bluetick

I am ambivalent about the wheels. I like the look of Fuchs, but these have grown on me.

I am ending up with a long list after just a couple of days! I wish I had a fat wallet to go along with it. I was thinking about a pair of Sparco R100 tuning seats, primarily because they look like a cost effective solution. Would that be a bad move?

Actually, the existing seats are pretty comfortable. The just don't look so great. Maybe I'll live with 'em for a bit.

Amber Gramps

Welcome to Rennlist my friend.

bluetick

So I added well over 200 more miles to the temporary odometer late this afternoon/tonight - hitting three different states between 5 and 10 pm. This car is an absolute blast to drive. On some West Tennessee back roads, I drove through winding curve after curve at a decent clip, and the car just felt so stable and neutral as it ate up the twisties. In the apex of one curve, my wife and I could both feel the G forces on our bodies but the car wasn't close to flinching. It was firmly planted. I knew these cars handled well but I really had no idea. The torque just seems monstrous too. On those back roads easing along at 60 mph, it feels like you're getting shoved from behind when you ease on the throttle to overtake a slower vehicle.

On the slab, the car seems to have a proverbial "sweet spot" at 80 mph. I thought I'd miss having cruise control on the mind numbing interstate, but it wasn't bad at all for the hour or so I was on it. As long as the road was smooth (which isn't often the case on Arkansas awful roads), the car was really quite comfortable over long distances. The weather was mild enough that we had the windows down most of the ride. With the windows up at 80 mph, I was impressed without how quiet it is (except you could hear the occasional bushing squeak and groan!). Wind noise is minimal - comparable to our very quiet E39, and the perfectly dampened sound of that 6 cylinder churning in the background is like music.

On the first tank of fuel, driving was a mixture of slab, one lane highways, and a few small towns. I averaged just shy of 23 mpg. Does that seem about right?

I have to go to Denver, about a 1,000 miles away from me, later next month. I don't want to fly and time constraints and other considerations make it not practical for me to ride my motorcycle. I was going to drive the E39, but I'm now reconsidering.

I need to figure out the ventilation system controls. I was able to get a little air moving out of the defrost vents but that was it. I also haven;t checked the a/c yet. Meant to do that before I bought the thing, but forgot. Now I'm skeered to try it.


Thanks for the info about the polyurethane bushings. What does replacement with newer stuff typically cost?

As I prepared to return the car into the garage, I noticed a spot of oil roughly the size of a quarter on the concrete just below where the right rear was positioned overnight. The car was bone dry underneath a few weeks ago and the sellers garage floor was clean. wth!?

I didn't get any car pics today. Most of our picture taking effort went to photographing the flood. Water everywhere!

Thanks again for all the input.

bluetick

Thanks! This seems like a great community with some great people. Lots of interesting posts and good information too.

I probably ought to splurge on the premium membership. I might stay awhile.

WPOZZZ

Welcome to Porsche ownership! Btw, that isn't an oil spot, your car is just marking its territory. Just monitor your oil usage.

bluetick

I was afraid of that.

I hope it isn't thinking of competing with my Harley-Davidson. That could turn into a real mess.

Edgy01

There are several things that are not adding up on the car. I would consider it somewhat a Frankenstein when it comes to its departure from originality, but then again, is it 32 year old car, so you would have to expect many departures from the original.

First, Porsche never put those wheels on that car. Some dealer may have done it, but Porsche didn't (in Zuffenhausen).

The driver's window frame is chrome--that's from an earlier car probably, because it looks like the other windows are black paint--as they should be. (They started with black anodizing but that failed within a year so they switched to black powder coatings).

The driver's door handle should be black anodized or black powder coated--not painted to match the chassis.

As mentioned earlier, no chin spoiler/air dam. These cars can be a like tricky when the aero aids depart from the factory set up. That's easy to add back.

Rust. You think you are seeing some minor stuff but trust me, that car is loaded with it. If it was a Germany car for many years when a GI bought it no doubt the original owner drove it around the clock and in the winters; in that time frame Germany was seriously into the use of a pink rock salt and it absolutely trashes these things--even if you washed it weekly in the winter!

Typical rust issues:

(1) Cadmium engine parts will lose the cadmium--and be rusted.

(2) Front windshield--lower corners.

(3) Rear window lower corners--the rubber fails soon and then moisture collects in the groove.

(4) You're lucky to not have the sunroof--many times they have clogged water drains and then the rust starts in there.

(5) With european H4 (or H1) headlights you have been spared some of the usual headlight bucket rust problems because they are sealed with rubber--US spec ones go bad because they were engineered to be closed with rubber trim, but to meet us DOT lighting rules, they retrofit in US sealed beams which seal the lights themselves, but the area around them are open to abuse and moisture collection.

(6) ANY repair work has to be followed up with serious reapplication of undercoating. These bodies came with zinc galvanized bodies, but they sacrifice the zinc over time--and ten years is pretty good--but you are pushing 40.

ANY ROW 911SC is simply not worth the money--any money, because it lost so much of its real life in Germany. The US spec cars got better treatment in those days. This is precisely why you see so many Porsches returning to Germany as Germans are snatching them up. It's not all because of the exchange rate--it's because that era Porsche in Germany is a mess of rust usually. The galvanizing helped, but it doesn't last forever.

The suspension needs to be fully rebuilt if you plan to use it as a Porsche--at higher speeds. Otherwise, never run it above 90.

Take a look under the engine to ascertain the situation with all of the engine hardware--whether it has been properly replaced, or not. The original stuff is going to be completely shot.

If you paid anywhere near that $16,500 you paid way too much for that car.

Best of luck as you sort out what you have. These are fine cars to learn on because they don't require a lot of special tools. If you have a 19mm, 17mm, 15mm, 13mm, 11mm, 10mm wrench, and a bunch of allen wrenches you're 80% there!

aadrew10

Who

brought

the

rain

to

bluetick's

parade?

g-50cab

No kidding - It's a cool color car - it has some interesting history. It's been worked on by one of the best shops in the country. It has different wheels instead of "me too" fuchs.

Drive it and enjoy it.

The Pat Williams motor rebuilt 20,000 miles ago is probably worth 1/2 the purchase price alone - especially with the big port earlier SC engine.

bluetick

No kidding!!! wtf?

Seriously, I appreciate Dan's candid input. The "little" things he noted such as the window trim differences are interesting, to say the least.

One unknown though is how much time the car actually spent in Germany. From what the seller told me, the car was in Millington, Tennessee for "a long time". Until the past decade, Millington was home to the world's largest inland naval base - about 20 miles from downtown Memphis. Ostensibly, it could have been in this area for a long time. Who knows how long the original owner was stationed in Germany vs. stationed in Millington or elsewhere. Or maybe it was in Millington for a short time before Pat Williams purchased it, and was actually in Germany or wherever else for a long long time.

Pat Williams, the second owner of this car, mentioned the wheels were an option in Europe (or maybe he said Germany - one or the other, I don't remember exactly which) - I don't remember which. He is presumably one of many experts around to some degree on the marque. He certainly builds some formidable Porsche race cars afaik. I doubt he'd have any reason to lie about anything related to the car, but he could be mistaken or wrong.

In the fwiw department, Pat Williams presumably had the car in his possession on or around 9/11/2001. There is a big US flag sticker in the window that he said he added then, and it's stayed on the car ever since.

The car feels rock solid on the interstate at 80 mph (indicated) and I doubt 90 mph would be much different. Again, I have zero frame of reference though regarding how it really should feel or behave. A brief triple digit stint felt just a little twitchy or something up front, but that sort of speed is definitely a rare exception to the norm for me for now anyway (roads unsuitable for such speeds or aversion to LEOs being a primary consideration, suspension or other issues aside).

I've already acknowledged I probably paid "too much" for the car - although the owner did budge a little on his asking price. If shaving off a few thousand dollars on a +/- $16,000 purchase was essential, I had no business buying a 40 year old German car anyway. I wanted something enjoyable to drive as an alternative to my motorcycle - not an investment piece to squander away in the garage hoping for a big financial windfall one day.

Pat Williams assured me I was purchasing a good car, noting that this is a good thing because not all of them are. He is either correct, lying, or mistaken. I don't believe he'd lie about it. If it starts rusting to pieces before my eyes as Dan seems to be suggesting it is or will, then I guess I am fooked.

Speaking of Frakenstein, the factory radio is gone. Small potatoes but I sure wish it was there instead of the Clarion in its place.

bluetick

Thanks for the comments!

I can assure you I am driving it and enjoying every second of it. It is such a kick in the pants. I drove it home from work this evening and had the biggest damn grin on my face. I told my wife that I love it like a close friend. It is just so much fun in so many ways. And I can't believe I waited nearly 45 years to get one.

She replied that I had to wait that long or it wouldn't have been old.

I guess that makes me really old.

This morning, some guy in a late model MR2 down shifted into first gear and roared to a stop as I rolled to a stop beside him. I noticed him leaning forward to get a better look. I looked over and he had this HUGE grin on his face and he yelled out "That thing looks GREAT!"

I don't really like garnering a lot of attention, but I thoroughly enjoy how happy the sight of this car makes the run-of-the-mill person. Maybe if I get the chin spoiler on it, some others will lighten up.

I am not the handiest DIY person. It seems like every I touch turns into some unexpected clusterf*ck over a stripped hard-to-find fastener or some other roadblock. I lack the skills and patience for it. I haven't crawled around on the ground too investigate where the chin spoiler goes. Is it something that will readily bolt into place or am I going to have to drill into the existing metal to install?

I bet if I search around here and/or Pelican there's a thread on chin spoiler installation..... I probably ought to give that a try.

Regards!

rusnak

What a fun thread!

I agree with the others who love the color. Welcome to Rennlist. I'm guessing the previous owner was uh, exuberant? There are some things that I'd address if it were my car, but it's not. I might want to remove the rear window decal, but that's more of a safety issue than anything. Same with the front spoiler. I agree that a chin spoiler would go great on that car. Try to buy the factory mounting kit for it. It's worth the extra dough. You can buy just the gas cap seal, rather than the whole cap.

bluetick

I thought the American Flag sticker was going to be a safety issue too. Personally, I'd have gone with a red, white, and blue ribbon on the antennae or something for 9/11. Actually, it does not interfere with rear visibility at all, as far as I can tell. When I look through the rear view mirror adjusted for me, I can't even see the sticker at all.

At this point, it seems kind of wrong to delete the American flag. It is a sort of testimony to how 9/11 must have affected Pat Williams. If I remove the flag now, it will sort of be like that scumbag bin Laden won after all, you know what I mean?

If I understand correctly, the chin spoiler would replace the existing recessed spoiler..... I need to see one to get a better understanding of this. Should it be easy for a dummy like me to DIY the chin spoiler with the factory mounting kit?

I went to an Advance Auto Parts store about a mile away from home to get some leather cleaner. The steering wheel was just too sticky and greasy to deal with any longer. It cleaned up ok. Not great. Anyway, on a lark I inquired about a a gas cap. They could order one for about $10 and have it hear tomorrow. I told 'em to go for it. If it's junk I'll try to return it or just toss it. It's maybe $10 cheaper than what Pelican offered, iirc and free shipping too. I forgot to even look for the gasket at
Pelican. With shipping I bet it would be a wash if the Advance offering turn out to be worth a crap.

I took a bunch of random photos before sunset with my iphone - motor area, front floor pan, rust (gasp!), yucky steering wheel we've already seen but after a quick cleaning and so forth. Some turned out alright. I need to create a flicker or something account and upload them. I might do this later tonight, or maybe tomorrow. Should I post them in this thread or somewhere else?

Does anyone even give a hoot about seeing them?

rusnak

You don't know us very well, do you?

We like pics, video, and the like. We hate tractors and Stella.
But don't worry about us, do your thing.

bluetick

I like pics, video, and the like too. Why do you hate tractors and Stella. BTW, who is Stella? (I predict I'm going to be doing searches on those terms...).

I just uploaded my photos from my iPhone. I discovered I already have a flicker account, with only one photo - a photo that was ripped without permission from the seller. I don't remember doing that. It was probably late and I had been drinking....

We're about to find out if I can figure out how to post a photo from Flicker.

(Note: I messed around and preview and such and my post didn't make it. Gotta figure out how to embed a photo from flicker)