ft!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tom1394racing

Thanks for all the comments and keep them coming.

Regarding the red line on the tach, The factory spec for the 1970 engines shows 6700 RPM for the E model (see attached from the little spec book). The Tach in my car had a 6500 red line before I started and I had North Hollywood replicate it. I have no reason to believe the tach was not original to the car, Date codes on the tach matched the other instruments. I would think the red line should match the spec book. Not sure what to do about this one just yet.

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Regarding the red line indication on a 'E' tachometer; the red mark should start at 6,800 RPM and go to 7,000 RPM.

Attachment 361395

Red lines were the same on 2.2 and 2.4 engines:
'T': 6,400 'E': 7,000 'S': 7,300

Thanks for all the input.

Looks like the Tach needs to go back to North Hollywood for a red line correction. I hope I don't need to wait 6 months like I did for the original refurb.

Yeah the hood struts are in upside down. I installed them on a temporary basis just to ease the weight of the hood. I would like to use the period correct hood shocks but the ones I have don't have enough damping to hold the hood up. Any suggestions on this?

The reassembly sequence suggestions will be very helpful. I am planning for the fuel tank to be one of the last items to install along with the interior. Sounds like the rear windshield should also be one of the last items as well.

Keep the comments coming.

I thought it would be interesting to share some photos of my 71T mfg. 12/70 related to the underbody finishes that were discussed in earlier posts here. My car is in process of disassembly for restoration.Attachment 361629Attachment 361630Attachment 361631Attachment 361630

would love to see more pics of that 71 just posted, doing the same car/yr right now. Thx

Any new progress?

Tom,

Great work!

Phil

It has been a while since I updated this thread. Progress has been slow in fits and starts as I sometimes struggle to find the time to continue the project. Since the last update, I sorted the tach issue, completed the most of the plumbing and electrical in the luggage compartment, installed the dash, the front and rear windshields, the door frames and door & quarter window glass. Here are some photos of the current status.

A few pics of the details (I know the hood shocks are still upside down).

Tom, looks awesome. Can't wait to see this car at Lake of the Ozarks.

I have an absolutely perfect NOS 911E tach with 7000 rpm redline if you need.

Hi John

It is a worthy goal to follow in your footsteps and drive it to Missouri next year. Maybe not realistic for me. For sure the following year will be on the East Coast and I should make that one.

I had my tach redone by NH. It turns out that the tach was the one gauge that appeared to have been replaced at some point.

Looking good Tom. Can anyone point me towards the gasoline vent tubing supplier others have used?

I purchased all my tubing from McMaster Carr.

5187K75 Fuel and Lubricant Yellow PVC Tubing 1/2" ID, 5/8" OD, 1/16" Wall Thickness, 10 ft.

5187K68 Fuel and Lubricant Yellow PVC Tubing 5/8" ID, 7/8" OD, 1/8" Wall Thickness, 10 ft.

Some more progress this week. Rear seats, parcel shelf, carpeting, all cabling, e-brakes and heater flapper boxes.

I guess the tubing was originally clear and with the exposure to gasoline vapors it slowly aged down to the yellow/orange color we see today. I used clear, thinking that clear would be what it would look like on the production line. I don't think anybody knows for sure and the yellow will look like we expect it to look.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 304065

I guess the tubing was originally clear and with the exposure to gasoline vapors it slowly aged down to the yellow/orange color we see today. I used clear, thinking that clear would be what it would look like on the production line. I don't think anybody knows for sure and the yellow will look like we expect it to look.

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I too used clear, Tyogon was the brand I used, on my 73S and it is now a nice amber yellow just like the old stuff I took off. Only softer as it is not 40+ years old. I tried to buy some more of the Tygon and it appears the larger size may have been discontinued but I am close to having a solution.

Tom, it looks outstanding! It's fun to see, because we are in very similar places with our restos. One cautionary note I have with your interior trimming, is to watch how far you go. My Brother told me to make my car a complete running driving and sorted car before doing any trim work, interior, bumpers, trunk blower cover/carpets etc., rocker trims etc. This advice has helped me a lot, as thus far, I had a brand new out of the box ATE master cylinder that was faulty, my newly rebuilt 0 mile gearbox has a seeping input shaft seal, I had to make many adjustments to parking brake balance, and throttle rod bushings in the tunnel. The list goes on and on. It saved me a lot of trouble, and gave me so much more access to not have things buttoned up too tight. Of course you look like a lunatic sitting on a milk crate driving around your neighborhood with no front and back glass, no bumpers, etc., but it's all part of the experience. Congrats on a lovely resto thus far, your car is going to be amazing...Steve

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xpensivewino

Tom, it looks outstanding! It's fun to see, because we are in very similar places with our restos. One cautionary note I have with your interior trimming, is to watch how far you go. My Brother told me to make my car a complete running driving and sorted car before doing any trim work, interior, bumpers, trunk blower cover/carpets etc., rocker trims etc. This advice has helped me a lot, as thus far, I had a brand new out of the box ATE master cylinder that was faulty, my newly rebuilt 0 mile gearbox has a seeping input shaft seal, I had to make many adjustments to parking brake balance, and throttle rod bushings in the tunnel. The list goes on and on. It saved me a lot of trouble, and gave me so much more access to not have things buttoned up too tight. Of course you look like a lunatic sitting on a milk crate driving around your neighborhood with no front and back glass, no bumpers, etc., but it's all part of the experience. Congrats on a lovely resto thus far, your car is going to be amazing...Steve

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Steve ......Good advice. The front seats will be one of the last things to go in. I still have some electrical work and checkout to do. Then I plan to install the fuel tank. After that I still need to build the engine and finish the gearbox. After installing the engine and gearbox, I plan to adjust the ride height and suspension settings before firing up the engine. Sound about right?

I think you are about right there Tom. The fuel tank was one of the last items I put in for front access reasons. My engine and trans were done before the rest of the car, so I was able to put it in fairly early. I used the ride height calculator from rennlist and it worked really well for the rear, so not much adjustment was needed there. I checked all electrical circuits ahead of time. You can get some pretty tiny 12 volt batteries that actually have a lot of power, to test almost every item and system in the car. These batteries are often used as back up, or memory power sources in modern luxury cars like MBZ, or Audi's etc. They are smaller than a pound of butter box, and are very handy to have for systems tests, as you can move them anywhere.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xpensivewino

I think you are about right there Tom. The fuel tank was one of the last items I put in for front access reasons. My engine and trans were done before the rest of the car, so I was able to put it in fairly early. I used the ride height calculator from rennlist and it worked really well for the rear, so not much adjustment was needed there. I checked all electrical circuits ahead of time. You can get some pretty tiny 12 volt batteries that actually have a lot of power, to test almost every item and system in the car. These batteries are often used as back up, or memory power sources in modern luxury cars like MBZ, or Audi's etc. They are smaller than a pound of butter box, and are very handy to have for systems tests, as you can move them anywhere.

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Thanks Steve

I use a 12V DC power supply to test components off the car. It is limited to 3 amps so when testing components on the car I have been using the car battery with an in-line 20 amp fuse.

Got the door panels/handle & pockets installed this week. I am not completely happy with the fit of the rear door pockets near the back edge. The contours of the after market trim piece, the pocket and the release handle all do not line up perfectly. I may try some tweaking.

Time for another update.

Since my last post I got the door pockets, handles and pulls straightened out to my satisfaction. I also restored the two snail horns and installed them along with the MFI fuel pump and windshield wipers. I tested the electrical to make sure everything functions properly. I also restored the original rear view mirror.

I also got my engine lid grill back from Shaun at Tru 6. He did a masterful job. He also applied his artistry to my window frames, door handles and original Durant mirror.

Next up are the smuggler's lid and gas tank to complete the trunk compartment.

Looking great Tom!!! You're moving right along!!

The photos do not quite do Shaun's work justice. I remember talking with him about the amount of work that goes into them to make them not merely very good, but excellent.

When do you put the motor in?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 304065

The photos do not quite do Shaun's work justice. I remember talking with him about the amount of work that goes into them to make them not merely very good, but excellent.

When do you put the motor in?

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Hope to start to build it in April and install in time to get some driving in before next winter. I know it is a snail's pace but I am not into setting aggressive goals. I am enjoying the journey.

Wonderful work, Tom !! Great attention to detail.

Fantastic thread! Great work!

Thank you for all details in restoring your car. Very helpful to me in my quest to “bring back” our ‘71T. We believe we can get several more years of driving pleasure from this car before we embark on the restoration.

Thanks again for your great thread.

DJ.

Time again for a progress update. Small but satisfying steps since my last update.

I installed the fuel vapor tank in the fender. Since this new OEM fender did not have the straps attached to the headlight bucket, I fabricated new straps from an old muffler bracket.

Next came the headlight trim rings. The gap on the top of the fender between the lip for trim ring and the fender edge was too narrow to allow the trim rings to mount with the OEM seals installed. I had to use the thinner 356 type seals to mount them properly. Also installed the new horn grills from ATF. Nice fit without too much adjustment required.

Now that I had all the electricals sorted to my satisfaction, I installed the restored gas tank and test fitted the filler neck.

Next up, I will complete the installation of the filler neck and them move on the bumpers before starting the engine build.

That looks like amazing work Tom!! It's really coming along nicely. I love the fabricated straps for the evap tank, nice touch! Steve

Installed the MFI fuel pump yesterday.

What a great build and excellent pictures.

It was pointed out to me by several members that my tank was too light a grey for a '70.

http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...ight=fuel+tank

So I took it out and resprayed it to match the benchmark 600 mile '70S as best I could. Umbra Grey seems to be a good match.

Also my VIN stamping in the luggage compartment was highlighted in black. Correct for '70 was body color.

http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...t=vin+stamping

So I corrected that as well while I had the tank out. I reinstalled the tank and completed the install of the filler tube.

Great work Tom, keep it up. You can sleep well at night knowing your gas tank is wearing the proper shade.

A little bit more progress this week.
I cleaned, tested and installed the MFI fuel filter console.
I also restored the engine relay panel. I decided to use the original silver can relays. The CDI unit and MFI speed switch were rebuilt by Kurt at Partsklassik. The Bosch MFI speed switch sticker was replicated by Carbone.

I installed the license plate lights today.

Great thread and build!

I did the rear bumper decos this week. I had several original decos in my stash and also a pair of early repros. The early repros did not match the bumper contour at all while the original pieces matched as expected. My original pieces however were scratched on the bottom side would have needed to be polished and re-anodized and also new rubber to be perfect. Based on a recent thread on the forum, I decided to try the Stoddard repro's which were reported to have a better fit than even the new Porsche Classic pieces.

I am generally very happy overall with the Stoddard parts as the fit seems to be as good as the originals.

Next up will be fitting of the rear bumpers and license plate panel.

Lookin good Tom.

What's the consensus on over-restored trunks?
Survey as to whether owners want crappy looking, half-sprayed, glue-everywhere original or pretty like Tom's?

I will take the restored correct dark grey ....
Tom this car is excellent congrats on the patience and efforts to make great!!

I did have a question on the camber and toe-in attachments.
Can’t remember which one but only one of them has the washer per Parts manual .
Is this correct ? Also do the bolt heads for attaching radius arms face inward or outward or one each way?

Cool project

Frank and Frank..Thanks for your comments on my project.

Frank T....Regarding your question on the rear spring plate/trailing arm hardware, my reading of the parts diagram and observation of other cars, led me to use the arrangement shown in this photo. As best I know the thick washers and thin nuts are unique to this application. Also the lock washers behind the nuts are the schnoor type.

Hi Tom , I've obsessed about this and have studied many original cars , the eccentric for the rear toe adjustment does not have a thick flat washer , only a schnor washer . Also the lower bolt at the back of the spring plate should be reversed - nut facing to the outside of the car and the bolts get two thick washers , one at the bolt head , one at the nut .

Richy

Thanks for that info. I will look into that and change out that hardware.

Like this?? These are photos from my '73 before restoration. Should be original.

That is correct.

Thanks guys!

I can't believe that it is coming up on one year since my last posting. My only big item remaining is the engine build.

Since my last posting I spent way too much time mounting and attempting to align the rear bumpers/license plate panel/bumper guard assembly. I must have mounted and removed these parts close to a dozen times trying to get everything to line up to my satisfaction. In the end, I got close, but not good enough. The L&R bumpers are not perfectly level and the bumper to body gaps are not tight enough and uniform. I decided I will let the experts at Auto Associates tweak this once the car is completed.

The front bumper was much easier thanks to the detailed instructions posted by Ed Mayo. I used the Porsche Classic front deco trim and molding. Fit was very good. I decided not to use the ugly front bumper guards.

A few other details. The decals and seat rail supports.

Nice Tom. Are those flat washers or spring washers on the seat rails.? Doing the same job myself tomorrow.

Dave

Dave

I used flat washers. The low mileage '70S photos, as well as other photos I looked at, seemed to shown flat washers. The PET however spells out a lock ring.

Good homework Tom. Flat washers it is then.

Dave

There's a close tolerance small OD lock washer that is hard to see in the picture . They are used on all the allen head bolts . I've gotten them from McMaster Carr .

My '70 Targa project also had small lock washers under every allen head bolt. Based on the rust and other crud on the bolts, I don't think they had been previously removed, but can't confirm it's original.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Richy

There's a close tolerance small OD lock washer that is hard to see in the picture . They are used on all the allen head bolts . I've gotten them from McMaster Carr .

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The part number is 91190A540.

Got it. Thanks for the tip.

Tom
Missed your 8/14 post till this morning ....mounting of front bumper, trim housings etc.
Fantastic fit. Great work.
Also having similar issues with the rears, am still mounting the donated rear 1/4 panels , bumpers ,guards and light housing.
I am mocking up all details before welding the 1/4 panels as there is some minor adjustment I can do at this stage.

DS seems to be dialing in just fine but PS bumper is more challenging.

Keep up the great work !
Frank

Tom
Am sure you worked them but I had good luck with the fit and the rubber trim by adjusting tension on the Rear of bumper and J tube bolted connection ....as well as the clamp type between the fender edge and the bumper as they clamp together via the bolt connection.

That is a very tricky detail to get right .
Good luck and keep us posted

Frank

Thanks for the tip Frank. I was able to fit the L&R bumpers to my satisfaction but then the brackets for the bumper guards would not fit the license plate panel. I went round and round adjusting the brackets and fitting the license panel and bumper guards. In the end I decided to move on and let the pros do the final adjustments.

Tom
Feel your pain....did exactly the same these past couple of days but I am still mocking up before final fit & paint by the Pros..
Decided to wait till I get all the seals ( just ordered) and see if I can all to play nice together.
There are so many adjustments on the rear including the underbody mounts ...all adjustable .
Good luck with final assembly .
Frank

Cool project and amazing attention to detail!

Cheers

I've seen this car in person and its fantastic.

Wow. What amazing work! We have the same car... well, mine is a total basket case, but it’s a Bahia Red coupe, built 2/70, #512, so 193 before yours. The only real difference is, as far as I can tell it was a Euro model. I'll be referring to this thread many times I'm sure.

Any updates?

The project is nearing completion. I finished up the engine build and now all that remains is to mate the engine and transmission and install them in the car. The engine is a 2.5 long stroke using a 2.4/2.7 70.4 mm crank with 86 mm birals, 9.5 CR pistons and ModS cams. The MFI pump was redone to match the engine specs. Looks original but will pack a bigger punch.

One small setback was my discovery (thanks to the experts here) that the underside color for 1970 and 71 was not body color but a grey-beige color. I found an original section of floor pan in my stash and had my paint guy match it. I disassembled most of the suspension, fuel and brake lines and then repainted the floor pan. A pain in the neck going backwards but I wanted to make it right.

Floor redone.

Tom
Looks great !
Impressive that you disassembled to get things right .
Almost there ...
frank

Since my last posting, working alone in Covid isolation, I have made a lot of progress and the car is almost ready for the first drive. First, I reassembled the underside front and rear of the car after repainting to floor in the correct color. I mated the gearbox and engine and installed the engine/gearbox in the car. Using my Harbor Freight lift table and floor jack made this a pretty easy one man job.

I had to make a clearance cut in the engine seal for the MFI drive that lined up well once the engine was installed. I connected the throttle linkages following the factory manual and Ed Mayo's detailed instructions to make sure I had fully opened butterflies with the pedal to the stop. I also adjusted the clutch per the factory manual and connected the speedo. I also installed my rebuilt axle/CV assemblies and with my wife seated on the floor of the passenger compartment working the e-brake, I was able to torque all the CV bolts.

Next I connected the fuel lines from the injection pump to the filter console and ran the fuel pump to check for fuel leaks. I fixed a few small drips up front at the pump to tank connections and one major geyser at the inlet to the injection pump. Next up I cranked the engine over with the plugs out and the coil wire disconnected to make sure I had oil pressure, checked for fuel leaks downstream of the injection pump and checked for any oil leaks. I had some one small leak in an injector line that needed tightening, good oil pressure and no visible oil leaks. Ready to start.

Before the first start, I realized that the Tach in the car was a '72 unit that does not require the ballast resistor to condition the signal. Since the first run-in would be at constant 2000 RPM for 20 min, I wanted to ensure I had a good Tach that would work with the ballast resistor that was already installed on the engine relay panel and verified to work properly. Luckily, I found a correct '70E Tach in my stash and swapped it into the car. Since the lead wire to the cold start was not connected, I used some starting fluid sprayed into the injection stacks to help the start. With my wife working the key, and me at the rear with fire extinguisher ready, we fire it up. To my great joy, it started right up and after adjusting the hand throttle, ran smoothy with no noise or leaks for 20 min.

My only problem was that the battery was not charging showing only 12.5 V and the charge light on with the engine running. Since the alternator was rebuilt and the voltage regulator was an old unit that had not been tested, I checked the field wire from the regulator to the alternator and found no power. I had another regulator on in my stash. I swapped that in and now had 14.5 volts at the battery and the charge light off.

I did an oil and filter change and now ready to move on.

Now it was time to move the car off the lift and see if it moved properly under it own power. I needed to move it to my center bay where I can do some finishing touches and get ready for the first drive. I had already adjusted the shifter linkage to make sure I could get all 5 gears and had tested, with the engine running, that the transmission shifted into all 5 gears and the clutch functioned properly. Since I had not yet installed the driver's seat I used a small flat top cooler as a temporary seat. I backed out of the bay with the lift and into my middle bay with no issues. Next up will be the driver's seat installation and a suspension alignment to get it ready to drive.

A few more pics.....

Looking Great !!!

Excellent, Tom! Beautiful work-congratulations on the successful start.

Dho

Congrats on the first start, very nice work

Congratulations Tom! It really looks fantastic. I can’t wait to see it driving around the local roads.

Fantastic work Tom and attention to detail. The work on the pan is really special given most were creosoted before being shipped and covered the original finish. I hope you enjoy showing it. Congratulations!

Let's try again...cosmoline...creosote works better on telephone poles!

Tom
Just an awesome project and thanks for all the photos and descriptions...
Let us know how the first drive goes.
Also many thanks for your assistance with my 71 !
Frank

Great to see after watching this thread for almost 6 years!

Tom, it looks amazing. Congratulations. Please let me know if you are going to bring it over to LRP as I'd love to see all of the details and your hard work in person. I'm PM'ng you a separate question, thanks!

I'll repeat my 2015 post...…. Beautiful work Tom !!!

Can't wait for the posts of your driving adventures …..

Fabulous Tom. And while 6 years seems long, well, it's less than mine took, so bonus points to you. Looks great.

Ravi

Congrats Tom! It looks fantastic. I restored my 69 E for roughly the same time Tom did his build. I can’t count the number of good quality parts I bought from Tom and all his help for my build, so to see yours finished is so great. Cheers on a fantastic build and for being a great guy! Steve

Very nice Tom.... go get it dirty.

I really do appreciate all the positive comments on this project. The weather here in CT has been too nasty to attempt a first drive so I have been doing some finishing work. I installed the air box and the associated plumbing, the steering wheel and horn pad, the drivers front seat and the front seat belts. Next I will be doing the 4 wheel alignment to set front & rear toe and camber. Here are some more photos.

Some interior photos

Beautiful work, Tom !!

Hey Tom, your car looks great.

Question, how did you repair the sagging LR bumper? It seems many 70 cars have the same problem? I have included a photo of mine, it looks identical to yours.

Tim
Attachment 543823

Hi Tim

I never really got the rear bumpers/license plate panel to align to my liking. I went round and round and spent way too much time on it. I did all I could to shim, bend the mount brackets etc. In the end, the car will go back to Auto Associates to have the antennae and fuel door mechanisms installed as I do not want to dismount the door. I will have them realign and touch up the rear as well.

I completed my DIY four wheel alignment and ride height adjustment. I will call this preliminary so the car will be safe to drive when the roads finally clear here in CT. I used my trusty old Ray Scruggs process that has served me well for past alignments. I used jack stands, some yellow thread from the sewing kit and my right angle camber "gauge". I followed the factory process for checking caster with +/- 20 deg steering angle camber measurements. I also used some bungees as a DIY steering lock while adjusting the tie rods for front toe.

I has initially set the spring plate angles at 34.5 deg. I ended up with a starting ride heights (measured at the fender lip) of 25.8" front and 26" rear. Although this may be close to the factory ride height of the day, I wanted something a little lower. Realizing I would get some settling as the suspension settles, I set my targets at 25" front and 24.5" rear and about 1 deg of rake measured on the door sill. I had to re-index my front torsion bar levers to lower the front and went through the re-indexing of the rear torsion bars and spring plates to get close to my targets. My final results were 25.1" front and 24.8" rear with 0.5 deg of rake.

Following the process described by Scruggs, I was able to set the front up to 1 deg of negative camber, 5.5 deg of caster and 0.13 " of toe-in with the rear at 0.7 deg of negative camber and 0.0" of toe.

I think the car looks better at this attitude and I can't wait to drive it.

Looks great!

Really does Tom, nice work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by joegt3cup

Looks great!

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Well, the weather and the roads finally cleared up enough last weekend for me to get the car out for some shake down drives. The car seems to drive really well. The engine pulls smoothly through the rev range in all gears with no backfires or hesitation. The idle is a little high at 1500 RPM. I expect that to be a simple adjustment. The turn signal cancel does not work but I hope that will respond to a little cleaning and lubrication. Other than that the car seems just great. I am very happy with it.

For anyone who might be interested, I posted the details of the engine build on the Pelican Engine Building site.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-e...d-project.html

Another update. Since my last posting, the car went back to Auto Associates for 4 wheel alignment, ride ht and corner balance, final MFI tuning, installation of the antennae, fuel door, rocker deco and some adjustments to the rear bumper/license plate panel. I have put almost 700 miles on the car and I am very happy with the results. It drives and looks like it just rolled out of the factory. A couple of surprises included the failure of the rebuilt CDI box after less that 600 miles and a sticky starter solenoid that required replacement of the rebuilt Bosch starter. I am starting to think about my next project, possibly a 914-6 GT hot rod.

Looks great Tom. Look forward to seeing some glamour shots out on a country road somewhere

Love Bahia Red nice job with the resto

Love seeing threads, like this . . .

. . . always inspiring to see someone carry a project through --- especially from where you started!


Thank you for taking us along!




.......................

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cornpanzer

Looks great Tom. Look forward to seeing some glamour shots out on a country road somewhere

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I have put just about 1,000 miles on it. Mostly on the back roads of Eastern CT. It runs and looks great. Planning to have it at the Lime Rock Historics this weekend.

It runs! Trying this YouTube upload for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCP18aj0LUA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyO6jPNrDEg

Sounds fantastic Tom !!!

Congratulations Tom on successfully completing "The Project Plan"

congrats - looks and sounds great!

Congrats Tom! Beautiful car! I will be referring to this thread (and you) when I (soon) begin the same journey with my Bahia Red 70 S coupe. You've done all the heavy lifting :)

Tom, sorry I missed you, but your car looked amazing on the straight!

Attachment 558379

You can see more here.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RickWhite

Tom, sorry I missed you, but your car looked amazing on the straight!

Attachment 558379

You can see more here.

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Car looks great Tom. I went today, so missed this show.

Simon and Seamus.

Sorry I missed you guys look forward to getting together sometime in the near future.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tom1394racing

Simon and Seamus.

Sorry I missed you guys look forward to getting together sometime in the near future.

---

Brilliant to say with hindsight, but given I live so close to the track, perhaps next year I’ll host a BBQ for an early car gathering. Either way, your car looked great Tom. I was surprised but some of the details that were off on the other cars, but yours was flawless. And the paint looked great in the rain.

Car looks absolutely superb Tom !! It’s come “a long way baby” !! Sorry to get dates mixed up as I went on Saturday. Wish I could have seen your car. Plenty of chances in the future. Are you or Rick attending the NE PCA Concours in Newport coming up ??

Hi Tom , the car looks great and is deserving of the muffler straps installed correctly . They should be turned so the bolts are up closer to the engine and not visible when standing behind the car as in the one picture .

Thanks for all the kind words. And I do appreciate the constructive criticism and suggestions. So many car shows and so little time. I have to check out the Newport concours.

This car is now for sale.

https://www.early911sregistry.org/fo...28#post1130428