Porsche 911 Honeymoon
First thing I did when I got the 911 home is look it over to see what needed immediate attention so I could start driving it.
I walked around the car and couldn’t unsee all the screaming yellow stuff so I peeled off all the yellow stickers and headlight film. I was left with the rollbar and the brake calipers to tackle.
I cleaned up the interior so it would not repel my wife and two daughters. Thankfully they approved of my purchase.
I then started driving it as much as I could. Local canyons, Cars & Coffee, Pomona Swap Meet, date nights with my lovely wife, and to work on Fridays. Anywhere and everywhere. I was enjoying life in my new-to-me Porsche.
Eventually the itch to keep fixing things resumed and decided to tackle the rollbar and brake calipers. I disassembled my interior and unbolted the rollbar from the floor. I was unsure how long I would keep it in the car, so rather than spending the money to powdercoat it properly I decided I should rattle can it for now. I then proceeded to strip the yellow paint and re-sprayed it with VHT satin black rollbar paint, which looked a thousand times better and is actually surprisingly robust.
The calipers were scuffed and repainted with silver caliper paint. I guess the OE color is a yellow zinc but I didn’t realize this till afterwards. Either way, they weren’t yellow anymore and I felt better.
I figured it was time to get into some minor engine work, so I did a little bit of clean up in the engine bay, replaced the cap, rotor, and popped off the valve covers for the first valve adjustment. If you are familiar with SCs or Carreras you probably know where this is going already. I removed the lower right side cover and a little unwanted guest came tumbling out.
Surprise, surprise! A broken head stud. No one could have predicted this. I had researched common trouble spots on these cars extensively so I didn’t panic when I saw it. I merely put it on my list of things to do sooner than later. Luckily it was only one stud and the car still ran. My thought was that as long as I didn’t push the car too hard and the Bosch CIS airbox didn’t blow up, I could keep driving it. I completed the valve adjustment and started researching how to drop the engine and replace head studs as minimally invasive as possible.
While I replaced the plugs, I noticed they were very sooty. Boy this thing was running super rich! I had not touched anything on the CIS, mostly out of fear, but I did notice the green wire going to the O2 sensor was disconnected. This was as good a starting point as any to get this car dialed in, so I tested the sensor with a multimeter and found it was still generating a signal. I plugged that sucker back in and restarted the car. Immediately the idle sounded different, although I can’t say if it was better or not, but it made a difference. Regardless I patted myself on the back for a job well done!
The next day was a Saturday and I drove the car to the gym with no issue. On the way back, it had started put-putting ever so slightly at every stop sign. Finally two blocks from home there was a single loud BANG from the engine compartment, and then silence. I coasted to the curb, and tried to start it several times with no success. I got out and opened the engine hatch and saw nothing out of the ordinary. In my head I played back the list of common problems with these cars and made my peace with the situation. My list of things to do sooner than later was about to grow much bigger and faster than I had anticipated. I closed the hatch, walked to the car, and gave it a push to see if it would roll. No way. Too heavy. I sat back in the driver seat and dialed AAA for a two-block tow of shame back to my driveway. The sweet, blissful honeymoon with the 911 was over.
