My new 73S

[merbesfield]

Hi Rick, Don't worry, the story will continue. I was just short on time. I will keep the info flowing. I too was never a fan of Sepia, but, now that I own it I have come to appreciate the period color. Go figure, not like I have a choice in color. I would never repaint it as that would be very stupid and hurt the value. I must have been ment to have this car because the way I found out about it was very circuitous. I went to look at a 69S that was on ebay. I posted comments about it in the for sale section. The car was a total rust bucket and sold to Europe while I was there for 20K. I would not have paid 10K for the car. While there, the seller said one of his friends just got an S in his showroom around the corner. So I stopped by to see it. Imagine my amazment when I saw that it was a 73. And then when I started looking the car over to see that its condition was so unmolested. OMG. I figured this car would be way out of my price range. I do not want to post what I paid, but I feel that I bought the car fairly. It was by no means cheap, but I also know that there are not too many of these left out there that are not complete resto projects. This car needs some love, but nothing more than some mechaical and cosmetic attention. This is a driver and man does it drive. It is like a time machine, takes me back 20+ years immediately. These cars are so visceral. What amazed me is that there was even an S for sale in our market, and then one in such great condition. Even if I have to rebuild the engine someday I do not care. I have only seen a couple of these at the local shows over the years. Here are a few more pics. More to come. I will work on cleanup this weekend.

PS: I have the original steering wheel. That wheel has sentimental value to the previous owner and he will be getting it back.

[LongRanger]

. . . Hi Rick, Don't worry, the story will continue . . . I went to look at a 69S that was on ebay . . . While there, the seller said one of his friends just got an S in his showroom around the corner. So I stopped by to see it. Imagine my amazement when I saw that it was a 73. And then when I started looking the car over to see that its condition was so unmolested . . . This car needs some love, but nothing more than some mechanical and cosmetic attention . . . What amazed me is that there was even an S for sale in our market, and then one in such great condition . . .

Hey, Mark . . .

Boy --- your story sounds familiar . . . looking for one thing --- then finding another. That's how cars turn up. Right place, right time . . . and The Right Guy.

I understand your reticence about discussing money. One of the things I decided to do, when I first put up a thread on my car, was to disclose my costs. My reason were simple: I had only some vague ideas about what these cars really cost --- not just to buy, but to fix, maintain, and then use. Apart from seeing asking prices, or auction results, I really had very little information about what it takes to buy and run one of these cars. So I decided tell about my experiences --- from what I paid for my car, to the fuel economy I get when using it, as well as the problems I have and the work that I gets done along the way. It's the kinda stuff that I would wanna know if I came here, to The Registry, and was thinking about maybe getting into a car.

Anyway, these pics are wonderful --- looks like a great old car. And a very lucky one, too . . . no abuse/neglect, 'restoration,' or upgrading. Plus? You get to use it from Day One.

Do me/us one favor --- please take a shot of your smuggler's box --- before you clean it, OK?

Rick Kreiskott

PS Dude --- your trunk is spectacular! I think I'd leave the leaves!

[davep]

Wow, and LSD as well. If you get a chance to check the tranny #, get a photo of the numbers please.

[FHernand]

Mark, nice looking car. You are the man to give that "love". Great find. Freddie

[merbesfield]

Picked up my car yesterday from Franz Blam Racing. I wanted to make sure it was all adjusted correctly and there were no hidden issues before I put some miles on it. I installed the Turbo valve covers to get rid of the oil leak issues and replaced a couple of hoses. I also had Franz tweak the MFI. I now have a short list of mechanical items to work on as well as a longer list of cosmetic items I want to eventually complete. The first item I need to take care of is to have oil fed hydraulic chain tensioners installed. The original owner had Franz install new tensioners back in 1993 and the car has only traveled 5K miles since then, unfortunately, they were not the hydraulic style. If anyone has a kit they would like to sell please let me know. Franz also recommended that I buy the later style Sprocket supports with the bronze bushings versus the stock style with metal on metal. He said he has seen these seize up. Any comments on that? Here is a pic of my old 73S circa 1983. I wanted to drive my new car so bad that even though it was raining today, I drove it in the rain. We are headed to FL for spring break and it will be a week of no Porsche so I had to drive it. It felt good to drive a car in the rain and not have to worry about it. It will probably never happen again. Once I detail the car, I will be to anal to drive in the rain. But it was a blast today.

.

[jackiecohn]

I can attest to that statement - Mark didn't take his last restored car out for a drive if there was rain in the 10 day forecast!

[Flieger]

Wow, looks great. Remember that these cars were meant to be driven, and they have some pretty nasty weather on the Nordschleife.

[merbesfield]

Wow, looks great. Remember that these cars were meant to be driven, and they have some pretty nasty weather on the Nordschleife.

Very true. Rust is the only real enimy.

[edmayo]

If you mean that the current tensioners are the solid non-hydraulic type then you definitely want to lose them. If you mean that they were the old style hydraulic then there's really nothing wrong with those. You DO want the later type idler arms however, in addition to the bronze bushing they are wider and provide better support for the tensioner.

[Tom F.]

+1 on what Ed says. I add that you will maintain the original appearance, if you stick with the old style hydraulic tensioners.

Another originality trick is to find a pair of early SC exhaust valve covers, and to have them powder coated to look like the magnesium originals from 73.