I meant to post this up here, so it's a bit underway now (so some of those "Today", "this week" entries are inaccurate at this point!).

I bought a '68 Porsche 912 last week. For those in the dark, a 912's a 911 but has the 4-cylinder from the last 356. You can put the flat-6 in but I'll probably just keep it O.G. I now own 3 cars but will probably sell the Tal0wn soon to make space for this one.

Cliff notes: Picked it up cheap, original paint and motor, all interior and accessories intact. Rusty floorpans but not terrible, some rust on fenders but overall not in bad shape for a 40 year old car.

It wasn't running and the only other guy that looked at it chickened out at the sight of rust, but it apparently had only been leaking for a couple years (the current owner just didn't care and let the car sit outside in rain even though they knew it had bad seals). I had it started in about 20 minutes after bringing it back to the shop. It clearly needs a lot of work but I've got time and access to lots of Porsche parts and references...





Huge pic from the manual which reads:



The ad says "Doesn't run". Gee...










I removed every ounce of carpet, extra interior, and most of the insulation/sound deadener from the car already. It was all soaking wet from a recent rain. I'll be restoring an inch or two at a time at this rate but haven't decided on a game plan. For now I just want to drive it...



Hood was repainted at some point and looks really bad compared to the rest of the paint...






Ugliest part of the whole car:


Surgery begins...


First order... new brakes and caliper rebuild kits

 

Last weekend I tried to drive it, but noticed the gas pedal was sticking. I spent a few hours removing this monstrosity:


Throttle arm was completely stuck.


I had to drill a hole between the bushings and inject penetrating spray. Then torched it for a bit and eventually freed it up. The gas pedal flopped around though because it's just a big rubber pad on these cars that pushes a rod, so I had to replace it.



Fuel pump was acting up so I threw in a cheap electric for now.



This oil line was also leaking:


So I removed the distributor and replaced it:



Oil leak was fixed, but I noticed it's leaking a bit of gas, too. I ordered the rebuild kits for the aftermarket Weber Redline carbs today. I should have it tomorrow but probably can't get to it until Monday.

Current state is that it runs excellent and drives fine except the gas leak that scares me enough to let it stay parked and drive my Honda until I fix it... The wet interior's out and it's all dry, so the car smells a lot nicer now. I don't have much into it yet (<$5000) and won't go crazy, but I thought it'd be a fun car to kick around and maybe make a few bucks on if I sell it down the road.

I've even got some black plates for it but can't put them on until July when the new law takes effect.

PS - One thing that amazes me is the quality put into Porsches. Of ~150 nuts/bolts/screws removed, not a single one has stripped or broken yet -- not even the rusty ones. The windows roll up great, the doors thud shut and feel extremely solid.

 

Hey guys I figured I might as well post an update here. Since I was sick for a few days I got behind, but today I had a few hours so I pulled both carburetors from the motor. Those inner nuts were kind of a bitch, mainly because one of the studs was way too long.

Overall though, easy-peasy and I had the carbs out in about a half hour.




I took apart just one today. Both are actually leaking in the same place (the accelerator pump diaphragm was ripped).

Here's my "Carburetor Rebuild Workshop" (sponsored by Brembo and HRE):


Taking it apart into layers, it was clear that it was really nasty inside anyway:


Here's what was causing the gas to leak into the engine bay:


I spent a couple hours with carburetor cleaner and Scotch-brite pads scrubbing and cleaning up the exterior of the main housing, then cleaned all the gasket surfaces, blew everything out, and replaced the float valve. Finally I replaced the torn diaphragm and reassembled everything with new gaskets:




The rebuild kit actually did not include the top gasket, so I will need to cut a couple myself. It just connects the carb to the air cleaner housing. I also did not spend a whole lot of time on the "Redline" air cleaner lid yet that's heavily corroded. I'll either sand it down and paint it, then sand off the stuff that sticks up (making the Redline logo etc. chrome and the rest black) or just polish the whole thing.


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I don't have any pictures handy but here's the gist of what's new on the 912...

I finished rebuilding the second carburetor and it looks pretty good, too. I didn't spend a whole lot of time polishing up the air cleaners, but they look decent. I re-installed the carbs after replacing the fuel line that runs behind the fan (this line is notorious for leaking and causing fires on these cars).

The car runs about the same, maybe even a bit harder to start than before, but I haven't tried tuning the carbs yet. However, the fuel leaks are all fixed!

I also replaced the deck lid strut because the lid was falling on my head while working on the car. Now it springs up with authority.

I spent the last couple of days replacing all the lights around the car so I can begin driving it. When I started, 1/4 turn signals worked, 2/4 parking lights worked, 0/2 brake lights worked, 0/2 license plate light lights worked. I replaced all 12 of these bulbs (about $20) which fixed about half of them... but I had to clean every connector and ground with a razor blade/pick/sandpaper to get most of them working. Now I'm happy to say 4/4 turn signals, 4/4 parking lights, 1/2 brake lights, and 2/2 license plate lights work perfect. I haven't traced down that second brake light but the wire looks fine so I'll look into it this weekend (there's one wire that runs from one brake light to the other, through the outside of the car and again through the deck lid area). I also couldn't figure out why the reverse lights don't work, but I'm pretty sure it's the switch. Anyway, the car has *most* lights and I don't feel unsafe driving it now.

Since the driver's seat was installed, I installed the seat belt for it, and because I just added it to my insurance ($9/month!) I took it for a spin around the block. It was pretty fun to drive, so I ran inside and grabbed the digital camera, and shot this video:
YouTube - Porsche 912 driving around the parking lot

Warning: the audio is terrible and an airplane flies over head at the end, but you get the idea.

More to come later.

 

We have been busy lately, but I had a little time to work on the 912 which required immediate attention.

First, the turn signals stopped working. They were pretty rough in the first place. They didn't shut off automatically when finishing a turn, and the right signal was becoming hard to engage. Finally last night, right stopped working altogether. Then left this morning. I also broke my driver-side window roller this week, so I couldn't easily roll down my window to perform those cool hand signals.

So I took off the steering wheel and disassembled the column slightly. Luckily it's all easy to move, just requiring a few screws. While I was in there I cleaned everything nice and pretty. I couldn't find anything damaged in the signals, but it was definitely stuck. James suggested contact cleaner, and after a few sprays (and dirty paper towels later) the signal started working. I continued to clean up the little cluster of complex gears and finally sprayed a dry lubricant on when I was finished. Now they work like new!

I reassembled the wheel but somehow lost the horn in the process. I will have to fix that this weekend.

I also mentioned before that the lack of mirrors was making the car pretty dangerous to drive. The car came from the factory with only the driver's side, and I plan to keep it this way. Here's some ugly plastic aftermarket mirrors the previous driver had installed:


They looked tacky and actually were really bad mirrors, constantly moved around etc. Shown also is the stock mirror. But I realized this was from a 66-67 model, so I swapped out for this larger one:


I purchased the small one on Craigslist for $30, the bigger for $45.

One of the most unappealing things about the car was the rear deck lid grille. This piece is notorious for being warped or damaged (look at 68 and 69 911s, 912s and you'll see what I mean). Mine was missing a couple bars and many others were bent (this is after I tried straightening them out):



I popped into Parts Heaven in Hayward and saw this one on a 911E, so I quickly purchased and installed it:



Big improvement eh?

 

Thanks guys.
Another week down and a couple new additions to the 912. I'm driving it every day now, and the car's loosening up nicely. It's a lot of fun and gets plenty of stares (maybe because it -looks- so old with this paint being flat, beat-up etc.)

The whole time, I've been driving it with the interior gutted to bare metal except the dash and driver's seat. Since all the rust scraping and brushing was now complete, I finally had the time to apply the Eastwood 2-part rust converter.

You take 4 parts of one solution (resembles slimy, thick kool-aid) and mix it with 1 part of the wetting solution (resembles alcohol) and stir. It looks like thick purple paint when you're done mixing. I used a spray can cap for the measuring tool.

I used a tiny foam roller and tray ($3 at Walmart) to apply. I went over every bit of rust and most of the painted stuff too just for good measure, applying a really thick, wet coat. After an hour or so I applied another. Within minutes, the rust begins to turn black.

I did about 1/4 of the interior at a time, and it took ~3 hours to do the whole interior.

Half-way done:


A couple hours later, the rust was now all completely black, as black as death. No rust dust comes off it, etc.


It's pretty neat stuff because it starts out gooey and sticky, then over time it dries up and it only affects the rust. The areas with some leftover factory paint don't change colors.

It's been days now and the interior finally has no more rust smell. The next step is the Eastwood rust encapsulator, which will coat everything in a rust-sealed paint with a heavy top-coat, then I'll worry about any leftover small holes or areas that need patching, such as the back seat cushion area.


Today I had a few hours at the shop, so I applied the Eastwood Rust Encapsulator (Eastwood Co. - Rust Encapsulator). It's basically paint, but really thick good paint that's meant to prevent/cover rust.

Lesson learned: cheap wal-mart foam rollers don't hold up well to this stuff! I used 6 rollers and 3 trays, and a whole quart of encapsulator on the interior only using two coats on the floor pans (and the rest was coated once).

I spent about an hour on each floor pan just rolling it in thickly, another hour or so on the top decklid area, and maybe an hour under the dash (repainted it all black), quarter panels, sides and pedals. I also re-coated the e-brake handle and shifter base.

It's still got a few hours before it's completely dry, but overall I'm very happy with the results.



Keep in mind there's still going to be carpet, floor mats, seats etc.

Driver quarter panel interior:


There's also a vinyl cover for this (and seat bottoms, carpet, etc).

Through the dirty back window you can see the deck area (it's covered in a large vinyl pad that I need to clean up still):


The pedals are a nice improvement, but the pic didn't come out so well...


I am going to have the seat adjuster rails sand blasted and powdercoated next. With it being a weekend and Monday a holiday, it looks like I'll have to install/remove the seat once again in a few days. I think I've done that about a dozen times already.

 

Dude! That's so awesome! I've always wanted to start up a project like this but never had the time. For now, I'll live vicariously through you!

I've got a few quick questions for you... First, how much $$$ do you have into this car so far (if you don't mind me asking)? How much time have you put in to get it to this stage? What's next and what do you hope to have at the end of this project? Lastly, when is the next update???

 

Damn! That is amazing! I wish I could find a 912 here, they are very rare!

 

I'm loving this build.

 

Amazing!!

 

cool project - when you're ready to sell, keep me in mind

- chuck