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I’ve spent the last couple of days on detailing the paint and have most of the car panels completed with two types of polish (a fine and super fine) and my DA polisher. Probably only the second polish was needed for most of the car. The paint is all original. Next up is a coat (or three) of carnauba - it will look even deeper and glossier!
By the way, different topic but I forgot to post about this. For everyone with this type of rear brakes, if you have old and corroded pins and springs (that hold in the rear pads), Porsche sells the pins and springs as a set. I think one set was enough for both sides even though I don’t show all the pieces in the pic. Mine were still original and should have been replaced years ago.
I’m a bit overdue in wrapping up my report on how it drives with the refreshed suspension bushings and new shocks, not to mention everything else. In a word, like new! I took the car up into the twisty roads in the Santa Cruz mountains and the car performs wonderfully. The suspension just soaks up all the bumpy roads, the new alignment with greater negative camber (-1.3f -1.8r) gives razor sharp reactions and the ability to tighten up the line even at high cornering loads, ultimate grip is definitely increased, and it has super grippy turn in. The car feels profoundly more responsive in turn-in. At the same time it’s very stable, tracks straight, and is supple over the fairly bad condition of the back roads here. It’s an amazingly tossable car with prodigiously high limits. I’ve always run within stock camber settings in the past. I’ll need to re-learn where the higher limits are now, and that’s with the same six year old tires due for replacement soon!
Also of note, with the readjusted height setting (170 mm f and r) and new shocks, no more bottoming out. The car does not feel stiffer at all (even though it probably is just because of the new shocks) but it’s extremely well damped and certainly no longer hitting the skid plates while cornering if I hit a dip as previously. I can even cruise over speed bumps without fear now (not that I would!!!) and I certainly could not do that before. Also I’m super happy with the transplant of the ‘84 adjustable front springs/perches with the original rear springs. The effective spring rate appears identical and front/rear balance is unchanged. Just what I wanted!
The best part is that after a few twisty turns, I could forget worrying about worn this or that or even thinking about the work I’ve done and focus purely on the driving experience. Just like a new car, except it’s also an old and trusted friend. That’s the most I could hope for!
I was directed to this thread when I posted about an issue with my driver's side mirror. I've gone through the entire thing and I'm blown away! Tremendous work with the expected beautiful results. Now I need to get to work. Congrats on your efforts!
Porsche, I think, rather uncharacteristically under-engineered the spare tire cover and rear hatch/carpet treatment. The floor of the hatch area is uneven, there are big shock towers sticking up, there are large electrical harnesses and other irregularities. All are swept literally under the rug with a layer of foam, a plastic piece over the spare (which isn’t even flat) and most of all a fiber backing on the hatch carpet itself which is so thick it’s barely flexible. What’s more, the two giant “hooks” for the spare cover stick up too far and eat into the bottom of that fiber backing.
All this makes the stock carpet rather squishy and uneven. I wanted a flat and solid surface for one of my next projects, adding a subwoofer enclosure. Why couldn’t Porsche add a nicely trimmed flat board like almost any other car?
So, I set about making one. It’s essentially a false floor, raised on strategically located standoffs to just clear all that is below and leave a flat surface above. It turns out that very little back there actually lies on the same plane, so part of the work was determining just the right standoff heights in their various locations. I also built in some reinforcing spars under the board to keep it flat even under heavy loads and also to prevent acoustic vibration.
I’ve covered it with a heavy felt fabric designed for speaker enclosures. It can be anchored at each front corner with the stock hold-down points. The stock carpet, backing and all, fits right over the board and velcros as usual at the front and fits around the hold-downs at the rear.
With the stock carpet in place, you’d never know what was underneath... except for the fact that it’s flat and sturdy now!! The starting point, spare in but its hold-down, jack and tools removed Thick fiber backing on stock carpet.
Detail on the bottom side. The felt ensures no rattling. Relief for the battery ground strap. Finished product, a sturdy one-piece board that’s a cinch to put in and take out. Note that it’s flush with the existing shelves front and rear. Stock carpet goes on top of this. (Ignore the exposed wires... separate project!!)
Porsche, I think, rather uncharacteristically under-engineered the spare tire cover and rear hatch/carpet treatment. The floor of the hatch area is uneven, there are big shock towers sticking up, there are large electrical harnesses and other irregularities. All are swept literally under the rug with a layer of foam, a plastic piece over the spare (which isn’t even flat) and most of all a fiber backing on the hatch carpet itself which is so thick it’s barely flexible. What’s more, the two giant “hooks” for the spare cover stick up too far and eat into the bottom of that fiber backing.
All this makes the stock carpet rather squishy and uneven. I wanted a flat and solid surface for one of my next projects, adding a subwoofer enclosure. Why couldn’t Porsche add a nicely trimmed flat board like almost any other car?
So, I set about making one. It’s essentially a false floor, raised on strategically located standoffs to just clear all that is below and leave a flat surface above. It turns out that very little back there actually lies on the same plane, so part of the work was determining just the right standoff heights in their various locations. I also built in some reinforcing spars under the board to keep it flat even under heavy loads and also to prevent acoustic vibration.
I’ve covered it with a heavy felt fabric designed for speaker enclosures. It can be anchored at each front corner with the stock hold-down points. The stock carpet, backing and all, fits right over the board and velcros as usual at the front and fits around the hold-downs at the rear.
With the stock carpet in place, you’d never know what was underneath... except for the fact that it’s flat and sturdy now!! The starting point, spare in but its hold-down, jack and tools removed
Thick fiber backing on stock carpet.
Detail on the bottom side. The felt ensures no rattling.
Relief for the battery ground strap. Finished product, a sturdy one-piece board that’s a cinch to put in and take out. Note that it’s flush with the existing shelves front and rear. Stock carpet goes on top of this. (Ignore the exposed wires... separate project!!)
love this... i hate the undulating rear hatch carpet.
rjjtw - did you ever pull the engine to do all that wonderful work? I am about to start a similar process on my '83 944 but wasn't sure if I should lower the engine out or not. Thanks!
09-19-2020 | 11:00 PM
Detailing
