Our story so far:
In 2022, I signed up with Moment Motors to get in their queue for an EV conversion.
I mentioned last month that the original project car for this turned out to be a rare(ish) 1988 Porsche 911 Cabrio that I did not want to devalue; instead, I restored her back to factory spec (photos here).
The car I ended up finding for this project was a 1987 Carrera with nearly 300,000 miles and a lot whole of factors that argued against a similar restoration: replacement motor, period incorrect side view mirrors, wrong seats, 90’s steering wheel, etc. It had been in an accident to its right front end 20 years ago but was repaired + repainted (more on this below). Both doors were replaced post-accident. Kind of a mess…
It took a year for my place in the queue to come up. In August 2023, I shipped the 1987 911 coupe to Texas for its EV heart transplant. It’s been a while since I last discussed where we are with the project, so I thought I would share some updates as to our progress.
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It’s been mostly good news, with a few surprises thrown
But it was an interesting project car, with a few rare options. The color is lovely and unusual “Lagoon Green Metallic” which reads as a light blue to me; the paint was mostly clean; it has rear-wiper and a sunroof delete. It made sense to restore the M491 Cabrio back to stock, as it was still worth more than the purchase price plus the costs of repair. On a “Frankencar” like this, that made no financial sense.
The good news: The little striped monster arrived in Texas in good shape, with no issues from transport. I had dropped an Apple Airtag in the glovebox to track it across country. Soon after arrival, the Motor and transmission were removed without a hitch. Then the HVAC system went in, as did a retro period-correct Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 DAB head unit (Bluetooth no screen!). I’ll eventually replace the old speakers.
The surprise was that a known rust spot — the area around the 12-volt battery (nestled against the driver’s side front fender) — was much worse than thought. It had rusted so badly that it was affecting the structural integrity of the front trunk where the new EV batteries go — nearly 200 pounds, they need good support. You can see the before and after photos below. $9k later, it’s as good as new.
In late December, the EV motor arrived. When we began this project back in May 2022, the state-of-the-art was the Fellten EV Series 1 motor. At 350hp, it was a nice bump up from the car’s original stock 210 hp flat 6.
Alas, the Series I ended its run, and so we were delayed in getting the Series II Fellten kit (see photo below). That delay was worthwhile as the horsepower is now 440 — more than double the original stock. That is a helluva a lot of go for a 2500 lb car. For comparison, a 2012 Audi R8 has 420 horsepower and weighs ~1000 pounds more. The 0-60 times are similar, but I suspect the little 911 will feel faster.
I’ll update again once the motor goes in; Photos of the progress are below:
Previously:
Update: Electrifying A Classic 911 (May 21, 2023)
1988 M491 Porsche 911 Cabrio (January 21, 2024)
Fellten Seriues II motor and components
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