993 restoration

[Ferry Man]

Rather oddly, the RS bar fits quite differently to the standard bar. On a standard C2 the bar runs ABOVE the lower control arm. On the RS it should run BELOW the arm. I’m guessing that’s because the RS was configured with such a low ride height Porsche altered the set up. To accommodate the placement below the control arm they also designed a special, longer (and curved) drop link to clear the locating arm.

My car had still been fitted with the standard drop links (shown below):



But should have had the longer drop links, like these Genuine Porsche parts I bought:

[Ferry Man]

Here’s where the bad news started. The race prep ‘specialist’ had fitted my car with an RS bar but retained the shorter C2 drop links. Thus, the bar rode above the control arm and crashed into the suspension under load. The metal is worn perilously thin and the control arm bent and deformed. To discover I’d driven the car like that for a jaunt down the M4 into Wales was scary enough. But the idea of previous owners using that set-up on track days is petrifying. The rear end could have given out violently and with catastrophic consequences.
Not good. Not good at all.

You can see the damaged & bent arm here and the new replacement from Porsche behind:

[Ferry Man]

But, it seems, the car soldiered on for a few years and to the next owner who understandably wanted to improve the suspension. It went to another ‘indie’ in North London (I won’t name them either) and they volunteered that the best answer was to fit new Bilstein B6 shocks all round. That was an easy fit and for £2k+ a nice earner for them. That was done in 2014. Incredibly they did not sort the roll bar issue. They left that obvious damage unattended. Hmmm.

So, my conundrum was, what to do?
Obviously buy new lower control arms from Porsche and yes, I did.
And I needed to fix the roll bar to prevent any contact with the arm. That meant fresh drop links of the RS variety.

But I thought I had fairly new Bilsteins, those would save me spending too much money. Just the control arms, new drop links and roll bar bushes.
You need to understand I was close to the end and I’d spent so much money, I was weary of the financial drain.
I thought the set-up I had could be made to work.

That proved to be optimistic.....

[911hillclimber]

This is very interesting from a tech view point, and affirms what I have recently found, not all independent Porsche specialists are 'special', just quite crap.
I tried one in the West Midlands and they left my simple 911 crooked and both lock nuts on the track rod arm ball joints loose and backed-off after a 3 hour alignment.

I did the job myself a few weeks later when I realised all was not well....

Quite a project you took on and it will be superb when done for a long time to come.
And your wife will love it again!

[210bhp]

I think all your restoration accounts have always been a bit special Paul. They tell us so much more about the journey than just painting stuff and bolting bits together. You also bare your soul in a way which I feel others would find hard to do. The result is a fabulous learning curve for us all (and not just restoration details but life itself).

Your intimate sharing of your suspension detective work on past misdemeanours by 'experts' reminds me of the rather flippant comment (with serious background intent) that I always mumble every time I get on an aircraft with my family. They think I'm nuts and have no reservations about saying so because they all think I'm just a nervous flyer. I always mumble "I hope the mechanic has remembered to put the petrol cap back on". Their complete faith that 'nothing can go wrong' makes me laugh (nervously) and stories like yours only reinforce my feelings.

Great thread, nice car and thanks for "telling it as it is".
Look forward to seeing full pictures of the finished result which I know will be fabulous.

Regards
Mike

[Bootsy]

And if I can add... this is serving as such an education and providing a wonderful resource for somebody who is making small in roads towards stripping their own 993 down ready for a repaint - thanks

[Ferry Man]

I think all your restoration accounts have always been a bit special Paul. They tell us so much more about the journey than just painting stuff and bolting bits together. You also bare your soul in a way which I feel others would find hard to do. The result is a fabulous learning curve for us all (and not just restoration details but life itself).

Thanks Mike, it's not always easy putting your work up for such public scrutiny. Especially a humble Joe like me. I'm sure there are many Porsche specialists watching me try and restore this car myself and thinking he should stick to what he's good at (whatever that is).

[Ferry Man]

When I tried to instal the rear roll bar below the control arm I still encountered problems.
The fit was tight and the bar only just cleared. It was very close and that was on the outer most adjustment hole. It couldn’t have been adjusted further. Nick Moss took a look at my work and said no way should I use the car like that.
Other problems were the springs and the ride height. I discovered I had Turbo springs, firmer than a standard C2 and seemingly (with a lighter car) giving me problems setting a low enough ride height.
Then, I couldn’t get the front any lower because I’d run out of threads on the adjusting collars.
And annoyingly, I couldn’t set the rears low enough to match the front.
Plus, every time I altered the height at the rear I needed to pull it all apart and start again. To adjust the collars on the dampers I needed to remove the bottom damper mount. To remove the damper mount I had to remove the control arm. To remove the control arm I had to take out the eccentric bolt, to do all this meant dismantling the rear roll bar...
Blimey it’s a thankless task working on the suspension. I was getting sick of it.

[Ferry Man]

not all independent Porsche specialists are 'special'

Some of them are good though. Most of them hopefully.

OK, we’ll take an advert break here.
Well not really but I’d like to mention Lee Colbran of Octane Garage in Crowborough, Sussex. Now Lee (a DDK advertiser) really is one of the good guys. He did much of the build on my Turquoise ST. He also helped with final assembly of the Lime Green Carrera and he’s serviced & maintained it since. I rate his work, he’s honest and affordable.
So, I wanted Lee to do the geometry on my 993 when it was finished.
I’d trust Lee to spanner check my work and resolve any niggles in the restoration I was tackling.

But the more I struggled with the suspension and the more issues I encountered, I began to think: “oh, just give it all to Lee and get it thoroughly sorted. Throw some money at it and make the problems go away…”.
That’s what I did.
I decided to remove the Bilstein B6’s and fit a complete new coilover set. I would ask Lee to fit new front wishbones and ball-joints. And anything else he recommended.
Lee checked the car over and advised new top mounts front & rear and one of the rear wishbones (needless to say we did both sides).
The suspension ended up being done properly and comprehensively. Not by me but by a real mechanic.

In fairness Lee was reluctant to be taking over my project at this stage (not wishing to be party to me giving up, thinking I should carry on and do the work as I'd intended) but honestly I was grateful for the help. I had a long holiday coming up and I just wanted it packed off to a specialist and to get it sorted. Did I give up a little? Or did I just realise an expert would do the task better and quicker than me? I don't know.

[KS]

Knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em is what makes the difference between a good and a bad poker player. Admitting that it's time to bring in the pros is not an admission of defeat...

[sladey]

Did I give up a little? Or did I just realise an expert would do the task better and quicker than me? I don't know.

I always try and work on the basis that jobs I do on the car should be for enjoyment. Sometimes that enjoyment involves pain. That pain can make success all the sweeter when you conquer it, but if it gets too much then I'd generally farm it out as it spoils your enjoyment of the car. When I did my suspension in the summer, I did all the machining and bolting up myself, but I didn't find setting it all up an enjoyable task so I farmed that out to centre gravity.

I think you made a good decision.

Great thread by the way

[smallspeed]

completely agree with the above..

I needed new front and rear wheel bearings on one of my cars (front and rear left, but might aswell do all 4) and front dampers (again might aswell do all 4 - the fronts are the expensive/awkward ones anyway). I was sat on a piece of cardboard on the wet driveway 1/2 way through doing the jobs thinking "why didn't I pay someone else to do this.." I found:

- one of the rear hubs had the splines ruined by the "specialist" that replaced that bearing 30k ago (couldn't be bothered dropping the exhaust so hammered the driveshaft in at a weird angle)
- one of the rear damper top-mounts was lockwired in place instead of a nut/bolt in one of the holes
- the front hub/bearing making the noise was for an ABS car and it was actually the ABS ring grumbling on the hub

..so I'm really glad I sorted this stuff out. That said, the alignment was done by someone else (life's too short) and the cambelt/waterpump I paid someone else to do - like KS said, knowing when to hold/fold is important
Also if you're doing a big project, its good sometimes to just drop some of these crappy jobs and let someone else do it - gets you over a hurdle, gives you a couple of weeks off, and lets you get back on it again with a fresh set of eyes afterwards.. Far more productive than getting bogged down and fed-up with the whole thing

[yoda]

Hi Paul

Great thread and thank you for the candid write up. I think your previous cars / work are testament to the high standards you set and I am sure this car will be no different. It is inspirational to read an informed lay persons account of a rebuild and the issues involved.

I have always steered clear of a project but this is inspiring me to think about it it at least!

Keep up the great work and write up.

[Ralph]

Your write ups are greatly appreciated. I wish I could find the capability and time to log my build to the same quality of content as yourself.

Keep up the good work.

[Ferry Man]

I settled on Bilstein PSS10's for my suspension. There are many options for a 993 but a broad consensus will tell you those are the best all round solution. They are modern technology coil-overs that are fully adjustable for both height and damping. Most importantly you can fine tune both settings easily, without taking them off the car. Lee not only sourced them for less than I could but them for but his labour charges to install were very modest. He must work quicker than I do....
He even sent me a picture: