Shifting Improvements

So last week I went from having a vague, somewhat challenging shift action, to having not much rhyme or reason as to where I might find 3rd, 4th, or 5th gears. The day this got seriously bad I had to be super careful not to engage 1st when I wanted 3rd (or 5th). This, an enjoyable drive, did not make!

Past experience and some internet searches added shift bushings to my weekend to-do list. When I opened up the rear access panel (to get to the shift coupling) I found this! Needless to say I felt pretty sure the lion's share of my problems centered around it.








About 2 pleasant hours later I had the whole assembly from knob to coupler cleaned, re-greased, re-bushed and functioning as the good Dr. ordered. The pin for the coupler was a minor stumbling block that wanted to argue with me, but nothing to the magnitude of my past experience with the pedal cluster.

Now it changes gears with a nice slick and solid engagement, I've had a couple of other cars with nicer shift action but it now feels like a proper sports car.

The Saga Continues - Fuel Injection

.....but it's getting better all the time.....

Note: Nothing you will read here is a new discovery, tons of those before me figured all this out so I don't profess to be providing the world with anything "new". But this is my journey and you are reading it so enjoy :).

When we last saw our intrepid quasi-mechanic he'd breathed life (gas really) back into his persnickety steed. Well, the morning startup issue was far from gone, if anything it was getting worse. With the weather starting to cool and dry I used the old girl for work for a few days. Things were getting worse, regular back-firing through the intake and a new shifting problem. So I resolved to address some things last weekend.

So what we learned:

I have/had vacuum leaks, the CIS Fuel Injection System on a 70's era Porsche 911 is not a really complicated device, but it demands precise conditions to work properly. Apparently I was somewhat chasing my tail when I needed to be focusing on some little things. I sanded down and THOROUGHLY cleaned the popping off pop-off valve and re-expoxied that bad-boy, then I applied a gasket sealant to a weeping fuel distributor (this may be a no-no, but I've read there are no rebuild kits for this and it worked, so bite me). I also cleaned up and tightened as much as I could see while I was tinkering around.

Then I read my conditions sounded like a bad lean condition, I found the 3mm hole to adjust the mixture. Started it up and Voila! Cranked and running smooth in 20 seconds, amazing! The boy and I then enjoyed a slow drive around the neighborhood. Then the real test, 2 days later I sit down in the car, turn the key, 20 seconds later she's purring away. I've actuallly fixed a huge headache.

Next up, I've solved some massive shifting woes....

She's Alive!!! (again)

After 3+ long weeks of having my car stuck in the garage she galloped down the road again, the whole family got to enjoy the test run.

The short story (something I'm not good at obviously) is that I've got a metric car in a decidedly standard world. Don't even think about going to your local auto parts store in Southern Alabamy and asking Bubba for a 12mm Banjo Fitting with a Barbed end. Hell, once you find one of those, pay a rediculous amount of money for a funny looking bolt to be sent to you from somewhere else in the country and just need a regular old bolt in a size with "millimeter" on the back and some small fuel hose, they still look at you like you are crazy.

My favorite conversation is this: [This is what I need from you] (Bubba) "What year and model car is this for" (the Geek) "It's for an old 911 but I have a mixture of parts, I'm telling you what I need to make them work together" (Bubba) "So what year and model car is this for?" (Geek) "fine, it's a '75 Porsche 911" (Bubba) "I don't see a part number for anything you are talking about" (Geek) "no $h1t? This is why I'm telling you what I need"

Apparently even mechanics have gone to a lack of imagination in making something work if the computer doesn't tell you a number.

So anyway, I finally got it working, seems buttoned up and not leaking. So far it's starting without hesitation, and I'll know tomorrow morning if I've really fixed my awful hard start problem that's plagued me for 5 months now.

For now, I'll call this a victory, with wind in my hair :)

Braved the superheated garage to accomplish something

An evening out in my toy last night spurned me back to the garage today. Somehow I'd been procrastinating on a usual staple to my car tinkering, a good cut/polish/wax. I had a few hours without a [well deserving] wife and child wanting attention so I gave it to the car.

Oh how I love sparkly, clean, bright silver paintwork shimmering in the sun, also managed to get out some of the staining that had built up from sitting for a couple of years after the fresh paint job.

Then with more time left I got my front parking/signal lights working. This was a great accomplishment as it was something that had bugged me for months, had a missing signal light and hadn't taken the time to decipher what wires went where. In the process I found what I now know to be horn wires, woo hoo! Just need a horn now :)

Looking forward to fall

Must.....have......A/C!

The old girl will certainly make it out of the garage a LOT more in about another month, seems unprofessional to show up somewhere looking like I just stepped out of a shower :)

Every time I turn around I find something else

In the last few weeks I've not done too much more than drive my toy. I fitted a new (used) door seal I won on ebay for $8 (which highlights that I need the other side and don't want to pay $40 for the not quite right one :( ) That led to installing the trim pieces on the door sills which hold the carpet down and look much more finished.

I figured out why my steering wheel would flop around in my hand by 1/4" (thanks to the internet) and fixed that with a nice little cheap replacement bushing, it's great when something isn't ungodly expensive on a car like this.

My biggest issue at the moment continues to be starting the car, it's a LOT better when it gets driven regularly but is still nowhere near right. Thanks to hours worth of reading how-to articles I think I've pinpointed it to one or 2 parts. My lovely bride offered up her little bonus check last week and I have a set of gauges coming that will formally identify what it is and aid me in my quest to become proficient in speaking fuel injection.

So, we are to the downside of being a person who works for a living and who's income is a moving target. I've put on everything worth re-installing that came with the car and I'm out of $ to keep buying parts for a bit. Really this car doesn't "need" much more huge investment but the more I work on it the more I find small bits and baubles that need to be sourced. I'd guess $700-$800 more and this will be a lovely 5' driver quality car. It won't ever be a concours car in my care but that's not what I wanted.

I've not decided yet whether it's prudent to talk $ on an open diatribe such as this, for the good of others that are watching the value of their toys sink in today's economic times I think I'll leave it to speculation. They say that every 911 is a $20k car, I'm sure sooner or later an engine rebuild or upgrades I can't resist will meet that but lets say for the moment I've got a small fraction of that invested. I mention this for those like me who might otherwise think a car like this is unobtainable, it's not if you do all the labor :)

The good news is I've got a thrilling little barn-stormer, the sound of it at 6k through the back roads sends a chill up your spine and somehow pins the corners of your mouth to your ear-lobes. Its wonderful and you don't care that you look like an 8 year old opening a Red Rider BB gun at Christmas. My former vintage car comparisons don't hold a candle to the way this one moves. I'm inclined to agree, "Porsche, there is no substitute".

It's not the destination.....

I discovered shortly before the aforementioned date-night that outside of the nicely flat surface of my garage my toy refused to sit stationary. For this I introduced a highly technical device intended to keep my car where I last left it....a Brick. (This BTW did not add to the lovely Mrs' comfort level about our mode of transporation...note to self, wife assumes cars that need bricks are not functioning properly. Must adjust her expectations).

Also not lending to wifey trusting-ness was a car that wouldn't stay running at a stop light without my o' so skillful heel-toe demonstration (we weren't on a race-track, she was unimpressed).

What's funny about these niggling annoyances is that I was reminded that sometimes a good ole' fashioned book (manual) can be better than the internet. Will wonders ever cease? I searched for a good half an hour on the computer for hints on how to adjust the e-brake and then the idle, but then I smacked myself in the head and pulled out the shop manual. In about 2 minutes I had pictures showing just what I needed to fiddle with.

So, moral of the story is......I'll tell you how to do these things now that I know via the world wide web but it's guaranteed to be much faster just to look it up on paper.