1968 Porsche 912 coupe

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Born on January 5th of 1968 this car was shipped to Porsche Cars Pacific the Bay Area distributor. It was sold new to a doctor who lived in San Francisco. I imagine seeing this car on the streets of downtown SF in the background of a Woody Allen movie. We found this car a couple years ago in a neglected state, owner apparently deceased, last registered in 2009. What was amazing is that it wears original paint on most of its panels and it had no rust anywhere indicating a car that has been stored in a garage most of its life. 1968 was the first safety and emissions car - the DOT rules in USA had finally caught up to the German cars, they were required to make the engines run cleaner and improve the safety of the occupants. The safety side included head rests to prevent whiplash, break away mirror, padded dash and controls, seat belts now standard, side markers to prevent side crash, brighter white instruments for easier visibility, outside door handles with guard to prevent doors opening in a crash, and headlights with no glass in front of them. These 68s are the last of the early cars, last of the short wheels base, they have many 1 year only features.

Body - ORIGINAL PAINT ORIGINAL PAINT! So rare to find an original paint car. This car wears most of its original paint, the driver door and decklid have been re-painted while the rest of the car is original paint. It has been buffed before we acquired it, looks like the last person burnt through the paint in a couple places. We did a complete buff with better equipment and now the car shows very well and still retqins some of the patina sheen. The couple paint flaws - we could airbrush blend the primer away or leave it as it is, up to the next owner. Original paint means no accident damage and a car that fits together well - looks at the gaps and the fitment of the lights, turn signals and horn grilles - so perfect. All glass is original - Sigla windshield and clear Sekurit side and rear glass. Window frames and alloy trim is ALL original, first year of aluminum window frames. Bumperettes are original vented type with good rubber trim. Original Hella headlights, Bosch USA side markers, and Bosch turn signals are in excellent shape. 

Interior - This interior is all original. Some of the interior was damaged from the sun, dash was cracked, we went to great lengths to find original vinyl parts in unrestored condition to replace the 1968 only dash, the rear seats, and the rear parcel tray. All interior was removed from the car during the service and cleaned and repaired. The front seats were rebuilt underneath and original covers re-installed, early style headrests re-stuffed, original carpet re-installed. The one item we had to replace with new was the headliner. All interior work was done by Thomas' Trim who is the Porsche trim expert of San Diego. 

Wheels - original date matched 15x5.5" wheels, stripped and re-painted, they are all matching date coded Lemmerz 15x5.5" wheels with new Vredestein 165/15 tires. 

Engine - one of the high points, 1720cc displacement fully restored/rebuilt, STD/STD case + crank, align honed mains w/case halves shaved, 86mm big bore pistons/cylinders, Neutek SX1 cam with new lifters, original heads fully rebuilt with new guides/valves as needed/springs, restored original Solex Split Shaft, original distributor, stock factory exhaust Lemmerz muffler with proper tailpipe and new tip, complete smog system installed to original spec - period curiosity system, all tin has been powerdcoated, all hardware stripped/tumbled/plated, correct decals - this engine is a concours winner. 

Transmission - 4 speed number matching unit was rebuilt and re-sealed, works perfectly.

It is so rare to find a nice 912 where when you look deeply into it you do not have a myriad of mechanical problems. This car had its own issues too, so a complete mechanical sorting was done. The engine ran fine but it was leaky and ugly and the history was unknown. It had a working smog pump system so we decided to retain it and add the missing little pieces for a historic look. A complete engine and transmission rebuild was done to ensure the car would run right.  Engine has had a align hone back to standard, crank is a factory 912 forged crank in STD/STD size, rods re-sized. Bearing a NOS Glyco STD bearings made in W. Germany, they were coated with a dry film lubricant that will increase longevity. Neutek SX1 camshaft with new lifters. New big bore 86mm pistons and cylinders. Heads had a full re-machine with new guides, springs tested and setup properly. Flywheel re-surfaced with a new clutch and all rotating parts have been dynamically balanced. Original Solex PII carbs rebuilt, new linkage rods added. Original distributor was run on a Sun distributor machine. All new gaskets/plugs/wires/hoses/filters. As you can see the detailing work is second to none (we know 912 engines!) all sheet metal powdercoated, all hardware blasted/tumbled and zinc plated back to the original look - the correct decals are in place and the Castrol decal is actually an original placed on some of these cars when they were new at the dealership. Exhaust is a factory original Lestritz unit.