964 C2 - Rolling Resto

[rhd racer]

Then to set the headlights. Not an exact science, but I wanted to see roughly where the beam pattern was. Oh dear....



So the driver's side was basically pointing at the sky, and the adjustors did nothing at all. So have asked Angus to work his magic and fit them for me (even he was not impressed with the gap, but he did manage to get them fitted securely, whereas my previous attempts would have them bouncing down the road). So I was faced with the nightmare of have to take them back out, fix and then refit - against a terrible track record....

I did not take any shots, but basically the rim was new and the lower adjusting screw was 25mm shorter than the original rim it replaced, meaning that it reached full travel with the beam skywards. This and one of the push fit locating sockets was worn so badly it was not secure. So another field repair, not one I am proud of, but needs must...



Then an hour or two of turning the air blue resulted in my finding a decent article on the Samba about how to fit the clips on an early beetle headlight. This was basically the key to the headlamps being secure - the clips foul the lip if fitted wrong. After some messing about I got the beam pattern set to a semi-sensible level and I can adjust tomorrow on the beam setters if needed



Next up was the exhaust. It transpires that the combination of sports cat, sports rear silencer and G pipe was LOUD!! In fact, crazy loud - it sounded like a drag car on open headers. It might be fun for 5 minutes, but not a good fit for a 7am MOT in a small village, so I put the original backbox back on. Much better

I have some videos of these so will put them up later this week when I have the will to wrestle with Youtube

[rhd racer]

Finally, seats in, carpets, new mats and cup holders! Oh and the correct rear number plate, as will need tax and MOT to re-register





Then loaded it on the trailer, as MOT'ing my daily at the same time



Phew, made it with a few hours to spare. Who knows, by the end of the week, after 18 months of ownership, I might actually be able to drive it on the road for the first time!

[PeterK]

Good luck with the test


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[Gary71]

Two MOTs at the same time? Not sure my heart could take that! Good luck

[rhd racer]

Thanks gents.

Two tests, two passes! I had to take the headlights off again (my kryptonite!) as I could not adjust the reflectors properly in situ, but all perfectly set on the beam setter. Now just to get rid of the 10 year old tyres and tax it!

[Bootsy]

[hot66]

look forward to pics of it out on the road

I run all stock exhaust apart from secondary silence replaced with g-pipe. Loud enough to be fun but quiet in the cabin on long runs etc. Does sound a bit subaru though.

[rhd racer]

Yes, that’s my problem James. The car had been de-catted (if that’s a word!) which as you know is illegal for a 93, so I put on a 100 cell job in and saved about a grand in the process, but added decibels. The rear box has also been replaced with a stainless sports silencer, also louder than stock. Add a G-pipe = bleeding ears!

To be honest, I was glad I did put the stock final silencer on as I running it at 2500rpm this morning at 7am for the emissions test! I will see how it goes on the road later this week - at least it is only a 10 minute job to swap between them.

Tyres ordered, coming Weds, fitting Friday.

[rhd racer]

So it was like Christmas here yesterday....



I should explain. During my time without the car I have been plotting in my head what it needs, and keeping an eye on what is available. The biggest single body parts are the rear quarters which have been repaired poorly 12+ years ago and are starting to bubble. The problem is that Dansk and the usual guys don’t seem to make them for the 964, so it appears that the options are genuine Porsche (to which my estimate was £1500+ per side based on others I could see) or second hand. The going rate for second hand appeared to be c£400-£500 per side, and for that you could expect some rot or a dirty great dent. Anyhow, I managed to find a pair of perfect rust free quarters for £300 a side, and as it turned out the guy had a perfect front bumper also, and some wheel arch liners. All in £600. Bargain!



The rear tyres turned up but no rears. Two balls ups here;

1. I was too excited by the 15% discount on black circles and clicked on the wrong rear size; 245 instead of 255. On checking this is not terrible, it will make my speedo over read by 1 mph at 60, so living in the heart of the average speed camera that is not terrible.
2. They have the same sodding lip to protect from kerbs as the tyres coming off! This may mean that going up to a 225 like an RS was not clever, and may need a shim.



We shall see when a) the fronts turn up and b) they get fitted on Friday.

I have taxed it from tomorrow but of course it is now raining, and as we know the tyres are 10 years old so it may have to wait until Friday. I also re-registered it yesterday so fitted the front number plate after having to make new mounts to avoid having the mounting screws or the plate off centre



So nearly there....!


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[rhd racer]

As reported elsewhere my 400 mile initial running in trip at the weekend was impaired by the partial loss of the clutch just 80 miles from home. Deciding to keep going. I made a stop and took some pics with the first car I ever competed in....



At the time it was a 2.2E, but now SC powered. An ex-championship winning car in Dave Hilton's hands, I had a respectable part season in it, including a class record at Longleat that will stand forever because they no longer run hillclimbs there



300 miles, and a few gear changes as possible later, I made it home and on the final change up the box took the engine to 4k revs (the first 550 or so miles not exceeding 3k revs). It goes very well, so am looking forward to getting it back out there and racking up the next 500 before stepping up again. The dyno sheet with the car states 270bhp, so with a very fresh engine, they should all still be in there.

Anyhow, after James' steer on potential problems I deliberated over replacing the m/c, and it comes tomorrow. But today a new tool turned up, to make bleeding the clutch that bit easier, as they can be a pain to do...



Being an impatient sod, I thought I would pressurise the system and poke around for leaks. It is difficult to say whether some or none of the following is as a result of pressuring the first bit of the system which is simply a gravity feed, or there is an over-flow, but I have a few leads...

A dribble below the reservoir (but really quite small)



An even smaller smear behind the pedals (m/c itself no sign of leaks, but it may have a seal turned inside out)



But then I noticed a huge puddle on the floor! It is under the pedal cluster, but given the signs inside are not obvious, I suspect the union between the new hard line up the tunnel, and the short hard line from the M/C. So I need to take the central inspection cover off tomorrow night, and will then decide whether to replace the MC anyway given it is on it's way. I may, of course, have just found an overflow and blown it all out the bottom!

Anyhow, ordered 3ltrs of Dot 5 as like to always have a litre in my race kit just in case.

The other thing I spotted on the ramp at the weekend was an oil leak, but after a good run it was difficult to see where it was coming from - possibly oil pressure switch and tracking down. I then spotted a leak from the new oil line from the oil tank, which is collecting on the rear suspension arm and tracking down. I recall now that the OE clip broke, so I used a standard jubilee clip, which is clearly not up to the job. So I have ordered a mikalor clamp, as these are much more effective in high heat / high force areas, and I can fit without splitting the pipe - which would be a bit of a nightmare...

[rhd racer]

I have never owned a Porsche that has not been heavily modified for competition (except the first few hundred miles in the Boxster, before temptation took over!), so am used to noisy, smelly, bumpy cars with seat positions only comfortable for short journeys and difficult access in and out. Angus warned me early on not to get too crazy with the 964, and that RS are pretty hardcore. So apart from the coilovers, solid top mounts and RS suspension settings, everything else is standard and rubber bushed. It feels focused, and is certainly low, but you only really know this over the very worst bumps - for everything else it is surprisingly quiet and compliant - comfortable too. I am struggling a bit to find the perfect seat position, as the backrest does not move like I would expect (it has electric sports seats), and the backrest seems to only recline by the whole seat tilting back, raising under the knee. Feels odd to me. Apart from that, it is really, very good.

Although only driving at very low revs, it goes plenty well enough, has loads of torque, and is very go-kart like, with loads of grip. Far more than I expected, although I appreciate I am not testing the rear end by making it grip and maintain traction driving like Miss Daisy. The steering is much heavier than I expected also, though the new wider tyres did not make it noticably worse than it was before. The brakes are fantastic, and I have high expectations. They are completely stock, but being a late car are 4 pots all round, with an extremely firm pedal. I am really impressed with them.

Everything works, with the exception of the heating fan, but I have a new ignition switch which may resolve that - there are some reports that it will. The indicator stalk also throws the main beam on when indicating left and putting the arm in the full left position (a half hold is fine), so I need to replace that. Apart from that, it is quite a lot more than I was expecting, which is nice!

So luckily I have not made a complete Horlicks of the whole thing! It is only a 5-6/10 for body and paint (a 5 pacer really), but mechanically absolutely perfect once I iron out the niggles. Interior next, over the winter....

[hot66]

Seat deffo doesn’t sound right ... 964 sport seats are the comfiest seats of any car I’ve owned ( daughter confirms this to also be the case with the 964 comfort seat that my car has as a passenger seat ) . Assume you’ve pulled all the different levers on the seats as well to angle the back . From memory my electric sport seat only has electric for the Fore, aft, and base angle. The seat back position is moved via a lever by your feet

[rhd racer]

I agree the seat is super comfortable, but I just couldn’t find the right position. Going through my mind was everyone banging on about left hand drive bring the perfect position, but I could not quite believe tha5 right hand was so compromised.

Then I found the backrest lever

Every day is a school day, thanks James! I am half way through replacing the clutch m/c so aim to finish over the weekend and update then.

[72911E]

Looking at where your seats line up with the centre console, they look to be sitting high. Are both adjusters working on the side of the seat?

As James says, the sport seats once you have the position right are super comfortable.

[rhd racer]

Yes, they are thanks. It’s a good spot though. I had completely missed the tilt lever, half way up the squab st the front, and in my defence it was hidden by my coffee cup too! So the only way I could get the seat to recline to a more comfy position was to use the electric adjustment to rotate the seat around the rear base (I.e. front up resulted in tilting the whole seat back)

Now I have found that lever, I think I can sort it. Thanks both