Dad's old '66

[JTR70]

Another Old Polaroid of the car pre-1970.

[JTR70]

7/4/14


A blurry one but my father with his car in front of my Aunt's house in Claremont Ca. Early 70's

My father with his High school buddy and his first family in Escondido Ca. 1968.

Taken by the old and long since demolished Landmark Casino in Las Vegas in the 68 or 69.

Happy 4th everyone! Justin

[JTR70]

Hey Steve,
Thanks a lot I really appreciate you saying that and I am always very glad to hear that those other threads are of interest! The engine block on my shop floor I later determined to be the original to the '67 Targa. So the matching #'s engine is with the car. Only the gearboxes at this point have been switched. Thanks again! Justin

Here's an old polaroid with my parents in 1988 just before leaving on another road trip.

1987: My mother and I arriving home after successfully passing my drivers license test in this car. As you can see by the Stupid look on my face I was extremely happy that day! Notice the window wing on her side; couldn't get let that hair get wind-blown. Thanks for looking! Justin

[Steve]

Justin:
It's great seeing more pics of your Dad's '66. The lines on those SWB 911s are so simple and classic.
I agree, just polish the paint and rejuvenate the engine. Do the seals later, it never rains in Vegas anyway!
By the way, I saw the 911 engine block in your latest post on the coupe2speedster thread and it reminded me, did you ever get the serial number off the engine in the targa?
I love the work you do on the $75 carrera and the coupe2speedster projects, keep it up.
Steve

[JTR70]

Hey Tony thanks,

If I were to get it running again I think I'd be more inclined to rebuild the engine, flush the systems, polish the paint and enjoy as is. It would need a complete rubber seal kit too as the seals are completely petrified. Thanks again!
Justin

Here's another one from 1981. Probably on our way to Las Vegas to meet up with family from Utah as we often did. I remember many trips being stuffed in that back seat for several hours at a time. (good thing I was an only child) Many of these trips were taken in late spring and summer with temps around the 100's. This photo looks like one of those times. I remember my mother would never allow her hair to get messed up so the door glass was never rolled down; we could only have the window wings open to get the air flowing. We had to suffer to she could stay beautiful. That's her in the drivers seat and me leaning over to watch my dad take this photo. Thanks for reading this!
Justin

[911quest]

65-66 SWB 911's are such special cars really nothing else like them! Justin do you plan on just getting it going under it's own steam or are you going to restore it?

[JTR70]

6/4/14
My father was in town recently to look for his discharge info from the Air Force back in '62. A nice side benefit was finding several more old shots from the 70's. Below are two of the only photos I ever remember seeing of the car in process of being painted from its original polo-red to Guards red. At the time my father was just cutting his teeth as a bodyman.

Photos dated April of 1978.

A very straight forward re-spray with No accident or serious body damage.

This photo dated June 1978 so very shortly after its reassembly. He didn't replace the rocker or bumper decos but instead ran a double row of electrical tape to represent them. God I remember it being like that for many years; that's my dad.

Same paint job on it some 36 years later. Not an easy existence either; this car has always been subject to the desert sun with maybe an occasional shade tree here and there. It was only moved under this chicken coupe within the last 15 years of its life. No peeling, lifting, or checking. Its just faded but would probably wake right back up with a good polishing. Not a bad job for a rookie. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

Great old photo! Yeah, that desert sun makes short work of paint, rubber and upholstery; looks very familiar. I suspected the damage occurred on the right front due to that wide uneven front door gap but you say that accident did not go back that far?? I hear you, everyone wanted the LWB cars back then and the SWB were the stepchild. My father was no different and always wanted a later model 911. The pinnacle was of course a black slant-nose 930 Turbo... Love these old pics! Thanks again Steve!

[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

[JTR70]

An evening at the park. San Diego 1969

[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.

[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]

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:
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]

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.