I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to working on cars but I would like to learn how to do some things on my 964 Turbo. Can anyone suggest a starting point or easy projects to get my feet wet. Any books or manuals? I already have the 911 performance handbook, what about the book 101 projects for your 911? I'd like to get to the point some day where I could perform maintance and add mods myself.

 

101 projects for your porsche does not cover the 964. Check out <a href="http://www.porsche964.co.uk" target="_blank">www.porsche964.co.uk</a> as this site has some jobs you can yourself.

Andy

 

[quote]Originally posted by Ian964:
<strong> Can anyone suggest a starting point or easy projects to get my feet wet. Any books or manuals? I already have the 911 performance handbook, what about the book 101 projects for your 911? </strong><hr></blockquote>

Books were covered in a recent thread - try search for "Bentley Publications - Service Manual" thread.

Projects can include (a) interior - renovation/upgrade (b) suspension/wheels (c) brakes (d) engine - more noise/more grunt - although with a 964 Turbo many of the discussions here may not help - maybe you'd also want to post on the 964 Turbo board? (e) competiton prepping (f) exterior body stuff.

I'm sure I've missed a heap of categories but you get my point - what are you interested in improving first?

Also the stock response to any question about changing/improving a car runs along the lines of "give us more details - what do you want to change for - are you tracking/DE'ing or simply want to improve it on the road or is it a concours thang?

But the cool thing is you'll get lots of opinions and help

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

 

I would say that while 101 Projects doesn't cover the 964, it's still a good book to have, IMO - not particularly expensive, and it's got good pictures, and may give you some ideas for projects of your own.

To do maintenance, you're going to need lots of things to do a really good job (I would have thought), unless you have some kind of background/training as a mechanic, which I don't.

Firstly, you'll need *lots* of tools. Lots and lots. This is something that 101 Projects is good for - the tool lists at the beginning. I'd always get good quality (and therefore expensive) tools, Craftsman or equivalent as a minimum.

Secondly, I would recommend getting the Factory Workshop manuals, if you're going to be getting adventurous. They're expensive, even from a discounter like Sunset Porsche, but IMO worth it. To do everything, unfortunately, it seems to me like the whole set is needed, certainly some stuff that isn't mentioned in the 964 or the 84-89 Carrera manuals is found in the very early manuals (I don't have the SC manuals, so it may be in there too). A complete set of all the manuals is *very* expensive, I would say $1000 at a minimum. There are also supplements for the Turbo that you'll need/ought to have. I really like books, anyway. Unhelpfully, the 964 manuals aren't going to be available for a while, it seems.

A subscription to AllData is useful. $25 a year, and has a whole bunch of stuff. Definitely money well spent, IMO.

Another thing to have is Rennlist and the Pelican Parts forum in your Favourites... for hardcore DIYers, the Pelican Parts forum is probably a bit more useful than Rennlist, although the flipside of the coin is that the 964 forum there doesn't get much traffic (I therefore always use the 911 forum). Other useful sites are John Miles' site - <a href="http://www.porsche964.co.uk" target="_blank">www.porsche964.co.uk</a> - as Andy mentioned; <a href="http://www.p-car.com" target="_blank">www.p-car.com</a> ; and the Pelican technical archives, at <a href="http://www.pelicanparts.com/911/911tech_articles.htm" target="_blank">http://www.pelicanparts.com/911/911tech_articles.htm</a> (which uses many of the article from p-car, but also has loads of it's own).

I'm not going to pass judgement on the Bentley book, because I haven't got it/read it yet. I will have it soon, though. You may be able to make do with just the Bentley manual, I honestly don't know. Adrian's book is also a must-have as far as I'm concerned, and I await its publication.

Hope this helps!

 

Much on our 964's has more in common with 993's than earlier 911's. There are some very good DIY articles on <a href="http://www.p-car.com." target="_blank">www.p-car.com.</a>

You might want to consider getting the factory shop manual 911 Turbo 91-95, 3 volumes, WKD-482-720. Note, like most Porsche factory manuals, they build on each other, and the Turbo manual assumes you have the 964 factory manual, 7 volumes,WKD-482-520 (which assumes you have all previous manuals covering to 1965!). The 89/90 C2/C4 workshop manual is also available on microfiche, if that format appeals to you. Much less expensive too. The Porsche 964/964T Technical Specifications is a must have if you do your own work, around $25. And most of that and some of the workshop manual data is in the Bentley 964 book (note, however, it's not a substitute for the factory workshop manual). Amazon recently had it for around $45 with free shipping.

 

A subscription to AllData is useful. $25 a year, and has a whole bunch of stuff. Definitely money well spent, IMO.

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What kind of info do you get on alldata for the $25?? How does it differ from any manuals or books. I'm curious because I have never heard of it. Does it give pictures or parts lists?

sounds like a possible great deal for 1 year!

 

An Alldata subscription gives you access to the dealer bulletins that have been distributed through the years. You can go to <a href="http://www.alldata.com" target="_blank">www.alldata.com</a> and see the listings of what's available.