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Hi everyone, thanks for reading and looking -- a bunch of photos below. I would love to have the benefit of the opinions and knowledge of the group before I proceed with an engine rebuild (and whatever else turns out to be necessary).
The car is finished in Sienna-Metallic (original color) and has the Appearance Group trim option (extra trim around the wheel wells and across the sills), factory air with center console, Blaupunkt Bamberg system that receives shortwave stations and has the electronic tuner -- and the dictating machine option with the microphone that reels out of the center console.
I say garage-find (sorta) because I put it in the garage 7 years ago. The car was my father's car and I inherited it and put it away because its in need of an engine rebuild. I had expected to get to it before now -- but you know how life is. She hasn't been started in years but ran when put away. As you can see, she is cosmetically in fine shape having been repainted in 1989 and not driven much and always garaged since. The wheels need to have that paint stripped from them and refinished but that's high on my list, along with a refurb of the top, as the engine rebuild occurs.
Back in the 80s the car started smoking which got progressively worse. Fumes rising from the passenger side rear wheel well and, before she was put away, they started coming through the air vents into the cockpit. I have paperwork stretching back to 1980 when it was purchased from the original owner by my Father. The last time the car was checked out it was diagnosed as a bad valve guide and the studs were purportedly fine -- I sure hope that turns out to actually be the case. But would a bad valve guide cause such smoking?
The car had the thermal reactors removed and Carrera chain tensioners installed but it still has the 5-bladed fan (which I will replace).
I'd appreciate any advice, comments, questions or any discourse at all. The car has special meaning to me, having been in my life so long (I took it on dates when I was 17!) and I want to do right by the pretty ol' girl.
Dictating machine wtf!!! I didn't even know that existed!! That is one really awesome and very special car. Please put it back in shape, and don't deface it with tacky cheeseball mods.
I promise you that there will be ZERO aesthetic mods and the only mechanical ones will be to rectify the problems caused by the emissions equipment. I want the car to look like it did the day it rolled off the assembly line.
I might seek out another opinion with respect to the engine rebuild. Unmodified, the middies engines do have a reputation to require engine work at very low mileages. My understanding is much of the problem stems from Porsche complying with emissions regulations and running the car too hot...fewer fan blades resulting in much higher engine temps.
Smoke can come from all sorts of places in an a/c 911. If an oil leak above the manifold drips on it, you can easily have smoke into the cabin. Overfilling the oil tank can also result in oil coming out all over the place. But hey, nice car....love the dictaphone!
Wow, cosmetically the car looks great. The interior is stellar. Extra trim on wheel wells and sills is crazy too. I like how the knee pad on the dash is cork color too. The steering wheel has those funky notches as well. Chrome door handles, stainless targa bar, cool. Sorry, I am no help on the mechanical side of things.....
Thank you all for the replies. The car has not been started in 4 years and I don't want to try without having the tank drained and refinished so as not to make things worse (I used Sta-Bil but I am sure the gas has still turned to gunk at this point).
I am going to get a second opinion. I have a mechanic that I trust very much and I've scheduled the car to be brought it and given whatever it needs beginning on Oct 17 of this year. His opinion would be the second, I trust him and have used him for another classic car that I have owned for 7 years (a 68 Volvo 1800S) -- the last evaluation was done by another mechanic here in Central NJ who, in my opinion, did wrong by my Father. He had taken it out of storage and had it gone over to the tune of $12k in the early 2000s -- which should have been enough to rebuild the entire thing but he did nothing of the sort. The car still smoked and just did not respond or sound as a 911 should. This was the point at which he handed the car over to me. This unscrupulous mechanic was the one who claimed the studs were fine - so I am not putting a lot of stock in that although I hope it is the case. If its just the "triangle of death" I would be really pleased.
I had hoped to get to her in short order but you know how it is -- life intrudes on our plans.
My memory is that the smoke was curling out more towards the front of the passenger side wheel well rather than the rear.
Well, good luck in your endeavor. Keep us posted on the progress and don't hesitate to ask questions. In the meanwhile, the brotherhood of the middies proudly welcomes you as a member
And thank you all for just the comments of encouragement or compliments as well. I have loved this car since I was a little boy so its really dear to my heart. Finally being able to bring her back to life is something I've dreamed of for years and years. I wish I could do the work myself but I don't have the expertise or the garage space to be able to do this kind of work.
The engine is my chief concern and I do trust my mechanic but I want to know what's going on, and not be flying into this blind. I'm certain there will be other issues with the car having sat for so long.
Another thing I have to address aside from the wheel refurbishing is repairing the Targa top. Funny(ish) story -- my Dad let me take her on a date when I was 18 and as I was attaching the roof the girl came out onto the porch and I became so distracted I forgot to lock down the top. When I left her house later that night I re-enacted the famous Memorex ad with the top flying away. The leather of that original top is in great shape but the frame was shattered. My Dad got it replaced but the locks on that top have broken so I want to have it repaired but re-skinned with the original top. Any recommendations as to who to have do that job?
Here's a few more of her from over the years. Cars are female but when I was a kid I nicknamed the car "Clyde" because I thought the coloring and face reminded me of Clint's Orangutan in Every Which Way But Loose and it stuck. It might seem a dismissive name but trust me, it isn't.
Proud to be part of the Middie club. I'm sure its because I grew up with this car but -- the last of the chrome, the very last of the narrow bodies but with the big bumpers (that I truly love)... I love all the air-cooled cars but there isn't another era of 911 that I would rather have.
Oh - and here's another question I've always had -- is this how the keys came originally? The leather pouch as metal bands at the top, if you squeeze from the sides it opens up and the key drops inside and the pouch slides easily into your pocket.
What size are the Fuchs? Are they 15x6 and 7? The smoke entering the front right is still likely from oil dripping onto the heat exchangers and then entering through the heater footwell. You don't have a front oil cooler right? if you did and it was leaky I still doubt it gets hot enough to burn the oil that could leak up there.
Fuchs - yes, they are the original wheels that came with the car. I do not believe any oil cooler modification was ever made so I don't think there's one up front.
Make sure that whoever does your engine is very experienced with mag-cased engines and knows precisely what to do.
I would also strongly advise you to install the optional fender-mounted oil cooler system. If Porsche would have equipped ALL 2.7 cars with that, these would have rarely been problematic.
08-18-2016, 09:39 PM
77 911S targa garage find (sorta) w/special options - need advice
