Back to life...double entendre intended : )
As this is the ESR, and we periodically get "sidetracked" with stuff that is not about the cars we are passionate about...I thought I would try to provide a pleasant distraction to some of our daily politics. Here goes...:rolleyes:
About ten years ago I was offered a 2.4 S MFI engine complete from a friend that ran a shop. Price seemed high, but I trusted the individual regarding the condition of the engine, so I bought it. Can't ever have too many 911 S engines under your bench. Hey, if times get tough, I could trade them for food or ammo.
Never had an application for the engine so it sat mothballed under my bench awaiting the perfect project. Fast forward to three years ago. Same friend asked casually one day if I had any interest in the matching chassis for the engine. Uhmm, yes. I won't go into the details of the circumstance, but the chassis was potentially available if I was interested. Price was what it was and I bought the chassis.
Before I received it (but after I had paid for it), back when PCNA was still providing COAs...I confirmed the engine was original to the chassis.
It took about six months for me to get the paperwork done and get it shipped to me. Again, it was an "on faith" transaction. All I knew was that it had originally been light yellow (but had been repainted) and was a targa...and I had the numbers matching engine. When it finally arrived, I felt like I had been introduced to my blind date for the first time. Not only was it black...it was a matte black, sort of a rat black and had awful purple window tinting, as well as a nasty fiberglass turbo tail, and rubber bumperettes up front, as well as an Amco rear bumper bar. It wore 215 60 15 7 inch cookie cutters, and had a very cheesy aftermarket alarm system, and an awesome tape deck that was probably installed by the same idiot that wired in the alarm system.
First step was removal. Of the body components that were an eyesore...tail went away, bumperettes went away, as did the Amco bar. I had an extra steel decklid that I could install (red and it would look ...uhmm, different against the matte black) in the place of the tail. Next was the removal of the window tinting (quite the process) as well as the alarm and stereo.
Only visible rust on the car was inside the drivers side battery box under the dead Odyssey 925. I made an attempt to bring the Odyssey back to life but it got very hot and the casing started to swell significantly...so that ended quickly. I didn't bother to do a leakdown on the engine, as a cold leakdown simple tells you cold leakdown numbers. Also known as worthless. I prepped the engine compartment for the reinstall (hoses, oil lines etc) and reunited the engine with the chassis for the first time in 25 years.
The cookie cutters with the weird tire size (with slow leaks) bothered me. I pulled some 71-72 early fuchs of the shelf, sourced new 205 50 15 Dunlops and mounted them. Ugh...ride height had been to accommodate the 7 x 15 cookies and with the 15 x6 fuchs and lower profile tires...it looks awkward to say the least. But ride height is easy to adjust up front, and doable in the rear. Might replace the non-adjustable spring plates with an adjustable set to ease the indexing of the torsion bars.
Fast forward...battery box was going to be too time consuming to patch, so I replaced it. Brake reservoir and hoses were toast so they were replaced and brakes bled. I rebuilt the fuel pump and figured I would test it with a new single Miata Deltek battery. Fuel pump came to life when I keyed the ignition...long enough for it to choke on the rusty varnish I didn't realize still sat in the gas tank. Bummer.
I pulled the gas tank and restored it inside and out (including the sender) and removed and rebuilt the fuel pump...again. With everything reinstalled and tested, I was ready to bring this beast back to life after a long separation.
Yesterday afternoon the weather had warmed enough to open the garage door after three days of rain and 40 degree weather. Added oil, turned it over with a disconnected coil and got oil pressure, primed the fuel filter console, checked all my electrical connections. Didn't check for spark...but just assumed. With some trepidation, I keyed the started and it begrudgingly turned over and popped a couple times...sending smoke rings out the exhaust. This is it! I tried again and it sputtered...more smoke rings. Third try it fired up and all gauges looked good. It smoked a bit and from the rear view mirror I could see it spewing debris out the exhaust (turned out to be mice droppings and seeds). I nursed it for a few minutes till the smoke dissipated. Shut it down and walked behind the car. Wow, lots of "stuff" from 25 years of being host to a mice commune was everywhere, luckily no mice.
I fired it up again a little more easily and it settled into a decent idle. Wahoo! Love these cars.
A bit more to do before it hits the road, but that will happen soon.
I wish I had pics of the nasty condition it was in when I got it, vs what it looks like today...but oh well. The goal is to drive it and when the time is appropriate, to strip it and return it to it's original light yellow. I'll get a couple pics posted after I get the ride height adjusted.
There...I was pleasantly distracted while I should have been working. No politics, just Porsche.
Cheers!
Speedo
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I did wash him...and he improved marginally.
If you squint you can see the difference...be kind. :o
Bled the brakes again (why am I continually bleeding the brakes) and the bubbles were minimal, but the pedal "effect" is getting stiffer.
We are getting major storm tonight (16 + snow) so while the weather was nice...57 degrees, I took advantage. The front spoiler is the strange "interim" fiberglass spoiler before Porsche went to the steel version (not claiming to be a historian, but that is what I was told) and it is rough. Solid but cosmetically challenged like the car it is mounted to. When I got the car it had the god awful battering ram 15 lb rubber projectile bumperettes that remind me of bra commercials back in the 60s.
I removed those and their absence was very noticeable. In fact it looks like they were stolen and the owner didn't care. Well, in fact they weren't stolen , AND the owner didn't care. If you need a couple very used "projectile front bumperettes, PM me and we can trade for something you no longer want that is equally as "used".
I spliced in extra rubber from parts I had on the shelf,(that in a year or two will be cursing myself...as I had forgotten that I needed the rubber for something and now it has been pirated...oh well) that fit rather well. The bumperrette holes were filled with POR 15 hole filler that can be removed at some point in the future. Some modest sanding...and rattle can satin black (I need to be consistent with the exterior paint) and voila!
Before and after...big improvement.
And yes the monumental task of removing the Deutschland emblem, relocating it and affixing the 2.4 emblem went without a hitch...I didn't screw any thing up. I woke in the middle of the night wondering if the JB welded emblem might have moved before setting up...and I come to find that it has drooped 30 degrees on the grill like the very early 911 emblems on the decklid at an angle :confused: but fortunately I am an experienced "glue-er" and it did not happen. Happy 2.4 emblem and relocated Deutschland emblem.
After the chores were done. took it up the road for a pre-blizzard run and although it is sluggish at low rpms until it warms up, then the little engine acts like a dog that was left at home all day...leaving both of use grinning. Oh yeah, another bonus, I guess the brake lights actually work...whohoo. Ignore the expired license plate...I'm working on it.
In the third pic...or is it me, he looks like he is smirking?
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One small step for mankind...
The turn signals are still problematic. The stalk looks like it was chewed on. Personally if I was a stalk that looked like this...I would be humiliated and refuse to communicate with the flashers.
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A replacement is in order
Not sure what year this is from...has the same wires in similar harnesses. We'll go with it. Ended up with this "Club" years ago and it works great for removing steering wheels. I'm pretty sure that this is what it's intended original use was .
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This all needed to be cleaned up any way
Yuck...The replacement better work.
