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dwa911 · 06-04-2022, 01:15 AM

AND SO IT BEGINS:

After my fantastic experience at Holtville, I was determined to spend more time driving on circuit and start racing… So, I set out to make ‘1270’ a dual purpose road car that was suited to the rigours of circuit driving in the California desert, was closer to a pure circuit car, but that I could drive on the street comfortably. An impossible goal to nail in every aspect I know now. But, back then, I didn't, and was determined to try, and I had the illustrious RS and RSR in my mind for inspiration...

So, the engine was completely rebuilt including the MFI pump, throttle bodies and linkage - by Gus at Pacific Fuel Injection - John and Jerry both said he was "the" guy. John rebuilt the engine – teaching me – hands on – and I rebuilt the gearbox including the LSD (under John’s tutelage and watchful eye). After it was finished, we drove the engine up to Jerry Woods, and Jerry "dialled it in" on his dyno, and then told me to “never” touch the MFI again! I switched to Bilstein shocks (dampers), stiffer torsion bars and sticky DOT legal track tires (can't remember the brand). But, with a sunroof, power windows, AC, and leather sport seats (they are really heavy), I realized ‘1270’ was never going to be a race car... Or a competitive one... And I didn't want to ruin '1270', so, for the most part, ‘1270’ stayed in stock, albeit, newly modified condition, and I wanted to keep it that way…

Now what was I going to do? The only ‘rational’ thing... For racing, I needed another 911!

THE PLAN, SEARCH & ADDICTION:

Determined to race, and wanting the best base car, I settled on finding a 1972 chassis, as the oil tank was ahead of the rear axle, so would give the better weight distribution... After all it is what the Porsche factory chose for the 911 R and the prototype RSs, although in the laters case, Porsche changed the oil tank location back for the production and race cars...

So, the search started. I found everything except a 1972... And, found lots of cars, that just needed a little TLC... In fact, I ended up buying most of them – at one point I had eleven of them at one time, and in various states…

Thanks are indeed due to all those that helped me store them in various places – friends, Brace's, Otto’s, Tom Gould @ the first Pelican Parts HQ, …

dwa911 · 06-04-2022, 01:21 AM

1193100010

The first car I found in my search for a 1972 donor car was of course not a 72, but a 1969 911S Targa – 119310010…

‘0010’ was brought over from Europe at some time (don't know by who), was a bit rusty in the pan, sills, etc, but not beyond repair by today’s standards, with prices being where they are…

‘0010’ no longer had its original engine and gearbox, but drove and looked OK… Hell, most early 911s looked OK to me back then… I was really hooked… ‘0010’ had a 3.0 liter and 915 gearbox from a 76 3.0 Euro Carrera… I figured the 3.0 liter engine could be the ‘new’ engine for the ’73 T targa ‘0650’, as it needed one due to the fire, and the gearbox could be one of my race gearboxes (John convinced me I needed several – geared specifically for each circuit), while I looked for a 1969 S engine and 901 gearbox for ‘0010’...

And the price was right at $3,500! Amazing how one can convince themself and rationalize that one needs to buy something…

So, of course I bought ‘0010’, and off to Otto’s it went…

John deemed it a great buy, and the engine and gearbox in great condition, running strong and in need of nothing… So, the engine came out, and instead of going into 9113110650, would end up being my race engine at a later date… More on that later… I told you this would jump around…

I never did find a 69 S engine for ‘0010’, and it languished in Otto’s as a parts car for ages stripped of its dignity and parts to the point it ended up pretty much as a bare shell with steelies to move it around… But it gave up it’s parts to several other 911s in the noble effort to make them ‘whole’ again…

If anybody knows what happened to 119310010? I’d love to know… I hope somehow it was saved and restored, but missing it’s original gearbox and engine, and being a rusty car in California back then, I’m thinking probably not…

This is the only picture I can find of ‘0010’ shortly after I bought it (other than the earlier one behind the 78 SC in previous post), and the CoA for history…

dwa911 · 06-04-2022, 01:31 AM

119301377

The next car I came across was 119301377, a Light Ivory / Black 911S coupe…

‘1377’ was straight and rust free except for the front pan… neglect and 2 old batteries had taken care of that… It also had the wrong outside mirror (a 74/75), was missing AC components, and had Zenith carbs instead of the MFI… The owner had bought 2 new batteries to get it running to sell, and it did run – though not very well… stock Zeniths just didn’t seem to be the optimal solution for a 69 2.0 liter S engine… and the gearbox crunched going into a few gears… ‘1377’ was basically pretty tired, and hadn’t really been kept to the standards it deserved… the owner had a personalized license plate ‘MUSIK”, and I guess knew more about music (except how to spell it I suppose), than about caring for a thoroughbred like a 69 911 S…

Everything should have told me to walk away… I was looking for a 72 911 as a donor for a race car… You guessed it, I couldn’t resist, and ended up buying ‘1377’ too… I can’t remember the price paid, but seem to recall it was around 6,000 – 7,000 USD ballpark…

Once I had ‘1377’ in my possesion, it was over to Otto’s for a once over… John deemed the engine sound, but in need of the complete 69 S MFI system, which started my education into the differences between the 69, 70-71, and 72-73 MFI systems and the T, E, & S systems for each year… Fortunately for me, John went digging into his ‘spare parts’ bins in the back and upstairs at Otto’s, and he managed to piece together a complete set… It needed to be rebuilt of course, and it was off to Pacific Fuel Injection for Gus to work his magic again… I remember John had an old well-oiled, dirty, yet stout wooden box specifically to secure and protect MFI fuel pumps while in transit to Gus for rebuilding, and I ended up using it several times…

‘1377’s’ gearbox needed synchros, and dog teeth on a few of the gears, so I also got a great lesson in rebuilding the 901 gearbox, and the nuances between SWB, 69, 70-71… I was in heaven and learning more and more about 911s all the time… What’s not to like? What else was a single guy going to spend his money and time doing in Los Angeles? At least it kept me out of trouble – sort of… But, I was no closer to finding my race car…

While the MFI was off to Gus, ‘1377’s’ body went to Brace to have the front pan replaced… and then all back together again, with a bit of a brake, suspension, and of course fuel and oil line refresh…

It was really interesting to experience the difference between a 69 2.0 liter S and a 73 2.4 liter S… both had amazing merits…

‘1377’, the 69 S was a little sluggish around town, but get on a canyon road, and keep the revs up, and it was magic… the slipping around in the standard seats in hard cornering wasn’t great, but it was manageable, and a blast to drive…

‘1270’, the 73 S was more fun for me… easy around town, and still would wind up through the rev range in the canyons… maybe not quite as quick to rev as the 69, but the 73 S was definitely my pick for the moment… especially with the mods made to the suspension, refreshed engine…

Seems I can only find photos from just after buying ‘1377’, no finished ones… Here they are and the CoA for 119301377 for history… I can’t remember when I sold ‘1377’ or to who (frequently the case with many of the old 911s I’ve owned), but I’d love to know what happened to 119301377, if anyone knows…

Attached Files

dwa911 · 06-05-2022, 04:20 PM

As of 2010 119301377 - turned into a race car...

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/18267/lot/225/

dwa911 · 06-05-2022, 04:21 PM

and 119301377 from 2018...

https://juanrivas.co/2018/03/27/1969...-car-polo-red/

dwa911 · 06-07-2022, 05:14 AM

A FEW OTHER Ss ALONG THE JOURNEY:

With 119301377 underway to revival between Otto’s, Brace’s and Gus, 1193310010 sitting in the driveway ready to give up its Euro Carrera 3.0 liter engine and gearbox, and 9113301270 as my daily driver, PCA and POC competition car for autocross and slalom track events… I continued my search for a ’72 to convert in to my race car…

And, of course I found everything but a ‘72… Including a very special 1973 911S… I had become obsessed with 911Ss… and had decided I needed one from every year they were made… maybe not to keep, but at least to experience… Have I mentioned I might have a slightly addictive personality?

9113300757 - THE S WITH THE MYSTERY ENGINE THAT ALMOST GOT AWAY:

I can’t remember how or why I found this car, as I already had a 1973 911S, so I’m just not sure… I remember it was on the east coast… either Westchester County, NY or Connecticut… My dad was going back and forth between L.A. & Manhattan at the time for work – he loved sailing, kept a boat in New Jersey, and I was trying to convince him to move to L.A., bring and live on his boat in Marina Del Rey instead of the constant in and out of the water for the winter, and non-use on the east coast, which he eventually did, and finally saw the light when it came to Porsche 911s vs his beloved English sports cars… 

In any case, pestered by me, and armed with all the info to look for, my dad dutifully went to see the car… I explained he needed to validate all the numbers… The 4 VINs which had to all match; inside the trunk, the A pillar, on the front latch panel, and on the driver’s door latch panel sticker, if it was still present, and that they should all start with 911330… To identify the paint code tag number on the driver’s door hinge panel, and finally the engine numbers – the type number which I told him should be 911/53, and the serial number, which I told him should start with 633, and the fan shroud should be red… I wasn’t to focused on gearbox numbers back then, as I had seen enough 915 gearboxes with the serial numbers ground of from bottoming out, or maybe more nefarious reasons… who knows… In any case, I just wasn’t too worried about the Gearbox number…

Mobile phones weren’t too common back then, so I had to wait while my dad drove from Manhattan to check it out, give it a once over and a test drive, and then call me to let me know how it all went… As mentioned, my dad was not the most mechanical guy, but at least he knew where to look for rust – mostly – and was pretty sensitive test-driving cars – e.g. vibrations, noises, etc. And, if he deemed it in good shape, and the numbers all matched, then we agreed he would go ahead and negotiate a deal to buy the car… I can’t remember how much the asking price was, but was probably in the 10-15k USD range…

Finally, my dad called… He said he left without making an offer…

When I pressed him for more info, he related that on the outside, 9113300757 looked kind of rough with tired paint, dings, stone chips, flared wheel arches that didn’t exactly line up with the bumpers, some waves in the body work around the sills where they met the flares, rubber that didn’t seem right, mismatched wheels, the sunroof made a lot of noise, but opened, albeit slowly, and a spoiler of some sort on the back… For the inside, he said, the carpet was a little worn, but the dash wasn’t cracked and the seats were OK, but that there was red material on the dash, no radio, wires hanging from under the dash, and the passenger electric window was erratic… He then said that even though it looked rough, and didn’t think it was a very nice car, he went ahead and gave it a test drive since he had driven all the way to see it, and that it drove great… In fact, he said the engine was really strong, the gearbox shifted smoothly, braked in a straight line, had no oil leaks or smoking… he had driven 9113301270 post rebuild, and said it drove as good or better, in fact so well, that it almost made him want to overlook the other bad elements… but then he checked the numbers, and they didn’t match what I told him they should be, and when he asked about it, the current owner indicated the previous and original owner had blown the original engine, and this was a Porsche dealer warranty replacement engine… My dad being a little unsure of the nuances of 911s decided to leave it and walk away…

Once back to Manhattan, my dad called me to relay the news, and painted a pretty bleak picture of the car, and I was thinking I was glad he didn’t buy it, and that I probably needed to stick to California for cars, where I could look at them myself… Then for the hell of it, I asked him what the numbers were…

He said all the VINs matched – 9113300757 in all 4 places, just like I said. The paint code was 936 (silver metallic), but that while the engine had a red fan shroud, the type number and serial number didn’t match what I said they should be… He said the type number after rubbing looked like 911/83 not 911/53, and the serial number started with 663 not 633 and it had carbs not MFI…

My jaw almost hit the floor, and I must have either stopped breathing or made some kind of non-human sound, as my dad asked if I was OK… I said for him to hang on while I opened the Porsche books I had in front of me so I could look up the engine type and serial numbers to validate what I thought it was… It couldn’t be I thought… and then there it was… type 911/83 = 2.7 liter 210 HP… 663 = 1973 Carrera RS… I still thought, my dad must have read the numbers wrong… I don’t know how many times I asked if he was really sure… and then barely able to contain myself, I told him to go back and buy the car – no matter what… We had found a 911 S with a real ’73 911 RS engine… What are the odds I htought… And so, he called back the owner, said he had thought about it, negotiated a deal (can’t remember how much), and brought the car back to Manhattan, where it was shipped to me in L.A. a long couple of weeks later…

I can’t remember any more about the history of 9113300757… The previous owners… I can’t find a picture of the engine or numbers anywhere except the engine bay shot from the photos I took right after it was delivered in L.A. (the only ones I can find – maybe Carlo has some), or if Porsche dealers actually could or would replace a blown original S engine with a different type, let alone an RS engine, which wasn’t technically a legal engine in the USA back then (my memory seems to recall the numbers being in the 2000s from a serial number perspective, which is outside the production run, so maybe possible), or how it came to be missing the MFI, and had spray paint caps blocking off the heater hose outlets from the fan shroud, or a lot of other things about it… But I remember 9113300757 being an amazing car to drive, and the best road spec 911 I ever owned… NOT the prettiest by a long shot… It was rough… but mechanically it was great… And… It soon replaced 9113301270 as my daily driver…

Here are the only photos I can find of 9113300757 – taken shortly after it was delivered from the east coast, and the CoA… I would really love to know where it is today and it’s journey (I’ll share some of what I know soon – when I introduce you to my friend Carlo)…

dwa911 · 06-07-2022, 06:37 AM

NON-LINEAR LIST OF 911S CARS:

While searching for my race car and even after I found it, I ended up with a number of 911Ss or various years… in no particular order, as I can’t remember the stories of each, and I seemed to be on a crazed addictive buying spree…

Here are photos that I have… In some cases, I have only the CoA (I was obsessed about obtaining CoAs, as I wanted to bring the cars all back to “as left the factory condition”, which didn’t happen in most cases, as I didn’t have near enough the funds or time to accomplish that herculean task…

In order based on model year, body and serial number…

dwa911 · 06-07-2022, 06:38 AM

119300510:

I have no memory of buying or selling, and only have the CoA, which at least means I know I did own it around 1996 - 97…

dwa911 · 06-07-2022, 02:12 PM

119301206:

This one came from northern California, was a non- runner, complete, had a California “black plate ZIC 739” (seen in photo), and I had to trailer it back to L.A. All I have is the CoA, and photos around time of respray… I believe this was sold at Monterey in 1999 or 2000...

dwa911 · 06-07-2022, 02:18 PM

9112300825:

I bought this car in Phoenix, Arizona… I flew out with a tool box and cash, the owner picked me up at the airport, we ended up doing a deal, and I drove home to L.A. The main thing I remember, was it wasn’t getting full throttle when the pedal was pressed all the way down… A quick adjustment of the pedal stop on the floor board, and 9112300825 ran OK to get me all the way home… The MFI was out of adjustment, and never did run perfect… Strong, but not in spec… It was an original silver metallic car, but painted grand prix white, which I liked, so left it... this car went to friend - more on that later...

dwa911 · 06-07-2022, 02:22 PM

9113300088:

I have no memory of buying or selling, and only have the CoA, which at least means I know I did own it around 1996 - 97…

dwa911 · 06-07-2022, 02:23 PM

9113310091:

I bought this car with my dad in San Francisco on 20 October 1996. Have do I remember the date… Well, we flew up to SFO on a Sunday, and the owner brought the car to the airport parking… After a check over and test drive, a deal was done, and we managed to catch the 2^nd half of the SF 49ers vs Cincinnati Bengals game at Candlestick Park… I had never been to a professional American football game, and the 49ers happened to be my favourite team (all the way back to the Joe Montana days)… When we showed up, the Bengals were leading 21 to 7, and we got treated to watching Steve Young really bring the 49ers alive in the 2^nd half and connect with Ted Popson, Terrell Owens for touchdowns, and run the winning touchdown in himself, with the final score 28 to 21… I had to do a Google search for the exact date, and the exact plays (my memory isn’t quite that good)… But, it was a great trip with my dad… We bought a great silver metallic 911S Targa with sport seats, which was to be my dad’s only 911 in his life, got to see a pro football game, and ‘my’ team come from behind for a win… Throw in a great high speed drive home down PCH to L.A., and what a great Sunday with my pop…

As mentioned, 9113310091 became my dad’s only 911, and he loved it… He was living in L.A. on his sailboat in Marina Del Rey, and had a golden retriever named Dakota… My main memories of my dad from this time, are his morning ritual of driving to Noah’s bagels on Washington Blvd. in Marina Del Rey, to get coffee and bagels – my dad driving, me in the passenger seat or following in another 911, and ‘Kota’ in the back with the rear seats folded down… And yes, Kota got his own bagel… lightly toasted with butter… otherwise he would turn his nose up and look at my dad with a look of “what were you thinking? You got it wrong. You know what I like.”… No joke, I’ve never seen a dog have a man so wrapped around his little ‘finger’ (paw)… Sadly, I can’t find any photos of the car or my dad or Kota in it… I only have a couple that show it partially and the CoA… I’d really love to know what happened to 9113310091… Hopefully someone knows…

dwa911 · 06-08-2022, 03:39 AM

A COUPLE OF 911 Es:

A light ivory / black 71 911E sunroof coupe… Can’t find the CoA or any other photos… Didn’t have this car long, but it was beauty… Went to Otto, and was his daily driver for a couple of years…

dwa911 · 06-08-2022, 04:03 AM

9112200420:

I found this car near Riverside, California… I had a friend, Kurt, that had a bad leg and couldn’t press a clutch pedal, so found him a sportomatic 2.4 E, figuring this would be the best engine & sporto combination for in L.A. driving… This car got fresh paint in Gemini blue metallic, the interior was in OK condition – a driver side sport seat picked up at the Pomona swap meet was added, and mechanically restored, but the sporto never shifted 100% perfect all the time… It would go for days shifting great, and then sometimes, just crunch shifting – never could figure it out… Long story short, Kurt passed away within a year of finishing the car, and I ended up swapping in a 915 gearbox, and it was a great driving car after that… But, I just couldn’t bear to drive it... 9112200420 always made me think about my friend Kurt… So, I sold it to a guy on the east coast, in the early days of eBay, for 14,000 USD (don’t know why I remember the selling price – I can’t remember what I paid for it)… First and only car I ever sold on eBay… The buyer and I spoke for about 2 hours discussing the car, and in that time he figured I was honest, and wired me the money, and I shipped the car to him on the next available truck… Miss that car and miss Kurt more… Only photos I can find and CoA...

dwa911 · 06-08-2022, 04:16 AM

A BUNCH OF 911 Ts:

9110123749:

I bought 9110123749 out of an underground car park on the west side of Los Angeles… I thought it was the prettiest colour (pastel blue) I’d seen… I even liked it more than Gulf blue in that moment… It was just a base model T, no S package or trim, and steel wheels with one Porsche crest missing… It also had a custom redone interior in an ivory leather… I’m not big on non-Porsche factory colours, but I have to say it worked on this car… The car had originally come to the USA from Italy, so maybe the leather work was done there… It was very nicely done… Unfortunately, it had a bad engine – the owner wasn’t sure what was wrong, but the dealer wanted something like 10,000 USD to rebuild it, and that was just too much for the owner, so I ended up buying it for 3,000 USD, after making sure the engine turned freely…

9110123749 ended up with a rebuilt engine (with 2.2 S pistons, E cams and Weber 40s) and gearbox - standard gears, and a buff out of the paint, which was in OK shape for a respray, but the previous owner’s painter had forgotten to put the Porsche letters and 911T badge back on the engine cover … It was a fun car to drive, and I loved the look, but had so many at the time, and it ended up going to a friend for what I had in it… The only pictures I have are just after a car wash in L.A. with rebuilt engine, gearbox and buffed paint, but before I corrected the wrong mirror, etc… And sporting my California “911 S” license plate… Not sure why it was on 9110123749…