Butzi

Had a buddy checking out my 993 today, and he noticed that the driver's side door is different coloring than the passenger's. I'm wondering if anyone else's is like this, or should I be thinking someone did something to the driver's door at one point. Strange...or the German's system to make certain noone would get the right & left doors reversed...lol

The final photo is of the driver's side door check strap, which, I assume, broke off and then welded to the A-frame. Is there anyway to make it look, um...good? p-car.com only has a preventative measure, not the ex-post facto mess I've inherited. The door swings open without any resistance, not good when parking next to an '07 MB S65 AMG! Ouch.

Notice the driver's door has black paint between the panel toward A-frame, the paint is worn in some places, showing sliver:


Here you see only silver from the door panel onward on the passenger's side:


Here's a shot of the door check strap weld-job, also notice the black paint, again:

WarpMan

Jeff,
Are you referring to the black paint along the inner edge of the driver's side? Mine does not have that. It shows body color; same as the passenger's side. BTW, that check strap mount does look like it was weld repaired.

Paddy

Mine also has the black paint.

The Brewmeister

Haven't looked at my C4 for this yet but my 1985 Carrera had that area
painted black as well. I think Porsche did it to hide painted areas in cars
with dark interiors and bright exterior colors. That way no exterior color
could peek through when the doors are closed. It probably helped with
variations in door panel fit as well. For the record my '85 was guards
red with a black interior.

Butzi

Hmm, thanks for the responses. It is strange that one side would be painted black, and the other not..? Not a big deal, thought there might be some rhyme to the reason... Maybe I should paint the passenger door black & then it might shut straight...

chris walrod

The door local to the door panel edge should be painted black.

Butzi

So what's your thoughts on the one that is not painted (passenger)? It so happens that the passenger door doesn't line up perfectly when closing, about 3/32" low. If extra force is not used, it doesn't close "perfectly". When I "lift" while closing, the perfect "cha-*****" is heard...

chris walrod

More than likely the door has been replaced or at least repainted.

Butzi

While making a weak-**** attempt at replacing front hood shocks (did put new bulbs in instrument panel, though, it's nice to see the clock at night!), I found two rubber doo-dads that had fallen deep into the recess of the hood hinge.

Can anyone name that part?:

geolab

There is a plastic cover that goes over the whole A/C condensor and air system at the end of the hood, parallel to the windshield, you know the cover that is 3-4 inches wide and covers all the air mechanism from left to right.
This cover is to be tucked under the windshield from one side, and inserted in a metal groove from the front left to right, just after the hood carpet.
These rubber cubes you found, are also inserted in the metal groove between this plastic cover and the car fenders, left and right.
you will notice that between the rubber seal of the plastic black cover and the car fenders, there is a small gap on the left and right side.
These fill the gap.
They are slit open, to insert them in the metal groove.
I hope I was clear...

porsche part name is 'end piece'
part number is 993.504.521.00

Butzi

Yup, that's what I just found out looking at the PET online. Don't know why they would have been detached, though.

This car reminds me of French women I [dated]: Eager to please, yet they hold many secrets...

Thanks. Another easy DIY. Anything to avoid attacking the hood shocks for a day or two...

Merci!

AOW162435

Jeff,
I too found a few surprises after owning my '95 for awhile. None life-threatening, but puzzling nevertheless.

As for the weld job to the check strap, did you have a PPI performed before purchase? It was a Rennlisters car, correct?

Andreas

Butzi

Yes on all counts. "Puzzling" is correct.

The PPI, I'm finding, was near-useless. They did perform a leakdown, but no checklists were never filled out. The mechanic gave it an OK, but he should have been more thorough and descriptive, I am 1200 miles away, take some digital photos already! Having gone to a couple of local shops and asking them about their PPI procedures, I cannot recommend Eisenbuds in Denver.

I asked the previous owner/Rennlister about it, once it was delivered to San Francisco. I never got a "real" answer to why it was welded that way, and I've asked more than once. I won't say anything disparaging about him, he seems like a good guy, but the Rennlist "love" only works for so long.

This is a daily driver, but I'm focusing now on restoring the C4S to a condition as near to original as possible; wife/money permitting.

AOW162435

I know the feeling

Andreas

Davies

Your passenger door has defnitely been repainted. The driver's side looks factory, except for that somewhat overzealous weld job on the door check strap. I personally wouldn't sweat either of those things, unless the car was an ultra low mile museum piece that you didn't plan to drive.

I had my door check strap re-welded a few years ago and it came out looking a lot like yours. I was miffed at first, but that was tempered by the fact the stupid thing didn't click anymore. It's an inherent design flaw and they all fail. To repair it properly, you have to take the front fender off and spot weld it from behind, as the factory did it (which means it'll just fail again.)

I wouldn't bother, though. Just close the door, be thankful it doesn't go "click" when you do it, and enjoy the car!