Dad's old '66

[JTR70]

Don't know where this was taken or who's black 911 that was but my father wanted a shot of them together...

[JTR70]

This shot taken in 1972 at my parents place. Thats my dads brother good ole Uncle David and his first wife. He's the one who owned the Soft window Targa my parents bought and also the guy who owned that '62 Corvette in 1980 that made such a huge impression on me.

[JTR70]

Another pre-Fuch alloys. Riverside raceway once again.

[Erik H]

My Dad's friend Les Blumberg had a 66 just like that. He used to pay me $25 to detail it when I was a kid. He would do a treffen every 3 or 4 years and get a new car. he's 75 now and just got a new Panamera.

[Erik H]

Found this one last night. Dad bought this 911S from a local guy. He wouldn't let me drive it without him in the car. It was a great car. Black with red leather and a super sound system. I think he later traded the 911 for 2 356's and a bunch of parts. The Blue car is 83843(Manfred) and the silver one is 84112 (Ferdinand), which is the one I have. I can see at the time it had Torque Thrust wheels with the spinners that later ended up on"my" Porsche, a 57 coupe. The guy in the picture is my Dad, who was the COOLEST DAD IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!

[JTR70]

Great Photo Erik! With that many Porsche's I'm sure everyone in town knew who you guys were.. Thanks for sharing it! Justin

[JTR70]

8/20/13
Yesterday I made the two-hour trip out to my parents old place to round-up and rescue the original engine and components to this car. While this stuff still belongs to him, one day it will eventually end up being mine but I hope not too soon! Realistically at 75 he will never get around to working on his car again and he's at a point now where he doesn't care enough to take steps to safeguard it. So, I took it upon myself to begin protecting what's left from the elements and the wolves! The place has been abandoned for better than 15 years now. We had a good run and our old neighbor watches as much as she can but in the last several years there has been a series of break-ins. So even though I really don't have room for this stuff I am finding a place because I would kick myself squarely in the ass when the day came that this too got swiped!


Luckily I was able to find and locate ALL the basic parts to this motor but my main objective was to get that block! This is the Number's matching motor to this car!

All the basic items are the original to this motor. three of the heads are date correct but the last two are not. The missing ones may have been used in the motor that is in the car now. I had already washed the smaller components off by this photo but everything looked like that block when I brought it in.

Original transmission I grabbed several months ago.

The cam towers, chain boxes etc. all had the correct '65 date code on them. Again I was so relieved to see this stuff still there!

The Wolves: during one of the break-ins the original triple throat solex's were were taken along with another spare pair of webers. The police officer taking the report said it was most likely drug addict tweekers. "they love things like carburators and were most likely already taken apart on their living room table". Anyway they left the airbox and I found the old cross linkage bar and the pumps. He put webers on it in the early 70's and I'll run those but I wanted the old correct parts for completion so I grabbed what was left.

The elements: found a lot of Misc. hardware but was full of blow sand and beginning to rust. Acid cleaning them here.

I remember this old manual as a kid. Ruined by water damage. Another item lost or being lost to exposure and neglect.

The rest of this motor like the super early version fan shroud etc. is on the engine currently in the car which happens to be the numbers matching motor and transmission to that 67 soft window targa. After my dad gave up on it, it became his "parts car". (bumper trim too are from it) Anyway this is where it will rest for a while longer. Will go back for more but I'm just relieved the original drive train is safe at my shop now. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[DG58INNM]

Justin,
I love these pictures of your Dad's old '66. Cool car. And wow, even still has center lube cams! Haven't seen any of those in a long time. If you need a head or two, let me know. Pretty sure I've got a few of those early 2.0 heads kicking around out in the shed somewhere. I like that '67 SWT too. neat car!
DG

[JTR70]

Thanks a lot David! Let me know what you've got as far a 2 liter heads. I must admit I'm just not that familiar with 911 stuff. What was your clue that it has center lube cams? New term for me BTW.

My Father always said it was an early '66 but how early? Here's the case # again I don't know 911's; does its motor number also mean it was the 572nd 911 motor produced?

Also the casting year. I mean I assume this is the casting year since it reads 66.
Thanks again David!
Justin
Correction: I just went on a 911 vin decoding site and it turns out this block is the original one to the 67 Targa. I could have sworn my dad swapped blocks on his last rebuild but again I was just a kid. Learn something new everyday. I'll have to get the engine # off the one in the car on my next trip to confirm.

[Steve]

Justin:
This is my first post, but I just had to answer your question. I owned a Polo red 66 911 for 10 years and have always had a soft spot for them. They were underrated back in the day, but are making a comeback now.
To answer your question about those center-lube cams - your Dad's car had them, you can tell by the fittings on the chain box covers. Also if you look closely at the cams you will see that they are center drilled and have oil holes on the cam base circles and the journals. They were discontinued at engine 903069 (had to look that up), but were still used on all the racing engines.
My old 66 had the Solex carbs, but not the center-lube cams. The Solex carbs were discontinued in February 1966. Your heads are date stamped 12-65, so that narrows down the construction date on your car.
If you ever find those Solex carbs you will also need to find one of those rare cam wobble nuts that drives the double fuel pump. Those carbs wear out just like the 40P II-4s on the Super 90, SC, and 912s, the steel throttle shaft wears out the bore and the engine won't idle correctly. But what cool carbs - six individual one barrels!
I could go on about those early 911s, they're great.
Once you finally finish your Dad's Carrera, you couldn't go wrong tackling his 66.
Love your work Justin,
Steve Clarke
'65 C coupe
'73 911

[JTR70]

Steve, thanks so much for your informative response and Welcome to our forum!!! So you had the exact same car? Love to see some shots of it if you have any scanned. I'm sure that "lobe" nut is out there somewhere. Its had webers on it since the early 70's and that's probably what I'll keep on it especially now that the solex's have been stolen. Very interesting about the cam change, wonder why they discontinued it but kept it for racing? Must have been the better design then?? I could only locate the one cam and will have to find its mate. Thanks again and Welcome!!!!!!!! Justin

Another oldie taken in the early 70's. A departing shot taken in front of my mothers sisters house in Claremont CA.(San Diego area) My grandfathers '65 olds Star fire Huge car!

[Steve]

Justin - It amazes me that I owned that '66 for over 10 years and I have no acceptable pictures of the car. However here it is in 1979 at my parents' place in Prescott, AZ. The car had been repainted from Polo Red to Irish Green after a minor traffic accident. The Fuchs alloys are 6" deep dishes that I replaced the chromes with. When I finally sold the car I put the chromes back on and the deep dishes are still here under my workbench after all these years.


To answer your question, Porsche decided the center-lube cams were not providing enough lubrication at low RPMs, but were fine for racing. That is why they developed the squirter rails that they put in all the later cam towers, except for the race engines. By the way I love the throttle response with those old Solex cams, I have a set in my '73 911.
Steve

[JTR70]

I understand Steve, I too wished I would have taken more photos of my 356 all those years ago. A nice photo though and a great color choice! I prefer green over red any day of the week. Was this car hit on the right front fender area? Thanks for the education on cams; I am just beginning my education on 911 motors.

Here's another shot taken in '77 or early '78 still in its original polo red paint. 1978 or 79 was when my dad shot it Guards red which is the same finish that's on it today. The car in bare metal is that black olds in the previous photo. My parents bought it and my dad was just getting into bodywork during this time and was slowly refinishing it in black.

[JTR70]

An evening at the park. San Diego 1969

[Steve]

Justin:
I finally found some more pictures of my old '66 911. But to finally answer your question about where it was hit; a kid on a motorcycle pulled out in front of me,and I collected him right on the hood and front bumper. The kid wasn't hurt, thank God. The hood and fenders were not damaged, the front bumper took most of the hit and was replaced. So those bad panel gaps just seem to come naturally to that car.


Here is the car in Ft Lauderdale in 1985-86 after 5 years of Texas sun.The paint job is shot, but the panel gaps have survived. The chrome wheels are back on the car. The rear shelf panel is at the upholstery shop, another victim of the Texas sun.
At this point I was spending more time and money on the '73 and the '66 was on the way out.
Steve Clarke