Posts tagged 911
Oil Leak(s): Progress
Oil Leak(s): Progress

Previously... we had identified this point of leakage from the cooler area, and eliminated the cooler itself from our enquiries - it pressure tested fine.

Leak.gif

With cooler removed, the area looks like this:

IMG_3013.jpeg

And Porsche has been kind enough to give us a clue about one possible source for a leak:

TSB_Oil_Pipe1491627506.jpg

Close up of the cast-in pipe on my engine:

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At this point we have a suspect, but no proper smoking gun. Because, on my engine, the side of the cast-in pipe outside the oil cooler cavity is in exactly the same state, and is not leaking.

Still, it can't hurt to follow the procedure in the service bulletin, which can be summarised as "gunk it up".

With the help of those more expert than me (thanks DDK), I realised there was another potential problem in the oil cooler area.

On the left, the studs behind the cooler on my car. On the right, an example picture of what should be there...

As well as the obvious difference of the domed nut, more importantly the correct washers are thick and have a chamfer on the inside edge to retain an o-ring. Same as all the other stud nuts. My engine had no o-rings.

Correct parts ordered from my OPC and fitted, and, boom!

Leaks are gone.

Phew, simple fix in the end...

2020 Rebuild 1Richard FryPorsche, 911, engine, oil leak
Lightweights and Seats
Lightweights and Seats

For a long time I have regarded the lightweight variants of the 2.0S, 2.2S and 2.4S as inspiration. Not super hardcore as they emerged from the factory, but perhaps would have been purchased by folks who intended to do a bit of mild competition. And which had a few "sports purpose" parts. Of course some were used at the basis for serious competition cars too, but I'm talking about the milder ex factory spec.

For example one classic reference is the very early '69 lightweight car 119300009:

The 1970 marketing material tended to show the S in lightweight guise.

I believe that, initially, lightweight was the standard spec for a German market S (customers could optionally reinstate the luxuries, free of charge):

Consider also the M471 lightweight option offered for the slightly later 2.4S, as shown here):

My car incorporates a few gentle (reversible) references to those cars, including LSD, 380mm steering wheel and the 7R wheels on the back. So I was pleased to buy these seats today. Aged Recaro-style lightweights, similar to the M471 car pictured above, with nice patina (sun-faded corduroy - yes please) but not knackered:

Admittedly I’m blurring years and specs, but they feel right in the car. I like them as a finishing touch.

2020 Rebuild 1Richard Fryporsche, 911, Recaro, Sports Purpose
Oil Leak(s): Oil Cooler?

The main problem revealed by initial running was a fairly sizeable oil leak. Or leaks.

Not quite a gush, but more of a drip than a weep, if you know what I mean. Seemed to be coming from the oil cooler area:

Leak.gif

I had lazily / optimistically just bunged the original oil cooler back in, cleaned but not pressure tested, so the cooler seemed the first likely culprit to check.

Following a modest investment in a Stomski Racing pressure tester (and yes, I do realise there are cheaper ways to achieve the same result, but I can never resist buying another slightly obscure tool...), the result: nope, cooler is fine:

IMG_3010.jpg

So having established that the cooler itself was probably not the culprit, I disappeared down the rabbit hole of internet wisdom about the cooler-engine seals. Long story short, there are various types:

Scanned+from+a+Xerox+multifunction+device0011306861983.jpg

...and many folks believe that not all types seal properly...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/795980-oil-leak-dilemma-part-2-damn.html

So I got all excited thinking this might be my problem.

I sent this pic to Barry....

IMG_3012.jpeg

... and proposed that the pattern to the left of the large hole suggests that one of the high pressure seals (at the top, out of shot) has leaked, oil has ended up in the recessed area of the cooler, and made its way out via that blackened channel. Not necessarily during my ownership.

Barry was, as usual, the brains of the party. He pointed out that my leak happened even when turning over on the starter to get a bit of oil pressure before the first run. So at very low oil pressure, maybe 10psi. He wasn't buying my failed seal idea, and when I switched on my brain I had to agree.

So I ordered a new set of seals from my OPC, on the basis that I might as well replace them and the Porsche ones were the most likely to work. For the record, Porsche sent the green type. Many thanks to Paul at OPC Guildford for delivering them FoC. A quick go in the ultrasonic cleaner, and then the cooler went back on the engine:

IMG_3060.jpeg
2020 Rebuild 1Richard FryPorsche, engine, 911
Throttle Linkage Simplification - “Morse” Cable Scheme

Because I'm a genius, unlike those Porsche engineers, I've decided I can do better than them in a couple of areas.

Hence the non-standard cables highlighted below:

DSC_8624 copy.jpg

The lower one in the pic is for the throttle.

I'm not a massive fan of the standard throttle linkage on a '70 car. It's an awful lot of parts to do a simple job:

throttle+linkage+before1160974842.jpg

Plenty to go wrong, in an area where going wrong can have unhappy consequences.

This thread on Pelican suggested an alternative scheme: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/309504-early-911-replacing-throttle-linkage-morse-cable.html

All the missing bits in this version of the diagram are replaced by a "Morse" cable:

throttlelinkageafter.jpg

In my case the specific type of cable I have used is called a Teleflex TFXTreme. Most commonly used on powerboats, I believe, and available from your friendly local yacht chandlery. Incidentally in buying these it turns out that, although Yacht Tax seems to exist, it's nowhere near as ridiculous as Porsche Tax.

Anyway.... this sort of thing:

The advantages of this type are high quality materials (corrosion resistant) and, importantly, small bend radius - nominal spec is 100mm minimum, but (in new-out-of-the-box state anyway) they remain smooth well beyond that spec. Point is they are flexible enough to easily make the control run for the throttle.

Final note - obvs my genius statement is slightly tongue in cheek. In fact Porsche changed the design later on, to get rid of all that bell-crank on the side of the gearbox nonsense. So a 964 has a cable run fairly similar to mine (but less flashy cable).

Click here for the full restoration story...

2019 Rebuild 1Richard Fryporsche, 911, morse, cable, Restoration, throttle
The ex-Eric Clapton Porsche 911S ... blah blah blah

I will admit that I find the high-end collector car adverts, which tend to prominently mention the most minor of celebrity associations, a bit silly. Celeb celeb blah blah blah.

I should say I used to find them a bit silly. Until today. Today I have established beyond reasonable doubt that my car is ex Eric Clapton.

So now I've decided it's cool.

The story goes that a (Porsche) friend of mine recently attended the UK premiere of the new Eric Clapton biopic "Life in 12 Bars". He mentioned that in the film there's a brief shot taken from old home movies, around 1970, of an orange 911 whizzing up the drive of Eric's house. Hmmm, there weren't so many RHD 911s in 1970, and even fewer orange ones. So I watched the film. It's rather good, I think.

My favourite part is the bit with MY ACTUAL CAR in it:

2018 Rebuild 1Richard FryEric Clapton, porsche, 911, 1970
Full Stockbroker Spec

What have you been doing for 2 years?

Researching History (continued) 

So, the car was Guards Red, Fat Backside, Whale Tail. 

I said it was the full stockbroker treatment. But luckily our unknown 80s Australian fashion victim was, seemingly, not a stockbroker. Or not a very successful one anyway. We can tell this because the update was, luckily, not very thorough. Not much money spent, lots of original parts survived.

The first item not-even-slightly updated was the engine:

MFI type code shown here. According to Michael Burgess' website http://911mfi.com/5.html, this is correct for the engine. Also note date codes on the cylinders: 6/69 so almost certainly original to the car.

In summary the original engine, MFI, intake system, oil union etc, gearbox survived. Some ancillary parts are wrong (throttle linkages, cam cover paint, fan shroud and trumpets painted, oil lines wrong, oil cooler has repair so probably scrap, etc etc). But basically it's all there.

Phew!

There's plenty of further evidence to suggest that our Australian forward-dating friend was on a tight budget. For example, as this pic shows, the red paint liberally hit the outside of the car, but in other places a black rattle can (with very little disassembly) seems to have been used.

Which is why (up to date pics below) there's still a fair amount of original orange paint to be found in the nooks and crannies. 

Might be useful for a colour match. Nice to see, anyway.

Last pic of the 80s legend.

Note
1) Vigorous use of the under-bonnet rattle can
2) The mod to replace the front-mounted oil cooler with a length of pipe. Maybe the cooler got damaged, or maybe it didn't fit with the new front bumper etc.
3) Front calipers are not correct - should be alloy of course.

2016 PreparationsRichard FryPorsche, 1970, 911, History
History
History

What have you been doing for 2 years?

Researching History

Most of the credit for this goes to the previous owner in Australia, who bought the car as a resto project. He was kind enough to share what he'd found out. Thanks!
Here's what I know so far:

Porsche Cars Australia and Porsche Cars Great Britain have confirmed that it was delivered as a Signal Orange right hand drive 911S in the UK. Production completion date was 1 December 1969. 
Ian at Porsche Club GB has it in his records. According to him it was first registered as CLK 92H, with the LK signifying London.

Three Signal Orange UK S-es were registered early in the 70 model year. Mine has supplying dealer "Porsche Cars GB" on the CoA. Demonstrators and press cars? The other two are fully restored.

DVLA says that my car has not been registered here in the UK since 1983. 
Australian Customs say they have been tracking incoming cars by chassis number since 1989 and it must have been imported to Australia prior to that as it does not show up in their system.
So it seems likely the car originally travelled from the UK to Australia around 1983.

Starting at the other end of its life (2010), the car was sold by Exclusive Cars in Perth (Tasmania) to a private buyer shortly before the PO bought it. 
It was last registered in Tasmania as SI2687 in 2006.
The car was brought to Tasmania from Melbourne, having been bought at a Fowles auction around 2001, after which it sat for some time in the workshop of Berry Motors (VolvWreck) before being transported to Tasmania. By that time it was in the red 'wide body' guise.

It was last registered in Victoria on 22 February 2001 as NMH695. Porsche Cars Melbourne say it went through their workshop in the mid 1990s, although they no longer have detailed records from that time.

To get some pics into an otherwise colourless post, here are the two sister cars. 

First one, owned by a DDK-er who has helped me out on many occasions - thanks! 
This one has a chassis number about 40 below mine, and an engine number about 50 below. We've also compared "build" numbers (the numbers stamped into the dash, near the ashtray). All seems in order...

 

Second one. I don't know the owner - if you're reading, please do get in touch.
This car is one chassis number below mine. Perhaps they were nose-to-tail on the production line.
Photographed by me at Porsche Classics at the Castle, Hedingham.

If anyone has any history of my car based on the registrations I mention above...
UK 1969-1983?: CLK 92H
Victoria, Australia 1983?-2001: NMH695
Tasmania, Australia 2001-2010: SI2687

... or any other info about the sister orange 70 S-es, I'd love to hear it. Please get in touch via the contact form on this site.

2016 PreparationsRichard FryPorsche, restoration, inspiration, 911
Parts

Here's what arrived with the car. Lots of parts. It's a full size build-your-own-early-911 jigsaw puzzle! With some missing pieces and some extraneous bits from another puzzle.

2014Richard Fryporsche, 911, parts, 1970, restoration
Collecting from Southampton

This part of the import process was also very easy. Turn up at warehouse, bit of paperwork and id checking, winch car onto trailer, off we go. A van was also involved, for the many boxes of spares.

Thanks to Mel of flyingbluedog transport. Mel did the trailer bit while I was being Man with Van.

2014Richard Fryporsche, 911, 1970, shipping, import, Restoration
Leaving Queensland
Leaving Queensland

Here's my car at the docks in Brisbane.

Some spares were stashed inside, some can be seen on the pallet. Engine, gearbox, suspension and steering were all temporarily back on the car, so it was a rolling chassis to make it easier to handle.

I'd never imported a car before. The process of booking space in a container, and sorting out the various paperwork, was made very simple by my shipping agents. Many thanks to Kingstown Shipping (in Hull) for that.

Import Duty and VAT on modern cars are a significant cost, but there is an exemption for historics. Using the Certificate of Authenticity from Porsche and a few other documents, Kingstown helped me to get the required exemption from the UK tax authorities. Total import duty and VAT were about 5% of purchase price. 

2014Richard Fryporsche, 911, 1970, Restoration, history
Australian eBay
Australian eBay

I live in the UK, own a couple of Porsches, and was looking for an early 911 as a restoration project. Preferably an S, preferably RHD. 

As you know, the condition of these cars can vary enormously, so it's important to see the car in the metal and get an expert inspection. So... buying this one on Australian eBay was probably not the wisest thing I've ever done.

There was a lot going for it though, in my rose-tint-obscured eyes.

  1. It's an S
  2. RHD
  3. Matching Numbers (chassis, engine and gearbox), with Certificate of Authenticity from Porsche
  4. Not ridiculously rusty, not obviously mangled
  5. Original colour: Signal Orange. We like. You might not! But it is a proper 70s colour. A Safety Colour, in fact, in Porsche terminology. Hence the name of this website.
  6. As well as the engine and box, most of the important ancillaries seemed to be there: Original MFI system, Oil console etc
  7. Came with some interesting spares, including a couple of NOS parts that are not easy to find

A UK car, exported to Australia quite early in its life. Unlike a lot of resto projects found in the UK, it doesn't look as if it's been in a swamp for 20 years - road salt kills our cars. No road salt in Australia. 

The vendor was super-helpful and had posted an extensive set of pics of the parts included in the sale. He had intended to restore it but the project had stalled. He'd got as far as stripping it down, had some work done on the front pan, sills and rear wings. The usual areas. Engine and gearbox untouched. I think they last ran sometime around 2011.

Deal done, time to think about shipping.

2014Richard FryPorsche, 911, Restoration, History, 1970