david05111

Thanks Mark. I honestly am pretty mechanically inclined. I'm in the middle of a Back to the Future Toyota pickup build, and I've done most of my own work on my BMWs over the years.

The thing that scares me here is the fuel tank. Siphoning fuel is one thing, disposing of it is another. Not to mention, disposing of the crud that's going to come out of it after it's cleaned like 20 times to get the grime out. That's the thing that makes me hesitate on it, enough to maybe just want to throw dollars at it. I'm still deciding how I feel about it, and whether I want to take that on. I know that there's a hazardous waste disposal site about 35 mins from me, but still...gasoline is one of those things that I'm not sure I want to play with on this scale.

The engine itself doesn't scare me too much. Frankly, it's low mileage for what it is, so it should be in fine shape otherwise in contrast to some of the other projects I've had. The lines and such don't scare me too much either, though that's trending closer to stuff I might consider a professional doing. As I say though, the tank is the wall here for me at the moment.

wingless

Here is a good link ongasoline removal / disposal.

One option for a DIY would be to get sufficient red gasoline jugs to permit safe storage for proper later transport / disposal. FWIW, my '86 fuel tank capacity is 22.5 gallons.

wingless

Don't forget tires have a ten year life before replacement is required. It is great they are holding air. That is useful for rolling / moving around, but replacement prior to driving is a good idea.

Here are some related technical articles, Part 1 and Part 2

Mark Salvetti

That's how I handled mine. Off to Costco and picked up a few 5-gallon fuel containers. My tank was full when I drained it. Stored the fuel until our local haz waste day. One precaution I did take was to wrap some copper wire around the siphon hose and grounded it. Gasoline flowing through plastic can build up static electricity and you don't want a spark.

I didn't need to clean mine, but here are a couple of threads that show what is inside and some ideas for cleaning:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...-gas-tank.html
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...swirl-pot.html

That plastic swirl pot prevents fuel starvation when cornering. It is also the reason you can't use an epoxy to coat the inside of the tank. It won't stick to the swirl pot and you'll be left with a mess.

I don't think you need to cut it open. People went to great lengths to save an old tank because the replacement tanks didn't have the swirl pot or the fuel strainer. Now the Dansk replacement tanks do, so if it is so bad you need to cut it open, I think you are better off replacing it.

Mark

Mike Murphy

Agree, tires should be replaced 100%.

david05111

Oh yeah, absolutely. On most of my cars, I replace them at 5 years even if they don't turn many miles. These are totally toast and have probably been on the car 25 years, but are useful enough to roll around the driveway and onto a flatbed.

Ideally, if the car goes to s shop, I'd like them to put it on stands or a lift so I can take the wheels off and have them re-finished and new rubber installed.

wingless

Thanks for the links, those were great!

Note that a grounded drain wire wrapped around a plastic hose cannot dissipate built up static charge. Plastic (most types) is an insulator, meaning it cannot conduct electricity (move charge), hence the reason that triboelectric static charge can build up onto the surface, caused by two non conductive materials sliding against each other.

Even though a grounded wire cannot dissipate a static charge build up it also doesn't have a deleterious effect.

Mark Salvetti

Great, now someone tells me.

Mark

david05111

UPDATE:


I had the car flat-bedded to a local shop to have it looked over and perhaps fixed. I told them about the fuel and they said that wouldn't be a problem, and that they would drain the tank and start with a leakdown test of the motor to see what was going on. Well, it showed issues with two cylinders and they tell me it needs a top-end rebuild.

Add that to the list of stuff I had them working on (new tires, shocks, bushings, some lines, rotors, brakes put on and serviced, A/C conversion, etc.) and the estimate is somewhere around $38,000. The engine build alone along with the fuel system cleaning is somewhere between $17-22k; I can't remember exactly how that was broken down.

Needless to say, that's a bit of a shock. I thought I'd be spending maybe $15k on it, $20k on the high end. We're talking almost double that here. And based on what I've been seeing on BringATrailer, these cars bring $35-45k in running order; the coupes seem to bring significantly more.

Under normal circumstances, I'd probably drop the project entirely. It's not worth what I'd have to put into it. That said, this isn't normal. This is my dad's old car.

I need advice. I imagine I could do a chunk of the stuff by myself (shocks, brakes, rotors) and skip the A/C for now.

My real issue is the engine. What are my options, if any, with this now? Are there any pre-built heads out there that could save me some money? Should I consider having it really built into something special if I have to take it apart anyway?

What about a swap? I'd want to stick with a Porsche motor, but with the amount of money we're talking, I'm wondering if old race motors are an option, or perhaps something out of a later-gen car like a 993 or 996.

I'm just not sure it's worth dumping $20k+ into a motor that isn't really that spectacular on its face.

I confess to being lost here guys. My head is spinning a little bit at the moment.

If I get an itemized estimate later, I'll see about throwing it up here.

GoTime

Why not diy what you can and save until you can do the rest? There's no rush right?

david05111

There's no rush, correct. It's a matter of how much I really want to dump into it, overall. I could go buy another one right now for $40k on BAT. An entire car that runs and drives, turn-key. It's just not my father's.

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the idea that it's basically negative equity right now, even though I could break it down in chunks and do maybe a third of the work myself.

And I'm not sure it's worth tinkering with this motor, which is sort of where my questions lie at this point. I'm not sure if there are better options for that sort of budget.

Basically, if it had been a 2.7 RS I pulled out of the garage and I was told the estimate was $40-50k, I would have green-lighted it over the phone. But this is not a 2.7RS, and as much as I'd like to think with my heart on it, my head is screaming at me.

rstarga

If the car has been out of service for a long time I wouldn't trust a leakdown test until it had been driven for a few hundred miles. Do the work needed to get it running safely, tires, brakes, new fuel lines etc.
Drive it then do a valve adjustment and do the leakdown on a warmed up engine.
Any carbon or bits in the fuel system can be on the valves and not let them seat.
That said these cars are not cheap to maintain or repair, the more you can do the better.
It is also easier to sell a running car, you know the history of your car and the cars you see on BAT for those prices probably have issues too.

Mike Murphy

Agree with this.

Mike Murphy

Are cars with only 55k miles really selling for $40k? That seems a bit low.

Also, I would get a 2nd opinion. To spend $38k, the shop might be thinking you’ll just pull the trigger or maybe they have overscoped the work or they don’t want the work.

wingless

Too bad about that high estimate.

Having service properly performed is invaluable.

A numbers matching vehicle retains better value.