1972 911E: pulling it out of my own barn in the spring... rusty project car.

[iparker]

Hi everyone,

I have a 72 911E that has been rusting away in my fathers machine shed. I bought the car when I was 19 and drove it hard until it quit and I put it away in hopes of restoring it when I was older. It has sat for 15 years all but forgotten about and I am now in the position to put the effort, time, and money into restoring the car that it deserves. The plan is to restore it back to a solid rust free car that will be driven but not abused as it previously was. I have no desire to attempt a concourse restoration but hope to keep the car as close to original as possible.

This is a summary of what I know about the car to date(no CoA presently):

1972 911E European delivery. I believe it originally came from the Netherlands but not confirmed.
It has S trim, steel S front spoiler, and S gauges.
220 limited slip optioned 5 speed
Electric windows.
H4 headlights.
Original paint was light ivory if I remember correctly. It was white for sure.
Cookie cutter wheels.

The bad:

It has an early cararra tail (most likely aftermarket) with good rubber but I do not have the original decklid.
It has a well installed roof mounted antenna.
It was resprayed black, then very poorly sprayed red. Lots of paint on the seals and some overspray on the crome window trim.

It is rusty.

10, 000 dollar P/O engine rebuild, from a questionable shop, flogged into submission by a much younger me.
Transmission needed needed syncros if I remember correctly, probably more.

I paid $14, 000 for the car when I was 19 knowing nothing about early 911's other than I wanted one and it was fast. I am lucky I didnt wreck it or worse, die in the car! I will be pulling the car out of the barn soon and plan to remove the drivetrain and begin the search for rust right away. I will hopefully aquire the CoA soon.

I am really excited to start fixing this poor neglected 911 and I am glad that there is a community lke this one with such a wealth of information and people who love these old cars. I have a picture of this car in somewhat better days that I will attempt to add shortly. I will snap a pic of it in its current state tomorrow; its pretty sad though, be warned.

[Chuck Miller]

Welcome to the board...... let's see some pics of your beast........

[Bill Simmeth]

Hey, sounds like a great project! Welcome and all the best.

Bill

[iparker]

I have a couple of questions...

The car has sat so long the brakes are frozen badly. It is in a very awkward spot. My thoughts are to pick it up with a forklift and get it out of the barn and into the shop next door and get it rolling in there.

Could I potentially pick it up by the undercarriage? I'm worried about damaging the underbody. It needs to move in order to work on the brakes. I could also drag it out with a tractor but its kind of wedged into a bad spot. It would be much easier to pick up with the forklift somehow.

Has anyone got any advice on how to get it out? Its so close to the wall I ould only free the brakes on one side so it needs to move.

[iparker]

Here are two pictures of my 911. Before and after.

[NorthernThrux]

Welcome fellow Canuck,

To restore to a solid, rust free car means stripping to bare metal, welding or replacing panels and repainting in the original colour. It's been in a maritime climate for a long time and that's the only way you can fix it properly. Doing just the obvious rusty areas is not going to make for a solid car. Fortunately many of the body parts can be found in Canada (new from Restoration Design and used from places like Nineapart).

That said, it doesn't look too bad and the mechanicals are easy (and not too, too horribly) expensive to fix. The "upgrades" you mention aren't hard to put right. Can't tell, but the seats look "upgraded" too.

Do you have a good shop there ? Or will you do the work yourself ? Are you in Halifax ?

Whatever you do, remember that a 1972E, done right, is an escalating-in-price car, especially as the S cars become rarified. So do your restoration accordingly. Take your time. The car will only appreciate while you work on it.

Ravi

[iparker]

I'm located in the Annapolis Valley, not too far from Halifax. The plan is to take it to bare metal and complete the repairs I am comfortable doing myself. There are a few decent restoration shops in the city; I will have the most qualified finish the metal work and paint. I understand that it is a valuable car and I want to do the best job restoring it I can afford. No plans to sell it and I want a car I will feel good about driving and not be terrified to take out of the garage!

I believe the seats are out of a later model 911. I see them going into VW's now and then and reffered to as "Tombstones". They are black leathette with a cloth inset and are pretty worn out.

Its missing the trunk carpet and floormats. The fenders, rockers, and doors are in pretty rough shape. The previous owner spent a fortune on repairs and ran out of money. He let someone spray it red. I know it has alot of rust hiding under the amateur paint job. I'm prepared for the worst.

[FL-Frank]

I know it has alot of rust hiding under the amateur paint job. I'm prepared for the worst.

Good luck with the project....you'll need lots of patience....and lots of money too. Check out my 72's restoration thread called "Rudys Rehab" to get a feel for what you'll be encountering.

http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...ighlight=Rehab

[iparker]

Thanks for the encouragment guys! I have to admit that I have more patience than money though. We had a really good year on the farm last year and my share of the profits should cover a good portion of the restoration. I plan to pick away at it until after harvest in the fall then really get going over the winter. I have a new shop with a lift that I am hoping will have space available for the car. Its full of tractors and a VW bus.

My main obstacle right now is how to get it out of the shed. The brakes are stuck and its jammed into a tight spot where I can't access the passenger side of the car to get it rolling. Its looking like I will have to drag it out into the open in order to work on unsticking the brakes.

[NorthernThrux]

Forklift. It encourages lateral thinking.

I know that area well. Good friends and former students live in Halifax. One is from Berwick.

Keep us posted.