Mechanical -

Initial Assessment

I pre-arranged for a great local Porsche expert, Scott McCauley, to take deliver of the car from Adam. It was a typical rainy day in Seattle and I drove next to the tow truck from Seattle to Scott’s shop, an hour or so up north. We unloaded the car at the top of a big hill. Scott jumped in the car and started coasting down the hill. I panicked and ran after the car, actually trying to hold on and slow it down…I failed and ended up on my ass! Thankfully the brakes worked, and Scott skillfully coasted the car directly into his shop.

Here are some early photos as Scott pulled things apart to assess what I was in for:

Speedometer Restoration

It’s important to me to keep things as local as possible so I was thrilled to meet Buz at Seattle Speedometer. Buz runs one of the best speedometer restoration businesses in the world and is right in my backyard. Buz made fast progress restoring the gauges back to better than new. The previous owner re-screened the tachometer to match a Japanese market specification and I had Buz return everything back to original.

Here are some before and after photos of Buz’s incredible work:

The Turbo

The original turbo looked pretty rough when it was pulled from the car. Bernie sent it to Charlie Brown at Evergreen Turbo, the best in the business. Charlie returned the original turbo looking as good as it left the factory. It was so cool to see the heart of the 930 and the reason it earned the name Widowmaker shine like new. It arrived at a perfect time and helped me overcome some growing “what the hell have I gotten myself into” worries.

In Bernie We Trust

I decided to consolidate all mechanical restoration work as well as assembly into the very capable hands of Bernie Buschen. Bernie is a long time Porsche air-cooled expert and particularly well known in the 914 world. From the moment we first talked on the phone, I felt at ease. It is very important to me that the partners on this project are as excited about it as I am. That’s the only way I know that I’ll get their best work. I just clicked with Bernie. His deep Porsche expertise, his passion for the project, and his extensive network of experts made this restoration possible.

I’m like a kid in a candy store when I visit Bernie’s shop. Here are some photos from an early visit. It was a great surprise to see how many of the original parts could be restored and reused.

Camshafts

Another key piece of the puzzle falls into place. My original camshafts were sent off to Web Cam Racing Cams to be brought back to life.

So Many Parts

It’s always exciting to get new photos from Bernie as he receives freshly refinished, recoated and restored parts for the 930. Here’s a collection of photos showing

Freshly powder coated and media blasted suspension parts.
Powder coated engine sheet metal.
The exhaust ceramic coated by Performance Coatings in Kent, WA.
The fan and fan housing cerakoted to look very close to the original finish but with a more resilient finish.
Beautiful magnesium engine parts freshly cerakoted.
Many lovely zinc plated parts.

One day all of these parts will be turned back into a 1975 930. For now they will stay wrapped up and on the shelf, waiting for assembly:

Needles in a Stack of Needles

I knew from early photos of my car that I needed to source a new period correct whale tail. A previous owner replaced the original with a full rubber model that was used on other 911s, but never the 930. Thanks to Ryan’s book I knew exactly what to look for. My car is a 1975 model with no AC so I needed to find a whale tail that had the smaller secondary grill. Thankfully, I came across a gentleman with an original 76 non-AC whale tail that he was willing to part with for a modest price. He was a super nice guy and even built a handmade crate to ship it over safely. You have to love car people!

When my car first arrived, I noticed that the airbox was missing an important piece. Instead of the nice clamp on cover over the air filter, it was secured in place with a bungee cord. Back to Ryan’s book! I was disheartened to learn that the 75 930 had an airbox that was specific to that year only. 76 had a different one as well, and then 77 on they started to standardize. How the hell was I going to find a replacement air box when they only made 274 cars that year! After a lot of searching, I found a gentleman in Germany that had a spare 75 air box. He was looking for a 76 and wouldn’t sell me his, but he was open to a trade. I spent a year scouring the internet and eventually found a 76 air box that I quickly scooped up. He made good on his offer, and I had the 1975 930 air box that I needed. I’m having so much fun finding rare parts for this car. Other than writing checks, it’s my only real value add!

What the Fuchs

The Fuchs were beautifully restored by Peter Nguyen, TheFuchsGuy. Peter has a fantastic reputation, was responsive to my questions and was able to turn the job about in a reasonable time. The 8×15 wheels have 4/75 date codes and the 7×15 wheels have 3/75 date codes. They all need a lot of love after years of neglect but Peter made them like new again:

Transmission

Bernie was able to get a head start on the transmission rebuild while he waited on parts for the engine. Porsche put the identification stamp of the transmission case at the lowest point, so like many Porsches of this era, it was ground off over time. Bernie captured photographs of the original parts within the transmission showing the correct 1975 date stamps. The transmission has new dog rings, sliders and syncro rings. Bernie replaced a few gear sets as they were worn out and of course all new studs and hardware.

Engine

It was a moment to celebrate when we started getting engine goodies back from Ollie’s.

The engine case was inspected, line bored back to standard. Broken studs removed, case oil squirters cleaned, oil gallies cleaned, Cylinder spigots & case bolt holes spot faced. The oil bypass modification was done and finally media tumbled. It looks like new.
Connecting Rods were rebuilt with new wrist pin bushings.
Crankshaft journals measured. Magna fluxed. Oil passages cleaned & micro polished.
Cam boxes were surfaced, new spray bars, and new cam plugs.
Rocker arms were re-bushed, polished & cleaned
The heads are still a ways out but the basic inspection report shows they just need standard reconditioning. Guides, valve job, fly-cut the deck and media tumble.

The machine work was done by Tim @ Ollie’s Machine shop in Lake Havasu City. The heads are being done by Walt Watson @ Competition engineering.