my 911 is almost done

[Kidasters]

In February, I dropped my 911 with my mechanic for a bunch of "small" things to be fixed, but the larger goal in mind was to get it repainted. My mechanic knew a good body man, that would do a good paint job/bodywork for a reasonable price. I agreed to it.

When I dropped the car with my wife - I said I'd see it again by October. My mechanic is good - probably the best Porsche guy in Texas for sure. But, he's slow. Which is OK. I needed the space in the garage to hit the other projects.

I went by his shop on Friday. Car is recently back from paint. They've got a few small things to fix. I hope to get it on Friday.

[jgerock]

NICE! You will need a larger (or a 2nd) garage.

[Kidasters]

Hah - I've needed a bigger garage for a long time Jim.

If I squeeze the cars over just a bit - I can fit my motorcycle in between them.......

[Harv]

Nice Targa.

John

[Lebowski]

Saw your post on Pelican, paint looks really clean... I'm terrible at waiting for these things. Lucky you have a couple of other gorgeous cars to keep you occupied!

Whose duck tail are you using? I've been leaning towards the Stratton duck for my '78 Targa but haven't pulled the trigger yet...

[Kidasters]

Hah - yeah, that's me on Pelican too.

It's a Stratton duck. I had a conversation with my mechanic about it that made me laugh:

Me: Do you like the duck?

Mike: It was a ton of work to fit.

Me: It's supposed to be one of the best ones out there.

Mike: I've only ever seen the factory ones. All the others fit badly.

Nice.

Personally, I think it fits fine, and I'm pretty happy with it. We'll see how it wears - if any cracks develop. One thing I'm going to try - I bought the seine systems prop, and I'm going to remove the hydraulic lifter. The lifter has so much pressure (even just the stock lifter), it causes the left rear corner to stick up.

That said - Gary is pretty easy to deal with, and from what I've seen, his duck sits closer to the originals that any other I've seen in pictures.

Thanks for the kind words guys. Friday can't get here soon enough.

[M3M3]

um....jealous!

:-)

[jgerock]

Ken - what's the story with what appears to be a Gulf Blue one in the background at the shop???

Did you have your Fuchs wheels refinished? They look fantastic.

[Kidasters]

The car in the background is crazy. It's being built by a guy that apparently plans to race it in Norway. Why Norway - I have no idea. I know it's been in the shop for at least the last 2 years. Just the paint on that car cost $20,000. Just the exterior. Painting the roll bar the same color cost more.

They just installed the harness and the engine. It's a twin plugged beast with PMO carbs. I'll ask what size it is, but i'm betting it's a 3.6 or 3.8. It's a fantastic looking car. I'll get some more pics when I'm there to get my car on Friday.

On the Fuchs - just polished. They are 10 footers right now - they really need to be refinished. But - not this year! Maybe next year. In order to get it done right, apparently I need to send them to a guy in Arizona.

On the top picture, the silver 911 has a good story too. That one has been at Mike's shop for the last 12 years. It's a 1971 911T. A few years ago, a guy walked into Mike's shop offering him 40,000 cash for that car. He had it with him too. The owner turned him down. I don't know why. He just tells Mike "Work on it when you feel like it". I don't even know whats wrong with it - but it just sits there.

It's probably worth at least 50 now. A friend of mine bought a 72 911E (with a bunch of "S" parts - like "S" brakes) locally for 18,000. Held it a week and flipped it for $40,000. And the engine and transmission leaked like crazy. Mike quoted him $10K for the teardown and reseal of both engine and transmission (it's all labor). Instead of doing anything, my buddy flipped it.

Good grief, huh?

[jgerock]

Hmm. this local one is looking like it needs to be driven.

[Kidasters]

Interesting car Jim. The foglights say 1983 (first year of the cabriolet) - The headlights (H4's) say a later car. Then again - those are easy to change.

The easiest way to tell - if it's a manual top, with lots of snaps, it's 83-85. Powered top didn't come out unitil 86.

I love driving mine. It only has 190 HP or so out of the 3.2, but it's more fun to drive than my 230 hp E46.

[Kidasters]

TOMORROW!!!!!!!!

I may not be able to sleep tonight. It's like the night before christmas.

Monday was our 12th wedding anniversary. We're going out to dinner Saturday night. I told my wife, we're going in the grown-up car (with tiny back seats).....

Wherever we go - Valet's can stick it......

[Harv]

Gratuitous picture whoring of my 912.

John

[jgerock]

Gratuitous picture whoring of my 912.

John

Any luck finding replacement fog/driving lamps?? I see you removed the old ones.

[Kidasters]

John -

You were really lucky getting that car. It's fantastic. The longhood body style is very cool. I would love to be able to get my hands on such a clean 912.

Oh - and the H4's look good too.

My car was a train wreck when I first got it. Of course, that's what you get for $7500. Since I bought it, I've:

Rewrapped steering wheel

Had all gauges rebuilt/refaced at NHSpeedometer. Did LED upgrade at the same time.

Replaced all interior carpet.

Replaced rear deck.

Replaced all of the vinyl around the back seats (old stuff was badly sun damaged)

Rebuilt Targa Top

Replaced A/C system (new condensers, front and rear. New evaporator. New, more powerful blower. New rheostat controller for the fan).

Added voltmeter.

Replaced crappy cardboard blower fan cover in the trunk with cool looking aluminum cover.

Replaced fresh air intake plenum seals.

Upgraded to 993 aero mirrors.

Replaced stock shifter with factory short shifter.

Replaced all bushings in the shift linkage.

Installed Gate shifter. - Side note; When I bought the car - all of the bushings in the shift linkage were bad. Shifting was like stirring a bowl full of noodles. I was cruising down the interstate, and went to shift into 5th, and put it in 3rd. Lucky to catch it before over-rev!

Rebuilt Autoheat module with parts from 2 other dead ones.

New Windshield (old one had a huge crack in it)

New front and rear window seals.

All new seals - targa bar, front window, doors.

Removed all fuel injectors and had them cleaned (Thanks Witchhunter performance).

Re-sealed valve covers.

Replaced engine thermostat o-rings.

Replaced oil temperature sensor.

Replaced engine breather hoses (all of them).

Replaced spark plugs.

Replaced spark plug wires with Clewett wires.

Replaced bad Cylinder Head Temperature Sensor.

Replaced missing hose from heat exchanger to flapper box (driver's side).

Replaced motor and transmission mounts.

Changed transmission fluid.

Changed engine oil to Brad Penn 20/50.

Replaced alternator.

Replaced Fan housing (old one was cracked), and hold down strap.

Replaced fan.

Replaced ECU chip with "Steve Wong" upgraded chip.

There's other little stuff here and there that I'm probably forgetting, but that's most of it. It will be nice to just drive it for awhile.

But not today. Another rainy day in Houston means the garage queen sits inside again...