aratapuss

I recently bought a 1969 -912, in somewhat similar condition, except for the seats. I spent a lot of time last week cleaning the car, interior and exterior, and am amazed at how it now looks.

I "touched" everything, cleaning anything I could touch. Car now looks like a million bucks. If the former owner had done all the work I did, he could have charged a good bit more. Invested sweat equity and used a lot of good product on the interior and exterior. It's a driver, and is going to be a lot of fun in the years ahead, hope you get the same result.

Marine Blue

Congrats on the purchase. Definitely post some before/after pics.

I'm still in discussions with the seller and haven't landed on a price yet. I'm waiting for records for recent engine work so I can determine what I should be paying. I had no intentions to buy a car so this is an unplanned purchase but it would be too good to pass up as long as everything checks out.

And don't worry guys, I won't be changing the transmission. Even though I would much prefer a manual I recognize when to keep things the way they are. Perhaps I can get this to a condition where I can trade with another in similar condition and manual.

I should know more this weekend.

Marine Blue

Ok I have a few more details on the car. I learned the car had a top end rebuild back in 2008 and the transmission was rebuilt back in 2011. It also had some rewiring done in 2010. There are older records too but they're too old to establish the current condition.

The original import documents from Germany to Mexico are also included, I couldn't believe it! Manuals and all other records are available too!

I'm still thinking the engine will need to come out and have all soft parts replaced. At least the transmission should be fine which is a plus. I know the interior will need about 3500 to get it into a level 7 or 8 out of 10.

So the negotiations have started but I'm not getting too far on price reduction. I still think it's a good deal but I am worried about what kind of mechanical work it will need. What do you all think would be too much to pay for a car like this that needs a restoration?

I should have more news soon.

Amber Gramps

Unless you are making it your daily driver, why the rush to worry about restoration? Buy it, and let it simmer. You ain't Jaime, ya know.

Marine Blue

You're right, it doesn't need to happen immediately. But I am a perfectionist and I have OCD. My obsession is having things right and I know it will drive me crazy every time I drive her.

So I'll either go completely crazy dealing with the issues and getting to them when I can or I go broke. Either way this car is going to get the better of me.

Marine Blue

I need someone to push me over the ledge. Or should I say cliff.

I just received records on a top end engine rebuild from 2008 by a mechanic in Dusseldorf which puts me at ease but the seller isn't willing to budge on price.

I usually do not have a hard time making decisions when it comes to cars but this is the first true classic for me and I guess I don't know what to expect. Someday I'm going to read this thread again and either or with my decision.

The Brewmeister

A 911R equipped with Sportomatic and driven by Vic Elford, Hans Hermann and Jochen Neerspasch won the grueling 1967 Marathon de la Route Rally. This info was stated in an article on the 911 Carrera GTS (with rally history) featured in January Panorama. Good luck with whatever you decide and thanks for sharing the excitement!

racerbvd

Peter Gregg had one too, and it is said that it was one of his favorite cars..

Marine Blue

I have an update...but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Ganthrithor

Getting parts for Sporto gearboxes is difficult, but when they work they're surprisingly fun to use and don't require nearly as much counter-intuitive re-learning as you might expect. In fact, the only trouble I had driving a sporto was when I got out of that car and tried to shift a MT car without using the clutch-- I was very confused as to why it didn't want to come out of gear

Sporto + targa seems like it would make for a really pleasant cruiser. Looking forward to more pictures and stories!

Marine Blue

So how exactly do you use a Sportomatic. I know it has to be in a certain gear to start it but I have no idea how it functions. I would truly appreciate any instructions.

Marine Blue

Ok, here's an update.

After spending the last couple of weeks gathering information, investigating costs for repairs and reviewing the historical documents on the car I decided to pull the trigger. Yesterday I exchanged funds for the cars title and I now own a 1969 911E Sportomatic!

As already noted, I have always loved the look of these cars but I knew prices were higher than I was willing to spend for a car in nice condition. I feel like I may have gotten lucky with this car....what do you all think?

Ganthrithor

I'm no mechanic, but the car looks nice to me! Mostly it sounds like you really wanted one of these cars, and now you have one without breaking your bank account, which must be a nice feeling! Hopefully there won't be any funny surprises.

My mom's car has a sporto box, and I've spent a fair amount of time driving it in plenty of different scenarios, so here's what I've experienced: basically, as far as I know, there's just a micro-switch in the base of the stick. When you apply any force to the stick, the switch causes the clutch to disengage, allowing you to change gears. When you release your hand with the stick in the next gear, the clutch should re-engage. Simple!

It should start in park (hard left-- there's some kind of spring-loaded lockout for park and reverse-- and forward, if I recall correctly) or neutral. Once running, using the box ~*should*~ be as simple as covering the brake (like any auto, the car will lunge when it goes into gear, and the amount of lunging will be proportional to engine speed, meaning that if you're running a high idle right after a cold start that it will lunge quite a bit), pulling out of park, and going into first gear or reverse (reverse is hard left and down IIRC).

I think first and reverse aren't synchro'ed. We've found that if the car doesn't want to go into first or reverse that grabbing another gear first, then going back and trying first or reverse a second time usually wards off any grinding or stickyness.

Once you've started driving, using the sporto should be dead-easy-- just do what you'd normally do with a third pedal, but without the third pedal.

We've had some problems getting our sporto to work correctly. When we first got the car running, there was a small oil leak somewhere that was spilling oil onto the clutch plate, so it was slipping a little bit, especially in lower gears while using much throttle. We also initially had an issue where you'd put the stick into gear, but the clutch would hesitate or not engage at all sometimes. Later we also had issues where it seemed like the gearbox would sometimes never disengage the clutch (there was a heavy drag on the stick when trying to get out of a gear, and then you wouldn't be able to go into a new gear at all-- there would either be a heavy, rubbery resistance or the lever would feel like it was going into place smoothly, but then grind right before popping into gear). I think this is being corrected presently by adjusting the electronics at the base of the stick.

Anyway, our particular gearbox has had teething issues, but our car apparently sat in a garage for about twenty years before we bought it and began the process of getting it running, so I guess that's to be expected. We think we've found the last problem with it and it's actually in pieces at the shop at the moment, but we're optimistic about getting it working consistently.

The good news is that when the gearbox works, the car is a lot of fun to drive. It's very relaxed when you want it to be: if you're not in the mood, you can basically just leave the car in second gear for around-town driving. You only really need first for hill-starts or getting off the line with alacrity. Higher gears aren't really necessary until you hit highway speeds, either. At the same time, when you're in the mood to drive quickly, the sporto is a pretty willing companion. It might be a little slower from a standing start, but once the torque converter spins up a bit you can drive the car on the throttle pretty effectively.

I've really enjoyed our sporto car, and hope we can get the gearbox working reliably. In my opinion, sporto + targa sounds like an excellent recipe for a fun GT car. Hope this info is helpful!

I'm jealous! I've been looking for good old 911 finds in SoCal for a month or so and haven't really found anything. I'm 26 and definitely don't have hundreds of thousands to spend on a car, so I can definitely empathize with your feeling of being totally priced out of that market. It must be really fun to just stumble across something like that one day!

Marine Blue

I have to admit, I'm very excited about the purchase.

Thank you very much for the very detailed operation on the Sportomatic. It actually sounds very promising and better than I expected, very much like a manual but with no clutch.....truly the predecessor to the PDK.

Plavan

Congrats!

My 1969 911 race car started out as a 1969 911 E Sportomatic. When I bought it in 2001, I paid a whopping $2500.....lol It was complete, but in pieces- Perfect race car project at the time.

My 72T original #'s matching car project has been increasing value just sitting in the garage.

Even if you sit on it, you will not loose anything- Have fun!