"If only you were nearer" Back on track! Apologies...

[skinnylew]

You big tease lol

The graphics on the 930 turbo are beautiful, ghostly and subtle but fit superbly. I wonder if some of that aura would be diminished if it left Canadian shores? Part of it is surely it's status as the original, the pioneer, the genesis, and if it's not on it's homeland it loses that piece of it's aura. Just a thought.....

[georgexs]

Dec 18, 2015 1:37:25 GMT Mystery Machine said:

Dec 18, 2015 8:53:36 GMT @automatik said:

Like the turbo graphics, too. Does the history tell when they were fitted as they were not on when the first owner received his car.
Can´t remember having seen them on any other 930 either.

They are fitted on the delivery shots @automatik, just the lighting and the subtlety of the graphics makes them hard to see!

Epic thread Bruce, some stunning photography and looks like one hell of trip. Eagerly awaiting updates

[slacky]

amazing ALL OF IT
thanks

[penski]

///never mind - someone already pointed it out

Judging from a video I saw very very recently, some of you are going to like the next few updates

*n

[skinnylew]

indeed ^^

[Mystery Machine]

rational

• /ˈraʃ(ə)n(ə)l/

based on or in accordance with reason or logic.

Synonyms: logical, reasoned, well reasoned, sensible, reasonable, cogent, coherent, intelligent, wise, judicious, sagacious, astute, shrewd, perceptive, enlightened, clear-eyed, clear-sighted, commonsensical, common-sense, well advised, well grounded, sound, sober, prudent, circumspect, politic;


What is it about being a petrolhead that allows rational thought and wise decisions to go completely out the window when it comes to cars? Common sense has no place when anything automotive is allowed the time to be questioned or considered. This is a cold hard fact.

For example, I could have simply arranged for my 912 to be transported to the shipping agent in Toronto. It would have been one phonecall, a follow up email, a cost of around £200 and I wouldn't need to leave the house.

But instead, I buy tickets to fly to the other side of the world and move it myself. A cost much, much greater than £200 is incurred, the organisation behind the trip was astronomical compared to making one call and sending one email. And I had to not only leave the house, but leave the country for some time.

Where is the rational in that?

There isn't. In any logical sense, I would have, and should have, gone with option A. Being pragmatic, it was the only real option and in light of the fact that there really, sensibly, isn't an option B, it means that option A isn't actually an option. After all, an option implies there is more than one outcome.

So, being a petrol head, I completely bypass option A and create option B. It makes absolutely no sense in regards to time, money, hassle, everything....but it the ONLY outcome I can picture given the scenario of me buying a car the other side of the world. Why be sensible when I have the word 'roadtrip' rolling around in my little mind?


Let's leave that train of thought for a moment and focus on that phenomena of remembering exactly where you were/what you were doing when a significant moment occurred. The classics are things like remembering where you were when JKF was assassinated (I wasn't even born then) and what you were doing when Elvis Presley died; I was five so hopefully excused from having to remember this one? Probably playing with some toys or eating slugs and broken glass in the greenhouse (true story!)

I remember vividly what I was doing and where I was when Lady Diana died. 1997, I'd just completed my teaching degree and was about to start my first term as a teacher. I awoke that Sunday morning, extra early, to head to Ikea in Birmingham (the one in Bristol didn't exist) with my girlfriend. We were just having some toast and a cuppa before heading off and I switched on the TV to see what the weather was doing 'up North' in the Midlands. There was no TV! Only two of the five channels were actually broadcasting anything (BBC2, Channel 4 and the 'new' Channel 5 all had blue screens) and this was simply a written message to say that programs had been cancelled in the light of the death of HRH The Princess of Wales and that further news would be announced once there was anything else known. I was shocked to say the least!

The trip all the way up the M5 was almost like something from 28 Days Later with literally NOTHING on most radio stations and a pretty much deserted motorway! Yep, that was certainly a day I'll never forget.

Likewise I'll never forget the day I heard from camerashy with a PM that the 912 was mine. I received a Facebook message with the words, "It's *your* car now" - my cheque had been received and was now clear. The car was mine. The trip we had talked about for months could now be arranged.

That seemed memorable enough, I was now the proud owner of my own, my first, Porsche. Even if it was the other side of the world, nothing could change the undeniable truth that I now, officially, OWNED A PORSCHE!!!

I continued flicking through Facebook that afternoon feeling on top of the world about the confirmation of my latest purchase when suddenly, unexpectedly, everything changed. An image popped up on my newsfeed and I was completely blown away.

This singular photo led to a whole chain of events that, from that moment, turned my automotive world on its head.



At 20.49 on the 4th March 2015 I was sat at my desk in my study at home, on the computer whilst drinking a cup of tea. It was at this exact time I got in contact with Scott Sherman via a Facebook message. Nothing was going to be the same again.

[Mystery Machine]

Winding the clock back to the first page in this thread, I wrote this:

Nov 7, 2015 1:22:33 GMT Mystery Machine said:

It was literally a matter of hours after James informing me of the money clearing for the 912, "It's *your* car now", that I spot an image on the internet and it throws everything up in the air. A complete bombshell out of the blue.

I had my heart set on the 912. The flight was booked, the car paid for, the shipping arranged.....everything in place. Then this, a single photo that had me questioning literally everything.

It's hard to explain when you have an addiction, and boy do I have an addiction! I wasn't going to back out of the deal with James, no way, he's a good friend and I was committed, but this single photo had me wanting to buy another car. Another Porsche.

Two bits of good news (for my bank balance and for my sanity) was that A) the car wasn't for sale and B) it was a 911, so would have been WAY out of my price range even if it was for sale. Which is wasn't. PUT IT OUT OF YOUR MIND BRUCE!

I'll not post the photo up. It's too upsetting for me to think about those days of being distracted from my goal of buying this 912 from James. From possibly jeopardising an amazing trip that I'd saved and saved and saved for.



Temptation is a dangerous mistress sometimes.


To be continued....

So, this whole 'rational' thing, why does it even exist? I suppose it gives us something to rebel against? Not that it took my convincing for me to contact Scott when I saw the photos of his car.

I messaged him to let him know it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen! I felt it my duty to inform the man that his car was off the scale of cool things.

Want to see the photo?

Even if you don't, here it is anyway:



Like I say, it literally stopped me in my tracks, a ratty, rusty 911 and I had to find out more.

[jabbo]

Finally had a chance to catch up on this thread, and all I can really do is echo everybody else really. Great thread, great pictures, great write up. Certainly the best thread I can ever remember reading.

I think the members of RR will need to club together and start a fund so we can send you on a trip every year

[Mystery Machine]

After some chatting back & forth, Scott turns around and offers to sell me the car!

Now, let's look at some facts here:

1) I have just bought and paid for a 912 in Canada

2) I have no money having just bought said car in Canada

3) I had just paid for flights to buy car mentioned in points 1&2

4) It's a 911 so I wouldn't be able to afford it even if I did have some money

5) That money thing again

6) I need to be rational about this

7) SOD being rational......it's a silly cool Porsche!

I send Scott a message asking him how much. I know I'll never be able to afford it but my irrational side just has to know. It's that splinter in my brain that deprives me of all logic and reason.

He responds pretty quickly, with a price. I nearly fall of my chair.

If I hadn't bought the 912 from James, I could probably afford this car. If I hadn't bought the 912 from James I could find a way to afford this car. If I could find a way to afford this car I could buy this car. If I could buy this car I could.....


You see how my mind works? The lack of money doesn't stop me from trying to work out a way to buy this car. I look at what work I have coming up, I look at anything I own that I could sell, I look at lots of possibilities as to how I could raise the money to buy this 911.

The reality hits home that I simply cannot afford it. No matter how hard I try, this one will be the one that gets away. I could probably scrape together half the cost if I sold a car, some other things, saved super hard. But half is still half. Not a whole.

WAIT A MOMENT - what if I get a friend to go halves with me? What if one of my friends is offered the opportunity to own half a cool Porsche? Half of the COOLEST Porsche?

I ask Scott to send me another photo of the car and I ring Bryn. The conversation goes something like this, "Hi Bryn, do you want to go halves on a car?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, I'm supposed to me saving for the house but I appreciate you asking. Send me a photo anyway, just because."

I send him this photo which Scott had just sent me:



A few seconds later the phone rings, "That's the coolest thing ever! Count me in."

Bryn, you'll notice, doesn't ask me how much it is, or anything else for that matter. It's that 'rational' thing again. He's supposed to be putting money aside for his house build but he sees the car, understands that I'd only be asking him to go halves for one good reason....and realises that this kind of opportunity is not going to present itself on a regular basis, if ever at all, again.



So now we have, based on only a pair of small photos, two grown, supposedly responsible and mature men, going halves on a burnt out ratty Porsche which is located the other side of the world.

You can probably guess that if there were to be any kind of rational thoughts about this deal, they were very short lived and almost certainly superseded with the juvenile excitement at the prospect of owning a 911!

A deal was agreed and I continued to plan my trip to collect the 912, but now there was the added part of the adventure to fly to Calgary to buy this 'thing'. Bryn was not able to come, so I continued to plan the trip for myself. I wouldn't be returning home with just a 912 now, but also a rather rusty glorified Beetle with a 6 banger in the rear. To say Bryn and I were excited at the thought of this would be an understatement.

So, as well as flying 1,500+ miles from Toronto, getting to spend an amazing week with Scott, Yvonne, Clay, Gracie and Roxy, I also get to photograph his lovely Porsches.

And I also get to finally see, work on and, ultimately, buy.....






.......this:








I think that's perfectly rational.

[PhoenixCapri]

Just as I thought it couldn't get any better, now there's two great cars to look forward to seeing in the UK!

Oh and your rational seems perfectly reasonable to me

[Czechered Flag]

Having read this thread for the past couple of weeks, I keep thinking to myself how it could get better each time, but thanks to the great writing, and the superb photography, it goes from 1 extreme to another. I know the feeling of having no money each time that 'dream' car becomes available, having been there myself a couple of times, and trying to move heaven and earth to make that 'dream' become a reality. Unfortunately my 'dream' wasn't to the extreme of this thread, but I am totally in awe of it, and I look forward to seeing each and every update. It will be a shame when it comes to and end, but I am now thinking to myself, "What will come on Christmas Day. will there be another twist to this?" We will have to wait and see.

Thanks for sharing your incredible journey to you 'dream' with us all.

[BLU]

Didn't see that coming

[e28]

Speechless. The good thing about discovering a thread when it's 23 pages in is that you can read 23 pages in one go.

Which I just did. That was an emotional few hours. Thankyou!

[Mystery Machine]

So what we have here is a Porsche 911 from 1973. You could say it's had a hard life, and you'd be right.

You could also say it's been ruined, and you'd be completely wrong. You'd be so far wrong that you'd need a long haul flight to get back to the world of understanding.

I'll explain a bit more about that later. I think you'll like it. It's certainly got an interesting story, but I've written quite a few words already today, my ratio of words/pictures is a bit out of kilter (although there was a lot to explain) so for now I'll leave you with some photos of the car, EXACTLY as I first saw it.

This is the view I was greeted with when I first clapped eyes on it.










It hadn't been run for three years and, in fact, when I was first in communication with Scott, the engine was removed for some service work and new oil seals. It was only thrown back in the hole a couple of days before I flew out, so I got to see it run for the first time.

You can't tell the amount of foggy fumey mist in the air in these shots from where it took so much to get it back to life, but I can tell you it was enough to make your eyes want to take a holiday. Strong enough to feel like your lungs were drowning in unleaded! I didn't care, not only was the car running, but it was just so amazing to look at. That body, the flaking paint, the chunks of filler, the rust...everything just look incredible.

I don't do selfies, but if I had at that moment, it would have portrayed a grin without comparison. Pure delight.










IT'S ALIVE!!!!



A quick check and top up of the oil level now that the life support fluid had been given chance to work its way around all the arteries of that wonderful flat six.




After being allowed to run for a bit longer, it was coaxed outside to get some fresh air....



The car got this far when it ran into a little bit of a problem.

Back inside it went.

More to come later tonight....

[Killbill]

Christ all mighty i know how you felt the second you saw the wonderful Porsche.
Shame we arn,t mates

[primeragtphill]

I've been keeping an eye on this thread for a while now, and have to say that it's fantastic the lengths you went too!

Such good writing skills too, I'm pretty sure no matter what you would write would have me engrossed! Such a talent

[Mystery Machine]

Dec 18, 2015 9:17:59 GMT Mystery Machine said:

Dec 18, 2015 4:18:41 GMT skoda_norman said:

Why does it have one orange fog lamp? Is the car lowered? Would you say that the signs of use, wear and patina add to the car's beauty, more so than if it was in pristine condition?

I believe the car was fitted with a single extra fog light at some point (no evidence of a second one) but it's not known exactly why? I personally like this look a lot. The black bar is also a factory item, but I've never seen one on another Porsche.

I will need to ask Scott if the car is lowered, I'd imagine so judging by the photos, but I can't be 100%.

...and here is your answer. I think Scott might have told me at the time, but he emailed me the other night to answer your question: "The 76 has the Euro ride height. Ben, the original owner has a thing for 'jacking up' the front end on his cars to prevent bottoming out. Even his current Carrera GTS is jacked up in the front. This was the first thing I did to this car, have Kenneth set the ride height and apply some of Hima's Magic suspension formula."

Kenneth is the owner of Lithium Autosport in Calgary - great guy. I got to meet him when Scott & I swung by on my first day. Kenneth (and Lithium) is good friends with Scott and does a lot of work on all of the Porsches.



Also, Scott kindly sent me the info/spec on the 1977 2.7 race car:

"The engine:

Stock 7R case
9.5:1 JE pistons shimmed to 9.8:1
DC40 Modified S cams
Intake ports opened up to 36mm
PMO intake manifolds
Weber Carbs
RS curved distributor
MSD ignition
Early exhaust
Bursch Muffler

915 trans is stock but I have another with a 7:31 R&P

Complete 930 brake system
Pagid RS29 pads all around

23mm front torsion bars
30mm hollow rear torsion bars
Weltmeister sway bars front and rear
Homemade strut brace
The late Hima Maher's suspension setup (redone by Kenneth at Lithium).

Cobra Kevlar seats
Autopower rollback
GeForce Harnesses
Traqmate
There is a stereo in there filling a hole in the dash but no speakers...

There is other stuff I am forgetting...

The car is street legal but a little bit too harsh for daily driving. I travelled all the way to Columbus, OH to pick up this car that I bought sight unseen. This was the thread that got me my first 911...

forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/167171-fs-1977-911s-2-7-widebody-kit.html"


It's quite a machine!

[Mystery Machine]

Trying to get the 911 out of the workshop saw the clutch start to slip badly as soon as it was on the slant of the wooden planks across the threshold of the door. It was slipping badly, but this was no major thing, the clutch is cable operated and probably just needed adjustment after having the engine refitted.

We back it into the workshop and Scott lifted the back end up then got to work adjusting the travel on the clutch.

Meanwhile, I started working on other things.


One thing I was always made aware of before agreeing to buy this car was the lack of creature comforts.

I'm not talking about it being devoid of dual zone climate control. Or cruise control. Or electric massage seats. Or Dolby pro-logic surround sound Bose stereo system. Or millions of parking sensors.

No siree, the message that Scott insisted on driving home was that there were NO creature comforts. Like a lack of electric windows because there aren't even any windows in the doors. There isn't even an inner door panel, just the outer skin and minimal frame! There's nothing on the dashboard other then a welded plate with a few essential switches. No heater. No passenger seat. No door locks. No sound deadening. No speedo. No handbrake (not just the lever...every single component of the handbrake system is absent). No lights.

In fact, there isn't even any wiring for the lights! When Scott (and his race partner, Andrew) got the car it was a bare rolling shell.

They fitted a 'hot rod' loom - a generic loom with an accompanying fuse box and relay board. Seeing as they were starting from scratch with the wiring and seeing as they were building this as a race car, things that would be necessary on a road car were left out of this one. Like indicators, sidelights, headlights etc... Why go to the bother of fitting them and wiring them all up if they weren't going to be needed?

As part of the sale, Scott had agreed to include some headlights in order to help get the car nearer being road legal.

Rather than sticking them inside the car for shipping, where they could get stolen en route, I decided to fit them. It also made the car look a bit of 'finished', if that's ever a word that could be applied to this car?

The left side went in pretty easily. Some hitting with a hammer to remove a few dents, from 'rubbing' whilst racing, and the headlight popped nicely into place. The right hand side put up a much bigger struggle.



After some serious metal bashing to try and get the shape of the bucket somewhere near oval and the light started to fit.



The headlight bucket (the yellow part) had also come away from the wing at the top, so this tool some careful persuasion to pop back into place.



Then there was the small matter of the headlight bucket being completely free to flap around how it pleased.



I was just about to start hitting with a hammer again when Scott declared the clutch was adjused and we could see how it felt after a quick road test. I pulled the right hand light unit straight out so that the car could be driven, I could look at this issue another time.

No sooner was the car out of the workshop and the clutch started slipping again. It was driven straight back to the workshop with a furstrated looking Scott behind the wheel.

I just had to get a few shots of it sat there, seductively, waiting for more attention. I couldn't resist but take a few more photos.













I knew I was already, but just being around this car made me realise I'd fallen head over heals in love with it. I'd fallen in love before I'd even left the UK, but seeing this car in the flesh, getting to really appreciate the texture on the bodyshell and just the overall look of this car....that was just perfection to me.

[b3nson]

You are properly mental. In the best way.

[grizz]

The term "Sucker Punch" springs to mind Mr Holder.

As per Urban Dictionary.......

Sucker Punch

Easily confused with a punch defined as a "curse word move" a true sucker punch is quite a bit more complex than a simple unanounced attack.
It primarily involves a closed fist contacting the soft underbelly of a person (beneath the rib cage) at a high velocity, causing the ensuing force to press upward on the victim's diaphram, leading to a sudden expulsion of air from the victim's mouth and lungs. This opening blow leaves the victim open to various other attacks, often leading to what would be called "curse word moves" becuase of the defenseless nature of the victim.
John sucker punched David, and then he nutted him while he lay gasping for breath.

Well done.

I am now a awaiting the next instalment


Of course roping in Bryn seems like the most natural thing to do.