I recently had a chance to polish off a couple little projects on the 912, the first of which was the passenger window. When it arrived, it was with a door full of glass shards and a wonky window mechanism.

Messing with glass is always sketchy for me. The last 2002 I had rolled off the trailer with the windows up. It was a nice day, so obviously the first move was to roll the windows down and let the warm air in. Halfway rolled down, the window slipped off the mechanism, dropped into the door, and shattered.

I’ve been overly careful with glass since. After finding a replacement window in decent shape, it was time to pull the door, vacuum the shards out, and pull the mechanism to see what had happened.

Turns out there’s a pivot pin that eventually shears after 40 years of use. So, a quick matter of ordering a pin from Pelican, pressing it in, and putting the whole assembly back together and in… except the whole of the window frame had to be pulled, and re-installed with the window in it. That was a massive pain to line up. Once together though, the window winds up and down near effortlessly.

The only thing left that needs to happen before it can be driven is rebuilding the pedal box, and hooking the new bits of throttle linkage up. All new bronze bushings, springs, and pedals should make it buttery smooth.

I’ll follow up with a proper post of the engine going in, but for now, it runs!

When I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find an engine on a hoist ready to go in my truck, and next to it, an absolutely perfect early 912. He had meticulously restored it over the past 10 years, and everything on it was brilliant. Glassy blue paint, a beautiful interior, and a freshly rebuilt engine.

My engine looks pretty decent. It’s not nearly as pretty as the one in the blue car. I don’t like that it doesn’t have the original air cleaners, but it should clean up nice, and best of all, it’s a runner.

What I have here is nearly a brilliant car. It’s missing a hood, a passenger window, and some other minor pieces, but it came with most of an engine. It needs to be painted, but it’s completely rust-free (Porsche didn’t galvanize the 911/912 chassis until 1976, so an early car’s condition is really hit or miss). And the part that completely sold me; it has a brand new interior. Red leather with cloth plaid inserts, black leather above the belt line, and a painted 5 gauge dash (only found on the European market 912s).

First thing’s first, I need to source an engine. After looking up the numbers on the case, and talking to a few 356 and 912 guys, what I have is case halves from two different 356s, an end piece from a 912, heads from a 356a, and a fan shroud from an early European 356. It’s not going in the car, so I’m thinking it might make a good table. Luckily, I have a lead on a good, running, local 912 engine. Hopefully the next post involves bringing that home!

Notice the Rival House shirt? They are for sale now!

+more colors!!

Picking up the project bus, a 1972 Mercedes-Benz 0309D. It’s diesel, dually, manual, and all kinds of awesome. We’re still scoping the project out, deciding what direction to take, but basic work should start soon.

Shout out to Pedro Pherreira and fresh exposures. Keep it up.