Picking Up a '71 2.2 S in Nova Scotia

Greetings...

I just discovered and purchased a '70 911S in Nova Scotia. I wasn't really looking for another car but this one was so reasonably priced that I couldn't resist. I'm told it's rust free and stock, except Webers have been installed in place of the MFI (the MFI components are still with the car).

The plan is for a friend of mine to fly to Halifax, pick up the car, and drive it back to the Philadelphia area. One issue is that car has been sitting under a cover in a dealership for five years. It's been started and driven a short distance one or two times a year. And it just passed the Provincial inspection and I'm told it drives well and runs smoothly.

What should we concerned about in preparing it for the drive? Is there reason to worry that various seals and gaskets have dried out in the past five years?

Also, it appears that a car more than 25 years old is exempt from most of the red tape involved in importing a car from Canada to the U.S. -- is that correct?

Thanks for your advice.

Regards,
John Audette

Wow! Great find. I think I'd change the oil before going to far and then just take it easy if you can resist temptation. I'm sure the tires are old, so you don't want to be ripping along. A thorough brake inspection is in order as well. If you decide to bleed the brakes and put in new fluid (good idea), use a pressure bleeder and don't push the pedal down any further than it goes now. Until you know the condition of the system, you might save your master cylinder from damage due to some rust way down inside. This happens a lot on cars that have sat for a while. Battery and cables? Some tools, a spare fan belt and go.

Important - check the integrity of the fuel lines. No sense having an unintended BBQ.

Also, a new fuel filter probably ain't a bad idea.

SO... Pelican gets two photos and we only get one?!?

Nice car!

Great find. If it were me I would trailer the car rather than drive it. I don't like my first trip in a vehicle to be a cross-country adventure. There is a lot of desolate, uninhabited territory between Novia Scotia and Philly. What is your plan if you break down in Canada 50 miles from a town (let alone a P-car wrench)?

If you do decide to drive, I would change all the fluids first. Spend $45 on the Motive pressure bleeder and flush all the brake fluid. Make sure those brakes are working properly in case you have to lock them up when you have a moose in the road that weighs more than the car :) Aside from brake fluid, fuel, oil, and trans, at least do a simple tune-up and replace the plugs, cap, rotor, etc. You could probably get all this stuff knocked out in a day.

Good luck!

Great find. But I'd trailer the car to Philadelphia.
Unless you know of a quality Porsche shop in Halifax to get that car to a safe driving standard.

Not sure it's close enough to where you're picking the car up and don't know whether the timing works, but if you drive down through Vermont you could see if Rick Cabell could go through the car. He's as good as they come.

I've been "sidelined" 3 times by wheel bearings on trips like these.......

Just an fyi....

Eric

I am curious, how did you find the car?

Here's the story behind the purchase:

The car has been stored inside for the past five years at a Suzuki dealership. The previous owner of the car, a good friend of the owner of the dealership, bought it 10 years ago after a long search. The PO, who I'm told is wealthy, moved to Texas five years ago and left the car with his friend at the dealership. It just sat there.

About a month ago, the owner of the dealership contacted the PO and told him that if he wasn't going to ship the car to Texas that he really should sell it (inside storage is evidently at a premium in Nova Scotia in the winter). So the PO said go ahead and sell it for whatever he thought it was worth. It was advertised only in the local Dartmouth / Halifax, Nova Scotia newspaper and the Canadian Auto Trader. I found it because someone posted the link to the AutoTrader ad in the 356 Registry Talk List. The asking price was $13,900 Canadian.

The owner of the dealership is evidently not too familiar with early Porsches. He told me that it was in excellent condition with virtually no rust and added, "Of course you know that Porsches from the early 70's are not as nice as those from the late 70's". Not being one to argue, I agreed, pointing out that the earlly cars are pretty primitive.

I asked him what kind of seats the car had and he said it had "bucket seats". As turns out, it doesn't have sports seats, which would have been the cherry on top.

I'm told it has a duffel bag full of parts and a stack of receipts in chronological order going back to when the car was first delivered to New York State in 1970.

I probably will convert it back to MFI. But I haven't driven a car equipped with Webers and I'm looking forward to driving it that way for a while.

(I have also posted this thread to the Pelican Parts forum. My apologies for the duplication to those of you who read both.)

John Audette