I want to build a dream

M_Bolc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2006
Messages
798
Location
San Jos?, Costa Rica
Car(s)
2015 Audi A3 1.2TFSI
First of all, I don't think I should post it in the dream build up thread since I've actually have seen the actual car I'd like to build, I have some rough plans on what to do, and a wealthy uncle to finance me.

A little backround story: a few nights ago I caught the abandoned exotics thread and read ever single post on the link there, all 24 pages of it (right after I stopped oggling at that distracting avatar you all know and love). That night I went to bed thinking on how awesome it would be to come upon a nice 911 body.

I wake up the next day and go chase a guy that owes my dad a shit load of money (that's another story), on the way back to our house I spot the beast just sitting there, on top of two oil barrels. As we passed I took a few seconds to say something -I had told my dad about the night before on the web and how much drool was over the keyboard imagining a great car brought back to life with my own two hands-, he stops (almost skidding to a halt), asks where I saw it, and turns around. We get to the house and ask if it's for sale, the guy says yes: $4000. The body is in good shape, he has the engine and tranny, most of the interior, suspension, brakes.

Missing: electrical (everything, whole new instalation is in order), front and rear glass, targa roof, and the wheels.

Now, for all you knowledgeable sirs and ladies:
  1. How hard is it to return this car to glory?
  2. Can I do it? (Electrical would be a pro job, as well as suspension)
  3. Is it hard to re-upholster seats?
  4. Would you do it?

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*points and laughs*

Hey man, if you can do it more power to you,but basically you're going to have to buy an entire new 911 and build it from scratch onto that body from the sound of it. Porsche isnt known for cheap parts as far as i remember.

But good luck, there are never too many 911's.
 
Uh no, I saw the shit load of parts (new, used, taken off the chassis, etc) that the guy has, inventoried, photos, and properly stored.
I say again; missing: electrical (everything, whole new instalation is in order), front and rear glass, targa roof, and the wheels.

I also forgot to mention (dummy me) that it's not a run of the mill 911, it's a Targa 3.3L turbo, from internet reading it's a rare little sports car.

Oh, no rust whatsoever, the car's paint is hideously bad, but it at least covers all the chasis and there is not even a possibility of rusting.
 
Ok, lets start this way.

Do you have extreme mechanical knowledge, a big garage with a lot of space and every tool known to man? Do you have lots of time, a very understanding spouse and a spare couple tens of thousands of dollars to throw into it?

Can you wield? Can you detect rust like a psychic? Do you have any idea how much weather stripping rubber costs for an old car?

Remember i was going to get that old datsun?


......yea
 
I will say if you are prepared to put the hours in go for it. Just when you are done watch out for that lift off oversteer ;)
 
sounds like fun, i'd definitely think about it!
 
Haha, well I'm 21, so no spouse to nag me. We do have a nice big property which is 95% of the time sunny (I live in a tropical paradise). I'm a mechanical engineer so welding: check, mechanical knowledge: I've been around cars since I can remember, and rust/surface preparation also check.

Tools, yeah, I can actually borrow everything know to man from my Uni, go to a family shop, and my uncle has a whole arsenal of misterious tools. He's actually done this before (re-built an old Honda S800(?) a few years back).

Weather stripping is on the inventory of parts and nit bits included in the $4000, and I have seen how much it costs.

I'll go back on saturday and take some pics of all the boxes upon boxes of parts the guy has (he doesn't have a comprehensive spouse, that's why he's keen on selling).
 
Looks like Project Car Hell to me. Hope you have a Porsche expert on hand, there's bound to be one or a hundred in your area. $4000 seems too high though; Targas aren't as well-loved as regular Super Coupes and therefore don't hold their value well, and then again it's sitting on oil drums ferchrisssakes. When somebody says the body is in "good shape" it usually means it's in good shape from a quick glance of the grainy eBay photos. Expect to find lots of surprises everywhere, like maybe spiders in the gauge nacelles.

Would I do it myself? :lmao: I've already got a project I've got my hands full with. Difference is, with a motorcycle you won't have to worry about interiors, heating, bodywork, advanced suspension geometry, glass, audio, wheelwell rustproofing, and an entire pair of wheels. Cars, after all, are way different than motorcycles, so it all comes down to the million-dollar question: how much experience with mechanics and restoration do you have? Expect to learn A LOT, possibly more to bite off than you can chew. And a Porsche? Sure, 911s are plentiful and there are thousands of resources online and at libraries dedicated to them, but I read Stephan Wilkinson's book The Gold-Plated Porsche (highly recommended) and hearing about the exacting details that threatened him at every turn told me that this isn't exactly the best place to start. Personally, I had looked at a 911 of similar vintage myself; it seemed complete, same faded red color and everything, and the bumpers were in the backseat. Thankfully, I walked away from it and didn't lose 20 years off my life. Your results may vary, though.

Hopefully the owner can help you out if he's knowledgeable himself and really does have everything inventoried. Though it's still going to be a bitch sorting all the parts out for yourself. Remember: will you be able to remember how this shit goes back together 6 months from now? How about a year? Depending on how long you'll need to recondition the parts individually, be prepared to take LOTS of photos and sort those out meticulously. I thought I had taken plenty of photos with my own project, but it's never enough.

Money...hope you have enough! Nasty surprises abound, and experts don't come cheap. They say that when it comes to restoration you'll always blow your budget, and it's true. You'll end up sinking in more money than what you paid for the wreck in the first place; I know I already have, but the fun part is telling yourself that it's worth it. And it is! Or at least what I tell myself. :lol: And don't expect to sell it for more than it's worth! That only applies to something hideously rare, like a numbers-matching RSK Spyder owned by Ferry Porsche himself that was squirreled away in a barn by some crotchety old lady who finally got rid of it for $4.50 because she doesn't know any better. Either way, if you're going to sink in that much time, money, effort, blood, sweat, and tears (yes, there WILL be tears) into something, you'd be heartlessly mad to let it go like that.

But seriously: if you do manage to get the project and finish it, you'll get massive amounts of well-deserved respect from me as well as your friends. As long as you truly love what you're doing, then all of this won't matter. Don't ever forget what you want it to look like in the end, and work toward that incessantly.
 
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Looks like a cool project, if you have patience and a bit of knowledge and money, why not?
In the days of message boards you shouldn't have problems solving the odd problem or missing part. Just don't try and rush it, it'll take some time...
 
Haha, well I'm 21, so no spouse to nag me. We do have a nice big property which is 95% of the time sunny (I live in a tropical paradise). I'm a mechanical engineer so welding: check, mechanical knowledge: I've been around cars since I can remember, and rust/surface preparation also check.

Tools, yeah, I can actually borrow everything know to man from my Uni, go to a family shop, and my uncle has a whole arsenal of misterious tools. He's actually done this before (re-built an old Honda S800(?) a few years back).

Weather stripping is on the inventory of parts and nit bits included in the $4000, and I have seen how much it costs.

I'll go back on saturday and take some pics of all the boxes upon boxes of parts the guy has (he doesn't have a comprehensive spouse, that's why he's keen on selling).

Shit man, i say go for it then!

You need to talk him WAY down though, 4 grand is a bit much for a car-in-boxes.
 
BlaRo, good advice. I haven't personally done a resto before, but my uncle has. A couple years back he also built an Audi A3 race car (crazy little rocket), so he isn't ability impaired. Although the Audi case it was actually ripping things appart then rebuilding them back in.
I can have my way around engines and transmissions, but I have done enough things to know that sometimes there's just something you don't know...
About selling: if I build this, it ain't being sold for a long time, I can see myself keeping this for years and years to come as that "trophy" to what I did myself.
 
If you have the means to do so. Do so.

Watch this.
Part 1:http://www.autocar.co.uk/VideosWallpapers/Videos.aspx?AR=225665&Page=4&CT=V&FLT=34|

Part 2: http://www.autocar.co.uk/VideosWallpapers/Videos.aspx?AR=225764&Page=3&CT=V&FLT=34|

Part 3:
http://www.autocar.co.uk/VideosWallpapers/Videos.aspx?AR=225998&Page=3&CT=V&FLT=34|

I'm not even a huge fan of those cars, and it made me want one.
 
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Those autocar vids are great, but I don't want to go that way into building the Porsche. Sure, that bracing, brakes, and the dampers all sound incredible, but I don't like the idea, nor do I have that kind of money. He mentioned in the first part a 25 grand investment into a shell with no engine, steep!

What I want to do is buy the car, put it together with the parts the current owner has, and re-do the interior not to Porsche spec, but to a nice finish that can be feasable.

I really shouldn't call my idea a restoration, as it basically is rebuilding the car.

I guess top priority would be to have a running and drivable car, then I can focus on the details (radio, interior trimmings, accesories, and what not). My guess is that I really don't need original Porsche parts in some cases, as what I want is a weekend toy, done on a (somewhat low) budget. I know it wont be cheap anyways, although it can get ridiculous if I use Porsche parts.

I had planned to go up to the guy's house again and talk a bit more seriously (specially price-wise, it is too expensive right now) but things came up and I couldn't get away. Maybe next weekend...
 
BUMP!!!
Well, I finally got around again to the car, I had a talk with a local Porsche Club member that encouraged me. He said that there are a lot of proyects going on within the club, and that many members have duplicate parts. He literally told me that the club is "a lot of old rich men that have lots of time on their hands", and that most of them would chip in to help, even giving away parts and stuff.

Well, first some pictures:
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I stupidly ran out of batteries and couldn't get more pics of the parts he has (a lot).
Open to your sugestions/opinions.

Should I do it?
 
Hey, either way it's a hell of a learning experience. I'm sure the PCA won't mind a young kid starting his lifelong Porsche enthusiasm with a knackered old Targa. (If they're not that snobby...)

Body looks fairly straight and unrusted, from what I can tell. Though that trash bag isn't helping matters. :lol:
 
I've seen the part that the trash bag covers, and it's straight and no rust... The local Porsche Club is amazing, I've gotten 3 or 4 phone calls from members that want to help. And I only gave my number to one guy lol.
 
Got it! Exciting, frightning, anxious, wild thoughts race through my head.

I washed her, even waxed it (I know, waste of time), checked her, there's no rust.
I took out the pedals and removed the paint from them.
The few wires that were still in there are now gone, and I did some work on the suspension.
My thinking is to build the suspension, get the car on wheels, ship it over to a paint booth, then to an electronics guy (no way in hell I'm doing that, too many things can go wrong).
While the painting/electrical bussiness is going on work on the engine, get the shell back and hive it a heart.
Bolt on a seat, and give it its first drive (notice that it wouldn't have an interior yet..) and then focus on pesly details.
The club guys are awesome, two of them were over today and helped a lot cataloging things and such. Basically I have a really big puzzle with very very few parts missing! :D
I'm tired, anxious, and such, I'll go grab a beer and go to sleep early, can't wait for tomorrow!!!

What color should I paint it? I like the candy green (or apple green) that RS Porsches use, but I dunno if that'll look right on a turbo.
 
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