Posts tagged porsche
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
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
Pedal Cluster

Here's the rufurbished pedal cluster. Being RHD it has some slightly weird and wonderful extension rods, to bridge the gap from the accelerator and clutch pedals to the centre tunnel (much simpler in the LHD version).

As well as the plating and paint, it has new bushes and springs.

Let's have some pedal photos:

2018 Rebuild 1Richard Fryporsche, Restoration
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