Porsche Carrera 3.0 1977

Engine

2010-12-22T23:16:00.000-08:00

Engine back in after being rebuilt it is now a short stroke 3.2 and uses 964 cams everything is new or refurbed the cost is ridiculous and something I want to forget about. The car was run in and tuned on the dyno. Gearbox also received attention with a new 4th gear being the main issue.

Carrera Tail

2010-11-30T23:06:00.000-08:00

This is a new old stock Carrera tail, which is fibreglass over the base metal frame. They are no longer available and I think I was lucky to get this with a brand new rubber lip and also the rarely seen inner metal piece.

Needless to say though, nothing is easy and the original factory coating was very hard, but not a sound finish to paint over. This meant either rubbing the whole thing down which was difficult as the coating was much harder than the gelcoat underneath or taking a punt to get it soda blasted,(which I did).

There is still probably another 10 to 15 hours work to get the tail to how I want it and to be honest I've had enough filling and sanding for a while so I got to work painting the standard engine lid.

I'm sure there are other ways to get a glassy paint finish but in lieu of a guide coat i find the texta does the job and then using a colour sanding block and lots of 1200 wet. Once the texta is gone out comes the machine buff with cutting compound and then final glaze. I only use acrylic paint and in this instance without clear over the top..

Interior

2010-10-15T02:45:00.000-07:00

Seats retrimmed in perforated leather, side bolsters redone and bases rewebbed

Add caption

Carpet is mostly glued in, rear leather seat pads and backs recoloured. I found doing the map pockets in the footwells challenging other than that its a pretty enjoyable job.

Back on wheels

2010-10-15T02:30:00.000-07:00

I have taken of the engine lid with faux whale tail and replaced it with a standard engine lid until I can get the correct Carrera engine lid/tail from a contact in Melbourne.

Front suspension and brakes

2010-10-01T02:42:00.000-07:00

Front strut inserts needed replacement turbo tie rod kit will be fitted brake calipers overhauled torsion bars replaced new ball joints and sway bar bushes and Elephant Racing rubber torsion bar bushes

Spring Plates

2010-09-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

The rubber bushes that support the rear suspension spring plates needed replacement as part of the refurb

Some people have cut these off with a sharp blade and then used heat to burn off the rubber but I found an oscillating multitool did the job nicely

Spring plates and brake backing plates back from the plating shop, cheap process but well worth it

Elephant racing poly bronze spring plate bushes

Spring plates back on car with new bushes and oil thermostat and the long oil lines which had to be repaired in two areas because they were crushed.The repaired sections have been coated with urethane epoxy

Oil tank was removed stripped and refinished

Oil tank back in place in the foreground of the pic

Engine Bay

2010-09-30T06:02:00.000-07:00

New sound pad needs to be fitted to fire wall what you see here is old glue

The shocks and the heater flapper valves needed replacement

33 years of dirt and grease

For some reason rubber bumpers had been fitted on either side of the engine compartment these were removed but the damage would need to be repaired

After a lot of kero work and new heater valves and heat exchanger pipes and new shocks fitted

Also new firewall sound pad

Both sides repaired just waiting to be air brushed in with colour

Under the bonnet

2010-09-04T23:32:00.000-07:00

Things were pretty ugly under here with problems where the brake master cylider had leaked into the booster and in turn onto the painted deck.Also some of the welding done when the car was converted to RHD was dodgy and many holes were left.

this pic shows the booster removed and the steering shaft moved out of the way to show where I have cut out some of the steering shaft channel also note that the cutout for the booster is way too large and does not have the inside support or mounting studs

this is the side where the booster was originally mounted I made up a plate and welded it in after I had unpicked the original mounting support and moved it to the other side

all welding done trying to get a good surface finish ready for etch prime and eventually the paint

finished spraying colour but stiil plenty to do with heater valves and other parts

Odyssey 925 battery withan isolating switch fits nicely in the tray area and ensures there will be no more acid leaks or damage

Sills

2010-09-04T23:18:00.000-07:00

the scene after removing the plastic sill strip and poking around for a while

after dremel work

inner section

looking at the section from the rear wheel arch with the thermostat and oil lines removed

This section is cut from a brand new door latch post

This is the view from witin the rear wheel arch looking forward toward the repaired section this area had two coats of urethane epoxy and then seam sealed and will be refinished in an original type texture

Here is a view from under the front guards where the seam sealer was past its use by date so I removed it recaulked it and then refinished the area, once this gets a bit of road grime it will be undetectable.

Sills are finished and airbrushed in new Rennline sill plates fitted

Lower fuel tank support

2010-09-03T22:59:00.000-07:00

It may seem wasteful to cut up this replacement panel but I only wanted to replaced the affected section leaving as much of the original structure intact as possible

a view into the cavity between upper and lower

looking upward the original black finish still shows on the upper section

Fuel tank

2010-09-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

-Tank was basically sound but wherever the coating had been breached there was rust.

The inside of the tank was rust free so I only had to strip the outside it took about four hours with a scraper and a heat gun

Next was a flapper disc and wire wheel angle Grinder

After all the preparation steps I then applied two coats of KBS Rustseal

Followed by a few coats of Sikagard 552

The first impressions

2010-09-02T05:23:00.000-07:00

Got the car on the lawn for some quick photos prior to getting it into the shed and over the pit to really check it out.

.
It turns out that the car has some rust in the lower panel that supports the fuel tank and in the door sill panels on both sides.

rust in tank support area

I drop the car in at Mark Poole Motorsport to get the mechanicals checked out. This becomes a turning point in the project as the engine requires a complete rebuild.
I decide to leave the engine and transaxle with Mark and trailer the car home to work on the body.

Rust in sills both sides