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Thank you all for the kind words! I was expecting something more along the lines of "Yeah right, when will you be parting it out?" My progress will most likely be a bit slow, due to work and other projects, but I will try to post updates as often as possible.
Tom. M: Yes, that's the car! I saw it when it was posted in Snohomish but with the damage and condition, it didn't seem like a good deal. The original color looks to be a slightly lighter brown, however it has been repainted at least once. I'm starting to wonder if the PO was intentionally trying to make it resemble a turd...
karl ruiter: That's what I'm hoping for... A lot of work, and hopefully very little money! My other car is a 1978 Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce, which has a mechanical fuel injection system that seems to be similar to the K-Jetronic system in many ways.
harveyf: Thanks for the tip. I have already done that and added a little Marvel Mystery Oil. I have heard somewhere that these engines don't have sleeves so better safe than sorry!
Stromius: That might just be a good idea when I get to the point of wanting to take a sledge hammer to it! How about beer and a BBQ?
siscogts: You haven't seen her worst angle yet! Thank you, any suggestions are greatly appreciated, as I haven't ever had the opportunity to work on a Porsche before.
Here are a few more pics to hold you over until I can get some more work done on it. I tried the other ignition switch I have, and got the starter to engage. Next up is double checking my work on the fuse box and trying to figure out why I still have no power to the fuel pump. (That is by far the most complicated fuse box I have ever seen. I about had a heart attack when I saw the nest of wires on the reverse side!)
After taking out some frustration with a rubber mallet:
Some of the parts before they were removed from the car.
I had a silver 78 Euro I brought back from Germany in 1987. It was in a bit better shape than this example.
After a engine rebuild due to blown head gasket and a repaint, the 78 was the most exotic car driving around my little hometown in Illinois.
Took it to USAF flight school a few months later and sold it to one of my instructor pilots for every dime I had in it after I graduated… I understand he totaled it soon afterwards.
Love these types of threads! maybe one day I'll make my own. Good luck with the project. I can't wait to see the finished product. I'm sure it will be a beauty!
Thank you all for the kind words! I was expecting something more along the lines of "Yeah right, when will you be parting it out?"
You are new here. The guys on here love these threads. Jim Doerr (Jadz928) is the ringleader. He's managed to make a business out of restoring the older cars. He managed to get his hands on #1 & #6 (that's not a typo). AirtekHVAC managed to find serial number 30 (due to some oddities in the way they are numbered, it's actually the 20th car made).
There was a thread a few months ago about a 78 in a junkyard that looked "mostly complete." It was snatched up within a few days and is now being restored by Guy.
We are a pretty sick bunch
The electrical system isn't as complicated as it first appears. There are a bunch of systems, and most of them go through the CE panel. So it has a lot of wires.
The CIS injection is challenging, but if you get a good set of gauges, follow the proper procedures and make sure everything is set correctly, it's not an impossible task to get it running right.
There are folks on here who REALLY know these cars. When (not if) you get stuck, post the issue on here. You will have good solid answers in a short time. SeanR, MrMerlin, Alan, GregBRD and many others are usually willing to offer suggestions.
The parts suppliers are also amazing. They also know these cars well enough that you can ask for "all the parts to replace the..." and they'll send you everything you need.
Very cool story. Take a look at my older posts, my car was very similar in looks, mine is number #622 euro. Like Joe said, tons of help here. You may catch some sh*t once in awhile but it's usually worth the bruising.. Good luck!!!
Welcome to the buy the first one I see that is cheap club. I did the same thing with my 81 that was $1000, it hadn't been on the road in 11 years and the door panels were attached with sheet rock screws, gotta love PO's.
From what it looks like, the engine bay looks pretty clean and not messed with, I can't tell what shape your interior is in, but I can tell you mine looked like that when I bought it .I hope you get yours back on the road soon and have many fun happy miles ahead of you.
Wow! Welcome to the POS club! I jest of course. I have not had the time to work on mine as I would like, but she runs, does not drive, but runs. I love mine, but it cost more than yours...I spent $650. She sat in the field for 19 years.
Wisconsin Joe: Thanks, I have skimmed through quite a bit of info about #1, it was quite an interesting read! I'll definitely be asking quite a few questions. Hopefully I'll keep the stupid ones to a minimum!
The Forgotten On: That sounds familiar... Somehow the PO of my other project car thought it would be a great idea to run a bunch of his own wiring for radio, turn signals and radiator fan... That was fun to fix! As for my 928 interior, it is brown with black seats. A good amount of it has come unglued, or started to sag, but right now that's the least of my worries.
AirtekHVAC: I actually read all the way through your thread before purchasing my project. It took me a few days... I look forward to hearing how yours progresses!
I'm perfectly fine with being part of the POS club... At least for the time being. If anyone knows any history behind the car I picked up such as past owners, etc I'd love to hear it. All I know is it was parked around 2005 after an accident and hasn't moved since.
Orion, good luck with it. It has a lot of potential, i love the early cars. They are really the prettiest imo.
Re the big dent:
It sounds more difficult but would be easier (and faster) / look much better in the end to replace that quarter with a good donor quarter.
The WSM illustrates how to replace an entire rear quarter panel, this would be the way to go for you because trying to re-shape that thick (and structural part of the car) will be tough.
Porsche designers made their rear quarter shapes look so simple yet they are really very complex shapes (911s also!)
They are near Impossible to get 'right' once this badly stretched. You could spend 100 hours trying and once painted and the rear tires on things won't be right.
Trust me on this i've been there (more than once) and regretted not getting a donor panel.
I know for now you probably just want to see if it runs, but if it turns out to be a good running car (like i think) then keep an eye out for a decent panel.
As you probably know the fuel pump in on relay XVII and fuse 22. I would start out by just jumpering the relay. You will need know how to do that later on anyway for checking your pressures. The relay is a type '53' relay that is used in several places. Roger has then for super cheap.
If your fuel pump is shot, I like the Walbro replacement. Drops nicely in the spot, exceeds the factory output specs, costs about 100 bucks, and made in 'Merika dammit. I buy em off ebay.
If you do get a pump running don't run if for very long until you check to make sure the piston in your fuel distributor is not sticking. It probably is. If so, you can fill the combustion chambers with fuel really fast, and it will run down into the crankcase and can damage seals etc.
Not too hard to free up a sticking piston in the Fuel distributor usually, but do it early in the process.
Rear fender is probably toast, but you can get a full set of auto body hammers and dollies from HF for 29 bucks. Why not try? Just for fun. Personally I like that kind of work as long as I have a long time to tinker with it and sometimes I need to break up the frustration of trying the the fuel system just right.
karl ruiter: Thanks for the info! I should have a few hours to tinker with relays and such tomorrow. I hadn't read about the piston in the fuel distributor, looks like that's another project for later this week. (I probably could make this a lot easier on myself if I bought a repair manual...)
Looks like a fun project and you sound like you have the right perspective for it. And hopefully enough beer for it.
Jadz928 et al as previously mentioned will be able to guide you through the tough spots on these early rides. And those exhaust pipes look enormous. Should sound pretty cool once you get it fired up!
08-13-2014, 06:59 PM
