Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

It seems my list of essential jobs prior to doing any upgrades ect is spiraling out of control! at least for an amateur mechanic like me that is what it feels like....

The plan this winter was kind of straight forward, sort the suspension and brakes, get odometer working, replace throttle cable, get it through MOT and enjoy for the summer season.

I've sorted the front suspension (bar alignment) and brakes, or so I thought. And have moved on to the rear suspension, which is now completely removed from car (total PITA) and broken down. Much the same as at the front, pretty much every bush and mount needs replacing, along with handbrake cable and shoes, final section of the brake pipes. In the process I have removed the mid and final section of the exhaust as well. Now all of that is out the way I have been able to inspect a lot more and kind of wish I didnt. The question now is how far do I go with this.

1. Now the rear end is removed do I continue the strip down and remove the transaxle and torque tube and refurb the torque tube?
2. The fuel and brake lines, where they come up into the wheel arch look corroded, do I replace? (why did they not fit inner wheel arch proctors at the rear?) Do i need to replace the full length or can they be cut and just a new final section made up and joined?
3. The oil cooler gasket and seals need doing as it is leaking, which requires the headers off or at least out the way. I was planning upgrading the headers anyway but not until next year, but if I'm removing them now...

Its looking like I might not get to drive it this summer which makes me very sad. But I am now leaning towards keeping it off the road for as long as it takes to get all the mechanicals up to scratch, and some of the upgrades done. Then enjoy it for a season, let the bank balance recover, then strip it down for bodywork and paint.

I love this little car, but bloodyhell is it trying me, my bank account, and my misses........

I hate to ask but what do you expect with a 30 year old car,

Words of encouragement

Take your time and do it right once, then you won't need to do it again for 20 years

That goes for everything you replace, why cut and shut the lines, it is a bit more to do it right but your in this far already

Does the tube need rebuilding right now?, I know that when you go in that far you will want to replace the clutch!

If you leave the tube this year, and enjoy the car, now you have removed replaced all the rusted bolts and nuts it will be easier next time, and you have a head start as you know what's got to be done

I wish you the best of luck

I kinda felt like that for a while after things kept going wrong one after another on mine!

If it were me i'd say forget about the torque tube and if you're going through the hassle of doing brakes i'd be tempted to say just crack on and do the pipes. Shouldnt be too much extra work and it removes a lot of worry later on. Worst case scenario and the torque tube does need done, although I doubt it, you'll have copper greased all the bolts and already know how to pull the rear suspension apart so it wont be as daunting a task. I'd save it for next winter maybe?

As for the oil cooler seals. I did mine myself and never touched a single header nut. They dont need to come off or be moved. Fair enough it's a bit more fiddly but it can definitely be done! I think the seal kit was £30 or something and I did it over the course of a few nights as you'll need an oil and water change too. The only thing I moved out of the way was the power steering pump. You'll also need the porsche tool for lining up the cooler housing onto the car. I bought one and made a copy on the lathe, then sold the porsche one, so I have the dimensions if you have access to a lathe? Otherwise its £25 from them.

I think when thinking about all these jobs they sound so much more involving and time consuming than they actually are. I'm crossing off my winter list pretty quickly and it's actually quite nice being able to take my time with it. You could buy another and might have the same if not more problems? Might as well attack it.

So yeah, get stuck in!

Hi Prophead
For what it's worth, I reckon you've done tonnes for this Winter, and if you sort the fuel & brake lines thoroughly that's more than enough without touching the torque tube.
Enjoy the Spring / Summer with the car and review next Winter what most needs doing again then.
A full do-it-all restoration is all well & good with unlimited time, funds & motivation but for most mere mortals I reckon staged periods of work / enjoyment of the car is more practical.
That's my plan with my 928.

Hi Prophead -

I admire your enthusiasm - however - don't look for problems which are not relevant or don't exist. Removing the torque tube is unnecessary, unless you have a gearbox problem or need to change the clutch. Brake and fuel lines that you mention may look corroded but are they? Worth doing obviously, if deemed a safety hazard...

While you are in that area - drain the fuel tank and replace the filters. Then re-bolt the suspension as is, run and enjoy the car for the spring/summer - then next winter you will only have a couple of small jobs to finish...

Dave
CT

Thanks guys. Has been a frustrating couple of weeks and needed to vent.

The jobs that I do I want to do properly, trouble is I keep finding new jobs that have to been done, which is putting off the fun stuff that I want to do to the car. That said, getting the brakes and suspension sorted will make things a lot for fun (and safer). I did expect to have to do a lot of work to the car, but I didnt expect every perishable part to have never been touched or replaced, ho hum.

This was planned as a staged project over the next 2 - 3yrs with enjoying driving in between, so I will have to work out a way to do that so that I can at least drive it for some of the summer this year. To that end, I will leave the torque tube in place until I am convinced the bearings are shot. I will save the Oil cooler gasket job for close to the time of getting it on the road and focus on the rear suspension and brakes and somehow find the dosh to make the upgrades I want so I dont have to take it all apart again.

Cheers for now. I will be post various jobs as they get done, probably should have started a project thread.

When I bought my car I studied the bills
The previous owner had spent £3750 in 2 years and those were the bills I could touch but there was more work done than I had bills for probably to persuade his missus that it was not a money pit
In my hands the car has given bother to the tune of about £350 in 2.5 years but also many pleasant miles too.
Running a 30 year old Porsche is £££ whichever way you go.
Just met my 1st wife who sadly lost her husband Rod (who was a decent chap BTW) just before Xmas and his Ferrari 455' last little bill was for £10000 for a gearbox fault rectification.

It all depends on what you want from life.

Hope I have cheered you up.

I didnt pay that much for the car and did expect to do much of the work I am (which I do enjoy despite the moan above). Car came with extensive history and had been in owned by the same person for past 20yrs. Unfortunately, most of the recent work done to the car, which was thousands of pounds worth I have mostly had to redo because it was bodged. I'm too far in now to stop, so I shall just plow on

I bought mine almost 4 years ago and within a few weeks, I was faced with this bill :




Cost more than the car!

Since then, the only non-service items I've had done have been optional cosmetic things and the odd electrical gremlins which were cheap to fix.

My point is that when everything's done properly and sorted, there's no reason why they shouldn't stay sorted for some considerable time. At least you're doing a lot of the work yourself, which will keep the bills down.

Hang in there as it'll be worth it.

Cheers,
Bryan