New to me 1989 Targa
 

I sold my 1987 and started to have seller's remourse. See here:

https://rennlist.com/forums/911-foru...987-targa.html

So after some searching and a 810 mile ride back from Georgia, here is the new car. I will post some more pictures tomorrow after Coffee and Cars. Good to be back to this forum.

Looks like a very nice car, congrats!

Yes, looks very clean ��
Congratulations

Now that is a sharp looking Targa. Love the sheen of the Targa bar. Trying very hard to duplicate that on my wheels.

Wurth satin trim

Looks great. Nicely done!

Sent PM

More pics from Coffee and Cars today in Houston.

You in houston? I missed car and coffee today :( out if town, but you need to come join us one of this Saturdays to PCA gatherings, what part of houston are you located?

A few more.

:jumper: More please.

Wowsers, nice car and nice pictures . . .

Welcome and congrats. Looks like the CC event had a great turn out, thank you for posting some photos.

Nice ride, Michael T. ENJOY!

BEST!

Doyle

Doyle, thank you for the posts on Jim Roberts at Roberts Automotive. I used him for the PPI, good communication and good pricing. Thanks again.

Great shots... thanks for posting.

Well I was back in town after being gone since Sunday, so up early to do the following: 1) Replace the glovebox and overhead lights with festoon LED bulbs. 2) I also took off the headlamps and did the rubbing alcohol and rice cleanout of the inside and replaced the lamps. 3) Went and had my lighted keyblank keyed. The lighted piece that holds the 911 key blank is a 944 part number. 4) Got my Nikon D3 out to take some photos.

Mike,
My Targa is still on track...delivery in a few weeks! Yours looks awesome.
Nick

Installed the Kuehl vent from Griffiths Tech.

Family photo. My next project is to take out the Kenwood stereo and go back to Blaupunkt. The Kenwood was well installed wiring wise, so I would like to find a male Kenwood plug so I can craft a harness so it is plug and play.

That's a great looking family you have! I will have to look into the alcohol and rice cleaning method for the head lights. They look great.

+1
Do you have a link or can you share on how you cleaned them ? :cheers:

Halfway down this link explains the rice and rubbing alcohol trick.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...eadlights.html

Thanks
:thumbup::thumbup:

Been busy with work, but here are some of the projects completed:

Changed the Tokyo at night Kenwood to an early 2000 Blaupunkt CD, put in wiring harness so if I buy a Nakamichi someday easy install
Changed the rear speakers to Pioneer 3 ways
Clay bar, glaze and wax
New Tires (seven years old but good tread--too old)
New Brake fluid
New front hood struts


This morning I changed the instrument light bulbs to LED's. I went with the Vintage ones from ETarga over at Pelican. I took the steering wheel off, popped out the left-most guage from the frunk and worked to the right. Went well, about one and half hours. Before, during and after pictures below. The before and after are ISO 1250, 1/30 at f2.8, +1.0EV to illustrate a heads-up comparison.

Hi Michael,

Beautiful Targa!!! I can't believe I just came across this thread. I'm usually on the 993 forum. I'd love to see it and go for a ride sometime.

I've been lusting after an '89 coupe or Targa but timing isn't good right now. I just got my 993 a year ago. Hopefully someday soon.

Take care and enjoy,
Michael H.

Nice looking Targa !

+1 worth satin finish.

I was happy with how my detailing came out. Single stage paint has its advantages.

Beautiful! And nice projects you've completed on it as well!

Mark/Pelican Parts

Michael,

Beautiful! I know you just got her but if you ever decide to sell as you did with your '87, please put me at the top of the list.

Michael

WOW!!

Incredibly beautiful.

Enjoy in good health!

Beautiful car! I also have an 89 Targa Guards Red (tan interior). I'm curious as to your detailing process for the paint. I had mine professionally done after getting it but have become very interested in the DA Polishing process. I just ordered a Micro Fiber correction system and Meguiar's #7 Mirror Glaze. What did you use on yours?

I really like the LED light upgrades - it looks very tasteful.

Also, how can we tell how close ours were on the assembly line? VIN number? Cheers.

I used Meguiars clay bar and a ton of detailed spray and a microfiber cloth to take off. Had to do the panels a couple times. I used 3M Imperial Hand Glaze and then 3M Perfect-it liquid wax. I have switched to 3M after 20 years of Meguiars. I get it at Amazon.

Well the work continues. I had the heating system brought back to original. Someone had done a backdate at some point and there were numerous wiring issues. I also had the front hood repainted at Katy Coachworks. They did a great job as always. A few pics of the hood and some random Porsche pics from Coffee and Cars this morning in Houston.

Some more pics.

+1 wurth satin trim, both wheels and targa bar look great after those paint projects.

I got my Texas Classic Auto plates for its 25th birthday. I do not normally like the look of a front license plate. I put on the original plate and replaced all four plastic nuts that fit in the frame and bought new fasteners. You have to love living in Texas, no charge other than my renewal of my registration for a year and no annual fee.

When I went to the DMV, they forgot to have me fill out one form, but called me on my cell as I was walking out, to come back in. What a great place to live.

Then there's that weather and flat terrain thing....

Yes, the weather is tough. I would agree that SoCal has the best weather on our planet hands down.

Changed out the broken frunk lamp housing as it was cracked. The new one from our host did not have a new plastic gasket, so I used the old one. Need to find a LED lamp that fits. The one I ordered was slightly too big.

I found an LED bulb that fit the frunk light here:



My license plate lights were both cracked. I ordered new ones from our host. I found a more flush LED bulb that fit them here:



Some pictures after the install.

Good work! she's coming along beautifully...

anyone has a pic or part # for an engine lid light? Ive never seen one...

I got it here:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...2538%2529%2520

Is that for the engine lid as well...

It is a different part. I think you need to have the headlamps on and the light has a cover that is the on/off switch. Here is the part:


http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...2539%2529%2520

I don't think HL's need to be on, but it is activated by pivoting the hood.

Ed, is there a limit switch for this engine lid light similar to the front hood? where is it located? I guess the switchable light makes sense...

Not on my '84, the light made contact when you rotated the hood covering the bulb, as I recall.

Ya, the switch is part of the light fixture. Opening up the (as Ed said "the hood") chrome part on the light fixture itself, turns on the bulb.

I drove the car yesterday. In my car, the headlights do need to be on and the cover swiveled open for the engine compartment light to switch on.

One of my fog lamp lenses was cracked. The original clear glass covers are no longer available. I went with the Uro replacements and I converted to amber. They fit just as the originals. I cleaned the reflectors which had quite a bit of haze and replaced the bulbs with GE H3 55 watt bulbs, which were the original spec.

For the photographers here, a couple shots with a 85mm f1.4 wide open.

Great lens! Gotta love 1.4. Nice shots as well.

is this the afs 1.4?... I was looking to upgrade, but I just love my d lense cream machine.

Yes, the lens is the latest version, the Nikkor AFS-G.

What a stunning Targa. And thank you for posting the links to the LED's and the headlight cleaning trick, that will come in handy!

Two projects today. Finally put the LED bulb in engine compartment. I took the fixture down to get better access.

Also installed the JWest headlight relay kit from our host. I mounted it at the bottom right of the fuse box. On my 1989, the two headlight fuses were in slots 6 and 7. I tapped into the ground near the shock tower on the driver's side (5mm allen) and at the battery. I did not use the crimp connectors. I soldered the two white and yellow connections, shrink wrapped and then one layer of electrical tape. Headlamps are brighter.

After a lot of research, I replaced the radio in my car. While I have the original Reno and amp under the passenger seat, I figured I would keep these for collector value and go with something in the 21st century for sound quality, card reader and telephone. I went to look at Kenwood, Sony, Alpine and Pioneer at a big box retailer, but either the faces looked too plastic or the quality of the buttons was lacking. Many had a series of advertising for XM or Pandora on the front.

I finally settled on a Blaupunkt Toronto 440 BT. It has a card reader behind the face, a USB out the back (and front), and Bluetooth. It also has preamps out for another day. I ordered the remote microphone which I placed on the steering column. I ordered from Crutchfield and it was $160 delivered. I am very pleased with the sound quality and the audio on the phone.

My AC fan was working intermittently and I traced it down to a corroded fuse. Taking a look at a few of the fuses it was time to freshen the front and rear fuse blocks. I had an assortment of copper and aluminum filament fuses. I bought some copper Bussmann fuses on Amazon. Had to order from a number of sources as some were aluminum. I used 600 grit emory to clean the fuse contacts. One of the fuses was 25 amp where a 5 amp should have been. Lucky for me it hadn't been an issue! I bought a replacement for the front fuse diagram, which I have kept. I put a more functional one on that had more of a schematic than a listing like the original.

Some more pics.

Nice job with the "details". The little things really make the entire package that much better.

The Toronto looks great, I have been debating the same for my DD.

My oil level gauge was reading too high. The copper ground contact was the issue. I cleaned the copper male contact and the bottom of the nut with 600 grit emory. That did the trick.

Cleaned the Fuchs with petroleum jelly.

I installed braces between the bottom seat belt and top seat belt nuts. It has made some difference in the amount of rattles in the top.

My list is finally getting short: 1) Check all the grounds for corrosion, 2) tighten the drivers side front Targa latch and 3) replace the top of the drivers side door panel. Then I will be done (until something else breaks!).

Usually, it's the float that needs to be dialed in to adjust to gauge.

I think the consensus is the Targa braces are pretty much for looks. Maybe they take some creaks out, but as to adding rigidity, they can't do much based on the acute angle from vertical. Never felt my Targa was lacking in the 40 or so track days it saw on my watch.

Great thread and thanks for sharing. Your Targa looks great, CheeRS!

I am pleased how the LED instrument lights and the Blaupunkt Toronto's dash lighting came out.

When I was troubleshooting the air conditioning some time back, I had the passenger carpet and floor mat out and was struck by how much this covered up the inlet in the passenger footwell that is the return for the evaporator. I found folding back the carpet at the front left allows slightly more airflow. I was getting 45 degree vent temps on the freeway yesterday with 90+ ambients. I also wonder if there are better insulated hoses from the evaporator to the dash vents.

Dash photo, then two photos with a 300mm f2.8 wide open.

Beautiful Targa and 7" and 8" to boot.
Steve

Just picked up a 1989 3.2 Targa myself recently. Love the car. Keep the updates going Michael.

I also bought a Toronto 420 bt? For my 964. looks the same. I thought it was best option for Bluetooth and looks. I put my external mic under dash and then worked my way up to the side of the windshield glass near visor so it is close to my big mouth.

Very kool radio, I going to follow you and get one of those as well, it doesn't look out of place and gives you access to the modern comforts lol.

WOW, very beautiful Targa. Looks great!

First day with the top off in five months. Perfect day in Houston. Drove it to the office.

Had a bad rattle develop in the dash near the glovebox/radio area. Couldn't figure where it was coming from and then noticed one of the screws holding the metal defogger vent between the windshield and dash had worked its way out. Another was loose. I used a stainless 1 x 8 sheet screw from Lowe's, sanded the face with 150 grit and painted it with satin black to match the others. This did the trick. Perfect weather in Houston today.

Car is awesome. I have never heard of the petroleum jelly method for cleaning the wheels. Can you explain more? Thanks!

Take Vaseline and wipe it into the surface of the wheel. I did the black centers as well as the silver lips. Wipe the wheel clean leaving the black center section with a nice protective sheen.

Thanks. Doesn't this create a magnet for brake dust and road grime in general? Certainly looks great.

^ That's what I would have thought also. The car looks great Michael :thumbup:

The Vaseline trick on Fuchs has been used for years by many to keep the black looking good. Not an issue.

Great thread! Just ordered the Toronto today for my '86. Thanks for the terrific suggestions and details.
Jeff

I have had a very small tear in one of the seams of my driver's side seat cushion. In looking at the covers, they had been dyed at some point and this left the surface, while looking OK from a few feet, very dried and less than original.

I did a lot of research over on Pelican and could buy two pre-made leather seat covers for a little more than $700 delivered from Autoberry.

I got a good recommendation for an upholstery shop Michael Angelos here in Houston. They wanted about $500 to install them. They had some samples of GAHH leather and it was impressive, vat dyed aniline leather and thick. For about $300 more, I am going to have the seat covers made.

Apparently the Targas had vinyl backs and piping, with a leather surface. I am also going to have some batting put in the back of the drivers cushion for more lumbar support. So ordered the leather, should be here in about four days, couple days to do the install. The salesperson Richard was very knowledgeable.

Beautiful targa!

Dropped by to check the progress on my seats. The one that has been fitted looks great and this is before steaming it. Foam was in good shape.

I got my car back and the seats look great. The perforated inserts matched perfect and the pleats came out as original. I also had the top of the door panel repaired.

Looks terrific. Great job.

Reset the trip odometer, less than 600 miles in 2014. I have a hotel room tied up for the Hill Country Rallye in late March, still waiting on the registration, so I think I will put a few more miles on it this year.

I polished the windshield today using Griot's Glass Polish and my Bosch orbital sander. I bought some glass polishing pads on Amazon. While it does not get out any heavy pitting, it did remove a number of the scratches. The windshield is much more smooth.

On a positive note, I got back from the Scottsdale car auctions last night. Lots of 911's and really strong money at RM and Goodings. Next weekend, the Rolex 24.

Great! Any "after" pics post-glass polish?

I should have taped off an area for before and after for pics. By bad. From the second photo above, basically the scratches that were lines are mostly gone and the pitted areas are smaller.

Thanks!!!

Will have to try the PJ wheel cleaner

Went to Lone Star PCA event this morning. Good attendance.

A last car is the real deal. The sign in the windows says "oh yes it is". I can not imagine what it is worth.

I attended the Hill Country Rallye in Kerrville, TX with our son Max. I put about 900 miles on the car, about 400 in the winding back roads. Great time. A link to some photos is over at Pelican here:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...-rallye-4.html

Where did you get those braces? Sounds like something that would help in a Cab too.

Thanks,

Send Todd an email here. He makes them in batches so it may take a little while.

todd@helioncomposites.com

Thanks!

Michael,

Not sure if I've chimed in earlier on this thread, but she's a real beauty. Looks very clean and great paint, etc. Also great pics at various events! Without me searching through 9 pages, how many miles are on her? Mine has 79k.

Good to hear from you. Just hitting 76,000 miles. It was 490 miles back and forth to Kerrvlle from Houston on I-10, and about 400 miles on the back roads of the hill country. Will definitely go back next year.

Nice, low mileage is always an additional plus. What about mods, any in the works / future? The relatively simple ones I list in my signature, make a real difference.

I had some play in the upper steering shaft. Did a little research at Pelican 911 Technical and found an aftermarket bushing/sleeve that fits in the upper bearing in the shaft. There were both plastic ones and metal ones. The plastic one tend to fall apart, the metal ones get some wear. I ordered the Mitch Leland bushing from Pelican for about $30. It is a superior design to the factory ones.

I disconnected the battery, popped the horn pad off the steering wheel and took off the horn button. Don't forget to turn the ignition on when removing the steering wheel so you are not butting against the ignition lock. I also marked 12 o'clock with masking tape so I could match up the steering wheel again.

After the steering wheel was removed, I had two circlips to take off. These took some time. There is also a star washer to remove too. I had the metal sleeve design. I has able to use two old jewelers screwdrivers to pry up the sleeve. Mine came out easier than many others according to the Pelican forum.

I slid on the new bushing. It press fits fairly tight. The last quarter inch, I used the rubber handles of my needle nose pliers backwards to push the new bushing down.

I checked the steering play and it is much better. I am ordering new circlips and a new column bolt to clean everything up.

Looks like I might be driving the Targa a bit more. My 991 got some water in it early Tuesday morning given the floods here in Houston. It was parked in my garage. Water came in from under the car. The dealer had the seats and carpets out of it. Do not know if it will be fixed or not.

After spending the last four weekends with a flooded house, I was able to get out to the Woodlands for a PCA GTG. Some nice cars.

My 2012 991 C2 got totaled in the flood. The water wicked up the seat cushions and with the seats wet, USAA totaled the car. They were within about $100 of what I thought the value was so an easy claim. Here are some pics of a 2014 C4S that I bought CPO'd with 7K miles. With the wide body, makes me want to find a M491.

LOVE the color of your totaled 991. I've been lusting after this 86' Targa, but waaay over-priced ($52k w/57k miles).

As much as I love the coupe lines, the Targas keep beckoning me . . .

Nice Targa thread, would love to see/hear more.

Nice '14. I really like my M491.

Me, too. If you don't mind, if you've decided to pass on the '86 Targa in the pic, would you mind PM-ing me with the seller's name and location? Thanks.

Absolutely.

Looks like my cars twin


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...1fbc54e535.jpg

Some great pics.

Thanks

I keep my Targa at our son's house. A friend had a black 2006 997 S with 38k miles for sale. Our son joined the 911 club yesterday, with this purchase.

Later today, the third condenser install starts

I began the installation of a Zims third condenser in front of the driver's rear wheel. First, I labeled each of the wires, for the ground, to the fuse box (hot), to the compressor (hot) and then out to the fan on the new condenser. I had to tap into the compressor to get power for a relay that I mounted on top of the rear fuse box. I drilled a small hole aft of the rear fuse box and painted it with touch up paint. I also put heat shrink wrap where it went through the metal as added insulation. A ground is behind the fuel filter. The last photo shows the ground bolt in the extendable mirror. I ran the new power wire for the new condenser up along the sheathing for the rear hood release in the fender well.

I ran into trouble mounting the condenser. It is to sit on top of the torsion bar. It looks like they sent me the one for the Turbo which has a longer bracket. I think it needs to have a flush bracket like what was in their instruction photos. I will call them in the morning to get this sorted out. Hopefully, they can just send the smaller bracket as it simply bolts on the condenser frame.

I spoke to Zims and they are sending me the correct bracket for the condenser. I will report back once I get it installed, evacuated and charged. Hopefully this week.

I finally got around to replacing my door light switches, bezels and rubber insulator. They were working about 90% of the time.

No need to disconnect the battery as they are grounding switches. After prying off the round rubber sheathing, I used an 11mm nutdriver to remove the switch. I used a hemostat to keep the wire from falling back in the fender. The bezel is attached with a press-fit washer. The wires crimped in place. I spun the wires counter clockwise about five turns, before I spun them back in clockwise. Then I replaced the rubber sheathing and all done.

Zims wheelwell 3rd condenser
 

I had to return the condenser for the correct one, but Zims sent the new one next day. It mounts with one screw at the top right. I used a broken drill bit with only a 1/4 inch stub so when it went through the wheelwell it would not puncture the interior. The bottom rests on the torsion bar and attached with zip ties. I may get a large hose clamp to replace the zip ties. I also put in a snap connector for the power to the fan.

I brought it to Neil's Air Conditioning in the Heights. He only charged $225 to fabricate two hoses, evacuate and recharge. I had 29 degree vent temps on the way home. Be interested when summer comes how it does. All in about $800.

Next project will be a new windshield, I got some additional stone chips. I need to research this. My windshield has an antenna that attaches on the passenger bottom.

Did you replace any hoses? The old hoses are like sieves.

Ed, I should have mentioned that all the hoses, compressor, evaporator were changed about five years ago by the previous owner. They also put in a ProCooler at the same time, which looks to be the subject of some debate as to its worth. It was converted to R134. The front and rear condensors are original.

You should have cold AC! That other work is what is needed to make them effective. Most reports are north of $2K, if not 3K to do a rehab on an 80's Carrera.

First off, Happy New Year! I was planning to replace the front speakers today, but I ran into trouble on the windshield replacement and do not have my car back. :mad: I had ordered a new front rubber molding (Porsche 911 part number) and brought the car into American Auto Glass in the Heights for its new windshield. I got a call two days ago from Robert that the molding did not fit. Apparently, they switched to a 964 part. I ordered another one from Pelican Parts and I should have the molding tomorrow for installation on Monday.

The glass came out great. Antenna works fine. As mentioned earlier the molding was a 964 part. The replacement was Pilkington. We had our first warm day and I was able to bring the vents down from 100+ degrees to 35 degrees fairly quickly. I am a believer in the third condenser.

I put in Pioneer D-series (1330) separates. I did not use the tweeters as my old ones were in good shape, and the new ones were smaller. I did need to buy new moldings for the tweeters. Note the speaker grill on the tweeter spins off. It is also canted.

I had the door pockets off and there was a plastic keeper as part of door pull that I replaced. They were looking pretty worn. I have about $280 in my stereo total and it sounds fairly good. Nothing like the Bose in the 991, but worth the money. I have the back 4x6 speakers faded down to 2. They are fairly worthless.

i drove out to Kerrville for the Hill Country Rallye. car ran well, but the evaporator frooze over coming out of Houston. it was about 85 degrees and had just rained. This even happened with the set point set fairly low where it was cycling between 35 and 50 degree vent temps. Once I let it thaw and some drier air in the car, no problems, until......

You may have a low charge, to cause coil icing.

I left to go offsite for dinner last night and my clutch pedal did not return all the way and I could not get it into gear. In the cold morning it worked, but I had it flat-bedded to Jones Autowerk in San Antonio. i will be flying back next week to pick up the car.

What a fantastic thread, just read the whole thing and don't know where I've been not to have gobbled this up before. You've done a few of the projects that I have: Blaupunkt Toronto, upgraded speakers, driving lights, headlight cleaning, some nice and nitty detailing projects no one else wants to do. Great stuff.

I'm sure you've gotten the word by now that your clutch return spring has decided to quit after many years of service. If I'm not remembering incorrectly, there is also a helper spring that you want to replace at the same time. Either way, hope you get on the road soon and keep up with these great posts.

Flew to San Antonio to recover my car yesterday. The slave in the clutch was bad. I also had an oil change, valve adjustment and new plugs. I would highly recommend Jones Autowerks. The AC worked great, I had to adjust the set point as was too cold!

Last night I began prepping the Targa Bar for painting. I used primer, black satin and then clear coat satin. The satin clear coat dries the black a little grey. But after reading some hot rod web sites on using satin clear coat it was expected.

The Targa bar looks great! I need to do the same to mine. Do you have a list of the supplies you used?

I used all Krylon enamels, primer, black satin and clear satin. Wurth makes a black paint that many have used. I block sanded the flat surfaces starting with 120 grit, 180 grit and then hand sanded with 400 grit. The Targa emblem takes a while. I always use 3M masking tape. I removed it about 20 minutes after the final coat pulling it off at a 45 degree angle.

The one recommendation is watch the relative humidity. You would be good to wait until the humidity is below 50% to have a smoother finish and no tiger stripes.

Where did you find the targa body brace? It seems like maybe they aren't being made right now. Also, thanks for the awesome thread. As a new targa owner this has been a great source of inspiration.

I'd save your money and time searching. They aren't needed. I had a pretty well "developed" '84 with about 240HP at the wheels, that did well over 100 track days in the top non-instructor group work Maverick region PCA, many back country runs with some pretty exotic machinery, and never needed any kind of bracing. Focus on decent shocks, heavier torsion bars, ARB's and geometry.

I bought a 928 S4, so I have listed my Targa. If interested, see it here:

https://rennlist.com/forums/vehicle-...era-targa.html

Great thread. Sorry to see you sell it. I have to ask, before I bought my 911 I considered and shopped, drove and researched the 928 S4, GT and GTS. I have a Spyder, 951 and the 911 so I kind of understand Porsche ownership...but to a person in my world they all warned me not to buy one.

I drove 7 of them, I liked the GTS the best ( the hips) but he wanted 80k as it was a PTS car. The S4 seemed slow and the GT not much better.

I was wondering about how you arrived here and about your impressions.

Thanks

The 928's are somewhat misunderstood. If kept in good order they are reliable cars. Many early cars fell in price to a price point where many were butchered or kept in disrepair. The one I bought is a two owner, double black, 50k 1987 S4 in orginal condition. I am having the torque tube done, a timing belt and water pump before it is shipped to me.

Saw the for sale thread and read this entire thread what an great targa good luck with the new car