Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 Restoration
by Mads – March 5, 2020
People sometimes ask how deep I actually go into restoring cars. Not just cleaning them up or improving a few details, but really taking them apart and bringing them back.
This one was somewhere in between.
A 1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0. A fairly rare model, built in small numbers, and in this case originally delivered in late 1975. It later ended up in Japan, where it was first registered in 1982.
I bought the car in 2015 from a friend of the family. It wasn’t a broken project, just a slightly neglected driver. Everything was there, everything worked, but it had clearly seen better days.
And that was enough for me.
A solid base, just tired
The paint had faded over time, the interior showed wear, and there were small traces of use everywhere you looked. Nothing dramatic, just the kind of condition where you know the car hasn’t been touched in a long time.
Technically, it was still a good driving car.
But the goal was clear from the beginning: bring it back to a condition where it feels right again. Not over-restored, just properly sorted.
So I started disassembling it. Two days for the full strip-down. By that point I already had some routine. The engine came out in about 45 minutes. That part gets easier once you’ve done it a few times.
After that, the car went straight to paint. A few minor dents were repaired along the way, nothing structural, just age showing.
Putting it back together
Reassembly always starts the same way for me. Engine and gearbox first, then everything around it.
The gearbox was fully rebuilt, along with new bushings in the shifting mechanism. The engine was checked, adjusted, and re-sealed. New hoses, injectors, basic maintenance done properly.
I also replaced all oil lines and used Swepco fluids again, both engine and transmission oil. The gearbox oil always goes in before everything is fully installed, just makes life easier.
From there, I started working my way around the car. Rear first – decklid, lights, bumper, rear valance – then the front. Headlights, bumper, valance. Slowly, it starts looking like a car again instead of parts on a floor.
I didn’t reinstall the fog lights. The car had them originally, but visually I preferred it without them, so they stayed off.
Interior and headliner work
The headliner was one of those jobs I already knew I had to do again, and still didn’t look forward to it. It’s time-consuming, repetitive work, and not exactly the most enjoyable part of a project like this.
Same approach as before: binder clips, Elmers Cement Glue, slow and careful adjustment until it sits right. It worked out well again, even though I still wouldn’t call it my favourite task.
The original insulation was still in good condition, so I reused it. The carpet set was new, sourced from Lakewell in Germany, and installed with 3M Super 77 adhesive.
The seats, door cards, rear panels and parcel shelf were reupholstered by a shop in Berlin. They also handled the original steering wheel restoration. The result was clean and consistent with the rest of the car, nothing overdone.
Windows, brakes and the smaller jobs
A lot of the time in projects like this goes into the smaller steps.
While the car was at paint, I polished all the window frames using 3M aluminium polish. They came out very clean, and I kept the bright finish instead of going black, which some cars had later on.
The windows went back in with help from friends. Again, I stuck with original Porsche seals. After trying aftermarket versions in the past, I’ve learned they usually aren’t worth it.
I also replaced the battery with an Optima unit, refreshed the brakes with new discs and pads, and later on replaced dampers front and rear when the car was back on the road.
Wheels and final setup
The Fuchs wheels were in good condition, so I restored them myself. Paint removed, re-anodised, and the centres finished in black.
Tyres were Toyo R888R, 205/50/15 in the front on 7-inch wheels and 225/50/15 in the rear on 8-inch wheels.
It changed the character of the car noticeably, even though nothing about it was extreme.
A finished driver again
In the end, this wasn’t a full nut-and-bolt restoration in the strict sense. It was more about bringing a good base car back into proper condition, cleaning up what time had done to it, and sorting out the details that mattered to me.
I drove it afterwards for a while, enjoyed it as intended, and eventually moved it on to make space for other projects.
But like most of these cars, it stayed in memory more than in the garage.
