04x01 & 04x02 - Porsche 911 2.7S Targa (Part 1 & 2)

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to Wheeler
Dealers, the show that's

passionate about giving classic
cars a second chance to shine.

This time, and I'm so proud to be saying
this, we're going to show you how to buy,

restore and then sell on
one of the greats in the

Motoring Hall of Fame,
the awesome Porsche 911.

Here on Wheeler Dealers,
we're really breaking

the bank. We've upped
our budget to a wallet

busting six grand. For
that money, we've got to

buy and restore a 911.
Only then can we think

about selling our Porsche
on for a profit. Now

this is one of the best
known cars in the world

and I can't get enough
of them. I first drove one

of these over 20 years
ago and I love the driving

experience. Ever since
then, I've longed to own

one. Look at the interior,
it's beautiful. Chunky

knobs and switches,
everything you could possibly

need. It's a beautiful,
ergonomic design, just

like your favourite
chronograph watch. I'll be

using all the tricks of
the trade to nail a 911

and Edd China will be
donning his overalls once

again to bring this
fantastic sports car back to

its best. Don't expect
to find an exotic sports

car for your local paper.
With a car like this,

I'm going to go
straight for the specialist

mags where I'm guaranteed
to find a few in the.

classifieds. There's
one in this magazine, it's

outside my budget, it's
£6,000 and the colour's

awful, it's green. But
it does say left hand

drive, owner bought
it as a weekend car,

run out of money. Now
that to me sounds like

a man who's desperate
to get rid of his motor.

All I need to do is to
convince him to let me

have it a little bit
cheaper and that is what

I'm good at. Forget
buying a turbo, forget

buying a coupe. With
only six grand to spend,

my gut feeling is that
a left hand drive Targa

is our best bet and
it'll probably need work

too. Speak to you soon, bye bye. Well he
seems like an honest guy and he is willing

to come down a little
bit on the price of £6,000.

He does say it's got a
crunch in the gearbox but.

it is very exciting. Me
and Ed could finally

be on our way to the
awesome Porsche 911.

Fingers crossed, eh? This is the


eh? Can't wait to
hear that flat six boxer

engine fire up. Here it
is, the Porsche 911 S

Targa. Fantastic. I've
always wanted one of

these. This one's
green. I don't think that's

the original colour. It
would have been metallic

but if it is as described
this would be one

of the cheapest 911s in the country. I hope
it lives up to my expectations. Here comes

the owner. Richard?
Hi. Hi Richard, I'm Mike.

Hi Mike. Wow, the
Porsche 911. Fantastic.

Why are you selling
it? Well I got it as a

weekend car. Bit of a
run around, bit of fun

but plans have changed
so it's got to go I'm

afraid. It's got to go.
And you had it long?

I've had it for about nine months now.
Nine months, you done any work to it? No,

none at all. That's exactly how I got it.
Nothing's changed at all. I see the wing

mirror's missing. Yeah it was a bit loose
when I got it and it fell off. Did it? It

looks like you've had
eight attempts at putting

the thing back on again. Well I've still
got them if you want them with the car. Oh

right, yeah well that
might help. Okay let's

have a look inside.
Oh it looks kind of tidy.

Yeah it's in good Nick
actually considering its

age. Just needs a
bit of a cleanup really.

Yeah. Bit of boot Polish,
be as good as new.

Yeah well, look nice. Alright, nice and
original, good. What about these things at

the back here? They're
horrible. These are

the Californian bumpers.
Californian bumpers,

they are horrible,
they have to go. Yeah

they were the first
thing I was going to get

rid of. Well you should
have done it, they

ruined the lines of the
car didn't they? What

about this Targa that
looks rippled? I bet that

blows a bit doesn't it?
Yeah it does make a bit

of noise but it just
adds to the experience

of the car. Mechanically
is it all right? Is

it driver right? It
does, there's a bit of

crunching in the gears
but it takes a bit of

getting used to but
once you get used to it

it's fine. Okay that's a
bit of a worry though.

Alright well it looks fantastic. What's
all this service history about? All this

is full service history,
all of it done from

the States. That's
where the car came from

originally. Yeah there
was a lot of California

in here isn't there?
Well that's brilliant

but these cars are
all about the way they

drive and the way they
handle and that's what

I'm hoping to do next.
Any chance I can swap

this for the keys and
take it for a test drive?

Yeah no problem at all. Fantastic.

This is what it's all
about, this is as close

as I'm ever going to
come to a supercar with

the limited budget
that we've got to spend.

Fantastic. Just listen
to that awesome sound.

It really pulls well.
There's a tiny little

crunch between second
and third gear. Richard

did tell me that. Now
that could be a very

expensive gearbox
rebuild but these are cable

operated clutches so it could be just an
adjustment, something for Ed to work on.

I'm looking at this
car, it's advertised for

six grand, it's a little
bit beyond our budget

but if I can beat him down, there's that
noise look, if I can beat him down I will

end up with what is the cheapest 911 in the
UK. That would be some feat wouldn't it?

Well Richard you're an
honest man because she

does drive very very
well. Yeah I do like it

but there are those
problems, there are the

noises in the gearbox on
the driving that could be

expensive, Porsche
expensive, there's the roof

as well that does make
a noise, the mirrors.

I really like the car
though, it's a really

good car. Problem is the
price, how much was it?

Well I was wanting


know it's cheeky of me
because it's way beyond

my budget but I've only got one price for
it and I can't go up or down on that price,

it's just five grand.
Well it's a bit less than

I thought actually but
you've got the cash,

yeah, you've got yourself
a deal. I'm cracking,

I can't believe it,
we've got a Porsche.

I can't believe Richard
folded so fast, maybe he

knows something that I
don't. Anyway I'm really

fired up by this car,
just look at it, a 911

for Wheeler dealing
money, I must be dreaming.

Hope Ed doesn't think it's a nightmare.

Hey, hello mate. I'm all
right Ed, how are you?

All right, this is good,
this is a proper 911,

this is nearly a
supercar. It is nearly a

supercar, I never thought I'd see the day
on Wheeler dealers when we own one but we

actually do. What do
you think of the colour?

Not too keen on the
colour, British Racing

Green is not really
very Porsche to be fair,

I'd rather have like black
or white or you know.

My thoughts exactly
but unfortunately we've

got to live with it, that's the colour
of it. It's pretty good Nick. It is in good

the paintwork don't need
doing, what does need

doing though is this
horrible target top because

I do like that wind in
the hair motoring but

even with the roof on
it does feel like you've

got the wind in your
hair. There is a huge

gap there but I'm
hoping it's just a case of

changing the seal and
then we should be all

right because otherwise
it's going to get quite

expensive. Now these
alloy wheels Ed, I have the

sneaking suspicion
that they're not original.

Okay I think you're
probably right because I

think it's quite an
early car but I mean the

future is a nice wheel.
They are a nice wheel

but weren't they steel
wheels, the original

ones? Possibly,
possibly. And I was going

to leave it up to your
discretion whether we

change them or whether
we just leave them with these

nice few shalloys on. I'll
come around the budget.

That's another problem
we've got, I'll talk to

you about that in a
minute. One of the other

problems Ed, we've got
these nasty things here

at the back of the car
Ed, they've got to go.

What are they doing? They're just horrid.
Well this car has come from the west coast

of America, California
and California law dictates

that you should have
these big nasty things

bolted to the back of the car and it ruins
the lines of it. Yeah they're going to have

to go but it is a good news that it's
come from California because it means it's

going to be rust free.
There is no dust pan

and brush under this
car to sweep up the rust.

These have to go, we
have to make it look more

European. Now what's
in here? You'll be pleased

with what's under here,
let me just open it for

you. What do you think
of that then Ed? That is

lovely, that's my
favourite engine actually.

It's flat six, air cooled,
it's a gorgeous thing.

It pulls beautifully, sounds wonderful,
you know all about them anyway. I do.

Just look at it inside
here Ed, isn't it lovely?

It's so clean. It's
got a beautiful beige

leather, just needs
tidying up. And the best

bit is, I mean it's
coming from California,

normally the dashboards
sort of crack up but it's

perfect. No it is perfect
and everything inside

this car works, I'm really
pleased with it. Now,

the mirrors Ed. That
is just awesome. It is a

mess isn't it, it looks
like it broke off and

they've had several
attempts at putting the

mirror back on and they made a right pig's
ear of it. Big time. And the thing is it's

going to be really hard
to get onto some racing

green mirrors as well.
Well he did give me the

original mirrors for the
car but we might want

to change those, we
might not, it depends what

we got left in the
budget which is nothing,

I'm just warning you.
But I know what you're

like Ed, you'll get your
poly filler out, you'll

paint that, you'll never
notice the difference

for you. Yeah all right,
okay fine we can fix

that though I'm sure.
So there you have it Ed,

our fantastic Porsche 911. I'm not going to
complain because you know there's not very

much work for me to do
here and normally what

I'm willing to do is
there's a bit of a catch.

Well no there's no catch, it's just a
nice Porsche 911 without too much to do.

There is this one little
job though, well Richard

told me that it crunched
in gears and when

I took it on the test
drive there is a little

crunch in the gears.
It could be just a loose

cable. Yeah or it could
be a whole load of notes,

this is a Porsche therefore
we're talking lots of

power notes to fix
things, two grand to fix the

gearbox on this car.
No it's not going to be

two grand, it can't be
two grand because we

really need to keep the
money tight on this one,

we haven't got a lot left but I know you
can do it and you're going to love it. So

here's the keys, super, good luck with
it, I'll catch up soon. Thank you mate.

Welcome back, this time we're really going
for it on Wheeler Dealers, we've pushed the

budget to six grand to
buy and restore a Porsche


owning since I was a kid.

I've managed to find this solid left hooker
for five grand and if it can keep the close

eye on the parts bill then we'll be in the
money when we sell this classic Porsche on.

It was a bit of a dream come true to
drive this Porsche back to the workshop.

I was brought up on Beatles and I used to
aspire to own one of these cars and in fact

they share the same heritage. You have that
fantastic air-cooled engine in the back,

really fun handling
especially in the wet but

unfortunately our 911
has a bit of a problem.

The gearbox is really
crunchy, now that could

be a major problem, it
could be £2000 to fix,

I'm hoping it's just the clutch and to
check that I need to get it up on the ramp.

Now the thing about a 911, it's a little
unconventional where it keeps its engine,

of course it's at the
very very back of the

car here, it's attached
to a transaxle which is

a combination between a
gearbox and a back axle.

The bit we're interested
in is actually this

clutch cable here. Now
if this wasn't adjusted

properly, if you imagine
you put your foot on

the clutch you take
up a whole load of slack

then you start operating
the clutch and that

could explain why the
gears would be a bit

crunchy because you
weren't actually disengaging

the clutch properly. Now the thing is,
it's actually adjusted rather well in fact,

just just enough just to make sure that
there isn't any engagement to start with.

So that means that
the problem isn't here,

so the next thing is
chances are it could be

actually the centre plate of the clutch,
perhaps you know it's a sports car,

it's been driven a bit
hard, maybe it's worn

down, and that could
also potentially explain

why the gears might
be a little bit crunchy.

Now any way to really
test that is to separate

the engine from the
gearbox and unfortunately

that means I think
the easiest thing is just

to drop the whole thing out of the car. Now
there are loads of things I'm going to have

to take off the engine and box before I can
drop it from the car. It's just a case of

being methodical and taking my time. I've
got my fingers crossed that the problem

lies with the clutch
because it is a cheap fix

and we've only got a
grand to rebuild this car.

If it is a gearbox problem then Mike has
bought a wrong one and will be in serious

trouble with the budget.
But for now I'm just

concentrating on
liberating the engine block

and gearbox from the
bodywork. Now I need to

disconnect the gearbox
from the gear shift

coupling but handily Porsche
gave me an observation

panel to use so I'm
just going to undo these

two screws here. There we go and now you
can see the coupling there and there's this

kind of like locking
screw. I'll just undo that

and disconnect it. And
there we have it, job done.

With the car on the deck I'm removing
things like the air filter and these pipes.

So far it's taken us a
whole morning and we've

barely started. I say
we because I've dragged

my mate Paul in. This
is delicate work and I

need an extra set of
eyes and hands to help.

Okay we're nearly there. I've undone my
bolts. Paul's undone his. It's now time to

lift the Porsche up into the air. Let's
hope I've undone everything I needed to.

It's one of the pleasures
of the Porsche design

that you can drop out
the gearbox and engine

like this but you've
got to take care. Now

I'm having to lift the
body up really really

slowly little bits at a
time just to make sure

we don't crush or even
snag any cables or wires

or anything as we actually lift the
body up and drop the engine out.

The engine and gearbox are the most
expensive and important parts of a 911.

You could use a standard engine hoist
to lift the body off the drivetrain but you

would risk damaging both
of them. My plan's a bit

Heath Robinson but it
does seem to be working.

Well after all that work we now have to get
on with the job in hand which of course is

separating the gearbox
from the engine so we

can have a look at
that clutch center plate.

Well at last all that work
so we can have a look

at this which is our
clutch center plate and it

is worn but it's not
that one I've actually

seen it where the rivets
have been worn away

themselves all the metal
was scored the whole

lot had to be replaced
but it's certainly not

that bad. Now it
wouldn't really cause any

problems with the
gearbox now as a matter of

course I will have to
change this it'd be stupid

to go to all that work
and then not do that

but because this isn't the
problem it means the gearbox is.

Oh dear this is serious we're going to have
to rebuild or replace our gearbox and that

means money. Thousands not hundreds. While
I wait to hear what Mike wants to do I'm

going to be positive
and make a start on

changing the clutch
pressure plate and ring gear.

This is the old clutch pressure plate
from our Porsche. Now it's not in bad Nick

but I decided to change
the clutch got a new

kit and in that kit was
a replacement item.

There's also a release
bearing which is good news

because these things
do fail from time to time

and it's nice to know
that when our car's

back together everything's
going to be right.

Now if you compare the two you can
see there's quite a significant difference.

There's a ring gear
here which of course on a

normal car would
actually be on the flywheel

unfortunately Porsche
decided to do it a bit

differently. If you have
a closer look you can

see there's no visible
way of attaching this

and that's because
it's actually been heat

shrunk into position. So the only way I can
get this off is by actually heating up that

ring the metal will expand
the ring should grow

fall off and I can place
it onto the new item.

Replacing a complete
Porsche clutch could cost

around 600 pounds
in labour at a specialist

garage. Much of that cost would be
to drop the transmission out of the car

so it's a good idea to replace any
worn parts you can while access is easy.

Well everything's prepared
and cleaned and ready

to put together so
the first part of course

is our center plate. Now this goes onto
the flywheel here but it's quite critical.

the position that it ends up in because if
it doesn't go in the right place it's very

difficult to get the gearbox into position.
Now handily I've got a first motion shaft.

from a Volkswagen Van
it's pretty much the same

as the Porsche so
just push that into there

now you can see the end of this shaft will
then fit into the spigot bearing in the

crankshaft so I'll just
push that into place

and you can see now
it's perfectly concentric

which means the gearbox will go on like
a dream. So now for our pressure plate.

With the clutch pressure
plate properly aligned

it's bolted into place.
It'll be good for around


won't be of any use at all

until Mike has sorted
out the major gearbox

problem. Until he does I'm just going to
keep myself busy and there's plenty to do.

Our Porsche has got
a bit of an aesthetic

problem it's been fitted
with these American

spec bumper overriders and you can see they
are quite ugly. Luckily we've got some euro

spec ones which are a little bit smaller a
little bit easier to deal with and the best

bit is they're held on
with two bolts each.

Luckily whoever painted
this car recently removed

these overriders before
they began so we won't

be left with any big
paint gaps in the bumper

which need a respray.
New overriders were 180 pounds.

A signature feature of
a 911 is of course the

target top unfortunately
ours is a bit rubbish

because of this gaping chasm in the front
here letting all that wind in and also in

bad weather loads of rain. Now hardly what
you expect from a sports car so my next job

is to take this off and
fix it. Now with the roof

off the car you can see
how bad this gap really

is you can see it's
just terrible but in fact

on closer inspection
there's a really simple

mistake being made
here. I think somebody's

rushed when they've
actually refurled this roof

because basically it is
actually collapsible you

can see there. What's
happened is these little

tangs that fit into
these little gaps have

obviously been rushed
and not put in position

properly so if I just take
that back down push it

in there you can see
everything's located again

now and now there's no
gap underneath between

the roof and the frame
which means that bit is

sorted so I'll just do
the back as well and

that's it the roof is
now fixed which is quite

ridiculous but I've also noticed while the
roof's upside down on our table that the

sagging headlining
is a bit of a problem I

don't think I'll actually
replace it because

it'd be quite a complicated
and expensive job

I think a little bit of
upholstery glue should

sort that out and then
on the back frame the

aluminium has actually
started to oxidise

you've got this sort of white stuff coming
through the paint so if I sand that back

paint it a bit of satin black I reckon
the whole thing would be sorted.

A replacement second-hand
Targa frame would be


budget could take that so

I'm keeping costs down
by doing a refurbishment

job with just a pot of
glue and some paint.

A bit of vinyl cleaner
brings back the glamour

to our Targa it looks as
good as new, top work.

Ed. Hello mate. How
are you fella? I'm really

good. Good to see
you. Our Porsche 911.

still looks like our Porsche 911 that
I bought. Come on look at the roof.

Alright you put a bit of silicon on the
roof. I've cleaned that very thoroughly but

better than that there's
no gap between the car

and the roof. I remember
yes because it had a nasty

bump in it and it was
letting in a lot of wind

it was whistling and not
only that it was leaking

at the same time. It
was and actually it was a

very simple fix somebody
hadn't put it together

properly but while it
was all apart I actually

did the headlining
sorted that out and also

some paint work that needed to be done so
now it's ready to go. Fantastic right that

must have taken you
all of what five minutes

so um what you've
been doing the rest of the

time. Come and have a look down here.
Oh first thing Ed what's happened to the

back of the car why is it why is it so high
have you been fiddling with the suspension?

No no no but have a look in there. Wow oh
the engine's gone. Well yeah you remember

there's a problem with the gearbox it's
like that crunching in the gears. Yeah.

Well I had a bit of a sort of route around
and in the end I dropped the engine and

gearbox have a look at the clutch turns out
actually it's the gearbox that's at fault.

So what's the upshot of that then? Well
I need you to get me another one really.

You're kidding no not on the gearbox Ed.
Where are we going to get the money from?

It has got to be done though this is
a Porsche 911 we're talking about.

It's going to cost us
you know that don't you?

I had six grand
available to find my dream


got to buy and restore

a Porsche for that
money. It all started well

when I found this
tremendous Targa for five

grand. It had a crunch between
second and third gear on the test drive

but I hope that that would
be a cheap and easy fix.

Meanwhile Ed got on
with mending the Targa roof

and changing the ugly
rear bumper over riders.

but when he dropped the
engine and transmission

out he quickly realized
the Porsche gearbox was

kaput. Oh dear major
money and something I need

to sort out sharpish. I'm
sure we can still make

money when I come
to sell the 911 on but the

question is will it be
hundreds or thousands?

There's still plenty of work to do to our
Porsche 911 before I can get it ready for

later on in the show. So
while Ed gets on doing

what he does best I'm
going to nip off and meet

a guy called Tony who's
got a cracking 911 and

you never know it might
just give me a taste of

things to come. Tony
your car is a cr*cker isn't

it? It is in beautiful
condition. How did you

come by it? I came
by it quite simply I went

to a barbecue and within


barbecue and talking to
somebody who had one

for sale I turned around
and said I'd have it.

So you went for a sausage and come back
with a Porsche? Absolutely yeah. Fantastic.

Did you have to do
any work to it when you

bought it or was it
all in this kind of Nick?

I've had it all stripped
back to the bare metal

and totally re-sprayed
and apart from that

no nothing else at all.
Right now being that

this is classified really
as a proper sports car

parts they've got to be
dear haven't they? No

they're not no more
cost than any other car

you get most of your parts you can get
our second hand or made under license.

It comes under classic car insurance
and it cost me £165 a year. I love that!

Porsche 911 owner £165 a year to insure
it £165 a year less than the road tax.

Well there you go Tony
the heart and soul of

any good Porsche that
fantastic engine. Now

what should buyers
look out for mechanically

if they are going to go
for one? You shouldn't

have any problems
with it at all you could

obviously check the
filler cap and see if there's

any white in the oil
which would mean the

head gasket's gone.
What would you say is the

biggest single buying
no-no for an old Porsche


off my without a doubt

most important that it's not that. Right so
if it's had a big shunt don't go anywhere

near it. Walk away
from it. Walk away from it

okay so what would
you say is the biggest tip

to buying a 911? Basically the history if
the history is good then every likelihood.

a big ream of service
history. Yes very much

so. Fantastic because
I got that with my one.

Now Tony I'm so excited buy your car
I cannot wait to get behind the wheel.

Any chance I can take
for a spin? Yes certainly.

Oh I'm looking
forward to this lovely.

Now Tony's car in
particular is very well

sorted it drives
beautifully it feels as sharp

as a good 911 should
do. The colour really

sets this car off it's
black it's got the black

inserts on those alloy
wheels it's got a black

leather interior this
car just looks mean and

moody sitting on a
tarmac it looks like it's doing


stationary. Now surprisingly

these cars only come
with about 200 or so

horsepower it's not a
lot in today's standards

but it's how they
deliver the power that's

important with a Porsche.
Rear wheel drive as

you know and if I put
my foot down the noise of

that flat sinks awesome
she's got grunts where

you need it it delivers
the torque very very

low down and it really
does push you in the back

of your chair. What a
great test drive I can't

wait to slide behind
the wheel with our very

own Wheeler dealer


long way off. We're
trying to de-Americanize

our Porsche 911 and
so far those rear bumper

overriders are looking
pretty good but these

bits of chrome over the
wheel arches are looking

a bit too cheesy a bit
too bling if I take those

off and paint the center
caps black I'm going

to visually declutter
the car make those lines

look really smooth just
make it more pleasing

on the eye. This main
piece of chrome here

should be quite easy
to undo because it's held

on with some screws
so all I'm going to need

is a screwdriver but
for these bits a bit more

tricky they're held
on with rivets I need to

drill them out but I'm
going to use quite a clever

little tool it's a right
angle attachment for

a drill obviously the
drill goes here and it

means you can get into
some really tight spaces.

Now this car was resprayed
about a year ago and

that could be good news
or it could be very very

bad. Why? Well if
they did it the lazy way

then they will have
left this chrome trim on

so when I remove it I'll reveal
the old color underneath.

Thankfully this respray was done
professionally all it needs is a quick Polish

and that's a massive improvement.

I said I was going to
change the center caps

well the reason for
that is that this color

doesn't really complement
the rim but also it

doesn't really look
very good with the black

so quite simply I'm
just going to pull them

off and spray them a
nice satin black I think

they're going to look
really good after that.

A new set would have
cost £60 but a splash

of red primer some
satin black and will be

sorted. I'm hoping all
this care and attention

will result in a big profit.
For a Porsche 911 to

command top money it
must be perfect in every detail.

There's something
significant missing from this

picture and that is our
wing mirror. Now it's

going to sit around
here but before I can start

putting this onto the
door I need to attend

to this vandalism.
Somebody in the past has tried

to fit a mirror that
clearly wasn't standard.

they put some raw plugs in here with a bit
of aryldite. Now I'm gonna have to just rip

that out but luckily
four of the other holes

are supposed to be
there that's how you fit a

standard mirror. I reckon this
is going to be quite an easy job.

The previous owner
supplied a set of mirrors

with the car but they
weren't the originals.

We bought these from
a 911 specialist and it

was £95 well spent.
Nobody will ever know the

horrors that lurk beneath.
We've bought a new

long number plate to
match our slimline bumper

over riders and to replace
the old US style square

plate it costs £13 and
gives the car a fresh look.

A few easy fixes have transformed
the look of our car but remember

we've still got to sort out that dodgy
gearbox with its crunchy third gear.

The great thing about
having our 911's flat six

out of the car is that
it's really easy to get

all those service
items. I mean take these

spark plugs for example
if they're in the car

it'd be really really
hard to get to but here

they're just ready for
the changing and of

course it'd be stupid not
to change them because

they're so cheap.
Normally when a spark plug

comes out of its box the
gap between the anode

and the electrode is
set about right but it is

well worth checking.
Now if the gap between

the anode and the
cathode is too big the spark

might not be able to
reach. If it's too short

then the spark will be
too small to make the

engine run properly.
Now if you get a hold of

a user manual for your
car you can normally be

able to check the numbers and if I have a
look down here okay I need 0.028 of an inch

or 0.7 of a millimeter. If I get a vernier
Gauge okay there's the one I need and what

I do now is then put that into the gap
in between the gap and there should be

a light drag which there
is which means actually

this spark plug is
ready to go into the car.

My plan is to give this


service. As a Porsche
specialist that would set

me back around 250
pounds but it's just a morning's

work for me. With the
spark plugs done the

next obvious thing
to check is the rest of

the ignition system
so if I just take off the

distributor cap. So
we'll look in here you can

see actually it looks
pretty much like brand new.

Look at the rotor arm
and again much the same

thing obviously has
been serviced recently.

and the points look good too so that's
quite handy because it saved me a few quid.

The one last thing
that's bothering me is on

the drive back to the
workshop the oil pressure

Gauge didn't work. Now it could be one of
two things either the Gauge itself in the

dashboard isn't
working or it could be the

sender that's at fault.
Now out of those two

the sender is the cheapest and the quickest
to change so that's what I'm going to do.

The only way to test whether my part swap
has done the job is to fire the engine up

but that's not going to
happen until Mike finds

me a replacement gearbox
and time is running out.

I've been looking for a replacement gearbox
but refurbished boxes go for as much as

two and a half grand. Problem is
we don't have that kind of money.

Welcome back check out our Porsche 911 it's
stunning and it only cost me five grand.

Since then though the
pounds have been piling on

and our potential six
grand budget is about to

be blown. This car's
got a damaged fur gear

not something we can
easily just strip down and

mend. To make this car
run properly Ed needs to

fit a fully refurbished
part and they're pricey

but I've just got word of a specialist
who might be willing to do a deal for us.

Which is why I've come to meet gearbox guru
Ken whose workshop is full of Porsche parts

a man after my own heart. Let's
just hope he's not after my wallet too.

You must be Ken. That's all right you must
be Mike. I am for you nice to meet you nice

greasy hands thanks for that first thing in
the morning. Right now Ken I spoke to you

on the phone my gearbox
for my Porsche 2.7 is

kaput. This is a
replacement gearbox is it?

It certainly is. Rare that
you see one exploded

like this is fantastic.
Now what's wrong

with my one why my why is mine breaking?
You've damaged the third gear synchro.

Okay so synchro is
one of these is it? That's

right that leads on to
you breaking the hub.

And what's a hub? The hub is this here. And
what will you do to to repair this then?

I will upgrade the all
the hubs in the box to

three liter which is
like almost twice a sec.

That's brilliant that's
the old 2.7 lug and

that's the three liter
hub that's never going

to break is it? So you're giving me a
license to drop the clutch at me heart's

concern. Yeah you can drop it
and I'll guarantee you won't break it.

Okay so it's guaranteed
as well? Absolutely.

Right so you will build
this gearbox for us?

Certainly. It slots straight into my car.
Yeah. When I spoke to you on the phone you

said you was quite
willing to do a deal with

me this is a replacement
gearbox I have to

give my old one back. You do. Okay how much
money are they? A couple of grand exchange.

Could you do a one-off deal for me? All
I've got really to be honest is 1500 quid.

Well if it's only done
your third gear yeah

and it's low mileage
box then I will do that.

For 1500 quid? One off deal.
Lovely thanks Ken. Job done.

This refurbished and uprated gearbox
certainly looks like a great piece of kit

and I'm wasting no time in bolting
it back on with my mate Paul.

The gearbox is now attached to
the engine it's full of oil everything

else is connected and it's
ready to go into our Porsche.

Mike's the money man
but now we've bought this

reconditioned gearbox I
reckon we've spent more than

our six grand budget. Still looking on the
bright side a 911 with a guaranteed gearbox

will be much easier
to sell and Mike might

be able to pass on a
bit of the gearbox cost

in the resale value. Time for
me to finish off the engine service.

Now you may remember
we drained the oil out of

the engine before we
took it out of the car so of

course I have to put
some back in but it'd be a

real waste of time if I
didn't change the filter

as well and as always
I need to put a little

smear of oil onto this
o-ring to make sure

that it seals up against
the flange properly.

When we drained
the engine it had fully

synthetic oil 5 to 40 weight so when
we refilled we replaced like for like.

Now it's time to fit
the airfoil so I've been

checking things as I've
been going to see whether

they need any changing
or maintenance. Now

this one is looking
absolutely spotlessly clean

so there's no need to change
that so I'll put it straight onto the car.

Considering the engine
bay is so small it's

remarkably easy to do
basic maintenance work

like this on a Porsche. Don't be
scared by the fact that it's a 911,

it's still just a car with an engine
and a pretty simple one at that.

Now that was a really big job we've
taken a lot of things out of the car

put them all back the first
question is does the engine still run?

Well I'm definitely
liking that. Remember

we had a problem with
the oil pressure so we

replaced the sender unit now the Gauge
gives a good reading. Problem solved.

The engine certainly
works now the question

is does the gearbox
what about reconditioning

the mic board? Well it's going
to be up to him to test that.

The 911 is finished it
looks superb and believe

me Ed I can't wait
to go for my first test

drive and give that
gearbox a good workout.

But before I rev the
engine in anger let's just

take a few moments to
enjoy the beautiful curves

of our Porsche and
remember all the hard work

it took to get us here. It was a miracle
that I managed to find a 911 for the money

but remarkably this
US spec car came up for

just five grand and I
literally jumped for joy.

Okay it had a few problems like the
leaky roof and graunchy gear change

but it could fix those
for peanuts, couldn't

he? Well the Targa was
a simple retention and

refurb job and I knew
we could cheaply deal

with all those nasty
American styling details.

The chrome trim was easy to remove
and the paint underneath was in great Nick.

Ugly rear bumper over riders were
replaced with slimline European numbers.

The wheel caps were
repainted and period door

mirrors fitted. So far
so good but then came

the nightmare scenario.
Ed told me the gearbox was

a goner. A big bill loomed
forcing us over budget.

But I hunted around and
found a specialist who

took our box in part
exchange. He did me a deal

for 1500 quid. Still big
money but now we have

a gearbox which is a
huge asset to the car

making it much more saleable.
Finally a full engine service and

replacement clutch meant this
car really was ready to Rumble.

So what did we spend? The car cost me
five grand. The clutch kit was 240 pounds.

and over riders were


pounds a pair. Glue and
paint came to 25 quid.

The engine service parts came
with the car so they didn't cost us

anything. But that recon
gearbox was a massive


just over 7000 pounds.

Hello mate. Hello how
are you? Very excited

actually. Is this it? We
own a perfect Porsche.

We do indeed. I'm very
excited about this car.

It's just lovely isn't
it? It's gorgeous. Now

last time I was here
you'd done the roof.

What have you been
up to since? It was sitting

quite high if I remember.
The engine the gearbox

was all out as well.
Give me the news. Well it

was a big job but the
gearbox is now in the

car. It runs perfectly.
I mean it was it was

a big job but it was
really really fun. I just

really enjoyed this car.
Such a joy to work on.

Oh fantastic. I can't
believe it. And what

else? Well all the
little bits. Remember all

that Americana down
here with that chrome.

Decromed it. Nice
center caps. Really really

show off the wheels there. And of course
mirrors so you can see where you've been.

We got a proper Euro Porsche.
It's gorgeous. Well done.

Hey! I can't believe it.
We got a Porsche 911 on Wheel Of Dealers.

The handling is
amazing on this car. I just

love it. It looks
fantastic. Feels brilliant.

What a car. Just look
at the work we've done

to this car. When we
got it it was that nasty

US spec. We've de-chromed it. We've taken
off those bumper overriders. We've made it

look much less fussy
and more sorted. And now

that branch has gone
that we had that nasty

bump between second and third gear. That's
gone. And the gearbox is like a Winchester

r*fle. It just works.
It's sweet and pure. Fantastic.

Now I need to start
thinking about selling it.

And I'm not going
to. I'm going to keep it.

So we'll see you next
time on Wheel Of Dealers.

Nah, not really. We
got to sell it. We've spent

a load of money on it. And I need to recoup
some of that cash. Now the top rate for one

of these cars with a new gearbox fitted
is about £8,500. And I reckon this is up

in the premiership. This car is a top rated
car. So I'm not going to be too greedy. I'm

going to ask £8,450
and the first person who

gets behind the wheel
with this car drives

it down the road. Well
they're going to buy it. It's

a Porsche 911. Of course
they're going to buy it.

Now I could have sold
our Porsche 911 five

times over. Everyone
seems to want this car.

People who've just
heard about it are asking

me about it. A bloke
in the petrol station

this morning asked if he could buy it. Even
the bloke in my local pub wants it. Yet

nobody has asked me
the price. Now the thing is I

need to get top dollar
for our car. So what I've

done is I've advertised it on the Internet.
A couple of those specialist websites where

people go prowling for
Porsche 911s at entry

level money. Now that
should be around £8,500.

So what I've done
is I've advertised it at

£8,450. The first person
to turn up is the guy

behind me. He looks
like a city gen. His name's

Brandon. The thing is,
has he got the money

and can I extract it from him? I hope so.
So what do you think of this interior?

Oh it looks lovely
mate. I mean just sort of

conditioned for the
age. It's cracking isn't it?

Lovely, lovely interior.
Really good. Round

the back. When we got
the car it had American

overriders on it. Great
big things down here

on the bumper. Had
lots of chrome on it.

You know what the
Americans are like. They've

ruined the back of
it. So what Ed done is

he took all those bits off and he put all
the European spec stuff back on the car and

just made it neater,
tidier, less fussy. That's

good but the most
important thing about Porsche


that. That's a 2.7 litre engine with more

horsepower than you
need. Brilliant, that's what

I want. I mean good
service history on this?

Yeah good service
history. It's been well looked

after. The engine
itself is fairly bulletproof.

Gearboxes do have a
problem with these cars but

the good news is we've
uprated the gearbox on this

car. 2.7s they can break
what they call the hub

inside but we put a 3
litre hub in a completely

reconditioned gearbox
and I'm guaranteed

that it will last you
a lifetime. Brilliant.

Basically what I'm saying
is 6000 rpm drop the

clutch, burn the rear
wheels, you'll never break

it. Sweet. Of course in
the summer you can get

the old roof off this
Targa, get the wind in

I was going to say in
your hair but you can't

do that but at least
you can get the roof off.

How is it for leaking?
Well funny enough when I

got the car it had a
little bump at the front,

it was whistling, it was letting him
water and they can leak but this one,

Ed's taken it off, he's repaired it
all, put it all back together, it's fine.

Brilliant. I mean really
we've done all the

work that would need
to be done to this car to

cover you for the next
sort of 10 years. It's

an appreciating
classic. It's a car I don't

think you're ever going
to lose money on. Well

I advertise it for £8,450
and that's what I want

for it. Well yeah it's
good for the money but

take £8,000. £8,000? No I can't let this
car go, we put so much work and effort into

this car it's worth
every penny and I've got

loads of people who will buy it. Alright
then yeah I'll do it, I'll do it mate.

Lovely well done, got yourself a Porsche.
The story of our time with the Porsche 911

has been one of real ups and downs but I'm
so happy we got this car back to its best

and managed a £1,400 profit,
one of our best ever results.

Just goes to show
winners class, there's brass.

If you want to see some more classic
cars getting the care and attention

that they deserve to
turn them into winners

then catch us again
soon on Wheeler Dealers.

Salut!