So much for just changing bushes!

I keep saying this but really my suspension project is so much more than a few bits of new rubber.  There are so many ‘while you’re in there’ extras going on I am not sure if I should have just turned this into a roller and had it re painted first.

The idea of cleaning the wheel wells and underbody, doing a few spot repairs and spraying with aerosol top coat has gone out the window.  I have been convinced through multiple discussions that the only way to paint is 2 part – this means getting a compressor and gun.  The result will be worth it because I will then have the right tools to do the engine bay and valance panels.  I can also do 2 part primer so the result should be much better.  I may even finish my wheels in 2 part rather than VHT Wheel Paint although I am definitely not starting that until I get this car on the road again.

Back to topic, I started removing all the bits and pieces from the front wheel wells which involved removing the front valance (which I wasn’t expecting).  I am talking mainly about the washer reservoir which needed cleaning out really badly.  Whatever was in there had died and not gone to heaven!  With the valance removed I could see a previous rust repair that seemed OK but not really cleaned up as much as I liked.  There was also a bit of surface rust going on that I can’t get to without removing the guard.  I haven’t removed the guard yet but it’s gonna happen.  I’ll then get the wire brush in everywhere, coat with POR15 and the problem should be sorted.

The driver side story is a bit different.  Although more costly it’s not so scary because the tub is fine.  No rust thank goodness.  The guard itself is a bit dodgey with enough rust behind the panel to warrant a replacement.  I am definitely not tackling this project at the moment so I will leave the guard on and address it later.  When I get around to doing an exterior respray this will form part of the ‘to do’ list.  Hopefully I can get another couple of years out of it although some bubbles are appearing under the headlight.

When I do finally get to an exterior respray I plan to strip myself (ie. windows, most of the interior, trim and bolt on’s like light housings, etc) and get to a pro to finish.  I will tackle the driver guard rust then plus I also suspect there will be some work required around the door sills.  I’m not scared of this though becuase nothing at this stage looks too bad.

Here are some pics – the rust you can see on the LHS part of the tub looks worse than it really is.  A grind and proper treatment should sort it out.  By time it’s coated in POR15 and new rubberised undercoat applied it should be as good as new.  I am not trying to hide repairs (otherwise I wouldn’t add this post!) but I am trying to finish it off so it looks new and repairs are not visible.

Heater Guide Tubes

Nothing too exciting but changed ove r the heater guide tubes tonight.  The ends were corroded which resulted in the right side heater sticking on occasions – not very convenient in summer!

Used the good ol’ PB Blaster again to remove the ends in the left side.  Flapper boxes still work OK but showing signs of corrosion so will replace at some point.  Might do this when the engine is out, got way too much other stuff that is higher on the priority list.

First Engine Bits Arrived

Cams and Pistons are here.  Oh yeah!!

Check out the post Project – 3.2SS – Parts Collection

Project – 3.2SS – Parts Collection

UPDATE – I am breaking this topic into 3 parts; Parts Collection, The Build, In the Car.  I figure there’ll be too much content for one post.  After all this car is nearly all about the engine!!

OK – maybe I am jumping the gun as this is not going to happen for approx 12 months from now.

The reason for the delay is twofold – both very sensible reasons.  Firstly I want to accumulate parts so that I don’t go into financial shock.  I figure buying parts bit by bit will ease the pain…  Secondly, from a mechanical point of view I want the rest of the car to be right first.  This means it needs to brake like new (it’s already good but want to be sure as I’ve only owned it for less than one of it’s 27 years) and handle well enough for the added HP.

The plan is to do the following:

1. 98mm pistons and cylinders. Pistons at 10.5:1
2. PMO 46mm carbs – love that sound and will make this engine breath
3. DC60 cams.  A wild cam that is good for street and track.  I’ve read it has an early 911 feel about it – perfect.
4. ARP rod bolts – don’t need no busted bottom end
5. Ported to get more flow – more power
6. Twin plug – $$$ but needs it so that higher compression doesn’t kill the new config.  Can’t take the risk of detonation plus better timing means more HP
7. MSD Ignition with rev limit set at 7300.  could push more but I am not going to risk it.
8. SSI’s – what else!
9. Dansk 2 in 2 out
10. 270 FWHP – standard is 201.  Remember this car is less than 1200kg’s.

I got some great advice from the forums at www.pelicanparts.com.  I virtually live on this site.  If I didn’t I would be calling my mechanic way too often and he would hate me – not a good idea!

To check out the thread go here.

I will keep you posted as I accumulate bits and pieces.

In the meantime I’ll keep watching this to keep me motivated (yes I know it’s a 2.7):

June 9th 2010

First of the goodies arrived – new cams and pistons!!!  I bought these new from a guy in North Carolina, USA.  They only took 3 days to get here which was good for my impatient nature.

Cams are DC60 profile ground by Dougherty Cams in USA.  I had a question about them and emailed JD himself who was more than happy to help out.  From what I read DC60’s are a fun cam in that they really come alive midway through the rev range.  Withth the right rods they can produce power right up to 8000 but I am going to hold them back at 7300.  Should still get 270FWHP which should make my car feel like a motorbike.  I am very excited about these in particular.

Pistons are also top shelf.  These are JE 98mm 10.5:1.  Lots of compression to mate perfectly with the DC60’s.

Here are the pics.

Project – Rear Lens

This is something I did a while ago but in an effort to record all refurb projects on this car here it is.

What prompted me to do this one was the fact I could see the white paint coming off behind the yellow lense.  I also knew I’d be removing this for my Wheel Well project so I thought I may as well get it done.

It was a pretty straight forward job:

1. Remove light
2. Strip bulbs, wiring, connectors
3. Clean housing – HCL acid bath!!
4. Rinse and repair.  There was some minor cracks that KH Metal Bond fixed, that stuff sets like metal….
5. Paint housing with VHT Flameproof Satin Silver then 2 coats VHT High Temp Satin Clear.  Don’t really need Flameproof but I had some anyway
6. Paint inside with VHT Engine Gloss White and VHT Plate
7. Tidy up wiring and re-insulate.
8. Install

911 snobs may not like the VHT Satin Silver but it is effective and beats paying out several hundred for new housings.  I try to be as ‘correct’ as possible but will allow some level of workaround just to be reasonable about cost of doing this.  I ask myself if it hurts the value of the car and in this case the answer was ‘Nein’.

Here are the pics.  You can see that this was pretty shabby to start with but I was happy with the results.

Project – Front Suspension – Updated 8th June 2010

UPDATED 8th JUNE 2010

Got nearly the whole front end out and disassembled.  Cutting out the ball joints was much easier with the strut out, felt more like a surgeon than a butcher.  Here are some pics of the progress.  You can see that there is a fair bit to clean up so I am looking forward to the ‘after’ pics so I can show off all the hours this is going to take.

Note the front torsion bars – I have pronounced them ‘dead’ and will be using the opportunity to up the stiffness a notch, likely to get a pair of 21s  – good for street but a bit stiffer than OEM.

———————————————————

This is going to be a long post and may take me several weeks to complete!

The objective here is to replace all bushes and clean/renew everything under the front of the car.  This includes refinishing struts, calipers and hard brake lines plus replacing hoses, rusty brackets.  Major components such as A arms and cross member will be blasted and refinished.  Big job…

First things first I have to dismantle the suspension and will post pics in the next few days as to where I am with it at the moment.  I have unbolted most of the major components except the struts – can’t do this until brakes are disconnected of course.  All went relatively smoothly except for the goddam tie rod ends.  RH side dropped straight out but the LH was a major b!tch.  I ended up with a 3 claw puller but had to destroy the boot to get enough purchase on it.  Anyway – a new end is not that much of a concern in the scheme of things.

Project – Rear Suspension

I am tacking this project at the same time as the front.  It seems like the natural thing to do, but now I have nearly the whole underside of my car on the ground.  Looks like a skeleton lying there!!

This project will include:

1. New sway bar bushes
2. New trailing arm bushes
3. New spring plate bushes – desperately needed, car handles more like a boat!
4. Clean/blast trailing arms
5. Blast/POR15 sway bar and brackets
6. New drop links
7. Blast/replate dust guards
8. Blast/replate spring plates and cover brackets

Also going to rebuild and replate the calipers – may as well!  ‘While you’re down there’ as they say…  This will justify a separate post as it’s a fairly major job in itself and also includes replacing flexible brake lines and remaking some hard lines.

So far all going to plan except can’t get all the bolts out of the trailing arm.  No nut or spring plate attached but bolt is stuck in.  Also, torsion bar is stuck in the spring plate.  Still trying to figure out to get this out.  Mechanic says remove the cover on body but this means pulling of stone guard decal, which means more $$$.  Might need to do this but resisting for now!!

Here are some pics of progress to date.  Much more to do.  Note the iPhone level app to double check the unsprung angle for when I refit the finished spring plates.

Wheels arrived.

Found some 16x8s the other day and they arrived today.  Gonna stick these on the back and move the 7s to the front.

Need a strip and polish.  Plan is to polish the lips and pedals/petals (not sure which is correct spelling!).  Obviously need to do this to the 7s as well.

Will tackle this after Project – Front Suspension so it could take a while before the car gets it’s new feet.  Hoping to get them to look something like this:

Project – H4 Headlights

One of the 1st items to attend to was the headlights.  The surface of the reflector had rusted out and needed a closer look.  In fact this item was picked up by my mechanic as a ‘must attend to’ item.

Removal is very easy.  Take the single screw out to remove the shroud, then remove the newly revealed screw and the whole assembly simply pulls out.

The situation was:

1. Sandblasted lens – needs replacing.
2. Mild corrosion on cylinder that holds the reflector – can be cleaned and repainted (VHT Flame Proof Satin Silver).
3. Corrosion on reflector – needs to be repainted.
4. Outer ring – chipping paint – needs stripping and repainting (VHT Wheel Satin Black plus VHT Flame Proof Satin Clear).

Both lights were pretty much in the same condition so they both got exactly the same treatment.  As you can imagine the 1st light I tried took a week of nights, the second was done in 3 nights.

Here are some pics showing you some before and after.  I am really happy with the result.  Cost approx $150 for new lenses plus about $30 in paint which I still have plenty left for other projects.

Project – Leather/Carpet

Virtually as soon as I got the car I took it down to Garry Blackman to get some leather trimming done.  He had done the leather work in my old car (changed it from berber to leather) and his work is sensational.  He’s also a nice bloke to boot!

I had originally thought I would need to re-leather the front seats but Garry suggested that a leather reconditioner would do the trick.  I did however convince him to change the piping as it was very ratty.  Originally a white or cream colour it had been recoloured with a ‘magic marker’ and was very scrappy to say the least.

I also asked him to recover the steering wheel.  I deliberated alot over this because I had the idea to find an original tri spoke SC wheel.  In the end I liked this 930S wheel so decided to get it recovered.  Steering is a bit heavy at low speed but I can live with it.

Finally I had Garry make up a new front boot carpet.  The one I got with the car had the wrong side pieces – they were black and fabric was so wrong.  Garry has the ‘correct’ material so I turfed the whole lot and had all new put in.

I’m happy with the results.  Here are some pics of before and after.  I really hate the before shot – the interior looks so ratty.  Amazing what a good clean can do!

Note the replacemtn gear knob.  I tried to find an original SC but got too impatient and went for an early 911 repro instead.  It feels great, much more retro cool than the silver ball….  Since installing Porsche HQ have decided to stock new ones from the OEM supplier.  Not going to worry about it for now.