Michael Meldrum

Houston, Texas @p911r Model 911T Targa Year 1972 Acquired 2013 Model 911e Year 1972 Acquired 2014 Model 930 Turbo 3.0 Year 1977 Acquired 2014 Model 930 Turbo 3.0 Year 1977 Acquired 2015 Model Carrera 3.0 Year 1977 Acquired 2016 Model 911 SC Year 1981 Acquired 2015 Model 3.2 Carrera Year 1986 Acquired 2015 Model 993 C4S Year 1996 Acquired 2016 Model 964 Carrera 4 Year 1994 Acquired 2016 Model 997.1 GT3 Year 2007 Acquired 2017

I have a hard time leaving things alone, especially when it comes to an outlaw Porsche 911. I mean, a car can never be perfect, right? Have you ever found yourself in a moment of clarity and think ‘did I really need to do that?’ I frequently do, but not in the case of my Gulf blue, 1978-backdated 911 SC, nicknamed Pebbles for its love of throwing up large stones at anyone following behind due to the sticky Michelin TB15 tyres. I think I am getting close to where I want it to be.

I was visiting the chaps at Rs-werks in 2016 to check on the status of my

custom 911 builds. I noticed the Gulf blue car in the shop and went to check it out. It was not exactly to my tastes as it had been configured by another client. That same client was having second thoughts, so I jumped at the chance to get a custom modified build and skip the 12 to 18 month wait list.

There were things I liked about the car: it’s a backdated SC, a stable chassis but still lots of fun, the steel Turbo flares had been hand re-profiled for a smoother finish, the backdating work had been done the correct way with the latch panel being relocated and a fresh 3.2-litre motor made for a compelling start point.

I created a list of upgrades to bring the car to where I wanted it to be. First on the agenda was to remove the ducktail and RSR front bumper and replace with an St-style front bumper and flat decklid. I swapped the seats for a set of vintage style buckets with houndstooth inserts made by GTS Classics, and I added Rennline pedals and floorboards. Finally, I swapped the shifter to my beloved Jwest short shifter with a Stomski shift coupler, a truly heavenly combination.

The end results were a car that far better reflected my preferred style. The next evolution was a cosmetic exercise. I decided to go wild with orange vinyl wrapping on the bonnet, decklid and bumpers, and a giant number two.

All was going well until I destroyed the clutch, the combination of the supersticky TB15S and spirited driving are hard on a clutch! I decided to ship it back to Rs-werks on the east coast to have the clutch repaired and to start tinkering.

The next round of fiddling was all spur of the moment. I had a freshly built carburetted 3.4 sitting at Rs-werks for one of my other builds, so I decided to do an impromptu heart transplant. I decided to take the backdating of the interior to the next level with the installation of a period-correct dash, silver dot gauges, a SWB style kneepad, painted dash, square-weave carpet and a vintage

Momo Prototipo for an attractive look.

I’m delighted with the latest iteration of Pebbles. The 3.4 is a ripper, the power delivery is now linear and the sound of the carbs is sublime. I think I might just be finished fiddling with this one…