So, I've been an Early S member off and on over the years... First joined back in 1995/96, then dropped out around 2000, and have come back recently ~2018ish... But I've never been one to post much...
With the price of our beloved early cars significantly more when compared with the early and mid 90s... I though I would post the ones I can remember having, with what I can remember about them, and with CoA when I have them... I went through a phase of getting them in the mid 90s for the cars I had... That way future owners have some record of a part of their life when I was their caretaker... I've written a much longer set of posts on the bird site about my latest RSR style build - as it started life as a T, and wasn't intended to be an accurate replica - just my vision for what I wanted to build - it seemed the more appropriate place to post... it can be found here for those interested or with insomnia...
I suppose I should start from the beginning with a short excerpt of how I got hooked on 911s and then post all the early cars here T, E & S...
So, here we go...
THE BEGINNING – FIRST LOVE:
After a childhood spent bouncing around the USA – born in Virginia, then to Oklahoma, Maryland, & Pennsylvania while my dad changed jobs. We ended up, and I mostly grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana in the '60s through the very early '80s.
Most people in Indianapolis at that time, and certainly in our mixed class neighbourhood, had American cars. My dad loved cars, but was a bit different than most of our neighbours. While he had a series of different American cars over the years - mainly Chevys and Fords for everyday use (I remember Falcons, Fairlanes, Galaxie 500s, and Chevelles) - he liked, and went through a number of British sports cars, as second cars (for my mom of course). (S)he had a TR3, Spitfire, TR6, and finally settled on a 1967 Austin Healey 3000, BJ8 MK-3 in British racing green. He completely restored the Healey over a few years, in between restoring old '50s Chris Craft boats. He wasn’t very mechanically inclined, learned while doing (making mistakes and breaking things usually), wasn’t very detail oriented, and was much better with varnishing and wood, than with metal and mechanics. The main memory I have, is the Healey ‘slept’ in the garage, under an electric blanket in the winter, because he was afraid the lacquer would crack if it got too cold.I had great times/memories going for drives with my dad in those British cars, but I also recall them never quite running right the entire time he owned them (if ever)…
My dad’s best friend, Dr. John Haslam (my dad just called him Doc, as I’m sure many doctors are called), was into German cars. He had a dark green Mercedes 4-door (can’t remember the model – probably a 280SE), and a gold 912. I never did know what year the 912 was, or get a ride in it, but I seem to remember the 912 badge and could never forget the colour. In 1973, Doc Haslam traded the 912 for a silver/black 911 S coupe. That was the car that stole my heart. I remember my dad taking me to see it when Doc brought it home. It was silver, with a sunroof and a 911 "S" badge on the back. Funny what sticks in a 9-year old’s mind. I don’t remember much more about that car specifically, like if it had sport seats, sunroof or other options. I had no reason to. It was my first ride in a 911. That was all that mattered, and I would have sworn it was cornering on 2 wheels every time Doc went around a corner. And that sound. It was the coolest thing I had ever heard. It seemed like it revved so high and for so long. It sounded like what I thought a race car should sound like. Little did I know how good they could really sound, especially with headers and straight through pipes. But, that was to come much later.
Fast forward to me living in California - I had moved there after a age 17, hitchhiking to NYC, dropping out of NYU, playing blues guitar in bars, giving up being the next "Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck", and finally after a few months on my brothers couch, becoming a Foley & ADR post production sound mixer for TV and movies... Finally able to afford a 911, I started with an SC... which soon became a 73 911 T... for more colour & detail (If interested) - check out the other set of posts (http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...1121235-a.html)
1st LONG HOOD - 9113110650:
Now the upside of having an SC, was I got to compare this to the early 911 T, E & S cars I had driven. While it was a great car and I had a lot of fun with it, the G model - impact bumper cars just didn’t look as cool to me as the early cars, and targas didn’t look as good to me as coupes, and it certainly wasn’t a 1973 silver S sunroof coupe. So, the SC was sold for about what I paid for it, and while looking for the S, I found a silver 1973 911T Targa – 9113110650 (now in Sweden after a circuitous path), which was a little worse for wear, but was running, driving, had factory sport seats, and only cost me $3,000. Still a targa, and not a 1973 S sunroof coupe… But fun in the sun, a pre-impact bumper car, and would hold me over until I could find an S coupe…
9113110650 & HARD LESSONS:
So... in movie speak... we fade in to the scene...
A couple of weeks later, with the top stowed in the front trunk, I’m enjoying my ‘new to me’ 911 T targa, and the California sunshine… I’m heading north on the 405 freeway, just accelerating and entering from the Marina Del Rey 90 interchange, shifting through the gears to the 6500 RPM redline, and revelling in ‘that’ wonderful sound and driving experience, through the corner of the onramp, that makes driving an early 911 so magical…
All of a sudden, I started feeling heat in the cockpit… I quickly checked that the heat lever in between the seats was off… It was… I checked the dash controls and that ventilation was allowing fresh air in… it was… Then, I glanced at the gauges, and noticed the engine temperature had soared to the top of the scale… So, I pulled over to check everything was alright…
And, unfortunately, I saw flames coming from the rear decklid… Yes, the engine of 0650 had caught fire and as I opened the decklid to inspect to see if I could put it out with the little fire extinguisher I had with me, the flames leaped out, and after using up the extinguishant, and even trying to beat the flames with a towel I had in the car, I had to eventually retreat as the flames grew larger and the heat became too intense… A few people pulled over and tried to help extinguish the fire with their own fire extinguishers, but to no avail, and I stood by with tears in my eyes, watching 0650 burn pretty badly before the Los Angeles Fire Department showed up and was able to put the fire out after what seemed an eternity, and more water and foam than I would have thought…
So if you passed a burning silver 911 targa on the 405 north of the 90 interchange, and saw flames about 3 stories high around 1990, that was me…
A few hard lessons…
1) Always regularly check and change any suspect fuel and oil lines – I had 0650 serviced the first week after buying it and had all of those things done by a reputable shop… I still don’t know what was the cause, but imagine a fuel line split or came loose as the probable cause… There are a lot of fuel lines in 911 engine compartments, especially with MFI, which 0650 had…
2) Even if just having the above work done or doing it yourself, stay vigilant… Check and recheck before and after every drive… It is easy to become complacent…
3) 911 engine fires quickly burn beyond control… Especially magnesium cases…
4) Magnesium fires are tough to put out, even for the fire department…
5) Always have a suitable fire extinguisher in a an easy to access place and ready to use… check them annually or even more often…
6) Stay safe… at the end of the day, it is a car, albeit an amazing one, and can be replaced… I or you can’t be…
After the firemen put the fire out, I had 0650 towed home to assess the damage and contemplate what to do next… After a couple days, I determined it wasn’t ‘that bad’, and saw it as an opportunity to really learn about 911s…
So, I set about disassembling 0650, determined to use my misfortune as a catalyst to restore it and learn by doing…
After the dirty job of tearing 0650 apart, it seemed to me that only the engine (the plastic MFI parts, wiring, and other plastic parts had melted and the case itself had become part case and part blobs of magnesium in places on the top - surprisingly the bottom seemed fine, and the gearbox, seemed untouched), some parts in the engine bay, the back glass, which shattered, and the water logged interior were not salvageable…
After this tear down and assessment, and with me determined to save 0650, once stripped to the bare chassis, 0650 was off to Brace’s auto body and repair shop. Brace’s was close, had a great reputation and importantly, a Celette bench to repair 911s… They did a great job repairing the body, especially the rear sheet metal, which had been warped by the intense heat of the fire, and needed to be replaced with new panels. Brace’s then finished 0650 off with a respray of silver ‘code 936’ Glasurit paint… I was pleased with the result and the shiny paint inspired me to get 0650 back on the road…
But, as I’m sure many will relate to, weeks turned into months, with work and other priorities keeping me from really making progress, unfortunately, restoring 0650 never happened, and eventually, after a long time languishing in storage with all it’s parts in boxes, I eventually sold 0650 to Wayne Dempsey who I believe was considering doing a series of articles on restoring a 911, and was looking for a car to completely restore at the time (I may have that wrong – long time ago)… I had met Wayne via Tom Gould while they were setting up Pelican Parts in the early days, and Wayne seemed like a good home for 0650… I never really got to know Wayne very well, as I mainly chatted with Tom... I’d known Tom since when he worked at Otto’s in Venice, but that’s another part of the story that we’ll get to later…
A few more hard lessons…
1) I will fall in love with my 911, and it will cause me to be irrational and not think objectively… It still happens to me, but I have a bit more control of myself these days…
2) Be realistic about how hard, time consuming and expensive a total restoration can be – even in the early 90s this was going to cost a lot to put right, even with me being willing to do the work and the inexpensive access to used parts back then in Los Angeles…
For the record, according to the notes I have from the CoA (I have a spreadsheet with the info I have on all the 911s I’ve owned)…
9113110650 had engine 6131660 (now melted), gearbox number unknown, Silver Metallic – 8010, Black Leatherette – 16, Koni shocks, sport seats, comfort kit, 6x15 fuchs, and tinted glass. I will post a copy and what pictures I can find when I’m back home next week… Again, apologies for the lack of photos at the time of the post…
As a postscript to this section and 0650… 0650 changed hands a few times, and ended up with Johan in Sweden… Here is the link to his story or getting and restoring 0650 (https://forums.pelicanparts.com/pors...weden-now.html)...
After not paying attention to the forums for several years, I had found some old boxes with some parts and some of the old CoAs from 911s I had owned, and decided to search the VIN numbers to see if I could find any information on what happened to them… I stumbled across Johan’s post in 2019, and after connecting with him, sent the original VIN tags from inside the trunk and on the A pillar of USA cars to him to reunite with 0650…
And I can just see the beginning of my signature on the California title as shown from Johan’s posting – Looks like I sold it in February of 1999… Not sure about the 90,000 miles, but it was in very good condition when I bought it, so could have been near correct mileage…
And a link to some pictures looking much as I sold it to Wayne, after sitting for a few years in storage (https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...t_chapter1.htm)...
Here is the CoA
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