I bought a 1977 Porsche 911 on Bring-a-Trailer.com

I bought a 1977 911S on Bring-a-Trailer.com

I woke up on Thursday May 16 with no real intention of buying a car that day. But I did. I have been watching various backdated and cloned versions of 911RS and 911RSR type cars on BaT and on various websites. This particular car caught my eye because although it wasn’t an RS clone, it was a genuine 911s from 1977 which had steel flares and a nicely started interior. Seemed like less than half way to an RS clone with some interesting bits. I thought if I could buy it low enough, it could be a fun project to take to a full RSR clone or maybe just drive as is. 

The car was built as an outlaw hot rod without consideration for originality and clone-ness. So many people stayed away. A possible non original engine also concerned some bidders. 

As the auction came towards the close, it looked like I might actually get it under $40k. That was my cutoff. In the end I was high bidder at $41k. Kinda shocked myself but feel like I got a good deal. My wonderful wife was sitting there cheering me on at teh auction close. Have I ever mentioned that I hit the jackpot when I married a woman who understands my "car problems"?

Within an hour of the auction close, I was on the phone with the seller, who turned out to be a great guy and a real car enthusiast who was now feeling a little seller's remorse. But we quickly worked out the logistics and I prepared a wire transfer while he sent off a FedEx of paperwork. I contacted a few shippers and found a great one with a new enclosed trailer and the car was on the trailer the next day! Within a week, the car showed up and I was very excited to hear it fire up for the first time! It settled into the garage nicely, and it was now time for me to start on plans.

At purchase, my expected plans started with:

* headliner replacement
* clear headlight lenses 
* ducktail and new rear decklid (paint)
* Carrera Side script 
* possible pepito (houndstooth) seat inserts. 

Over time as I drive it and if I enjoy it, I would put on new exhaust, clean up the engine and maybe go with a full conversion to an RS front bumper and maybe rear bumper. I could even go so far as to have it painted in green or tangerine. However, those things are probably unlikely. If I did, though, I could be all in on this car and far less than what most of the backdated RS clones are selling for these days. 

For now, I’m just going to enjoy it. I will next update you on the process of getting the car recertified in California and passing omissions testing, given that it is a post 1975 car and will have to pass smog testing. Although the engine has been swapped, it is a newer engine and larger displacement, both of which are allowable by California law.

Update (day 2):

I had considered doing a change of the seat inserts to the "pepito" checked pattern (some refer to it as houndstooth, but on a classic Porsche its is a pepito pattern). But the more i looked at the existing seats and the original RS style seats, the more I realized that it is already exactly as it should be. So - no change for the seats! But I did make the immediate change from the Euro (French) style yellow headlight covers. Primarily because I figured they are just a great way to call attention to oneself to the Highway Patrol, something not needed in car this loud and this noticeable already. Among the extra parts for the car were the clear headlight lenses as well as the original hood emblem, so I also swapped out the flat-black emblem for the original.

Update: (day 3):

OK, I guess it's time for a little sound clip. Forgive the air noise, I didn't have my external microphone set up.

I love the Wevo shifter on this car. Good precision, good feedback on shifts. It pops and gurgles nicely but that may go away soon (time to add new cats!). more importantly, the engine runs smoothly and has great pull in 2nd and 3rd gear. I got on the freeway and never even got into 4th and 5th, because 3rd is so much fun in the 70 MPH range for passing, etc. This car has a slightly lower RPM redline than my Turbo, but because of the 5 speed instead of the 4 speed, I feel like I don't need as long of a run in the higher rpms, because when I shift at 6000, the next gear still has me in a nice part of the power band.

People love these older Porsches for a good reason: the steering is light and direct, and the acceleration feels like more than it is. Just damn fun to drive.

Update (day 10):

I've been getting around the car and cleaning things up and I have an an appointment with the California emissions "Referee". I probably could have just taken the car to a smog test station, and they may not have even noticed that the car had a non-original engine. But I figure I should get it completely checked out and get the emissions referee to issue a BAR ("Bureau of Auto Repair") official sticker, which is the way CA certifies that an out of state or non-original car is OK for CA emissions. More on that later. But for now, I've checked out under the car and there are some things that will need fixing. A broken mount on the front torsion bar is number one. But the good news is that this car has updated rear shocks and newer-style Bilstein front struts and other modifications, including the much-preferred turbo tie-rod ends that help reduce bump-steer and also make for better handling overall.

Update (day 12):

It's day 12 and I'm now at the CA emission referree.

For those who are not aware, or any of you who might want to bring in a non-California car into the state, here’s a little info…

State of California does not require emissions testing for cars 1975 or older. This is a 1977, so it requires a small check before they will title and register the car in the state. If you go to the smog check place, and then realize you have a replacement engine, they will mark your car as “tampered” and send you to a referee that will certify or not certify the engine. 

The referee can also ask for changes to make your car compliant. After all that, it still has to pass the tail pipe emissions testing process. I decided to go straight to the referee first, and ask them to certify the car. If I get a certificate and sticker, it will make the car much more valuable for resale in California. 

My engine block has 930/03 stamped on it, and I have a receipt from a number of years ago that shows the engine being installed in the car. Looking up that engine block series, it belongs to a 1978 “rest of world” 911 SC. So, the referee is now looking to see if the engine set up complies with the 1978 expectations. He may require a catalytic converter, which was not on a 1977, but it was on a 1978. Interestingly, he just walked over to me and mentioned that this car does not require a catalytic converter, but I think as he gets further into this he may change his mind.

Fingers crossed.

He looked up the VIN and understands this is a 1977. He looked at the block in the engine and recognizes that is a 1978 3.0 L. However, the car has an original sticker on the door jam that says “non- catalyst”. I provided him a copy of the original California title from the late 1970s. On that it does NOT say “non-US car” (so he knows it isn't "grey market"). He has therefore determined that this is a federal car from 1977 which does not require a catalyst. He’s going to consider the engine a replacement engine but write it up without the need for a catalyst. I’m still not sure how I’m getting this lucky, but he said the car will require some air injection and some vacuum tubes and various lines from the distributor to the throttle body, so it looks more like a 1978. He said my Fabspeed exhaust and resonator are perfectly fine. He’s hooking it up to the smog machine right now, and discussed with me the possibility of in putting the engine as a 2.7 versus a 3.0. Not sure why that was even a discussion, but he is putting it in as a 3.0 L and running the test. 

He says I will need to return back to the referee after I make changes based on his write up, and they will certify it, sticker it, and smog test it. He said most smog test stations would never have caught that this was a 1978 engine in a 1977 car, so I think he appreciates that I brought it to him directly.

He told me that the original sticker on the door jam, which looks old and original, is very valuable— where it says “non-catalyst” 

To paraphrase George Bush the First: “Read my lips: no new cats”

Update (day 13):

So I take the car into my favorite Porsche mechanic, Chris Murad at European Autotech in San Ramon, who has been working on cars for me for 20 years. I task him with getting me the parts I need from a 1978 engine. Chris has rooms full of this stuff so he tells me it'll be no problem.  Then I say the fateful words: "while you're in there..."

Those are car-guy words for "this is about to cost me more money"

But I'm glad I did. Chris noticed right away that's engine has the original chain tensioners, which were not very effective and prone to failure. Most cars os this year had since been updated to later-year Carrera chain tensioners. He suggests that is job one, and once he gets in there, the job grows a bit more.  The timing chain rails weren't installed correctly at the last engine rebuild (the good news is that the engine has been worked on and looks pretty good). But there are other things that should be done while we are in there. Also, the CA emissions requirements will need a new distributor and a new  throttle body in order to manage the vacuum hose bits. New this, new that. Pretty soon Chris just says "I might as well just pull the engine out to make all teh changes easier and we can do some other upgrades "while you're in there".  There's that statement again. $$$.

Along with throttle bushings, shift-shaft seals, the engine now has all new gaskets, bolts, sump cover, etc. New chain tensioners, Torqued the head, adjusted the valves, replaced hoses and any little thing he could otherwise not get to with the engine installed.

But hey, in the end it all gets done and the car is running great and all the bits and pieces are there for the CA referee.

Update (day 19):

I got the car back from the mechanic and it runs fabulously! More cackle and pop on deceleration and great throttle response. Engine sounds fantastic and runs much cleaner!  

The car is set to run a bit lean to pass smog tailpipe tests.  On smog readings, When the referee tested it, it ran with carbon monoxide readings of....

Before: CO% of 4.4% where max is 1.3% and where gross polluter status is 2.9%:

After: now CO% measures a nice lean 0.42%, which should make the referee happy!

Update (day 20):

For those who care about costs, I'll be real with ya... there are lots of costs in buying and out of state car on an auction site. That hammer price gets added onto. So here is where I stand:

$41000 car 
$2050 Auction fee (5%)
$2500 enclosed transport 
$1800 for smog changes
$500 torsion bar fix 
$3200 expected CA registration and sales tax @ approx 8.25%

= $51,050 all in non-discretionary 

Discretionary items:
$2500 engine upgrades 
$1000 headliner
$1000 ducktail deckleid
$700 Paint estimate
$150 Carrera script decal 
= $5,350 discretionary items 

Total $56,400

Buying a car at auction always requires that you keep a reserve amount of spending in mind. This is pretty much what I expected. I went through something similar with the ‘69 E Type I bought at Barrett Jackson. In both cases, I still feel I got good deals. I’ll end up with a very nicely sorted hotrod 911 for under $60k, and I’m happy with that. 

Update (day 22):

The new ducktail decklid arrived from Getty Design. Looks pretty good! 

Update (day 22):

The Carrera script arrived and I figured I'd get some things done while waiting for my next CA referee appointment. Script install is pretty basic:

1) wash and clay bar the paint
2) measure distances (10mm from left door edge and 50mm from bottom door edge)
3) place at measured points and anchor/hinge the center of the decal 
4)peel half the backing and wet the surface 
5) work laterally, squeegeeing out bubbles. 
6) dry, peel, and trim. Presto-chango, she looks different ! 

Update (day 23):

Back to the referee and it all went great. He was impressed wit the work and happy to see the dramatic improvement in the smog test. He issued be the very important BAR sticker, which tells all smog stations in CA exactly what the car has in it and what is supposed to be on it:  AIS, EVP, PCV, SPK, which are codes for air injection, evap, etc.  But no mention of catalytic converters.  

So I now have a pretty valuable car in CA.  A 1977 with a swapped-in 1978 engine that does not require catalytic converters. Every two years it still needs to pass the tailpipe emissions tests, but as long as it is tuned up properly, no problem! The 1978 3.0L engine is critical because the 1977 2.7L magnesium engines were known to be a problem with expansion issues that caused engines to fail.

Update (day 26):

With the car running well, now CA legal and ready to be registered and titled, I figured I'd get the ducktail decklid on. It fit pretty darned well, right out of the box. Getty makes a good product. I had to put in a couple shims to elevate the upward edge to match the body level. Otherwise, plug and play and drill 6 holes to install the black mesh screen. 

Now I just have to decide what type of badge/emblem to put on it.  This car is not a full Carrera RS clone, so I think I would stay with teh original style 911S emblem, or a slightly updated one from a more recent car. So I printed out a couple options on paper to tape them up and see what and where I'd go with it.

In the end, I decided to go original style, centered, and I ordered the 1977 911S emblem after mocking it up with paper here. Next step: take it to the paint shop and get the silver paint on the deck and hope it matches as well as possible (silver is hard to match).

Update (day 30):

I went to the DMV today for my last bit of red tape and bureaucracy.  I had with me my Bill of Sale and the car's Connecticut registration and a "Supplemental Assignment of Ownership" signed by the seller.  Connecticut does not issue titles for cars over 20 years old, so I had no title to show the CA DMV. This worried me because I know how tightly the DMV interprets rules.

But, I got a very nice lady at the counter who took all my paperwork and read the DMV reference book which details different state rules and she accepted everything, had my VIN verified and BAM! Issued me new plates, a new Title (in the mail) and a new registration! She asked me if the car had been on CA roads (because you are supposed to register within 10 days or something like that). When my answer was " only to drive it to emissions..." she said "what I hear you saying is that it has been in your garage since it arrived".  I caught the hint and agreed and signed the statement of facts saying exactly that.  No penalty for late registration that way. Helpful DMV lady! (I think I helped myself by being very nice to her from  the get-go: I'm sure DMV people get abused all the time so it easy to be nice to them).

 

By the way, Have you ever said : “I never should have sold that car”

Well, this is a reminder of all the maintenance you would have had to do on that car... I pulled all the records I received wiry the purchase and laid them out in date order. These go back to 1980 through 8 owners. Reading all the constant repairs back in the 80s and 90s on the 2.7L engine now makes it obvious why the owner dropped in a used 3.0 in 2002!

Update: Shakedown cruise

Now that the car is legal to drive in CA, I went out for a cruise out Mines Rd in Livermore. 

Impressions: I don't really notice any issue from the significant staggered wheel/tire setup (205/17 up front, 315/17 out back). Probably because I'm not exactly TRYing to rotate the car. What I know is that the steering up front is pretty light and direct, and the back end has no real risk of breaking loose on me! The shifter is going to take some time to get used to. I like all the upshifts, but the downshift from 3rd to 2nd is still a bit iffy... requires a touch of "find it, gate it, pull it", because if you just jam it back in the general direction of 2nd, you can miss a bit and get a bit of a small grind. Downshift from 5th to 4th and 4th to 3rd is great. The car blips pretty well and the pedals are in a nice position to heel-toe. 

The primary thing you take away from driving it is: "wow, that's loud". It sounds really nice between 4000 and 5500 rpm. That's because there is no muffler - just a Fabspeed resonator off the Fabspeed header. Lots of burble and pop on deceleration from about 4000 down to 2500 RPM. The brakes are good, but I didn't really stomp on them much.

Overall, I like the way she handles, even though there is a lot of wrestling the wheel in the long sweepers (not strenuous, just gotta hold it there because the wheel wants to straighten out naturally)... it makes you feel good, though, like you're actually driving the car. As opposed to the much easier feel of the more modern stuff where you point it once and it goes there.

The final steps were then to get the rear deck painted and have the headliner replaced.

A couple of quick updates:

After reviewing all those receipts, I did some digging of the names of the prior owners. I found one living back East and contacted him. He was delighted to hear my story and tell me a bit about his ownership. He also sent me a few photos of him and the car in the L.A. area from back in the 80's:

Meanwhile, I applied for and was granted the ability to re-purpose a set of original CA blue-gold plates onto the car under the CA DMV "Year of Manufacture" program.  Looks more natural now!

And I managed to purchase the original Fuchs wheels from the BaT seller, and although they've been painted (see above car photo from the 80's), I'm glad to have them still with the car.