The Project Pad

I was going to wait to start this thread until I moved the car to its new home, but I've finally been working on related projects so I figured I should start this thread now or I never would. Before we get into a conversation about the state of 911 prices, or how "they really aren't that fast"- I get it and agree, but for me this is an investment. I can always find money for car projects but never for savings so hopefully this will be a perfect solution

I bought this car in April, it's a non-sunroof 1976 911 Coupe S with fiberglass widebody fenders front and rear that was bought as a complete roller sans engine/trans. I believe it is a Better Bodies kit, it uses 993 headlights and their fenders, I believe it's proper nickname is a "slope-nose." Either way, I don't like it. Luckily the original headlights were included in the sale, and a pair of regular widebody fenders aren't too expensive.

The engine/trans is a 2.7 I bought from the owner of my company, Rennline Inc. (a main part of why I own a 911 in the first place- follow us on Instagram @Rennline and like us on Facebook ) out of a 1976 (?) Targa. It's a 5spd 915 trans with 4 bolt output flanges which I personally haven't seen before. The plan is to go through the motor, it's relatively low miles so hopefully it won't need a full rebuild, but it definitely needs a thorough regasketing and some love. The plan for the engine is a pretty stock-ish N/A build. I will either be doing ITB's on Megasquirt or a kind of CIS-replica manifold which would be much easier on a number of fronts with the potential to look more factory. All the CIS stuff on this motor is rotted, and since I can simply run the factory ignition and have MS just do fuel, it should be a very reliable and easy setup to tune. The trans will stay stock with it's factory open diff.

The plan for the rest of the car is to upgrade/replace all the bushings with our High-Density series (85A) and then probably do some Tarett Engineering sway bars and a full smattering of Rennline parts inside and out. Goal is for it to be a loud, (relatively) low, cool street car with enough grunt to be fun and a nice, tight chassis without being overly stiff (so likely no monoballs).

Anyway, here are some pics!

Bring it home:



After a quick wash/wax before getting put into storage in May until hopefully this week:





The donor:





2.7 Flat 6 post first quick power wash



Wishing it could be a turbo project like its two neighbors



Still so much cleaning to do...



It's neighbor:





Thanks for following along, looking forward to adding updates once in my own new shop!!

Dude, good choice. It doesn't matter if they aren't that fast. That's not what it's about. In fact, I think that what's wrong with car culture these days. I love my e30 M3 in spite of the fact that it is significantly slower than a modern camry in a straight line (and in spite of it just blowing up a few days ago ) . Nothing can compare to the emotion these old cars can convey in addition to the way they carve up corners.

Plus, like you said, that car will be like a bank account for you. It may or may not be a great investment, but it damn sure won't lose you money and you can enjoy the hell out of it in the meantime!

Dude. Awesome.

I was hoping to see some 964/993 builds on this site.

We tend to have similar sensibilities around here, and will be nice to see a well executed build as it progresses.

For a second there, I read 2.7 as a 2.7t and wondered how Paul hadn't kicked you out yet hahaha

Glad to see the progress getting documented here!

cool. low boost turbo set up?

Nice!

Nice! What are you doing with the 993 stuff? I plan on doing a 993 headlight conversion on my 968 and need fenders to cut up.

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Thanks for the interest and comments everyone! I'm really looking forward to this one, I'm not expecting it to be the greatest investment in terms of return, but it will definitely be a profitable endeavor. Plus, rolling around in this thing this summer in this with straight pipes and Gromit riding shotgun? Should make for a fun summer

To be honest this is going to be a pretty fast/lame project. There might be some fun stuff regarding the Megasquirt conversion, and the engine is going to get completely cleaned up but nothing crazy. I wish I could justiy a VR6 swap but... that investment thing.

Here's a couple more pics, I picked these up a while ago on a crazy good sale so they're brand new 16x7 and 16x9 Fuch reps. Stagger, yo. They're going to get media blasted and an RSR style finish like the wheels on Tom's gray car above. None of this polished/gloss stuff

alxdgr8 wrote:Nice! What are you doing with the 993 stuff? I plan on doing a 993 headlight conversion on my 968 and need fenders to cut up.

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Even though I'll never want to run it I'm going to keep it. This paint is decent, better than anything I could do for reasonable money so i think I'm actually going to swap fenders, wrap it and keep all the 993 stuff. I have a good connection here that is awesome, and that way I can sell it wrapped but with good guards red paint underneath and the 'original' body kit.

And another of Tom's car... #FuchGoals

Dat intercooler ... Nice wheels! Rolling around in a pcar in the summer is kind of my dream.

chaloux wrote:Dat intercooler ... Nice wheels! Rolling around in a pcar in the summer is kind of my dream.

PRY4SNO wrote:

chaloux wrote:Dat intercooler ... Nice wheels! Rolling around in a pcar in the summer is kind of my dream.

Summer should be fun and fruitful

That's the only way to do an intercooler in those cars when you're running a duck tail. Turbo tails (whale tales) give you a lot more lateral room so the intercooler ends up being big and flat.

WOMBAT wrote:For a second there, I read 2.7 as a 2.7t and wondered how Paul hadn't kicked you out yet hahaha

Glad to see the progress getting documented here!

Honestly if I did a 2.7TT my day job might be at risk

I wish I could justify it or a VR, either would cost a small fraction of this thing.

loxxrider wrote:Dude, good choice. It doesn't matter if they aren't that fast. That's not what it's about. In fact, I think that what's wrong with car culture these days. I love my e30 M3 in spite of the fact that it is significantly slower than a modern camry in a straight line (and in spite of it just blowing up a few days ago ) . Nothing can compare to the emotion these old cars can convey in addition to the way they carve up corners.

Plus, like you said, that car will be like a bank account for you. It may or may not be a great investment, but it damn sure won't lose you money and you can enjoy the hell out of it in the meantime!

Thanks! Like you said, this will give me 4 wheels to throw money at knowing I'll get it back out. Even if the return isn't astronomical it will be good enough to make it worth it because like all of us I always have to have a project going and I usually don't get much of any of it back haha.

I used a loan to buy the 911 so that's building credit and gave me the extra cash to buy the engine and trans without saving/scrounging. The goal is to finish paying this loan, be done with my student loans, have a nice credit history, all coincide at the same time and hopefully home ownership will result at that point (3yrs)

Sad to hear about the M3!! How big of a boom?

loxxrider wrote:Dude, good choice. It doesn't matter if they aren't that fast. That's not what it's about. In fact, I think that what's wrong with car culture these days. I love my e30 M3 in spite of the fact that it is significantly slower than a modern camry in a straight line (and in spite of it just blowing up a few days ago ) . Nothing can compare to the emotion these old cars can convey in addition to the way they carve up corners.

I had the 90 out today and was contemplating the opportunity cost of the 07kT

Dad currently has an 83 widebody S (all steel) and there is a 76 911s just up the road from me that I've looked several times over the last two years. While his asking price is probably fair, I couldn't bring myself to part with 9k for a non running but complete car that needs paint and possible minor rust repairs et al. (at least I wouldn't be able to keep the rally car)

Given that its not stock anyway, I'm surprised you aren't opting for one of the later motors. A 3.2 sure makes up for a lot that the 2.7 doesn't have.

Never mind, I just checked prices on ebay.... I totally get it.

mr_aj_johnson wrote:Never mind, I just checked prices on ebay.... I totally get it.

Hahaha yeah that's why. The 2.7 was available and priced within the range of affordability plus it's technically the correct engine and it's the RS 7R mag case which is relatively desirable.