The 911 EV is complete!

Our story so far:

Stuck at home by the pandemic, it was the perfect time to revisit a pastime of my youth – buying cheap cars and turning them into something fun and useful. Only this time, I have life experience with what works and what doesn’t, along with a slightly more generous budget.

All of these were rebooted about a decade ago; We are customizing a Rubicon title for the 2013 flood rescue; it reminded me how much fun it was to make these little projects. After paying a professional to have all three electrical wiring/fuse boxes replaced, along with the rusted brake calipers and emergency brake (all at $20,000), I set about installing shocks, a door fuel filler, some tie rod mounts. grips, removing the rear seat + replacing it with a rubber bumper pad, added an off-road antenna and a set of heavy-duty taillight guards. It was a fun project and I’m still driving that little orange beast.

Then came the pandemic, which led to the R8 project: an awesome Audi R8 that was bastardized with aftermarket orange stripes and faux carbon fiber both inside and out. It wasn’t that difficult to get this racer back to factory spec. With the New York DMV closed, I spent the first 3 months of the roadblocks driving it hard, insured and inspected, but no plates or registration.

Next: 1978 Toyota FJ40: Jay and I completely rebuilt a pair in Colombia (his was a red hood) and imported each to the States. He just beat Covid; I had the pleasure of going through customs in Miami in 2022 (as much of a pain in the ass as you’d guess; I felt it would have been easier to smuggle cocaine than in a 50-year-old truck).

Then came the 1988 911 Cabrio, an M491 edition. The previous owner had competed it, leaving it looking sad and tired. But underneath that extra hardware was a relatively rare M491 Cabrio, and he bought it cheap enough that it was worth restoring to stock. Out came the roll bar, wiring and a lot of excess wiring, and then back to the OEM suspension and steering. The previous owner increased the displacement of the engine from 3.2 to 3.4 liters, which I did not change.

I thought I was done with renos when this unusual 1987 Carrera Coupe came along:

Lagoon Green Metallic (a rare color) in “slicktop” (Factory sunroof deletion) guise. And rear wiper! It had been hit on the right front in 2003 (expect rust!), the TMU was unknown, but the odometer read 276,049 miles. Lots of ‘wrong’ parts on it: European spec rear bumpers, Turbo style front spoiler, dual exhaust, wing mirrors, both doors were previously refinished so the color is slightly faded. At least 16-inch Fuchs alloy wheels are period correct.

The paint, rest of the sheetmetal and interior were in surprisingly good condition for the mileage. I couldn’t imagine anyone putting up the money to bring it back to original specs, so I decided to do something different with it. I blended and corrected the color as best I could, added Carrera lettering on the sides and a pair of stripes in the middle.

I made my advance to get in line for Moment Motors to turn it into an electric vehicle. After almost a year, the car left for Austin, Texas; a year later – and after a lot of time, effort, work and money – this project is now complete* and sitting comfortably in my garage. She arrived in the middle of those Hurricane Debby storms and it wasn’t until yesterday that I was able to aggressively wake her up.

I upgraded the suspension to tighten up the drivetrain and handle the 300 pound increase in weight and ~50/50 weight distribution. The result is a car that handles well, with surprisingly precise and lively steering. (Slight understeer if you press the travel pedal mid-turn). Overall, the handling is impressive. The 1987 brakes set to light regeneration could use an upgrade to a set of 90s discs and calipers. It’s surprisingly quick – 400hp on a 2800lb 911 has smooth acceleration that just keeps pulling.

Replacement indicators that are adapted for EV use but look exactly like the original 911; The software manages the power in two modes: “Chill” at around 300HP; and sport which is closer to 400HP. Full driving gives you a range of 100 to 150 miles. In chill mode, you can get 50% more range.

The hardware includes a floor-mounted shifter, but instead of the standard G50 5-speed it’s Park, Drive, Neutral and Reverse.

The Fellten motor kit came with a set of cooling equipment, but the guys at Moment Motors thought it would need a second one and installed that as well. The AC isn’t bad, but when it’s 90 out, there’s only so much this aftermarket kit can handle.

Cosmetically the car looks great but; the weak point is the interior; the light beige seats, carpets and doors look disgusting. I really like the idea of ​​retro-dating the interior with a 1970s tartan check on the seat center panels, the upper half of the doors and the dash center line. A combination of blue, green and black. Against the exterior Lagoon Green Metallic and white stripes, this might look pretty bland.

I’ll add more color in a few months when I get more miles under my belt. If you want to follow the development of this project, see the updates below…

Previous:

Update 3: EV conversion to 90% (April 21, 2024)

Update 2: Porsche 911 EV Conversion (February 4, 2024)

Update: Electrifying A Classic 911 (May 21, 2023)

Electrifying Classic Cars (September 4, 2022)

1983 Porsche 911SC Coupe – EV? (September 16, 2022)

1988 M491 Porsche 911 Convertible (January 21, 2024)

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* Also maybe not completely complete; Of all the changes that have been made to the car, the brakes are now the weakest link. I’m going to look, I’m looking at replacing them with bigger discs and stronger calipers from a 1990s era 911.

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