For this build overview we'll look at the personal machine of PWR's owner. Pat Williams always has a vintage 911 in some form for daily use and it can be anything from light mechanically freshened late model machine to a fully restored long-hood model. In this particular case, Pat had bought a nice local two owner rust free burgendy 1968 912 out of long term storage back in 1999. Shortly after getting it running, a long time 356 customer had to have the engine for his newly acquired 356B hot rod coupe and thus the engine was sold and this car subsequently put in storage again. A few years later, a local broker called with an opportunity to purchase an "old" 911 which turned out to be a well preserved very rare early California black-plate 1965 model 911 which once fully sorted could hardly be justified for daily use in light of the rapidly escalating values of cars of this vintage. The same 356 collector would not rest until he owned this car as well and once purchased, turned around and had PWR do a ground up restoration on it. The final stages of that process, pictured to the right. With this extended exposure to the 1965 911, Pat was again reminded of the purity of these early cars with such taut nimble handling - his first Porsche having been a light weight 2.7 litre powered 73 T back in the mid 80's - but how to have that driving experience daily without the worry? The cover came off the 912 and it was delivered to Pat's home shop as a long term hobby project. His objective was to build a very light, nearly stock looking short wheel base car and have the option of equipping it with nearly any 911 engine configuration from the era 2.0 litre to a small displacement twin turbo or 3.6 litre NA. It would be built to a high aesthetic standard but intended for daily use in all weather. PWR 1968 912 - 911 Conversion Body in white soda blasted and acid etch primed Rust free body seam sealed/panels resealed and corrosion protected Polar Blue Glasurit single stage polyurethane enamel professionally applied All OE rubber seals on body Rebuilt 89k mile 1971 911 T, 9.5:1, 40 IDA Webers, SSI Heat exchangers Original transaxle fitted with 71 E gear set/mainshaft, new syncro's, etc.. All original componentry (window regs, switch gear, e brake, susp.) retained Any hardware not retained and replated, replaced with correct Brake hydraulics replace and/or rebuilt with factory components Complete leather interior to sample 72-73 Carrera RS steering wheel Gauges redone to 67 earlier design in metric (kilometer speedo) Custom vacuum/boost gauge to match in place of clock Matching Hargarn carpet Seats in leather to early Recaro Sport appearance with head rests 964 oil tank (forward of right rear wheel) and cooling system Early 6.00 x 15 anodized Fuchs redone by Wheel Enhancement Bilstein sport shocks, 19 mm front/26 mm rear torsion bars Through-the-trunk front sway bar and "S" rear Complete suspension in Delrin bushings, helixed with grease fittings

The pace of this restoration picked up in earnest when Pat was talked out of his then daily driver in the Fall of 07 - a 1984 Carrera - by a Boxster owning customer desiring a more "raw" driving experience. It was moved from his home shop to PWR and completed in March of 08, having provided 7,200 pleasurable kilometers since. Pass your mouse over the image for an explanation and click to enlarge.

Watch it run on the dyno