How I found Sandy

I'm very patient when it comes to buying things. My motto is "you can find anything you want at any price you want, as long as you are willing to wait long enough." On my quest for a project car, I spent months trolling auctions sites, placed hundreds of bids, and even came out as the high bidder a few times (but having not met the reserve, those sales were void). Then one day it happened. On May 24, 2013 I bid (repeatedly!) on a 2000 Porsche 996 Carrera Cabriolet that had no reserve. I found the car on Copart out of their Houston, TX facility. The car was inoperable with a salvage title from flood damage (hurricane Sandy to be exact) but otherwise looked to be in fair condition. It included both the rag top and the hard top. And with the last bid on the auction, "Sandy" was now my first car project!

Next I had to figure out how to get the car to Scottsdale. A friend at work suggested U-Ship, which is like a backwards eBay for logistics. After 4 days I got a bid from a reputable company for half of what Copart wanted with their shipping option. Timing was tight: I had to get the car off of Copart's lot before they started to charge storage fees, and I wanted to make sure the car arrived in Scottsdale before I left for an overseas work trip that was scheduled two weeks later.

In conclusion (really? This is the START!), I'm doing everything "wrong" with this project: I bought a car sight-unseen, at an auction, on the internet, with a salvage title, that doesn't run... and to top it off, I paid for it all with a credit card!

A Bit of Background

I'm a true believer that the best way to learn is by doing... and that sort of thinking is exactly what landed me in this mess! For a while I have been a proponent of electric powered vehicles, and not for the usual ecological ideals, but because, from an engineering standpoint, it's the way of the future. Very simple electronic sensors, controls, and actuators are able to perform actions that we as humans cannot begin to perform on our own. For a simple example, manual transmissions may be fun for die-hard car buffs, but in the long run a computer can be faster, more accurate, more repeatable, and fundamentally better performing than a human ever will be at such a mundane task. Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) is present in almost every vehicle on the road today. Anti-lock brakes (ABS) have been required on new vehicles in the EU since 2007. In my opinion, eventually the burning of hydrocarbons in an engine will probably be replaced by the silent and efficient interactions of electromagnetic fields in a motor.

So what does any of that have to do with a Porsche 996? Well, as much as I would like to try my hand at an electric vehicle conversion, I don't think the time is quite right, at least for me. Whatever car I rebuild, I want it to be "fun" at the end... think a 0-60 mph time of around 5 seconds, with good handling, while practical enough to be used as a commuter car (a range of >25 miles). After all, if you rebuild a junker car, at the end of the project you would still be left with a junker, which isn't quite as motivating as something more fun to start with! I spent a bit of free time over the course of a few months to analyze what it would really take, both technically and financially, to do a conversion, and most of the problems I encountered were related to batteries. Getting the range with a battery pack is quite easy with today's (2013) technology, but having enough instantaneous power from the pack to deliver 200-300 HP requires a lot more batteries... unless you don't mind getting a new pack every year. Which brings me to the main problem: a properly sized pack would cost upwards of $20k, which is about what I had in mind for the whole project. This is a very simplified version of the study, but the takeaway message is the same: I have a bit of a wait until batteries make the SWaP-C (size, weight and power - and cost) point for me.

Some of the electric vehicle calculations

So for now, it looks like gas is the way to go unless you're Tesla (or can afford one!), so why not learn what I can about current vehicles and go from there! Since my formal background is in electrical engineering, I figured a good place to start would be a car with a ruined electrical system, but hopefully okay mechanics. While I can machine, CNC, and make puddles with a welder, I know very little about engine internals or the like. That's all about to change!