All:

After seven great years with a great '88 Carrera it looks like I'm ready to close the deal on a '91 Turbo. (Yes, mandatory photos will be posted once I have my grubby hands on the car.) I chose this car over a 993 (NA) based significantly on input from this board and I think I'm going to be very happy about the decision.

I've done my own maintenance on the '88 and have found it to be a very reasonable car to work on thanks to Rennlist. It looks the the C2 Turbo is going to be a couple of large steps up in complexity, however, so I'll be leaning on this forum hard for a while. To get things rolling I have a couple of softball questions.

1. What is the best source for new rear fender stone guards? Are the factory parts the best bet or should I go with an aftermarket 3M (or similar)? If the latter, can you recommend a source with a good pattern? (I found info for "Nelson" in the archives and have emailed him for one data point.)

2. For a street car is the RS shifter a worthwhile change? Normally I'd work with the stock setup for a while but I need to replace shifter bushings immediately and am already sliding down the "while I'm in there" slope.

3. Again, for a street car, would I be making a mistake to swap out the factory springs for H&Rs while replacing the dead factory shocks with Bilstein HDs? (I'm coming from torsion bars remember, so that's my comparison point.) Anything preferrable?


Thank you all for the help,

Kevin (Hmm... time to change my screen name.)
RLM# 020815-2965

 

Enjoy your new car!!!!

 

Welcome to the 964 forum.

I concur with the H&R springs and Bilstein HD shocks. I currently have H&R springs with original shocks, but will replace the shocks soon.

I have no problem with my shifter and don't feel there is a need for a change. It is tight and very postive. The throw is not very short like today's car, but it feels like a riffle bolt.

 

Big difference with changing the shocks and springs,,makes the car a hell of a lot more positive to drive,looks lot better and would advise for a few extra dollars or pounds in my case to change the shocks also while your in there then you have 2 new pieces of kit working together,rather than new springs working with tired shocks!!
i also have the bilstein hd,,h and r set up,,originally bought eibach springs with the kit but wasnt impressed with there drop in height!!..my car dropped no where near the figures they stated so replaced with h and r...car now is stiff, although even here on british roads still drives with some comfort!

Also considered short shift,,,car gear changed is very positive however the throw is quite long!..
if you do change to short shift let us know what you think??

 

As for the suspension, I would go with a full H&R setup. I have driven both and find it to perform better.

Craig

 

The clear rear fender bra's will either come off with some work, or destroy the paint in the process. How bad are they? I ordered one set from the dealer (the lowers) and the other set from Peilcan. You will crap your pants when you see how much the dealer wants. The ones from Pelican were the same material etc, for a bit less.

Bill

 

I came from an '88 3.2 to 965.
Definitely, change the suspension, standard (3.3) setup is very nervous, BIG difference.
You'll need more noise after the beautiful sounds the 3.2 makes. One bypass wasn't enough for me...see my signature ;-)
You had better have a bigger maintenance budget though, 3.2's are cheap to run, 965's are SUPERCAR expensive....
but SO much fun!!

 

I have the short shift, and PorschePhD cut an inch off the stick while it was in for the RFI, and that actually was an awesome improvement. Simple, but effective at reducing the throw even further. I concur with others on the suspension. I have a set of H&R/Bilstein coil-overs that are in the process of being removed for adjustable PSS9's next week. Used about 10,000 miles but in great shape if your interested in experimenting ($750). I would not be replacing them, but the EFI conversion has put a bit more squat under hard acceleration than I would like. They worked wonderfully with my old build at 400 RWHP. In any event, suspension mod's are mandatory on these cars.

 

Thank you all for your input. I'm going to think hard about the shifter but some kind of suspension upgrade sounds like a slam-dunk.

My main goal on the "short" shifter is actually to relocate the shift **** a bit closer to the wheel, which I understand the factory SSK does. My '88 came with a short shift option from the factory and now that closer shift **** placement just feels natural. If I do make the change I'll report back.

I'm afraid the stone guards are a must-change item. The car is white and the upper guards are yellowing and cracked. (Boy, this car is sounding like a real beauty, no? ) I'll search the archives for the best way to peel them off without causing further problems!

Pictures and avatar coming. I cannot wait to get this car on the road!

Kevin

 

I'll agree on the stone guard issue; both my 911s have the original clear ones, and both could stand a replacement. They are not the most fun to remove (there are several threads in Rennlist on this subject) which is the only reason I haven't bitten the bullet yet! As for the short shifter, not sure if it was different in '91, but my '92 feels great... My '87 feels like I'm pitching a baseball, by comparison.

 

I removed my lower and upper stone guards recently, wasn't that bad actually. No paint damage at all, I just used a heat gun designed to remove decals from cars and went REAL SLOW, You could probably use a hair dryer though IMO. Then I high speed buffed the areas out to remove any excess glue and to shine the areas and replaced with guards from Pelican Parts...made a nice difference, mine were beat up, especially the lowers.

 

The stone guards should come off easily as mentioned and the paint will be fine underneath.

The RS shifter is probably one of the best upgrades for the money. It is about $100 direct from the dealer and easy to install yourself. It is designed not only to shorten the shifts, but also place the shifter closer to the steering wheel, ie taller. You wouldn't really want, or need to cut it down.

 

Got my stone guards from sunset imports, best price by like 50 bucks that i could find. 1 was easy to remove the other a total beatch. Easy to install though. Congrats on the car!!!!!

JERRY