13x12 - 1995 Volvo 850 T-5R Wagon

[bunniefuu]

Built in 1976, only
around 2,000 of these

were ever made, and
only available in the U.S.

I love this car!
I love it, love it, love it!

The Porsche 912E, an
electronic fuel-injected 4-cylinder

engine with an up to 60
at just over 9 seconds.

The world of these cars
is going through the roof.

But even the best examples
come with some unique problems.

I want to take it to a whole new level.

If we can get it running
as good as it should.

Maybe I can get some
iron back in our spritzer.

Plus make a rare car even more
unique, then there's profit to be made.

Hopefully once all that's done,
our engine should run like a dream.

Last night, I ended up coming
down some back streets.

And as I was coming down
the back streets, I'm always

looking, keep my eyes peeled,
just in case something pops up.

And I come past this little
dealership here that's got a

brace, a gathering, a herd of
little Porsches on the driveway.

And they are little 912s,
and in the world of motoring

at the moment, Porsche


So I'm gonna go and have a look.

Good quality cars are selling upwards
of $40,000 without breaking a sweat.

Wow, look at this!
That is gorgeous, isn't it?



And look at that in blue,
this would be a, what, a 66?

Yes it is, another 912.

And look at that, look.

Sold and sold.

This looks like a later model, maybe a 76.

And this is a 912E, it's
got the 2-litre engine.

And this one doesn't seem to
be sold yet, so you never know.

How you doing, I'm Mike.

Hi Mike, I'm Peter.

Peter, nice to meet you.
Where are you from?

I'm from Germany, Munich.

Ah, fantastic. So is this one for sale?

I just got it in, but we
need to recon it, we need

to work on it, the wheels
I don't like, and so on.

Okay, so it is for sale, you just
haven't got it ready for retail yet?

Right, right.

And what can you tell me about it, Peter?

Well, absolutely straight
body, it was repainted

at one point in time, a
very, very nice paint job.

That's what attracted me.

So the interior looks
fantastic, was it refurbished?

It is obviously redone, recovered to seats
with the original pattern, very nice job.

Everything seems to be a five-speed
gearbox, it's got a factory sunroof as well.

Can I have a look at the engine?

Please, yeah sure.

So this is a 2-litre?

Four-cylinder 2-litre.

And it's fuel injected as well?

Fuel injected, only a year on the 912s.

Yeah, fantastic.
I like it, I like it a lot.

How much do you want for it?

Take it out for a spin, check it
out, if you like it, give me a number.

Okay, I can do that,
let's get it out on the road.


just pushing this car down the road.

I love this car, I
love it, love it, love it.

And I love the way it handles,
it's so light and it's so nimble.

The 911s was
considered a great car, but

actually I think this is
a more balanced car.

The engine, the power to weight, everything
about it just feels so much more fun.

This is a car that you can
actually drive at ten-tenths.

Where a 911s, you would
probably only ever drive it at

eight-tenths because it's
quicker and more powerful.

This one, you can really
get the most out of it.

Enjoy every single one of those gears.

There's a few issues
with the engine, it's

stuttering a little bit
as I go down the road.

It could be fuel injection, it could be
dirty plugs, it could just need a service.

That's one of the things we'd have
to address if I was to buy the car.

The gearbox feels great,
it's lovely in all the gears.

The brakes, nobody around me.

It stops on the button and as for
the steering, well it's go-kart like.

It does have 127,000 miles on the clock.

The suspension is a little spongy
and can do with addressing.

Plus the car does look great but I think
we can make more of those beautiful lines.

I know that the world of these cars at
the moment is going through the roof.

Honestly, the prices of these
cars is climbing so quickly that in

the time it's taken me to tell
you this, it's just gone up $100.

If we get this car and turn it around
right, we can make a very healthy profit.

The rise of 912 prices is due to the cost
of 911s being beyond most people's reach.

For the collector, it
becomes the next best thing.

I was, you're right, Mike.

I loved it, yeah.

So, I've been thinking of a
figure to give you and being fair.

I'm listening.

I thought $23,000.

No, that wouldn't do the trick.

No, no, no, no, no.

Okay, what's the best you can do for me?

Well, as it sits here, I would go for a 27.

As it sits here, 27.

No recon further, as it is here.

It's just not leaving me enough
room to do anything with it.

I mean, especially with
the money I've got to spend.

What about if I go up another $1,000?

$24,000?

Let me sweeten the deal.

I throw you in another set of
Foxwheels, nice reconditioned Foxwheels.

That's good, yeah.

And I let it go for $26,000.

$26,000?

Yes.

If you can make it $25,000 and
throw the wheels in, you've got a deal.

Come on, what do you say?

Today?

Now.

Cash?

Cash, yes.

Oh, okay.

Fantastic.

I just bought myself a Porsche 912.

I couldn't be any happier.

You wouldn't be happy, yeah.

I am happy.

Fantastic.

I can't believe it.

I got the car, and that was a great deal.

Thank you, Peter.

At $25,000, around 18,000
pounds, I know once I get it into

the hands of Ed China, he's
going to get really excited.

He loves a flat-four air-cooled engine.

That's his expertise,
and once he gets this car

through the workshop
and out the other side,

I know there's going to be a tasty profit.

Ah, a 911.

Well done, sir.

Actually, sunshine is one better than that.

It's a 912.

That's fantastic.

I mean, these really
are the super hot ticket

right now, and they're
going for crazy money.

So what do we pay for it?

Well, I found it locally.

I've been looking all over America for one,
but I actually found it round the corner.

It belongs to a German who had a
four-call, and I managed to get in there

and do a trade deal
with him at just $25,000.

It's still a chunk of money,
but it's really good money.

I've seen him go for, like, 60 grand.

I've actually seen one go
for 70 grand just recently.

So I suggest you just push it
into the corner of the workshop.

We forget about it for a couple of weeks.

We make some money.

It's a nice idea, but I'm
sure we could do a bit

better if only we actually
put a bit of work in.

I mean, you know, it's looking nice.

I mean, the paint's
really lovely, for a start.

I think we should also lower it.

Right now, it's at the
American spec ride height.

European was much lower.

Once you've lowered it,
it's going to handle better,

but also, of course, it's
going to look way cooler.

Wait until you bathe in the interior.

Look at that.

Oh, it's quite well
low-down and sporty, isn't it?

But it's very lovely in here.

They only made the 912E in
one year, and that was 1976.

And they only made


That is very rare, yeah.

But this one's even rarer.

Well, how do you get rarer than that?

Because they only made


So now we know how
rare it is, it'll be nice and

easy to find parts for
that. Well done, mate.

Have a look at the engine.

Absolutely.

Well, I know you're a big fan
of flat-four air-cooled engines.

I hope you like this one,
because it's got the Einsbritzen.

Bless you.

No, Einsbritzen.
That's fuel injection in Germany.

That's why there's an E
on the boot lid of the car.

Yeah, it makes sense.

I mean, you know, it could do
with a bit of a tidy-up in there,

but what's interesting is there's
a condenser on the debt lid,

which means it must have
had an air-conditioning system

somewhere, but there's no
sign of any compressor or pump.

So this could be a car with a
sunroof and with air-conditioning.

Wow. We could have actually
struck the crown jewels here.

So how does she drive?

It's fast, it's everything
you want out of a Porsche.

This one, though, is just
not zinging at the top end.

Whether that's an eighth
thing, whether it's a serviceable

thing, but just have a quick
look through the engine.

Okay, well, something else,
of course, are those really

rather horrible American-spec
bumper over-riders.

They're just not cool.

Yeah, that's a tricky one.
Because this car was only made

for the American market, it
is only in this shape and form.

But the flavour out
there in the rest of the

world means that they want
European-spec bumpers.

So I don't know, I think
we've just got to live with it for

a few days, see if we get
used to the bumpers as they are,

or whether we change them
out for a more Euro-spec bumper.

But this is going to be good fun, this car.

Once this car's done and
we get the details right,

it's going to deliver us
some serious money.

Moolah, in fact.

Or Deutschmarks.

Between 1965 and 1969, Porsche manufactured


In fact, initially, anyway, they were
actually outselling their very own 911.

Now, after a six-year
hiatus, they then reintroduced

the model, but only for the American
market, and then they called it the 912e.

Now, it had exactly the
same body as the 911,

but essentially it was
just really a stopgap

between the 914 and the
soon-to-be-introduced 924.

So they only made them for about a year,
and they made a limited number of 2,099.

Now, this car actually retailed at
three-quarters of the price of the 911,

but you did get a lot of
Porsche for your money.

Obviously, there was the 911 styling,

but also that 914 engine
packed enough punch for

such a light car that it
really did feel quite gutsy.

And in fact, the engine is so
much lighter than the flat-six

that that legendary Porsche
handling was actually slightly improved.

So it really was great value for money.

Now, Mike was a little concerned that
this engine isn't quite giving its all.

But the thing is, these engines
are actually very reliable,

as is the ignition system
and the fuel injection system.

So really, we're now
looking for a problem

which actually could
be quite hard to detect.

So what I need to do is just
go through the whole system

and make sure everything
is the way it should be.

Now, if I can find
that elusive fault, then

maybe I can get some
iron back in our spritzen.

I'll energise the fuel system
by turning on the ignition.

Now, the first thing I'm going
to check is actually two things.

It's going to be the fuel pump
and also the fuel pressure regulator.

And I can do that by just seeing
how much fuel pressure we have.

So what I'm going to do
is attach this little Gauge

to the T-piece I've just
put into the fuel system.

And because I've
already got the ignition on,

what I now need to do is trick the
engine to think it's actually running.

Now, in the airflow sensor
here, this little aluminium box,

you feel like there's
a little door or blade.

And the idea is that that tells the brain
that the air is flowing into the engine,

because it tells it that
the engine is running.

So what I'm going to just do is
just open that door, if you like.

So we can hear the fuel flowing.

I'm looking for about


and we have got a whopping 16 psi.

Now, that's not really ideal.

It means that either the fuel pump
isn't generating enough pressure

or the regulator's not working properly.

So the next thing I need to do is actually
now just measure the fuel pump on its own

and see what that's producing.

I'll swap out the test
fitting to bypass the fuel

pressure regulator from
the rest of the system.

Let's trick the brain again
and turn on the fuel pump.

Look at that.

So we've got way over 90 psi, which
means the fuel pump is working fine,

so it is actually the
regulator that is at fault.

So we will get a new one of those,

but in the meantime I can carry on
checking all the rest of the systems.

The airflow sensor measures the temperature
and amount of air flowing into the engine.

The electronic control unit then uses
this info to adjust the fuel air mixture.

Right, so I'm now going to check
that the airflow sensor works.

So I've got a little
manual here which tells

me what kind of
resistance I might find.

on each of the pins or between the pins.

So the first two here are pins 6 and 9,

and I should see a resistance
of between 200 and 400 ohms,

and we have 282, which is
bang in the middle, which is lovely.

So let me move to pins 7 and 8.

Now we're looking for a resistance
of between 120 and 200 ohms,

and we have 166 or 165, which again
is bang on, that's lovely, which is great.

So the next one is
between pin 6 and pin 27,

so we should have 2k or 2000 ohms at
room temperature, which of course it is.

And we've actually got infinite resistance,
so we have a fully open circuit,

and that means our temperature
sensor is unfortunately broken.

That means that this unit is completely
scrapped just because of one sensor failing.

One of these things.

The four fuel injectors are a bit tough
to access and a bit fiddly to remove.

Now if you suspect you've got a
faulty injector when it's in the engine,

what you can do is actually measure
the resistance across the coil if you like,

and that will actually give
you an idea of whether

it's completely dead
or whether it still works.

What I want to know is whether they're
actually atomizing the fuel correctly.

So I've got a little rig just here.

What I'm going to do
is just connect this up,

and effectively I'm
going to run high pressure

fuel through the
injector into this beaker,

and then that way I can see
whether it's spraying properly or not.

Well it's definitely nearly a missed.

I've seen better, but
that's not a bad start.

So what I'll now do is check all of
the other ones to see how they fare.

Now this one seems a little
bit better than the previous one.

And that's possibly even better still.

Well that one is also
actually pretty reasonable.

So I'm just going to
depressurize it to be safe.

But it would seem that
at least two out of our

four injectors could do
with a little bit of help.

And also, as I've been
doing this experiment,

I can actually feel the
rubber on the top of

the injectors actually
flexing quite a bit.

Now obviously over time they
will have a tendency to perish,

so I think the best thing to do
is replace all of the injectors.

I've also got to do the
fuel regulator valve,

and we've got to change
the airflow sensor as well.

So hopefully once all that's done,
our engine should run like a dream.

Right, so we've now got our
new fuel injectors in place,

the fuel regulators there as well,
and of course a new air cleaner.

So we're now ready
to fit our airflow sensor.

Now unfortunately you
can't buy these anymore

from Porsche, we've
had to have ours rebuilt.

Our fuel injectors cost just under $200,

and the rebuilt airflow sensor was $273,

money that will ensure we
bring our 912 back to a per.

My little Porsche is running rather nicely,

it's now been running for a
while, so it's up to temperature.

But it is idling at about 600 RPM,

it really should be about


so I'm just going to
give it a bit of a tweak.

Having gone through and sorted all of
the different elements of our Einspritzen,

our 912 now has its E back.

I've been looking for the
air conditioning parts for that


then somebody said to me,

why don't you just try the
place around the corner?

It's an Aladdin's cave
of 911 and 912 parts.

Brian, this place is just incredible.

So where does all this stuff come from?

Many years of taking cars
apart, buying companies out,

overstock purchases.

I've got a 1976 912 E, nice little car,

it's got air conditioning fitted to it,

but there's a lot of the components that
are missing and I want to reinstate it.

Not a problem, all in stock.

Seriously?

Can you gather all that stuff up for me?

Yeah, give me a couple of hours,

I'll have everything put in a
bag and you're ready to go.

Well listen, while you're doing that,

do you mind if I carry on
looking around the building.

because there's some other bits and pieces,

I wouldn't mind bolting to the car
just to give it that finishing touch.

Help yourself, throw up
a flare when you're done.

Super.

I've just walked through
a sea of wheels and tires,

there's everything in here,
there's wings, there's doors.

This is my 912 that I've got at home,

I've got chrome around the door,

I've got chrome around
the windscreen, chrome

mirror, I love that look,
makes it more classic.

And I didn't even notice
these when I walk in,

but if you look up there,
there's chrome door frames,

there's chrome bezels,

there's everything I need
to tidy our little car up.

Oh, look at this box down here.

Door handles, they're nice, aren't they?

Chrome door handles, especially
if I'm going to do all the windows,

the chrome door handles,
that'd be wicked on the car.

Oh, yes, that's what I'm looking for,

the chrome headlamp bezel.

I'm having it because I know
anything shiny we put onto our little car

is going to translate into
profit at the other end.

There you are.

Listen, I've found almost everything I need
in terms of the chrome to put on the 912.

The two bits that I'm
missing are the two bits of

chrome that go around
the rear quarter windows?

Not a problem, I've got them
down here at the end of the aisle.

I'll grab those, put
them with your AC parts.

Fantastic. Well, listen, I've loved this.

I think I'm going to be a regular customer.

Cool, we like that.

Cool, see you later.

I've already found a couple of things

that are going to vastly
improve the handling of this car,

but I want to take it to another level.

In fact, I want to
take it to a lower level.

I've had to take the car off the ramp

because I want to make sure
the suspension is settled so

I can get a true measurement
of how high it is sitting.

Let's see what kind of clearance we have

about probably 70 millimetres
between the top of the tyre

and the bottom edge of the wheel
arch, and that really is just way too much.

Now, the front suspension on the
Porsche 912 is actually quite interesting.

It's a little bit like a MacPherson strut.

You've got your shock absorber
here going up into the inner wing,

and you have your bottom
arm, but the difference

is the back of that arm
is this big, thick tube.

Now, this is the pivot point around
which the suspension rotates,

but also, the reason it's so big is
that you've got a torsion bar inside.

The torsion bar is attached
to the suspension arm

at this end,

and then this acts rather like a
sleeve, and it goes all the way through,

and then it gets attached
to the chassis at this end.

So if I just use this
paperclip as an example,

if you imagine this is our torsion bar.

There's an anchor to the suspension
here, and this is where the wheel would go,

and you can see that
when I take off any pressure,

it Springs back, and that's
exactly what's going on here,

but of course, obviously,
the torsion bar is

much thicker because
the car is much heavier.

What's interesting is, obviously, depending
on the datum where you first set it,

either the car will be lower or higher,

and I can adjust that with this
little sort of socket at the back here.

So there's some splines,

and the idea is that if you imagine
you've got your splines like so

and you have this little cup on the
top, if I then take that little cup out,

rotate it around, and put it
back into a different position,

I have a kind of a coarse
adjustment of that datum

of the suspension, and I
can do some fine adjustment.

with a little screw onto the side there.

Now this torsion bar has


which means if you divide


Every time we actually rotate the cap.

by one spline one way or the other,

you actually move the
suspension by 12 degrees.

Now, as we know,

our suspension is actually too high by 70
millimetres, so just by moving one spline

should be enough to get the
wheel exactly where we want it.

So now I'm just going to pop it into position
in the original place so I can feel it,

and then I'm just
going to ride that spline.

There you go.

I can feel it going round one.

That's it.

Then we can fine-tune it with that
slightly smaller screw on the side there.

Right now, the rear suspension
is very similar to a Beetle,

and actually quite similar, in principle
at least, to the front suspension.

So you have your torsion
bar inside the tube here.

Obviously, it's attached to this bit of
suspension here by the splines, and again,

that goes all the way down here
and supports the weight of the wheel.

Now, just like the front,

we've got a fixed number of
splines on the end of the torsion bar.

But unfortunately, just
to complicate matters

further, there's a different
number on either end.

So there's 44 on the
outside and 40 on the inside.

And the idea is that you can actually rotate
your torsion bar one way on the outside,

one way on the inside,

and so you can actually
get a slightly finer adjustment

than just the fixed sort
of nine degrees or so.

The thing is, it is really,
really complicated to do.

So what I'd like to do is
actually fit an aftermarket product

that will make this process
much more simple to adjust.

Well, this is our new part.

Now, you can see you've got the splines.

in the end just as before
with that bit of tubing,

so that's gonna go over
our torsion bar there.

And instead of being one solid piece,

it's actually split into two, and you
can see you've got this little screw here.

So this bit attaches to
the suspension as before,

but now we have this
lovely fine adjustment.

So I've set it to the maximum
height for this setting,

and then the idea is I'll put
that in exactly the same place

so that they can lower it
down to exactly where I want.

I'm looking for a really
lovely kind of racy, sporty rake.

Our rear suspension adjustment kit
came with a set of polyurethane bushes.

I've applied a bit of lube
to minimize any chance

of unwanted suspension noise.

The poly bushes are snug, which is great,

but it does require a bit
of motivation to install it.

Well, it's starting to go in, but before
I go any further, I want to make sure

that I've got everything
on the right splines.

So before I took it apart,

I did measure the angle about 40
degrees, and you can see that the bubble.

is sitting nicely in the middle
when we're on our closed position.

So it is bang-on, which is ideal,

and then it means we can now carry
on trying to bolt the thing together.

Right, so our suspension
is now in position.

What I want to do now,
because obviously it's

currently running at
the standard height,

I'm going to wind out this screw.

That's actually going
to lower the suspension,

I think by probably just the right amount.

But of course then, I don't want
to test it with the original wheels.

I want to test it with the
wheels we're going to

be fitting to these rather
wonderful foosh alloys.

Now that is what I was looking for.

Uber cool.

Our 1976 912E is purring as it once did,

and now sitting as it should.

So we have a little sports car
that will get us down the road

with a refreshed sense of
reliability and superior handling.

I look forward to Mike
bringing home the bits

that we need to take
control of our climate.

Oh, wow.

Look at our little 912.

Fantastic.

It's always a pleasure to see it,

and always a pleasure to see you.

How you getting on?

Oh, very good, actually.

I've already lowered the car.

And now I'm just fitting
a few last missing bits.

Okay, that's good.

Well, I've managed to
find the air conditioning

bits we need to reinstate
the air con in this car.

I've got us a nice compressor,

nice big heavy unit.

I've got us a bracket for the compressor.

And the pulley adapter.

I've got the pulley adapter.

I've got some hoses,

some other little bits
and pieces in the car.

So all coming together,

all you've got to do is fit it.

That is great.

You know, but this car is
going to be super, super rare.

It can only be a handful with
the original air conditioning.

So I mean, that's going to be fantastic.

It is going to be brilliant.

In fact, it's going to be better than that.

It's going to be really cool.

Now Mike has managed to find me all
the parts I need to be able to recommission

my air conditioning system,
including the universal compressor.

Now obviously nowadays, you
can get much more efficient systems

and of course they come
in some kind of kit form.

But actually, Mike's gone to the
trouble of finding these unique parts,

such as this strange kind of pulley extension
system that goes onto the crankshaft

and also bolts onto the
fan shroud and helps drive

around both the smog pump
but also the compressor.

What I've got to do is work out
how this Jigsaw goes together.

At the time, Porsche didn't offer

any air conditioning as an
option directly from the factory.

Thus, none of the parts
used in commissioning an

air conditioning system
were genuine Porsche bits.

Dealers were forced to use universal fit
compressors and custom fabricated brackets,

some of which were a
bit crude, to be honest.

Many of the purists would often
remove these once they failed,

claiming they weren't very efficient and
robbed precious horses from the engine,

which is probably what
happened to our example.

The dual-belt pulley
system drives two functions,

the AC compressor and the
California-mandated smog pump,

also an aftermarket
addition to our 912e.

Now getting to the bolts
that hold the compressor onto

the bracket are rather tricky but
they're now done, they're in place,

all the hardware is in the right position,

the pulleys line up

and the belts are all now
nice and snug as well.

Now the last thing I need to do
is actually attend to the last hose.

This one, as you can see,

is in a pretty bad state, it made
sense to replace absolutely everything.

Now it's essential to
lubricate the AC o-rings

during assembly as it will
assist in proper seating,

extend the life expectancy

and minimize the
risk of any leaking.

Air conditioning Freon is a hazardous
material and older chemistry terrible

for the environment so it's
critical when discharging or

recharging any AC system it
has to be done by a qualified

and certified AC specialist.

Right, so that's everything
now sorted in the engine bay

so the next thing I have to look
at is actually inside the interior.

Now, when they actually decommission.

the air conditioning
system in this car,

they just actually hid the original
switches up under the dashboard

so all I have to do to re-commission
them is just cut a cable tie.

Now because the air
conditioning fitment is so rare,

these vents are particularly difficult to
get a hold of but Mike has still managed

to find one for 500 bucks which
actually I think is a real bargain

considering it's one of
the original fitment items.

Now you can see it's going to sit.

around about here under the
dashboard fits rather nicely.

So the first thing I need
to do is actually attach.

these two switches and
then I can get it in place.

Cool.

So all we need now is a
certified charging station.

From the minute I laid eyes on this
beauty there was something amiss

though my air does
refine our little 912

bringing back its spirit,

its attitude and
creature comforts.

I can now bring back a little
bit of the classic Porsche shine.

Right now this 912 is
already a great looking car

with its black trim on it but now the
wheels have come back from the polisher.

they just set this
car off didn't they?

And this is the chance
for us to change

the look of this car.

I want to make it look more classic
and that means changing this black trim

for some chrome trim
and I know it's going to

make all the difference
come sale time.

First job for me is to
strip down this door frame.

Though our Porsche came equipped
with black satin trim from the factory

customers at that time could have
ordered the 912E with chrome trim.

So I'm going to take the
Liberty and rewind the tape deck,

revisit the options list and
tick chrome bright works.

Right that's the door card and
door furniture on the interior removed

and now you can see all the
engineering that goes into one of these.

Porsche doors and
it's pretty cool isn't it?

And it looks quite complicated but all
these nuts and bolts all the way across it

all of them unfortunately
have to be undone.

That's how I can remove
this window frame and pull

it up before I can slide
in the new chrome one.

When working on finished touches
such as trim pieces Patience is key.

One slip and a wrench and you
can potentially scratch the paintwork.

But that aside.

I do find these types
of jobs quite calming.

Okay there you go that's the
last bolt out and I never drop one

inside the door frame
so I'm pleased with that.

Right now I've got
to get the frame out.

it's going to be tricky.

Right here it comes.

just wiggling it back and forth

to try and get it up
past the window.

And done it's finally out.

Now I just need to remove the window
which is going to be relatively easy

but I also need to look after
all of this because all of this

black window frame stuff everything
that comes off the car that's unusable

for us in the future is all being put
in part exchange to lower the price

of the chrome stuff.

Right now this bit of trim is going
to be quite tricky because it's flat

and it's thin and I need
to get this off in one

piece because it's going
back in part exchange.

I just don't want to bend it

and I imagine it's
going to be tough.

to get off.

Saved.

Rescued.

All in one piece.

I think I'll clean it up before
I put the next piece on.

Now with the window nestled into the
framework it's just a matter of carefully

introducing the trim
back into the door.

Again careful.

with the paint work.

Top tip whenever
inserting an Allen key into

your hardware be
sure to seat it properly

even if it requires a bit
of a tap with a hammer.

Stripping these will only cost
you hours of unwanted heartache.

Look at that it's
all coming together.

Now we've got the frame on
got the door handle and the mirror.

It looks really smart.

Right onto the beauty rings.

Now the character of
any car comes from its

face and I think our


And I want to give this car some
character and personality and for that

I've got some nice
chrome beauty rings.

I've also got some
new glass to boot.

Our little 912

was generally in fine Nick when
I brought it back to the workshop.

But it's these smaller details that
will really take it to another level.

Even if your headlights are in working
order take a look at them closely.

I guarantee they've
become pitted over the years.

You'll be surprised how much a little clean
unmarked glass will make your car smile.

Well that's one side done.

Admittedly at the
moment it looks like that.

But once I get the other
side done it'll look like that.

Fantastic.

Now there's just a couple of things left
that are two-man jobs which are replacing

the trim on the
front windscreen.

We have to get that out

and on the back screen as well.

But you can see why I wanted to put
this chrome on the car in the first place.

It accentuates the already
classic lines of the Porsche.

It just makes it pop.

I was after one of the rarest incarnations
of the Porsche brand the 912E.

This is one really
cool and great little car.

Wonderful car but one
that wasn't quite fulfilling

its potential on the
road and on the eye.

It's got the

Einsbritzen.

Bless you.

But once Ed dealt
with the fuel injectors.

Well it's definitely
nearly a mist.

The suspension.

Now that is what
I was looking for.

Ubercool.

And the AC.

It just fell to me

to add the missing sparkle.

Fantastic.

This car was rare when I found
it but now it's truly one of a kind.

So how much did that
individuality cost us?

The car set me back.

$25,000.

The work on a fuel injection
system cost us $619.

Lowering the suspension.

$781.

New AC.

$1690.

And $2926.

for all that bright work.

This gives us a
grand total of $31,016.

Around £23,000

and 24 man hours.



We would have had
platform shoes on.

Bell bottom trousers.

Big collar shirts.

I don't ever remember
it looking as cool as this.

Certainly not as stylish.

This car just looks
absolutely fantastic.

The chrome was so
the right thing to do.

It's popping off the paintwork.

It almost grabs your eyeballs.

It is definitely very sparkly.

But I really feel for this car because
it's been ignored for most of its life

and now suddenly it's
becoming really popular.

It's a Porsche by
any other name.

This car is fantastic.

It was so good in fact that in the day when
Car and Driver tested this car they said

is the Porsche Carrera
really necessary?

That is amazing.

I mean when you
think this is obviously

based on the 911 it's
exactly the same body.

It has the same suspension and
therefore it has the same kind of handling.

I know it hasn't got that six pot
engine hanging out over the rear axle

but it is a two litre fuel injected
engine and it really does go.

It gives you that whole
Porsche experience on the road.

We don't want to
worry about the road.

We're here at a track.

Now although the car doesn't have the
horsepower of its bigger older brothers

it's lighter and it's
still very talky so

it's going to be lots of
fun on those corners.

Yeah I can't wait to
actually get it out there.

Let me look at this.

complicated work
you did down the rear.

Well actually the puzzle wasn't
so much the fuel injection system

which needed a bit of work it was
actually the air conditioning system

because obviously it had been decommissioned
and some of the parts were there

but most of them were
missing so if you hadn't got

those parts we would have
been really rather stuck.

Finding those parts was tricky but
it looks like you've done a great job.

This is going to make a whole heap of
difference to the car come sound time.

Well that's the
business end sorted.

What about the delivery end?

Well once I sorted out the Jigsaw
puzzles was the decommissioned AC system

the next problem was actually
how we were going to deliver the air

and if it hadn't been
for you finding this nice

little vent bar we would
have been stuffed.

Do you know they would have offered
these as a dealer option back in the day

and I managed to track it
down and it looks like it belongs

and we get the added
benefit of blowing icy

cold wind across the
whole width of the c*ck.

And actually other than
that the interior was in

really good need and
didn't need any extra work.

Yeah it certainly is
a lovely car isn't it?

But before we get cool why don't
we put some heat in these tyres.

Fair enough.

Go on hit the track.

Ed did you know this is called
horse thief mile race track?

Okay.

And did you also know that the emblem
on a Porsche has got a horse in it?

On a shield yeah.

Yeah so why don't you drive
this horse like you stole it.

Nice.

Whoa whoa whoa
whoa whoa easy tiger.

Wow it's got a bunch in it.

It really has actually I'm
really glad we did that work

on the fuel injection system
because straight away.

I mean you can really tell I
reckon it's got all of its 86 horses.

alive and well.

I think they are with a grip.

I mean the grip is amazing you think
we've lowered this from American spec

down to European spec
and really it just helps

with the handling it
stops it rolling around.

So what's the
steering feel like?

See I'm getting a lot
of confidence on this.

Not that much confidence really
tiny bit of oversteer there at the end.

But that's the lovely thing it's
actually really really balanced.

I mean the steering is
very responsive in one thing.

You've got that steering
wheel to hold on to.

I've got a door handle
and nothing cares.

It's not very strong.

It's not bad.

This is good.

This is good.

What a great car.

What a great track.

What great driving.

Thank you sir.

I'll tell you know how
to handle this car.

It's such a great little car.

We didn't have to change much but just
changing the details has given this car

a whole new lease
of life and trust me it's

going to mean all the
difference come sale time.

So what kind of money do you
think you're going to go for on this car?

Well whoever has
this car is a bit of a gift.

They could just drive it around for
maybe one, two years and the price of these

cars is just on the ascents so they are
absolutely going to be banking some money.

For us I reckon we could show a decent
profit if we asked the mid 30s for it.

That sounds
pretty good actually.

Yeah but before I even
think about counting money

I must do a couple of
laps behind that wheel.

Fair enough you have earned
it but not with me in the car.

It's on your own mate.

No worries you wouldn't want to be in it
when you see how I drive it like a man.

Now this is what you call the car.

Wow this car is brilliant.

It's so grippy.

Oh let's go into
my first hairpin.

Oh the car is so
much better than me.

Wonderful.

Now there's a few good

reasons why I'm feeling good
about the sale of our Porsche 912.

Number one,

just look at it.

Eh?

What a cracking looking motor.

Number two, this is
an appreciating market.

These cars are climbing
all the time so I'm

pretty sure that we can
get good money for it.

But most importantly what we did
is we found a good car and we did

the right amount of jobs
to take it to the next level.

We've not put a lot of
man hours into this car so

we're not going to be
too greedy with the price.

It owes me $31,000.

That's around 22,000 pounds.

I've advertised it for $36,000 and I
expect to get every single penny of that.

This guy behind
me is called Todd.

He's come all the way from
the other side of America and

I don't want him to fly home
to Philadelphia empty handed.

So then, Todd,

what's not to like?

It's gorgeous.

Mikey, you did a great job.

Who could ask for more?

It's fabulous looking.

So why a Porsche?

Why do you want one of these?

Today's cars are
just too electronic.

This is seat of the pants.

It's you in the car in the road.

It's real.

They are such a cool car.

Well, are you the
man to buy it of me?

I hope so.

It's a long trip home.

It certainly is.

Well, I need

$36,000 for it.

And if I didn't have to ship it,

I think we'd be there.

We're real close.

Yeah, I get that.

But this car is an
appreciated asset.

I could just park it in the corner of
the workshop there and wait two weeks.

I'd probably sell
it for $40,000.

But if you want the car,

I'll let you have it a little bit off
because you have come a long way.

You can have it.

for $35,000.

How about that?

Well, I know it's going
up since I've been here.

How about 35 and one?

So you're gonna give me one
American dollar and 35,000 others.

You got yourself a deal.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

You just bought
yourself a cracking 912.

Well done, sir.

Thank you.

Our plan was to take a 912e and inject
some of that forgotten European heritage.

And picking the right jobs for this
car was certainly the right thing to do

because we've
really pulled it off.

We didn't put a lot of
man-hours into this car,

but it still returned us
a very healthy profit.

$4,000 to be precise.

That's around 2,500 pounds,

and that's not bad.

If you want to see
more iconic cars like this

Porsche being turned
around by me and Ed,

join us again soon
on Wheel of Dealers.

Ta-la!

rock music plays.