I thought it's about time that I shared some news about a car that I picked up last year - KLL-911. A Bahia Red 911S coupé.
In mid May 18 I located one of the 14 Aussie S coupés delivered in 1970. The car had been off the road for 19 years getting an engine rebuild, and was just nearing completion when I located the car (thanks to a tip off from one of our long term members). I already knew the owner, but wasn't aware that he was selling, and I managed to snare the car very promptly.
The car was pretty tired looking, having being left to stand in a workshop for nearly two decades. My plan was always to restore it back to factory spec, as it'd had a Bahia Red repaint in the late 80s and it was starting to deteriorate with humidity blisters etc. The strip down of the car went very well, and it was very obvious that the car was highly original, save for the front sport seats, which had been re-trimmed in some god-awful red fabric with rubbish vinyl. The car still had it's dealer fitted Voxson Stereo 8 with matching speakers and amp, and original belts, carpets etc. Everything came apart beautifully, and you could tell that the last guys that touched many of the fittings were in the factory. There was two small areas of rust, a 10c piece size hole in the LH battery box, and the front slam panel trim edge was largely corroded under the rubber trim. The body was SUPER straight and free of accident damage. So anyway, I got the car bare metalled and finished up with a high quality paint finish as appropriate for this car.
As for the interior - The sport seats were completely rebuilt and retrimmed by my local guy, using the Autobahn covers and cushions from Mr Fiat. I also managed to locate some Pirelli rubber seat straps for the underneath, which is THE correct webbing. I should mention here that I had initially thought that it had basket weave inserts, but then checked the trim code, only to find that it was delivered with houndtooth/pepita inserts. Boom! I also fitted a Southbound Motor Trimmer's headliner, which is THE correct reproduction item, unlike the rubbish passed off by all the other suppliers as correct Porsche pattern. It was not a thick headliner, which made it very easy to install. The rest of the interior just needed new carpets, and a general cleanup.
On the mechanical side, the engine was freshly rebuilt, but the car ran pretty rough, indicating a possible MFI pump and throttle body overhaul. BowerPower Auto Tech in Sydney did a great job recalibrating the pump (it didn't need an overhaul after all), and a local supplier sourced some new throttle bodies out of Germany. I also had the distributor rebuilt by Performance Ignition in Melbourne. The car now goes like it should, and is very rewarding to drive.
The suspension was all fully refurbed, and new Koni adjustables were fitted. Interestingly the car was delivered with Koni shocks, which was a surprise to me.
The car's electrical system was SUPER original (even had the cardboard fuse board shroud) and everything works perfectly after the rebuild. Except for the horn, which is a simple fix when I get an hour...
The car also still had all five original deep 6 wheels (with hearts for all you wheel nerds), and Classic Road & Track refurbed these. Dave did a great job on the wheels, and as always is a pleasure to deal with. Finally, I ordered a set of Michelin XWXs from Stuckey Tyres to get the look and feel just right.
So anyway, after nine months, the car was ready to head out to Cars & Coffee yesterday, and it was nice to have it on display.
Before I post my pic I thought it's appropriate to share the car's background with you all. The books show the first owner as Dr Abe Luntz, from Essendon, who sadly died at a relatively young age in 1978. The family then sold the car to the second owner, who sold it onwards in 1983. The third owner then drove the car and enjoyed it before getting the engine rebuilt in 1999. But that didn't finish until last year, when I bought the car.
I always like to know the background to my cars, and almost all 911s have a story to tell. In this case, I wanted to find out the original Vic rego details, so that I could register the car under the same details in Qld. Porsche records were empty, and the books had no rego details. Our fantastic holder of records also didn't have any details, so I ended up locating the family of Dr Luntz, and lo and behold, managed to speak to his only daughter, who was absolutely thrilled to hear about the car. She knew straight away that the car rego was KLL-911, as Abe Luntz was good friends with Norman Hamilton, who arranged for the 'LL' plate to go Mr Luntz and Mrs Luntz. I was also lucky enough to get some photos from Abe Luntz's ownership time, which was very much appreciated.
And that, my fellow 901 brethren, is the end of the story to date. There'll be plenty more as I spend time driving this fantastic car around.
Scotty
IMG_4131.jpg
In mid May 18 I located one of the 14 Aussie S coupés delivered in 1970. The car had been off the road for 19 years getting an engine rebuild, and was just nearing completion when I located the car (thanks to a tip off from one of our long term members). I already knew the owner, but wasn't aware that he was selling, and I managed to snare the car very promptly.
The car was pretty tired looking, having being left to stand in a workshop for nearly two decades. My plan was always to restore it back to factory spec, as it'd had a Bahia Red repaint in the late 80s and it was starting to deteriorate with humidity blisters etc. The strip down of the car went very well, and it was very obvious that the car was highly original, save for the front sport seats, which had been re-trimmed in some god-awful red fabric with rubbish vinyl. The car still had it's dealer fitted Voxson Stereo 8 with matching speakers and amp, and original belts, carpets etc. Everything came apart beautifully, and you could tell that the last guys that touched many of the fittings were in the factory. There was two small areas of rust, a 10c piece size hole in the LH battery box, and the front slam panel trim edge was largely corroded under the rubber trim. The body was SUPER straight and free of accident damage. So anyway, I got the car bare metalled and finished up with a high quality paint finish as appropriate for this car.
As for the interior - The sport seats were completely rebuilt and retrimmed by my local guy, using the Autobahn covers and cushions from Mr Fiat. I also managed to locate some Pirelli rubber seat straps for the underneath, which is THE correct webbing. I should mention here that I had initially thought that it had basket weave inserts, but then checked the trim code, only to find that it was delivered with houndtooth/pepita inserts. Boom! I also fitted a Southbound Motor Trimmer's headliner, which is THE correct reproduction item, unlike the rubbish passed off by all the other suppliers as correct Porsche pattern. It was not a thick headliner, which made it very easy to install. The rest of the interior just needed new carpets, and a general cleanup.
On the mechanical side, the engine was freshly rebuilt, but the car ran pretty rough, indicating a possible MFI pump and throttle body overhaul. BowerPower Auto Tech in Sydney did a great job recalibrating the pump (it didn't need an overhaul after all), and a local supplier sourced some new throttle bodies out of Germany. I also had the distributor rebuilt by Performance Ignition in Melbourne. The car now goes like it should, and is very rewarding to drive.
The suspension was all fully refurbed, and new Koni adjustables were fitted. Interestingly the car was delivered with Koni shocks, which was a surprise to me.
The car's electrical system was SUPER original (even had the cardboard fuse board shroud) and everything works perfectly after the rebuild. Except for the horn, which is a simple fix when I get an hour...
The car also still had all five original deep 6 wheels (with hearts for all you wheel nerds), and Classic Road & Track refurbed these. Dave did a great job on the wheels, and as always is a pleasure to deal with. Finally, I ordered a set of Michelin XWXs from Stuckey Tyres to get the look and feel just right.
So anyway, after nine months, the car was ready to head out to Cars & Coffee yesterday, and it was nice to have it on display.
Before I post my pic I thought it's appropriate to share the car's background with you all. The books show the first owner as Dr Abe Luntz, from Essendon, who sadly died at a relatively young age in 1978. The family then sold the car to the second owner, who sold it onwards in 1983. The third owner then drove the car and enjoyed it before getting the engine rebuilt in 1999. But that didn't finish until last year, when I bought the car.
I always like to know the background to my cars, and almost all 911s have a story to tell. In this case, I wanted to find out the original Vic rego details, so that I could register the car under the same details in Qld. Porsche records were empty, and the books had no rego details. Our fantastic holder of records also didn't have any details, so I ended up locating the family of Dr Luntz, and lo and behold, managed to speak to his only daughter, who was absolutely thrilled to hear about the car. She knew straight away that the car rego was KLL-911, as Abe Luntz was good friends with Norman Hamilton, who arranged for the 'LL' plate to go Mr Luntz and Mrs Luntz. I was also lucky enough to get some photos from Abe Luntz's ownership time, which was very much appreciated.
And that, my fellow 901 brethren, is the end of the story to date. There'll be plenty more as I spend time driving this fantastic car around.
Scotty
IMG_4131.jpg
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