Porsche 912

I was introduced to Porsche by Hearde W., a fellow engineering student at Texas A & M. Hearde would buy 1950’s and 60’s 356 Porsches and together, we would rebuild the engines in our dorm room and then he would sell the cars.

My first Porsche was a 1957 Porsche 356A coupe I bought after graduating from Texas A & M and going to work in Pennsylvania. I loved driving the car on the curvy mountainous roads in Latrobe State Park. I traded it in on a 914 in 1971 in Houston, Texas. The 914 was fun to drive, but I really wanted a 912.

I decided to buy a 912 because I could perform any repairs that might be needed on a Porsche 4-cylinder engine. The early 911 six-cylinder engines were notorious for swallowing the valves, resulting in $4,000 repair bills.

The 912’s had better front-to-back weight distribution and balance because of the lighter weight of the engine. This helped to make up for the lower horsepower compared to the 911’s. The superior balance of the 912 also reduced the oversteer on sharp cornering caused by the engine being outboard of the rear axle.

I chose the 1969 Porsche 912 because it was the final year of production, and I wanted the latest four-cylinder engine version.
The Bahama Yellow color was chosen by Porsche for many of the advertisements in 1969 because it made the sleek body design really stand out. The 1969 edition of the Porsche 911-912 in the Bahama Yellow color is still being used to show a cool vehicle in advertisements in 2025. See a couple of examples of these in the file.

I bought this particular Porsche 912 because I knew that Beto had taken meticulous care of it, and the car still looked and drove like new when I bought it. This Porsche 912 was unusual because the tan color upholstery lit up the interior with the Bahama Yellow exterior. Most of the 911’s and 912’s of that era had black interiors.

I participated in several rallies and auto cross events sponsored by the PCA Lone Star Region in the 1970’s. The car was my daily driver into the 1980’s.

During the 1970’s, I drove the Porsche 912 to Colorado and Yellowstone Park during the Memorial Day holiday over several consecutive years so I could enjoy driving it on curvy mountain roads.

In 1984, we decided that since my daughter was born in 1969, the car should be hers when she turned 16. The engine was sitting in our garage waiting for a new generator to be installed. When she was 15, we put the engine on a makeshift work bench consisting of an old door on two sawhorses. Following my instructions and using my tools, she removed the fan housing and heads. I took the heads to have a valve job performed and inspected the cylinders and jugs. She re-installed the heads, installed the new generator, re-installed the fan housing, etc. and had the car ready to start on the morning of her sixteenth birthday. The look on her face that morning when the engine roared to life was worth a million dollars.

She drove the car throughout high school and for several more years while earning a bachelor’s degree in architecture at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.

My daughter begrudgingly allowed me to take the car back in the mid 1990’s and I have driven it 500 to 1,500 miles per year since then to lunches, the golf course, family gatherings, and other events when the weather was nice.

Every moving part under the car – tie rod ends, ball joints, torsion bar bushings, engine / transaxle supports, clutch cable, parking brake cable, rubber boots on various cables, brake pads, etc. were replaced during 2017-2018. The car has been driven about 5,000 miles since then.

The car has always been garaged in Houston, Texas except for road trips during the summer. It has never been exposed to icy roads that were treated with salt.

MAINTENANCE HISTORY
During the 1970’s and early 1980’s, the car received regular maintenance by Norman Scott Porsche, Don McGill Porsche (now Porsche West Houston) and me. I did most of the oil changes, plugs, points, condenser, and valve adjustments. Anything more complicated than that was done by a professional garage, usually the dealer.

In 1969, the 912 came equipped with Solex carburetors that were augmented by an air pump and other troublesome pollution control devices. About 1975 or so, I swapped them out for the more reliable Weber carburetors to provide better stability and more power.

Almost everything that moves on the car has a replaceable bushing. At 50,000 miles, sometime in the early 1980’s, the disk brake pads, tie rod ends, ball joints and shocks were replaced. Replacing worn bushings and other suspension parts restored the driving experience back to a like new condition.

In 1988, the engine was removed and overhauled. The crankshaft was magnafluxed and determined to be in good condition. New 1,800 cc cylinders and pistons were installed, and the heads received a valve job. New Weber carburetors were also installed, and the clutch, pressure plate, and throw-out bearing were replaced.

At about 20 to 25 years old, many of the plastic and rubber parts began to get stiff, crack, and otherwise deteriorate. This included decorative items and functional items like clutch cable guides. These were routinely replaced with new parts as it became necessary to maintain appearance and functionality.

By replacing deteriorated parts and they wore, the car has been maintained for over 50 years. A major restoration was never necessary because of correctly performed preventative maintenance.

In 1992 or 1993 I took the car to a company named International Body and had them repaint the vehicle with Sherwin-Williams SunFire premium polyurethane clearcoat system. I also had the same premium clearcoat applied to the mag wheels. It really made them shine.

Substantial maintenance was performed by F2 Motorwerks in Houston in 2005. In addition to a tune up and oil change, the gear shift mechanism and disk brake calipers were overhauled, and any oil seepage repaired. F2’s upholstery specialist was able to find the exact same material in the same color and pattern used to upholster the seats and doors when the car was new. The worn materials were replaced, and the driver’s side seat frame was weld repaired to restore its original upright position.
In 2016, F2 performed another tune up and oil change. I did the oil changes and tune ups in my garage from 2006 to 2015. They also installed new transaxle mounts, new hood and trunk shock supports, a new reverse light switch on the gear shift mechanism and adjusted and lubricated the gear shift mechanism.

In 2018, I was informed about STR Motorsport, USA, Inc. The company operated a garage in northwest Houston that specialized in Porsche 912’s. I took the car to them, evaluated their facility, and assigned them multiple repair and upgrade tasks. These tasks included: remove the engine, install a new clutch kit consisting of throw-out bearing, clutch plate, and pressure place; install new exhaust gaskets; machine the pressure plate; install new front and rear crankshaft seals; install new bushings on the ends of the front and rear torsion bars; install new strut inserts and rear shock absorbers; disassemble and clean all the engine parts including the outside of engine case, cylinders, and heads; install new oil cooler; install new muffler; and numerous other minor repairs such as replacing 50 year old parts like all flexible fuel lines, removing and lubricating all cables, and servicing the air conditioner, repairing the original Blaupunkt radio, etc. Details are available in the accompanying dossier.

The owner of STR Motorsport was a manager at an international air freight shipping operation. He closed the shop when he was transferred to Salt Lake City in 2019, so I went back to F2 Motorwerks.

In 2020, F2 performed a tune up and oil change. The original 1969 serpentine air conditioning condenser was removed and replaced with a new technology Vintage SuperFlow parallel flow condenser and a 12” electric fan to enhance the condensing of the freon. New hoses and new electrical controls were installed. The evaporator was removed, cleaned and the expansion valve was replaced with a new R134a refrigerant valve. The system was flushed, and the refrigerant was changed from the original Freon 12 to R134a. Having worked my way through a couple years of engineering college designing air conditioning systems for commercial buildings, I re-designed the original A/C system and selected the parts for the upgraded system for my Porsche. For the first time in 50 years, the air conditioner cooled in traffic at low engine speeds like it was supposed to. I evaluated the A/C upgrade kits that were commercially available, and it appeared they all continued to use the 1960’s era serpentine condensers. This ignored the point that the basic flaw of the original A/C system was failure to condense the freon at low air flow during slow engine and vehicle speeds, especially in stop and go traffic.

The new fan installed on the air conditioning condenser required 6.5 amps. By replacing the incandescent headlights with new LED headlights, the load on the generator from the headlights was reduced from 12 amps to 4 amps. This kept the original Bosch generator operating within specifications when the air conditioner was operating at full blast with the headlights on. Changing the headlights eliminated the need to convert to an aftermarket alternator for electrical power.

While at F2 Metrowerks in 2020, the right rear axle, complete with new CV joints, was replaced.

Also in 2020, the clutch cable, including all the guides, connections, and boots was replaced. The windshield reservoir, motor, tubes, etc. were replaced to restore proper operating function of the windshield cleaning system.

In 2021, a new battery was installed and a new sound system consisting of a Kenwood Bluetooth amplifier with four Kenwood speakers was installed. This enabled music, or anything else from an iPhone to be played while driving.

Also in 2021, Einar’s Garage became the main repair shop used for maintaining the Porsche 912. F2 Motorwerks specializes in BMW’s, but has a lot of experience with Porsche. They were very good with anything Bosch. Einar specialized exclusively in Porsche. Einar has a technician with a lot of expertise in carbureted Porsche engines. After 40 plus years of concentrating on fuel injection, finding someone who could properly tune carburetors has become increasingly difficult. One of the technicians who had worked at STR Motorsport also was available through Einar’s Garage.

In 2021, Einar’s Garage installed a new fuel pump, tuned carburetors, changed oil & filter, adjusted valves, installed new A/C parts, installed new engine sound insulation, new front hood and trunk struts, inspected the suspension work performed by STR Motorsports, and sent the original Blaupunkt radio to a specialist for repairs.

New tires were installed in 2022.

In 2023, Einar’s Garage replaced the fan/ generator belt and the A/C Belt, changed the oil, spark plugs, and generally tuned up the engine, replaced the oil pressure sensor, adjusted the clutch pedal, and replaced the rubber boots on the accelerator cable, the shift rod, and the speedometer. They also disassembled the driver’s side door and installed a new door check stop, window felt, and window channels. They lubricated and adjusted the window regulator. This work was to make the window easier to roll up and down.

The repairs and upgrades to the Porsche 912 from 2018 to 2023 totaled about $19,000. The car was immaculate and looked and drove like it just came out of the showroom.

In February 2023, a fault in the 54-year-old wiring in the engine compartment caused a minor fire. Einar removed the engine and transmission, determined that no damage had been done to the housing/block, cylinders, pistons, heads or other critical components. Five new wiring harnesses were installed to replace all the wiring in the car. Memorial Collision bead blasted the engine bay, replaced the engine lid, grill, and the rear window and repainted the entire car with a premium polyurethane clearcoat system to match. With that new paint system, the car looked new and will stay that way for many years with very minimum maintenance.

Einar installed a new generator, new carburetors, new distributor, additional components and calibrated. F2’s automotive air conditioning specialists installed a new compressor, new Vintage SuperFlow condenser, new condenser fan, hoses, fitting, and electrical harnesses.

The car performs exceptionally well and is by far the most mechanically dialed, comfortable, and summer weather ready 912 we have experienced.

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