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Is the paint flat or is that just the pic? I don't mean that in any bad way at all .
It is indeed flat white primer. I consider this effort to be "Phase 1" with the goals being to evaluate the car thoroughly and make a decent presentation at PVGP.
Evaluation required a complete interior removal and the removal of all bolt on body panels. The roof paint was totally blown up, and lots of hole repairs meant every body panel ended up with primer on it.
Evaluating the mechanicals meant getting it running and driving. Of course every square centimeter of the fuel system needed to be rebuilt, and I found some very interesting pre-production mechanical improvisations built by the factory in a number of systems. I will share these here.
As one would expect, electrical systems were in need of service. Fortunately every single strand of original wiring remains un-molested in #1. Just for fun a good amount of the circuitry is wired DIFFERENTLY than the production cars (and diagrams) which made for some extended hours at electric repairs.
The interior is the most interesting part of the car. Every piece is hand crafted out of some sort of polyurethane plastic or molded fiberglass (not fiberboard) Every panel weighs significantly more than production panels, and the results are amazing... in spite of its hard life the pieces remain entirely original. un-warped, and in quite good condition. Getting it all out and cleaning it up was a lot of fun, just because every piece is so unique. The factory used a hand-written numbering system when building the parts and "001" can be found in pink crayon in many parts of the car. More on this later.
While it got significantly drilled on, poorly painted, and banged up on the outside, the rest of the car remains incredibly original, even down to some pre-production cooling hoses that remained along with many hand made original bits.
The still working MPH odometer, probably installed in 1983 at federalization, reads 81K miles, so true miles are unknown. So while running and driving now, it is in need of significant restoration to make it "right" again.
Did the owner from 1983-2011 know what he/she had?
I'll comment, having talked a little bit to the gentleman.
Sort of, but not exactly. He said knew it was relatively early in the series, and as such had made a factory inquiry. IIRC, in the return letter, the factory clerk mis-interpreted the VIN as being the 11th car....but didn't realize that the first 10 VINS weren't utilized --- a fact that Jim says has since been confirmed by Porsche!
At the point that the transfer was made from the Craigslist ad, the owner just needed it gone. He said he was happy it was going to an enthusiast and relieved that we were "professionals" ( I assume not redneck buyers ).
Thanks again, Drooman, for doing all the right things with this car and sharing with all of us!!!!! Takes some serious skills and effort to make it look so clean. Major respect here. Awesome.
Amazing progress ! And thanks for being the caretaker of the hobby's "holy grail" car.
Clearly you are worthy!
Thanks tass and to all who have supported the efforts. This community has been a huge help in my 928 adventures in general.
I very much wanted to bring #1 to Tass's wilbraham event this weekend, but I'm working on the car pretty much non stop just to get it to Pittsburgh. Unfortunately I need very day between now and when the transporter shows up.
a prototype camshaft on #1...notice anything different ?
Wow , is that some sort of protective layer over the teeth. It looks like a thin metal laminate. Also the gear appears to be made from solid gold that was reclaimed from the Ark of the Covenant. Those darn early cars.
The heavy duty hand made interior construction methods paid off. These are all original panels, vinyl, pasha, pod, dash, carpets, etc. All were removed, cleaned, a few areas of pealing vinyl re-glued, and reassembled. Imagine if they never cut costs in production interiors...how many could look like the oldest original 928 interior in existence?
The interior has a unique look to it, while predominantly green vinyl, the A pillars, headliner, and hatch liners are black. Note no rear sun visors. Every piece of original carpet along with unique pre-production pedal pads remain after 40 years
The junk tray under the glovebox... heavy polyurethane construction in a complex shape. Strangely covered in green leather (the only green leather in the car) Also has an added aluminum panel with green carpet to close up a hole next to the kick panel
Wow, that's impressive. When I was a kid I always wanted to be an archeologist, and it seems like what you're doing with #1 would be my grown-up equivalent to that dream. Keep up the amazing work!
07-04-2017, 11:01 AM
