Finnish Francesca, 1973 targa resto
Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2016 8:55 pm
Dear ddkers,
All things considered it's taken a while to pluck up the courage to start this resto thread. Resto threads are pretty well covered on Ddk and I thought the fashion was dropping away for yet another similar build to those which have gone before. I wasn't sure if there would be anything new to share. The attempt here is to rebuild a standard original early911 back to something like its factory spec. There are not going to be any trick parts, no fancy paint, no bhp upgrades and a great attention to originality. Could be quite boring and anal to many. I mean, just exactly what value is there in searching out the right carpet weave or correct bolt heads. It's been refreshing to read about other restos from other years but my heart has always been with the early cars, still is, but it's all been covered before.
However, I think the greatest value in documenting a resto is the record it provides for the cars history when finished, so here we go,
First up, I'm thinking this is going to be a long haul thread rather than a quick start to finish (no pun meant) thread, another reason why I hesitated to start.
I have trawled many an ad, both in the UK and abroad over many years, to find a nice early 911 to restore/drive on future long anticipated Contenantal trips when hopefully I will have a bit more spare time. Always things have come up short. The car hasn't turned out quite as nice as advertised or the owner hasn't been on my wavelength. Dealer speak or dodgy photos have put me off.
Some, when planning ahead, like to visit far flung places, others like to hit the high spots and many have a bucket list of things they have always wanted to do. I have always liked driving especially on those long European adventures quite often with DDKers for company. I'm not a great flyer so a plan fermented in my head on what to do, when the time came, with months of free time. Europe is a big place. I've been here and there but there is still loads to see. I have over the years collected information on 'whats on where and when' all over the Continent from ferias in Southern Spain, the port vineyards of rugged Portugal, city centre bareback horse racing in Italy etc etc.
You get the idea. A European itinerary of places and events to see.
Oh, and I love my early 911's.
I have driven the odd early 911 and over the years the plan was to bring all that experience together and find a perfect Contenental tourer. It had to be an early car. It had to be lhd. It had to be lwb. This all pointed towards an F series 2.4. I wasn't wanting an S that I might fret over in a crowded French supermarket car park. I was open to the idea of an E but, as we all know, there is nothing much between the visceral stimulation of all the early cars and performance level differences are not a great consideration when ambling through the Tuscan hills taking in the view. I began to realise it had to be a targa to appreciate the warm breeze in your hair when cruising the Amalfi coast or surviving the baking heat of the central Spanish plain. Sunroofs are ok but I loved the open top feel of my previous targa. Fortunately my better half loves this idea too. So, I was pretty certain that a 1973 lhd 2.4 targa would fit the bill quite nicely............
Regards
Mike
All things considered it's taken a while to pluck up the courage to start this resto thread. Resto threads are pretty well covered on Ddk and I thought the fashion was dropping away for yet another similar build to those which have gone before. I wasn't sure if there would be anything new to share. The attempt here is to rebuild a standard original early911 back to something like its factory spec. There are not going to be any trick parts, no fancy paint, no bhp upgrades and a great attention to originality. Could be quite boring and anal to many. I mean, just exactly what value is there in searching out the right carpet weave or correct bolt heads. It's been refreshing to read about other restos from other years but my heart has always been with the early cars, still is, but it's all been covered before.
However, I think the greatest value in documenting a resto is the record it provides for the cars history when finished, so here we go,
First up, I'm thinking this is going to be a long haul thread rather than a quick start to finish (no pun meant) thread, another reason why I hesitated to start.
I have trawled many an ad, both in the UK and abroad over many years, to find a nice early 911 to restore/drive on future long anticipated Contenantal trips when hopefully I will have a bit more spare time. Always things have come up short. The car hasn't turned out quite as nice as advertised or the owner hasn't been on my wavelength. Dealer speak or dodgy photos have put me off.
Some, when planning ahead, like to visit far flung places, others like to hit the high spots and many have a bucket list of things they have always wanted to do. I have always liked driving especially on those long European adventures quite often with DDKers for company. I'm not a great flyer so a plan fermented in my head on what to do, when the time came, with months of free time. Europe is a big place. I've been here and there but there is still loads to see. I have over the years collected information on 'whats on where and when' all over the Continent from ferias in Southern Spain, the port vineyards of rugged Portugal, city centre bareback horse racing in Italy etc etc.
You get the idea. A European itinerary of places and events to see.
Oh, and I love my early 911's.
I have driven the odd early 911 and over the years the plan was to bring all that experience together and find a perfect Contenental tourer. It had to be an early car. It had to be lhd. It had to be lwb. This all pointed towards an F series 2.4. I wasn't wanting an S that I might fret over in a crowded French supermarket car park. I was open to the idea of an E but, as we all know, there is nothing much between the visceral stimulation of all the early cars and performance level differences are not a great consideration when ambling through the Tuscan hills taking in the view. I began to realise it had to be a targa to appreciate the warm breeze in your hair when cruising the Amalfi coast or surviving the baking heat of the central Spanish plain. Sunroofs are ok but I loved the open top feel of my previous targa. Fortunately my better half loves this idea too. So, I was pretty certain that a 1973 lhd 2.4 targa would fit the bill quite nicely............
Regards
Mike