This car was passed down to me by my dad, who passed away about 5 years ago. These photos were taken this May of my fiancé and I. I also sat in this car as a baby and have the original
porsche
booster
seats. I drove this car to pick up my now future wife for our first date. It has a lot of meaning to me sadly during our move the car was residing at my moms house and had been moved in to her non climate controlled garage after I had left. Well after coming home two months later the entire interior was full of black mold, there is moisture in every electronic, we changed some fuses and check the engine and the engine and body are kind of the only two good things right now. I was told repairs may start at 7k and up. I dont know what to think. Any help would be wonderful. I will get the paper work in a few days and post it again with more specifics. I hate to say it but it looks like a barn find now. I want to restore it and maybe even give it a little upgrade but I really dont know where to begin. Thanks for your help in advance.
Hi Ian - welcome to Planet-9. Might I suggest that you post the same thing in the
New Member Introductions
section. If anyone yells about it being a duplicate - suggest they contact me to complain.
Once it's up, I'll add a reference link to this thread, and lock the one in the new members section.
Big project. Some questions:
- Where do you live? There may be resources in your area that will make the job easier or less costly (junkyards specializing in Porsches..)
- Do you have a good spot to work on the car or keep it while you work on it? This won't be a weekend job. And you need well-lighted, perhaps heated or air-conditioned, with electricity, secure space to work on it.
- What sort of tools do you have available to you?
- What special skills do you have that you can either apply to the work on the car, or trade for skilled/expert work on it by others?
- Are you comfortable working in a respirator? You do want to do that if you're going to be working around mold.
- Has anyone put electricity to it since it got moldy? If not - DON'T - until the electronics has all been gone through.
- Is there ancient fuel in the tank? Get it out of there ASAP.. it can gum up and create costly fuel-system issues.
If you have a place to work on it - and the place fits the requirements outlined above - I'd move it there ASAP. Then look for a dehumidifier - and get that in the space with the car and get it running. Drying out the mold will make it stop spreading. Leave it running around the clock. Moisture is your enemy on this project.
MUCH of it can be saved. We'd need to see some photos of the current state of the car, but mold while unattractive and possibly dangerous isn't necessarily the death knell of a car. Mold can be removed, and can be removed from electronics if done right. Do you know how long the mold has been visiting? Obviously stopping it is the important first thing to do. Remediation is the next thing. A few Google searches on "mold remediation" "mold and electronics" (I just did and there's a wealth of info - some questionable - some good..)
Once the mold has been stopped (remove moisture with the dehumidifier and then get a small portable HEPA filter to keep the air clean) - disassembly of the car, probably down to almost bare metal is going to be the way to really fix it. Certainly, all the electronics in the dash need to come out, and the dash itself probably should come out since that's the only way to remove the HVAC box, which will have to be removed and split to really clean it (and you can fix the deteriorating foam in it at the same time.) The engine compartment and transmission probably can be treated with a wash with diluted vinegar, then some degreaser, and then some more vinegar. If you can find one - dry ice blasting is amazing in its ability to remove dirt (and mold) from almost any surface without damaging the surface.
All fluids will need to be changed (and that would be true even if there hadn't been mold), and probably flushed (drained, filled once, run, then drained and filled again.) Inside of headlights and plastic surfaces that have been attacked by mold may need to be replaced - but not with new. You want to find a good wreck at a junkyard, or if you can afford it and have space, buy one - that you can use as a parts donor for the car. I'm sure the shop that quoted you $7,000 was talking about NEW parts. That's silly on an old car if you can find good useable parts for a tiny fraction of the cost. That should be doable on a 986 since they made a BUNCH of them, and they really haven't become super collectible - so they are available reasonably in junkyards and online - cars where the engine blew up - if not in great shape - maybe $2-3,000 (less if there is any body damage) - you strip out the parts you need (wiring, modules, electronics in general, interior) and then sell off the carcass for $2,000 when you split it up and sell the parts piecemeal.
This should be a very interesting story. Be great if you could document it "This Old Boxster" style - and doing that will undoubtedly get you help from other Porsche nuts that hang out here (you won't find a better group of people, or more generous people with both stuff and knowledge than you will find on Planet-9.)
Welcome again!
The engine and the engine and body are kind of the only two good things right now.
If I had to choose two, those are the two I'm picking! Congratulations, sorry about your dad. Those sport classic wheels are sweet. It's not clear to me what repairs they quoted you 7k for. If most of the "barn find" status is due to a ruined interior that can be remedied in many different ways. A stock clean 986 is a nice ride, I've seen them fawned over in Panorama, in fact some guy on the staff has one and it's not as clean as the one you're posing with. Good luck, I owned one the same exact year and did a lot of things to it. If you happen to live near me I'd take a ride to you and help you if I can.
She is a beauty, you got lucky and congrats!!! Oh, your fiancé, too
....I think this forum is a perfect place to get more info / help as I have (I once spent 2 hours with a member, who Don recommended, and kindly offered to help me in his garage)
Just to add a small item:
1. Consider getting an Ozone Generator - not expensive and you can also use it around the house - I actually have
this one
and used it to get rid of the mold odor in our Subaru (plus this sanitized but use it with caution) and Boxster (for that oily, old plastic-melting like odor you get)
This will be a great project for you provided that you have enough space / tools, most importantly TIME - I'd imagine as you need to balance which "she" takes the priority, perhaps
Putting a positive spin on the whole thing, this is a great gift from your father (RIP), and a great opportunity for you to work on the car, get to know the car inside-and-out, put your first-born on the seat again as you have, maintain and hand it down again to your son / daugher in the future (hopefully without any mold, etc.).
This is your destiny / fate, whatever you want to call it ;-)
Good luck and keep us posted!!!
