My garage find
06-21-2009, 11:25 PM
#31
Instructor
Thread Starter
Driving now
After a lot of hours working through assorted issues, I've got it running well and I've started driving it. Since the last update I've:
- Replaced the struts and shocks
- New tires and a four wheel alignment/ride height adjust
- Replaced headlights
- Sanded a sprayed the hood. The silver is a little darker than the rest of the car, but it looks better. It was my first attempt at auto painting and it turned out OK.
- Got the windshield washer working (impeller seized - PB Blaster!)
- Got the wiper intermittent/park working correctly. This took a while and required a fair amount of research. It's a 71 but has the 70 wiper system with the 2 relays behind the airbox. After cleaning the stalk switch it was still erratic, but I could hear the relay clicking. I opened up the relay and after a little contact adjustment it started working. The wipers now park correctly and the intermittent works.
- I've spent A LOT of hours trying to get the Zeniths idling well. My initial problem was the stock fuel pump delivering 9 psi and flooding the carbs. I installed a Holley 12-804 regulator adjusted to 3.5 psi and that fixed that. I also replaced the intake gaskets and phenolic spacers to make sure I wasn't fighting vacuum leaks. Next problem was a bad plug wire and I was able to modify an old old 964 wire to work. After some dwell and timing fine tuning I think I've got it idling pretty well. Driving response is solid, the idle is just touchy.
So now everything is working, all of the running gear is updated and safe, and the interior is looking sharp after some cleaning and armor all. It's actually a comfortable drive. I've got some oil leakage from the oil cooler seals I believe, but I'll wait until I pull the engine this winter to replace the clutch to fix that. The next project is to deal with some rust repair. It needs both headlight buckets replaced and some patches welded in at the bottom curve of the rear door jambs. It appears to be a simple repair going only to the front of the rear wheel well and does not go into the rockers or body panel. I've found a local Porsche/VW sheet metal guy that really knows what he's doing so I'll turn it over to him this fall. I've decided to get the rust repaired and maybe a simple respray. My initial plan was to go all out on the repaint and strip it down, but I've decided to keep it a nice driver. I'll probably replace the carpets after the rust repair to get it really looking nice on the inside. The original AM/FM Blaupunkt is pretty weak on receiving signals, but I kind of like it as it reminds me of how crappy radios were back then and it goes with the car's era.
I also need to replace that Mobil1 trans fluid with Swepco as many have recommended. It's too slippery for the synchros.
Here's some pictures after getting everything back together, and it's summer garage mates.
- Replaced the struts and shocks
- New tires and a four wheel alignment/ride height adjust
- Replaced headlights
- Sanded a sprayed the hood. The silver is a little darker than the rest of the car, but it looks better. It was my first attempt at auto painting and it turned out OK.
- Got the windshield washer working (impeller seized - PB Blaster!)
- Got the wiper intermittent/park working correctly. This took a while and required a fair amount of research. It's a 71 but has the 70 wiper system with the 2 relays behind the airbox. After cleaning the stalk switch it was still erratic, but I could hear the relay clicking. I opened up the relay and after a little contact adjustment it started working. The wipers now park correctly and the intermittent works.
- I've spent A LOT of hours trying to get the Zeniths idling well. My initial problem was the stock fuel pump delivering 9 psi and flooding the carbs. I installed a Holley 12-804 regulator adjusted to 3.5 psi and that fixed that. I also replaced the intake gaskets and phenolic spacers to make sure I wasn't fighting vacuum leaks. Next problem was a bad plug wire and I was able to modify an old old 964 wire to work. After some dwell and timing fine tuning I think I've got it idling pretty well. Driving response is solid, the idle is just touchy.
So now everything is working, all of the running gear is updated and safe, and the interior is looking sharp after some cleaning and armor all. It's actually a comfortable drive. I've got some oil leakage from the oil cooler seals I believe, but I'll wait until I pull the engine this winter to replace the clutch to fix that. The next project is to deal with some rust repair. It needs both headlight buckets replaced and some patches welded in at the bottom curve of the rear door jambs. It appears to be a simple repair going only to the front of the rear wheel well and does not go into the rockers or body panel. I've found a local Porsche/VW sheet metal guy that really knows what he's doing so I'll turn it over to him this fall. I've decided to get the rust repaired and maybe a simple respray. My initial plan was to go all out on the repaint and strip it down, but I've decided to keep it a nice driver. I'll probably replace the carpets after the rust repair to get it really looking nice on the inside. The original AM/FM Blaupunkt is pretty weak on receiving signals, but I kind of like it as it reminds me of how crappy radios were back then and it goes with the car's era.
I also need to replace that Mobil1 trans fluid with Swepco as many have recommended. It's too slippery for the synchros.
Here's some pictures after getting everything back together, and it's summer garage mates.
Last edited by ddubois; 06-21-2009 at 11:41 PM.
06-22-2009, 01:10 AM
#32
Rennlist Member
Great job Doug - the car looks great! By chance, did you ever do a leak down or compression test? I'd love to see those numbers...
What a find! Enjoy it.
-B
What a find! Enjoy it.
-B
06-25-2009, 11:35 AM
#33
Instructor
Thread Starter
I took some compression and leak down readings with only a 5 minute warm up. I didn't do it hotter because I had just finished doing compression/leakdown on my POC Subaru at full temp and I wasn't in the mood for burning my hands any more.
If you correct for my 7,000 ft altitude I don't think they are too bad. Thoughts?
1 - 90, 6%
2 - 80, 10%
3 - 95, 8%
4 - 85, 8%
5 - 95, 12%
6 - 95, 10%
From the receipt history a valve job was done on 1-2-3 about 30k miles/25 years ago.
BONUS FIND!! The car was delivered with the owners manual, but the owner could not find the maintenance book. Today I reached in the passenger map pocket, and voila, there it was! It has regular stamps for major and minor maintenance thru 39k miles.
If you correct for my 7,000 ft altitude I don't think they are too bad. Thoughts?
1 - 90, 6%
2 - 80, 10%
3 - 95, 8%
4 - 85, 8%
5 - 95, 12%
6 - 95, 10%
From the receipt history a valve job was done on 1-2-3 about 30k miles/25 years ago.
BONUS FIND!! The car was delivered with the owners manual, but the owner could not find the maintenance book. Today I reached in the passenger map pocket, and voila, there it was! It has regular stamps for major and minor maintenance thru 39k miles.
Last edited by ddubois; 06-25-2009 at 10:51 PM.
10-16-2009, 02:15 PM
#34
Instructor
Thread Starter
Update
Well, I've spent the summer driving the car and scouring Pelican and RL for info, and thought I would give some updates. I've also got a plan now for the car's future.
What I've done this summer:
1.) Replaced the trans fluid with Swepco 201. This helped with some shifting/noise issues. I was having some 2nd grinding problems but for the most part corrected that with some fine tuning on the clutch adjustment. There really is a fine groove for adjusting the clutch on these! I also think the disc is not floating well on the spline due to 20 years of dried grease. That will get fixed this winter with a new clutch. I also plan to tear into the trans this winter.
2.) Replaced all of the oil return tubes that rattled around in there and hemorrhaged oil. The first one took 30 minutes to figure out the tricks to install, the fourth took 5 minutes.
3.) Tinkered with the Zeniths. My left carb had a broken #3 air bypass screw/boss that had been epoxied (but evidently still leaked air). A fellow graciously sold me a spare carb body and I transferred everything over. Low and behold the carbs instantly balanced perfectly and I was able to get a decent, steady idle. I then started working on the jetting and discovered my 47.5 idle jets had been drilled to 55. I bought some new 45 idle jets (recall I'm at 7,000 ft.), and I now have a good idle. I've also checked the plugs at idle and after hard acceleration/shutdown and they look good (still using 120 main jets). I also disconnected and plugged the whole air enrichment circuit. I tried to get it working, including replacing a broken transistor in the RPM transducer (again thanks to the Pelican board!). The transducer works as it should, but I have an intermittent on the 12V output and suspect it's in the wiring harness. Anyway, I only get some minor backfiring when cold and off the throttle and none once it's warmed up, so I see no need to spend any more time on the abandoned air enrichment circuit.
4.) Replaced the radio with a nifty stereo digital job from Woodys that has the old Blaupunkt look. It even has an iPod Aux input. I also installed a pair of small stereo speakers that are mounted on a plate that replaces the original speaker in the dash and fits under the stock grill, so no cutting or modifications to the car. Also replaced the manual antenna. Getting the old one out from between the door and fender was extremely frustrating.
5.) I debated long and hard what to do with the finish this winter. I've decided to tear the car apart this winter, sand the cracked paint down to bare metal (poor original color respray in the 80's), replace the fenders with new ones from Sunset who has GREAT prices, then send the car off to be repainted. The headlight buckets in each fender are rusted out due to plugged drains and it has migrated to the fender. There is also some other very minor rust in the fenders so I decided to simply replace rather than try to repair. I'll be selling these fenders to help with the cost of new ones.
There is also some rust at the rear bottom of the door jambs. The passenger side is the worse and the photo is after grinding back to solid metal. Luckily this is all very localized and not down into the rockers. It was the result of crap collecting behind here in that perfect trap at the front of the wheel well as well as some poor original undercoating application from the factory. Anyway, I have a great body guy that will be fixing these.
While the car is off at repaint I'm going to refresh the trans, replace the clutch, install oil tensioners, replace the chain ramps, polish/repaint the wheels, restuff the seats but keep them original, fix some small nagging oil leaks and of course do incessant cleaning/painting like I did on my 964 (https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=49328).
After the car comes back from repaint I'll install a new headliner, carpet, all rubber seals, install H4s and replace all of the turn signal lenses just in time to enjoy it next summer. My end goal is like this picture that was sent to me by John (less the sunroof of course)...
So the plan is to start tearing the car down soon for all the winter projects. I'll post more pics as I go
What I've done this summer:
1.) Replaced the trans fluid with Swepco 201. This helped with some shifting/noise issues. I was having some 2nd grinding problems but for the most part corrected that with some fine tuning on the clutch adjustment. There really is a fine groove for adjusting the clutch on these! I also think the disc is not floating well on the spline due to 20 years of dried grease. That will get fixed this winter with a new clutch. I also plan to tear into the trans this winter.
2.) Replaced all of the oil return tubes that rattled around in there and hemorrhaged oil. The first one took 30 minutes to figure out the tricks to install, the fourth took 5 minutes.
3.) Tinkered with the Zeniths. My left carb had a broken #3 air bypass screw/boss that had been epoxied (but evidently still leaked air). A fellow graciously sold me a spare carb body and I transferred everything over. Low and behold the carbs instantly balanced perfectly and I was able to get a decent, steady idle. I then started working on the jetting and discovered my 47.5 idle jets had been drilled to 55. I bought some new 45 idle jets (recall I'm at 7,000 ft.), and I now have a good idle. I've also checked the plugs at idle and after hard acceleration/shutdown and they look good (still using 120 main jets). I also disconnected and plugged the whole air enrichment circuit. I tried to get it working, including replacing a broken transistor in the RPM transducer (again thanks to the Pelican board!). The transducer works as it should, but I have an intermittent on the 12V output and suspect it's in the wiring harness. Anyway, I only get some minor backfiring when cold and off the throttle and none once it's warmed up, so I see no need to spend any more time on the abandoned air enrichment circuit.
4.) Replaced the radio with a nifty stereo digital job from Woodys that has the old Blaupunkt look. It even has an iPod Aux input. I also installed a pair of small stereo speakers that are mounted on a plate that replaces the original speaker in the dash and fits under the stock grill, so no cutting or modifications to the car. Also replaced the manual antenna. Getting the old one out from between the door and fender was extremely frustrating.
5.) I debated long and hard what to do with the finish this winter. I've decided to tear the car apart this winter, sand the cracked paint down to bare metal (poor original color respray in the 80's), replace the fenders with new ones from Sunset who has GREAT prices, then send the car off to be repainted. The headlight buckets in each fender are rusted out due to plugged drains and it has migrated to the fender. There is also some other very minor rust in the fenders so I decided to simply replace rather than try to repair. I'll be selling these fenders to help with the cost of new ones.
There is also some rust at the rear bottom of the door jambs. The passenger side is the worse and the photo is after grinding back to solid metal. Luckily this is all very localized and not down into the rockers. It was the result of crap collecting behind here in that perfect trap at the front of the wheel well as well as some poor original undercoating application from the factory. Anyway, I have a great body guy that will be fixing these.
While the car is off at repaint I'm going to refresh the trans, replace the clutch, install oil tensioners, replace the chain ramps, polish/repaint the wheels, restuff the seats but keep them original, fix some small nagging oil leaks and of course do incessant cleaning/painting like I did on my 964 (https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=49328).
After the car comes back from repaint I'll install a new headliner, carpet, all rubber seals, install H4s and replace all of the turn signal lenses just in time to enjoy it next summer. My end goal is like this picture that was sent to me by John (less the sunroof of course)...
So the plan is to start tearing the car down soon for all the winter projects. I'll post more pics as I go
12-31-2009, 07:33 PM
#35
Instructor
Thread Starter
Restoration has begun
I decided last fall to go for it and do a restoration on the car. The rust at the base of the door jambs and the fenders was still easy to fix as it had not spread into difficult areas. So I had new metal welded in at the base of the rear jambs and bit the bullet on new fenders from Porsche. After stripping the car inside and out it went to the painter and is now down to bare metal. No surprises were found and the body is solid. There was some minor surface rust in the battery boxes and on the top surface of the suspension pan so I removed all of the PVC undercoating in those areas and coated with POR. I'm sticking with the original 8080 silver color. I bought a COA, which is a bit of a rip-off, but it was nice to see the engine number, color and options match.
The engine and trans work is done and ready to go back in. I opened the trans suspecting intermediate bearing issues (growling noise at low RPM), but it appears the noise was due to the old clutch disc separating between the hub and disc allowing free movement between the two. Since it was open I replaced all the seals and gaskets. I also flipped the 1-2-3 synchro rings that still looked good (minor difference in taper between sides).
The engine got a rebuild of the mechanical tensioners. I replaced every single seal, o-ring, oil line and gasket short of splitting the case in hopes of fixing the last of the oil leaks. Gave the engine a thorough detailing including powder coating the tins, fan, housing and engine mount. Had the oil tank and cooler cleaned. Rebuilt the alternator. Resurfaced the flywheel and installed a new clutch kit. Adjusted the valves again and finished it off with new SSIs.
I figured out why the fuel pump was delivering 9 psi (stuck relief valve). I replaced the o-rings and it now delivers 4 psi so I can get rid of the fuel pressure regulator I installed.
With the engine/trans done and waiting to get the body back, I've been cleaning and painting everything (oil tank, gas tank, engine electrical panel assy, turn signal housings, vent screen, battery hold downs, etc., etc., etc.)
When I get the car back in a month or so I'll install the new headliner and carpets, install all of the new body seals, new turn signal lenses and 'S' trim rubber, replace the spring plate bushings, paint the wheel wells and engine compartment, refinish the wheels and finish putting everything back together. I'm going to keep it stock with the exception of new H4s and I'll leave off the front bumperettes.
Luckily there has been some good sales on parts over the winter and I've gathered about half of my 3 page parts list. My approach has been to simply replace anything that is in doubt.
The plan is then to enjoy driving it this summer and do the engine rebuild next winter.
The engine and trans work is done and ready to go back in. I opened the trans suspecting intermediate bearing issues (growling noise at low RPM), but it appears the noise was due to the old clutch disc separating between the hub and disc allowing free movement between the two. Since it was open I replaced all the seals and gaskets. I also flipped the 1-2-3 synchro rings that still looked good (minor difference in taper between sides).
The engine got a rebuild of the mechanical tensioners. I replaced every single seal, o-ring, oil line and gasket short of splitting the case in hopes of fixing the last of the oil leaks. Gave the engine a thorough detailing including powder coating the tins, fan, housing and engine mount. Had the oil tank and cooler cleaned. Rebuilt the alternator. Resurfaced the flywheel and installed a new clutch kit. Adjusted the valves again and finished it off with new SSIs.
I figured out why the fuel pump was delivering 9 psi (stuck relief valve). I replaced the o-rings and it now delivers 4 psi so I can get rid of the fuel pressure regulator I installed.
With the engine/trans done and waiting to get the body back, I've been cleaning and painting everything (oil tank, gas tank, engine electrical panel assy, turn signal housings, vent screen, battery hold downs, etc., etc., etc.)
When I get the car back in a month or so I'll install the new headliner and carpets, install all of the new body seals, new turn signal lenses and 'S' trim rubber, replace the spring plate bushings, paint the wheel wells and engine compartment, refinish the wheels and finish putting everything back together. I'm going to keep it stock with the exception of new H4s and I'll leave off the front bumperettes.
Luckily there has been some good sales on parts over the winter and I've gathered about half of my 3 page parts list. My approach has been to simply replace anything that is in doubt.
The plan is then to enjoy driving it this summer and do the engine rebuild next winter.
12-31-2009, 09:08 PM
#36
uninformed gas bag
(contemplating on whether gas bag is one or two words)
Rennlist Member
(contemplating on whether gas bag is one or two words)
Rennlist Member
Holy Schit!
BTW Meadow Gold Dairies wants their crate back
BTW Meadow Gold Dairies wants their crate back
Last edited by MUSSBERGER; 01-01-2010 at 08:51 PM.
01-01-2010, 11:43 AM
#39
Rennlist Member
I can't wait to see the finished product 
01-01-2010, 11:46 AM
#40
Race Car
holy smokes...thats awesome. Keep it coming. What kind of muffler you thinking about. Some of the quality stainless one available could really set it off nice. You may have to tweek the carbs a bit with that exhaust.
01-02-2010, 02:02 PM
#42
Race Car
Zeniths. I like the Magnacore wires. They don't look exactly stock(red), but top quality and will last years. Steve Weiner echos my opinion and he's a smart guy. Magnacores are about as cheap as anything for these cars, and again, the highest quality. I'd love to see(hear) a M&K, or Monty muffler on that baby. Carbs add so much to the "song" of a 911
01-02-2010, 06:01 PM
#45
I haddah Google dat
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Zeniths. I like the Magnacore wires. They don't look exactly stock(red), but top quality and will last years. Steve Weiner echos my opinion and he's a smart guy. Magnacores are about as cheap as anything for these cars, and again, the highest quality. I'd love to see(hear) a M&K, or Monty muffler on that baby. Carbs add so much to the "song" of a 911