Got the door interior panels and associated hardware back in place. Was able to improve the fixings somewhat but there still remains a non-stock fastener that had to be retained (temporarily) since it had self-tapped a larger hole than stock. Otherwise, everything works and the door window operates like new. Only a few items left to address and some cosmetics.
Two steps forward....well, started the clean up of the interior and ran across some window seals that looked brand new sitting in a garage cabinet where I store new parts for all my cars awaiting installation. I realized that in the cross over from installation of the passenger side door seals and the drivers side I ended up re-installing old seals. It was an easy mistake to make since the seals that came out were actually not that bad at all. It was a case of buying new parts in the mode of "while I'm in there" and not paying attention to the condition of the old stuff. That, and lack of basic organization. I should've thrown away the old stuff as soon as I removed it.
So, instead of getting an early start on the cosmetics I spent another bunch of hours removing the window frame again, and replacing the two old seals with the new ones. The one window track bolt on the interior of the door was accessible by removing the door stereo speaker and reaching in. No need to remove the whole door card, thankfully. After that, the leather surfaces got some attention and the carpets came out for a deep cleaning.
Tommorow is dedicated to exterior finishes.
Two days remaining.
After two more days thrashing with the car we were done, or as done as we were going to be. Saturday was a beautiful day and the cars gathered on the town square. For an inaugural event, this one was pretty well attended, possibly full.
All manner of German machines, new and old.
Porsche, Audi and BMW clubs were represented
Along with a few race cars
Truly a fun, family event
And the 911 SC made the show in one piece, even though some of the pieces were held together with super glue (cough, cough)
We parked next to the Best in Show winner. Great car and a really nice owner...
All in all it was worth the effort. Met a lot of great people and can't wait until next year's event. Maybe we'll give a shot at being judged next time as the Porsche was not up to a proper standard this time.
More images from the gathering: https://germanmotorgathering.com/2019-event-photos
Awards recipients first, and then cars that were on the grass. There were plenty more on the streets surrounding the park.
Hard to believe its been a little over a year and a half since the German Motoring show that inspired me to get the SC presentable enough to put on the town square and out of the garage, but it has. COVID caused the second annual Gathering to be postponed but we just found out it is back on schedule for this year. Yay! Good excuse to revive this zombie thread and do a little update.
Lets start with transaxle service. We moved into a different house and this garage is shallower than our last. I did get to coat the garage floor in epoxy before moving everything in though.
This SC came with a pretty extensive maintenance folder from the second owner (I believe I'm the third) that covers most of the mileage driven. The car has about 117k miles and I can find no record of a gearbox oil change, which troubled me but I kind of rationalized that it had had a new clutch and surely someone would have changed the oil then. Wouldn't you? But haven't seen a record of it yet so that's what I did today.
Was pretty routine. Pulled the fill plug first and found it stock - non-magnetic - and clean. Pulled the drain plug and found this:
That's scary, at least to me. Spread out on a paper towel it is a mixture of grit and small metal shards. The grit has the consistency of mushy NeverSieze without a lot of solids - if you ignore the larger metal pieces. Here's everything spread out:
And here's the major large pieces:
So, what does the hive think? Imminent disaster or normal wear resulting from typical Porsche 915 gearbox 1st gear balkiness? The car has 117k miles and the gearbox wasn't overly noisy. The old oil came out dark, but not black, thick or lumpy. It may have been down on level somewhat but I haven't measured it yet. I've since refilled the gearbox with a popular gearlube (not the $$$ miracle stuff) and made a two mile test loop around the neighborhood, and to my untrained ear it sounds and feels smoother.
Tomorrow I take it into town for a registration inspection so we shall see how it feels.
I should point out that the red stuff on the paper towel was applied outside the drain plug, not inside. It was like a paint mark or a seal applied to show the drain plug hadn't been removed. It wouldn't be factory would it?
OK, took a short trip to have the 911 inspected for the state and everything was running smooth. Engine was purring along and the slight noise and harshness seemingly coming from the transmission was all but gone. Got to the inspection garage and they were closed for lunch. Rather than wait around 1.5 hours I decided to motor back home, a round trip of around 20 miles.
Life is good.
Until its not...
Pulling out of the neighborhood onto the highway the trans jumped out of second gear. I couldn't find it again. Found third gear and accelerated down the road. Still couldn't find second and eventually lost fourth gear. All I have now is 1st, 3rd and 5th gears and they sometimes don't live where they used to in the pattern. Made the loop and got it back home. Found I still have reverse gear.
Life can suck sometimes.
My brother the Porsche enthusiast suggested I call a particular shop in San Antonio, and the kind lady who answered the phone didn't quiz me or tell me to flat bed it in for evaluation. No, she simply said, "check your shift coupling" - end of conversation. So I did. So it was.
Definite lack of bushings.
Found the old bushings in the shift coupling boot:
The shift rod bushing was a little brittle as well
After proving once again that a large C-clamp and a variety of sockets are no match for a hydraulic press ad a variety of sockets I got the coupling pin out and the new bushings in.
Apparently that was the easy part. Adjusting the coupling has consumed a number of hours and it is not quite right yet. But the good news is it is close and I have all my gears back. The box is still quiet and smooth and I may have dodged a huge bullet.
You should move this to the build threads, I keep forgetting it's here. Glad you found that fix.
In reply to chandler :
I thought about whether this thread should be on the build thread forum or on this one and decided that it was going to be more about owning and maintaining a “classic” rather than a true project. It definitely gets less commentary here than it probably would there. Maybe that’s a good thing.
Thanks for reading in any case.
So a couple more attempts at adjusting the shifter coupling with better results. I was about to leave well enough alone, being able to select all the gears, but the last instruction in the Bentley manual made me a little uneasy. It said to place the gear selector in 5th gear and check that there was still a bit of free play in the coupling. Mine was tight - no movement. To add to that I could just imagine that I could feel a little bit of gear contact when getting into the 5th gear slot. Found a really decent tutorial on the U of Tubes by a guy that plainly described how things should "feel" when making the adjustments. My final incremental adjustment made all the difference. Now there was just the slightest play with the selector in 5th, and no "nicking" of the gear when slotting in.
Check for the free play...
And torque the clamp bolt. Ran the car into town for its annual state inspection and we're good to go. The place I got it inspected was incredible. More McLarens, Lambos, Porsches and Ferraris than I've ever seen before in one place. I may go there every year.
You'll need to log in to post.
