Ron Lang Ashland, USA
I’ve reported recently on the 1982 Euro 930 Turbo project, so here’s another update with the inevitable growing list of ‘while we’re there’ work to be performed. The gearbox rebuild is completed and we’re now waiting for it to arrive from the specialist.
The Fabspeed exhaust system and components are still on order and might arrive in the next month.
But first, a bit of a recap. Part of the Living the Legend ethos, particularly as applied to classic 911s, is ‘repairing the legend’. These older, original, analogue cars such as this 40-year-old example require work as old components wear out. This project started with a balky shift into and out of third gear. Removing the gearbox to ship to the rebuilder meant removing the engine.
Once the engine was out, the archeology dig commenced. As
I noted in a prior Living the Legend article in this magazine, the Turbo’s ageing exhaust system was worn out, with older weld repairs evident on several of the joints. This prompted the ordering of a replacement complete exhaust system, together with a stainless steel Fabspeed unit.
The engine, when on the stand, looked horrible. Lots of dark grease and grime was evident, totally hiding the orange-coloured engine shrouding. The engine externals have been cleaned and many of the bolt-on components look fine. However, there are phenolic blocks that attach the intake manifold to the heads and they were all leaking. The good news is that the replacement blocks and their installation was straightforward, but since the intake manifolds were leaking, I wasn’t achieving full turbo boost.
The 930 engine wiring harness looked in bad shape with several wires either worn through or broken. The spark plug leads were shot as well. All these components have been replaced and I’m looking forward to increased power from a properly boosted and sparked engine.
Keep in mind that all of the fuel injection is fully mechanical and spark comes from a points-and-condenser distributor. This is an old-school engine management system and getting its current level of repair and attention means that, even at 75,000 miles on it, the outlook is promising.
Another element of this kind of project is that patience is required. Not only is significant labour required to remove, repair and refit the drivetrain, but there’s also the waiting time because parts and outside repairs are sourced and ordered. The car went into the project back in mid-december last year and I’m writing this update in midmarch. That’s three months already; I suspect there are another three months or so to go.
Then there’s the question of justifying the investment. Is it worth spending
20% or more of the value of the car in making it ‘right’? From a financial point of view, the answer is likely ‘no’. However, these 911s aren’t investments (unless one gets lucky). The joy of the driving experience and sharing a car like this with my friends and local Porsche Club members is my aspiration. I’m hoping for a high joy-on-investment (JOI) ratio. I’ve had good JOI on prior projects such as with my 1997 993 Turbo and 1972 911 S. Those cars are wonderful on every drive. I’m confident the same JOI will result from this 930 project. Having had prior similar projects turn out well increases my confidence of a good result this time around, too.