Tell us about your 912 exhaust and heating system restoration.  Let's hear  about both the USA and the European heating systems, stock versus aftermarket mufflers, sticking air boxes,  broken cables, Wabasto heaters, you name it.  Are there any reliable sources of stainless steel system components out there?

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Defroster Outlets:

912E Heat Exchangers:

Q: From Stan Wilder; Is there a source for new OEM or Aftermarket heat exchangers for 1976 912e? If so who and about what is their price.

From: Dave L; Bursch advertise replacement aftermarket stuff for 912E's in the major catalogues- but they don't look the same as OE at all. (Perhaps I don't remember correctly). Try all the best salvage yards- I got a spare set for much less than the money everyone keeps talking and they were the correct OE in v. good shape- no rust. You can have a header tube fabricated (without the heat exchange jacket for a lot less than the quotes for OE too, I think- I wanna say it was Dave Darling of 914 fame selling a set, but again perhaps I'm off)...Anyway- Good luck! And if you're feeling silly rich, I'll sell mine...well, maybe not! R/Dave L.

A: From Vince; Believe it or not there is a left one available for $1475 (yikes!) I have seen a few complete engines sell (from 912E to 6cyl conversions) that would include both exchangers in that same price range (you get a spare engine). The cost effective solution for some would be re-fabricating your originals.

Mufflers:

From: Jack D. Griffin; Rick, I have several 356's with "sport mufflers", which look really cool with the two chrome pipes exiting out the back, along with a really good sound. I have one Speedster and a 912 each with a Bursch muffler. The Bursch sounds pretty good, but I would be interested in a look like a 356 "sport muffler", with the twin pipes. Any ideas?
Many thanks! Jack Griffin

From: Dave A;  My heating system restoration consisted of taking the heater tubes and boxes off and putting them in a box along with all the other non-essentials from my car. I run J tubes and header with stinger on my race car.
I have thought about fixing them up, and would probably have them acid dipped and painted ( powder coated? ). Too much trouble now though. Maybe if I ever decide to convert back to street. Dave A

From: Christophe Cuvelier;  Hello, I still have the original exhaust system on my 69 912 with european heat exchangers. Heat exchangers are partly rusted and I'll have to change it. I'd like to find stainless steel, but I don't know where to find it at a good price. I'm searching for 912 sounds with different exhausts, if you have something like that you can send it to me at : chrcuvelier@nordnet.fr
Tchao

From: Peter Baldauf; I drove two Connecticut winters in my 912 without heaterboxes, not advisable. So I bought US boxes, "heat" was not the most accurate description of the final product. It was more another way of routing exhaust fumes directly into the cockpit. Then, after a restoration and selective sandblasting, it became a quick way to get sand directly into your eyes. Now that I save the car for sunny days and autocrosses I have eliminated them once again, replaced with Bursch J-pipes. I have found that the engine runs cooler without the heater boxes as well as a minor weight reduction. For the price of new boxes, the heat generated just doesn't justify it. Brgds, Peter Baldauf Heart 'O' Dixie Region

From: Jason Terada;  I replaced the stock, 32-year old muffler/tailpipe assembly on my 912 last year. The replacement muffler is made by Dansk, in Denmark, from aluminized steel and appears nearly identical to the original unit. The quality of this muffler is excellent, all dimensions are accurate, and it bolted up with no problem. The price was around $320 from Performance Products, which I thought was fair. The tailpipe and 2-into-1 adapter, however, were another $150, which seemed a bit high. These two parts, and clamps, were made by Bursch. The dimensions are less accurate, and the materials are not as good. However, the price for an OEM replacement from Stoddard was significantly higher. The chrome tailpipe tip was another 40 bucks and is Porsche OEM. There are small detail differences between the original tip and the replacement: the bead on the original was square, whereas the replacement has a round bead. From my experience, it appears to be nearly impossible to remove the tip from an old tailpipe in one piece without ruining it. Overall, I've been happy with the replacement setup. It sounds and looks original, which is about all you can ask. Since mine is a Southern California car, and has not been driven in the wet since I've owned it, the heater boxes have stayed in good shape and everything works as well as the good people at Porsche intended. I replaced the disintegrating foam hoses in the engine compartment that go from the heater boxes to the rear window defroster nozzles with paper covered foil hoses from a VW shop.

From: Alexander Wachter;  As the original exhaust system two years ago I was at the end, I ordered from Performance products in Van Nuys, California a Sebring exhaust system what can coexistence with the factory heating system. Price was around 100 dollars. The noise is now a little bit heavier, prospect was a better performance but I dont believe in it really- Negative is the surface of exhaust - after a while it was   complete rusty - any paint (f.e. pure aluminium spray) did not stay there.   The factory heating system worked better after replacing both big inner tubes - Now, the cord to the heating enabler is not working exact - I dont care so much in that because I drive the car only on good condition and not in winter (salt) time. Regards from Germany - Alex

From: Jeff Halstensgaard;  My car has been recently purchased, but one of the most important things to me was a proper working heater system, as my previous car didnt have one at all and I just HATE driving around shaking due to cold weather. I have this in the works. I replaced the hoses, lubed the cables and pivot points. I went to the electronics store by my house and found some 12 volt fans which I'm going to hook up to use as blowers. I plan on mounting these in between the heat exchanger and where it enters the body of the car, I will cut the large hose in half and remove about an inch worth to acomodate the fan, then I will use hi-temp silicone on both sides to seal it, and possibly get a small piece of angle iron to anchor the fan and keep it from flopping around. and finally I will attach a switch up front somewhere where I dont have to drill or cut any holes in the car, possibly under my seat. has anyone tried this before? seems simple enough to me. My stock heater works decently, but I want it to be flaming hot in there.. :o) Jeff Halstensgaard 1967 912

From: Peter Sommer;  Hi, Rick !   My experience concerning the 912 heating system/heat exchangers is, that it basically makes no difference between U.S. and European models in terms of "heating power". A major difference is the price though! Everyone considering a change should think twice about shivering for twice as much money in the future. Actually I have been looking around for a stainless steel exhaust and found the one produced by the parts specialist K&W in Germany to be very nice. It can be ordered in original configuration or with two straight pipes sticking out under the rear license plate panel,a la 911/912 racer. For more information contact K&W tel.: 0049 2304 74911 As soon as I will switch I will let everyone interested know about my experiences. Peter

From: Don Barlow Binghamton;   I live in New York State and it gets pretty cold here. I use to drive the car in the winter. I pretty much solved the heat problem , but not the salty roads problem. At the time back in the '80's I purchased an external cooler. The plumbing mounted where the old 1968 912 cooler went inside the engine shroud. Than you would route hoses out to an external cooler and canister oil filter I installed.
I got this brainstorm of mounting the cooler under the front hood. This required routing oil hoses from the back of the car through the old heat tubes in the rockers , up to the front of the car. I checked with an expert on 356/912 Porsche engines on the West Coast if the 912 oil pump was capable of pumping the extra amount of oil. I was given the go ahead.
Believe it or not I had never been close enough to a 911 with oil cooler to see how the factory does it with steel plumbing.  Binghamton New York is not a Mecca of Porsches so consequently there are not a lot of examples to look at.
After mounting the cooler in the front of the car I got the idea that during the cold months of winter why not transfer the heated air coming out of the cooler into the drivers compartment of the car.
It is not that zany an idea as most water cooled cars use a separate heater core from the radiator to transfer heat into the interior. Oil does not have as much thermal transfer as water but I always seemed
to get enough heat for "My girlfriend" and I.
To push the heat into the compartment I mated the oil cooler to the fan only assembly of one of those gas fired heaters I had sitting around.  I was able to mount the exhisting vent control directly through the "Fire Wall" of the 912 which gave me on/off and directional control of the heat. I also pushed some of the air through to the front window to aid in defrosting.
I have since seen a variation of this system applied to air cooled VW's in JC Whitney.
The reason I didn't go with the stock heater set up is that when I bought my car all of it was removed and was very rusty. ANd having already experienced the meager heat the stock heater system produced on my '66 Beetle. I didn't feel it was worth replacing everything.
The only major problem I encountered was I should have used Neoprene, braided or steel coolant lines not... rubber which the oil, can and will break down .
I do not know if these external replacement coolers are still available. -Don Barlow

From: Robert Burn;  This may sound a bit wierd, but I have done nothing to the heating and exhaust systems in 31 years. Perhaps that is because the car has never seen ice, show, or salt. Is there anyone out there with a 31 year old muffler? Most of the parts places, like Performance Products, do not seem to stock an original 912 muffler with a single exhaust exit on the left rear corner. I hope that I don't ever need one...Bob Burn

From: B524J;  This is what I'd like to know.......where can I find some heat exchangers for a 912e ?

From: Greg Bryan;   Fortunately my 912 has always been in California, so the original heater boxes (US style) are in pretty good shape. I welded up some cracks, etc., a few years ago, but they are effective when the temperatures plunge into the low 60s here in LA : ) On the other hand, I removed a Webasto heater unit from a wrecked 911 many years ago, but I never felt the need to install it. I removed the wiring harness, the brackets and everything involved with the heater unit. If I remember right, I got a set of installation instructions from the local VW/Porsche dealer at the time (yes, I've had the heater in a box since before there were Porsche/Audi dealers). This heater unit should go to a good home in a geographic area where one would actually use it. What I really need is an Air Condition unit - I might actually drive my car more often if I wasn't baked every time I got into it. Anybody out there want to trade?

From: Randy Cohen;  The current exhaust is an Ansa 4 pipe with stock heat exchagers. They don't put out much so I added a marine battery and 2 electric heaters, one for my feet and one for the windshield. The Ansa was a lot heavier than the Bursch,  and probably more restrictive, but a local shop had it for $50! Randy Cohen last '69 targa

From: ASU Jerry;  AAfter many years of extractor exhaust systems, mainly Bursch I'm back to a stock setup. The sound is fine, the construction is better, and the looks are original. Heating system ????? Not very effective, too complicated, needs blower, and finally, not necessary here in Phoenix. Really enjoy this site and the info exchange. I'll be trying that RedLine tranny fluid next weekend.

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