randall Posted 9November, 2011 Report Share Posted 9November, 2011 Posted this over on impact bumpers and thought I may as well do the same thing here... Happy to report that after 6 odd months of searching I finally found a car to call my own. The minor issue was that it was located some 1400 kms away in Tasmania (I am in Sydney). Decided to make a trip out of it so SWMBO and I flew down to pick it up and drove it back over 3 days stopping along the way. Somewhere in Tasmania: Devenport Spirit of Tasmania I've noticed humming noise coming from the front end at high speeds and while passing trough Melbourne decided to have it checked out before driving back to Sydney. Did a quick search on my handset and found a specialist (Harrison RRR) and as luck would have it he was still at his workshop (at this stage it was midday Saturday) and was just up the road from where I was at the time. Spencer (the business owner) turned out to be a great guy, front wheel bearings were shot and he just happened to have 2 in stock and managed to replace them on Saturday afternoon despite having family commitments. I was expecting given the situation (emergency repair on Saturday) I would pay through the nose for the service but the cost was more than reasonable. If I was in Melbourne I know who would be looking after my car. Few pics from the workshop, all cars in there apart from one boxster were from the air cooled era and Spencer races a Carrera 3.2 so I knew my car was in good hands. Country Victoria - stopped to get some fresh air. SWMBO giving the car a workout. The area around Tinamba will stay in my memory for some nice quiet country roads - some of them straight as an arrow with excellent visibility, some would say ideal for testing upper rev range in third and fourth gear if you were so inclined... The trip was a great way to get to know the car and pick on all the little nuances and issues along the way. I noticed a fair bit of wind noise coming from the area where doors and dashboard meet the A pillar. Looking at the door from outside it would appear the doors front edge is not entirely flush with the wing. Is there any adjustment in door hinges that would allow me to fix this (I am assuming this could be one of the wind noise contributing factors) or is the adjustment only possible on the front wing itself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-p Posted 9November, 2011 Report Share Posted 9November, 2011 Congratulations, thats a great story and terrific pictures. Car looks excellent and sure you will have much fun with it. Thats really great to hear that Spencer was able to help out like that. Not sure about the adjustment of the dorr but somebody here will know. I am thinking our resident guru JNR might be able to offer advice on this. I am doubly impressed that your other half had a drive. I have been offering Ann my wife a drive of my cars for years and she just rolls her eyes and shakes her head.... Anyway keep us informed about life with your 3.2. Cheers chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM911T Posted 9November, 2011 Report Share Posted 9November, 2011 Thanks for sharing your trip, looks like you passed by our part of the world. I like that blue, a bit different. You lucked out getting Spencer Harrison, a very reliable and solid reputation - worth taking it back to him at some stage to get it fully checked over - and an excuse to have a another long drive. Enjoy it, but be warned owning a Porsche becomes a life long ailment, so start buying the books. Cheers Paul M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASTAR911 Posted 9November, 2011 Report Share Posted 9November, 2011 Randall, Good to see you made it home OK, the pictures look great. I am sure you had plenty of reading material on hand to keep yourself entertained whilst your better half was driving! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnr356 Posted 9November, 2011 Report Share Posted 9November, 2011 glad everything worked out and you found 'rrr those bearings were shagged have to look closely at the car to make a decision on the wind noise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randall Posted 9November, 2011 Author Report Share Posted 9November, 2011 Congratulations, thats a great story and terrific pictures. Car looks excellent and sure you will have much fun with it. Thats really great to hear that Spencer was able to help out like that. Not sure about the adjustment of the dorr but somebody here will know. I am thinking our resident guru JNR might be able to offer advice on this. I am doubly impressed that your other half had a drive. I have been offering Ann my wife a drive of my cars for years and she just rolls her eyes and shakes her head.... Anyway keep us informed about life with your 3.2. Cheers chris Thanks Chris. Took bit of convincing to get her behind the wheel, I think she was happy getting back in the passenger seat. Thanks for sharing your trip, looks like you passed by our part of the world. I like that blue, a bit different. You lucked out getting Spencer Harrison, a very reliable and solid reputation - worth taking it back to him at some stage to get it fully checked over - and an excuse to have a another long drive. Enjoy it, but be warned owning a Porsche becomes a life long ailment, so start buying the books. Cheers Paul M Thanks Paul. I have already considered that if any major work is required I may go back to him despite the distance. Have indeed been in your neck of the woods, can't say I've seen much as it was nightime and raining. We stayed in Eden overnight. Randall, Good to see you made it home OK, the pictures look great. I am sure you had plenty of reading material on hand to keep yourself entertained whilst your better half was driving! Thanks for the reading material, have been reading and educating myself on daily basis. glad everything worked out and you found 'rrr those bearings were shagged have to look closely at the car to make a decision on the wind noise You must work there jnr? They were shagged indeed, Spencer email a picture to me and commented I would not make it to Sydney with them, I am very lucky to have found him and double lucky that he answered the phone when I rang ( which he said he usually doesn't do on Saturdays) and triple lucky he happened to have the bearings in stock and was willing to stay back and fit them for me - true champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-banger Posted 9November, 2011 Report Share Posted 9November, 2011 Nice one randall. You must be very happy. Is there any history or mods to the car that you can share? Don't forget to update your PFA profile with your new ride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randall Posted 9November, 2011 Author Report Share Posted 9November, 2011 Very happy indeed. Car is a US import. Imported and converted in 2000. Was an Adelaide car prior to being sold to previous owner in Tassie. I bought if off Peter Hayes who is an old Porsche mechanic, he used to have his own workshop in Brisbane, raced Porsches and was Porsche QLD club president. Not much in terms of paperwork to validate history so I am only going by what Peter told me - turbo tie rods installed, cat delete, Steve Wong chip, gearbox recently rebuilt,new clutch kit and aluminium lightweight flywheel, good compression and leak down test results. On the weekend the car will get a wheel alignment & balance and has been booked in to be inspected by Porsche people. Has a minor oil leak that looks like it is coming from one of the oil return tubes, other than that I can't find anything wrong with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slocs Posted 9November, 2011 Report Share Posted 9November, 2011 Randall, Congrats and welcome to the 3.2 club! There are a few owners of 'new' 3.2's here in Sydney, so we'd better find an excuse for a run. Regards Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH911 Posted 10November, 2011 Report Share Posted 10November, 2011 Randall, Great story and pictures. Thanks for sharing. I am sure you will have many happy days with the the 3.2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randall Posted 10November, 2011 Author Report Share Posted 10November, 2011 Thanks Greg. Rob, looked for you at the PC NSW concourse day but could not find you. Which reminds me I should post some pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randall Posted 5March, 2012 Author Report Share Posted 5March, 2012 Rob (Slocs) asked me about the Lakewell carpet and I was about to point him to the relevant posts in this thread but then realised they weren’t there anymore. I am guessing the forum crash had something to do with that. Carpet looked a bit tatty so I ordered a new one and seeing that interior trim and seats needed to be pulled out this was the ideal time to change the interior colour (I fancied the “linen” colour) While I was at it I thought it is a good time to address sound deadening as well. So I stripped the interior in anticipation of the recently ordered sound deadening material arriving and then waited. And waited. And waited some more. USPS online tracking was showing the package as “processed” but then it just disappeared off the face of the earth. Took just over a month for the stuff to arrive from the US to AU (airfreighted!). Had a similar issue with the Lakewell carpet kit I ordered – they used Belgium postal service who have had the carpet sitting in their local post office for over 3 weeks before being processed. In the meantime I got to enjoy my stripped out “racer”. Raw and loud and surprisingly it was not unbearable on my daily commute to work. Lack of storage was more annoying than the noise itself. I have no idea how much weight was removed at that stage (passenger seat alone weighs a tonne) but the weight reduction was noticeable especially in the ease with which the car would take off and accelerate from low revs in higher gears. Leather Dye Weapon of choice to apply leather dye– phallical shaped microfibre cloth. I used my own “dab-dab rub-rub” technique which in a similar fashion to “wax on, wax off” will transform you into a martial artist in no time. Here are the obligatory before, during and after pics. Old and new: Process is relatively simple and results are good as long as you follow the instructions closely. If you do it properly leather will still be supple and the grain visible as per the pic below. I did a test run first on one of the rear seat pads and learnt the hard way (turned the leather into suede first using harsher grade sanding paper and then applied the dye in thick coats which turned it into plasticky looking and feeling material. (Another set of seat pads on their way from the US now). Door cards and rear seats turned out great, rear quarter panel pieces I am not 100% happy with. The leather on those pieces did not seem to be as “thirsty” for some reason so the finish does not show the grain as well as other pieces. Close (but not perfect) colour match to the new seat covers was achieved on a third attempt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randall Posted 5March, 2012 Author Report Share Posted 5March, 2012 Lakewell carpet – good quality material, all the floor pieces have nice thick backing which is nice except that the piece that covers the transmission/centre tunnel is hard to mould over the edges and most pieces do not have much “overlap” so you have to position them carefully in order to avoid any gaps. Passenger floor area carpet piece is not as wide as it should be yet it is longer than ideal. Overall not too hard to install – the hardest and most time consuming part was recovering the door pockets. Stripped them bare: Covered the inside with felt And then glued the carpet on the outside and glued and stapled the vinyl edge on the inside. Tricky getting the carpet to curve around the corner and making it look neat… Leather seat covers ordered from www.AutoBerry.com David over there was great to deal with and covers arrived within 10 days which included manufacturing them and sending them from the US. Quality was good and the backrest piece I fitted looked great but after I started fitting the base I realised that bolsters are wider than what they should be. Comparing them to the existing seat bolsters they were about 2.5 cm wider. After contacting David he suggested I get an upholster to fit additional foam in there and that this is a standard practise. I was a bit peeved off with this but the upholsterer managed to fit them and make them look good without the additional foam. Just goes to show what experience and the right tools can do. The covers are a tad larger than ideal but I am expecting they will shrink a bit over time. Finished product: Sound deadening and sound proofing material was ordered from RAAM Audio. Rick at Raam is an absolute champion, very helpful and generous and the product is excellent and very easy to work with. Would highly recommend him to anyone considering soundproofing their car. I used 3.5 sq meters of sound deadening and about 15 msq of ensolite sound proofing. Sound deadening was applied strategically to the areas where it was really needed rather than covering every square centimetre with it with the exception of the rear shelf where two layers were applied across the whole area. Ensolite on the other hand is a lightweight material and I ordered lots of it so it was used everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randall Posted 5March, 2012 Author Report Share Posted 5March, 2012 Doors had BXT mat applied to the outer skin, then to the inner skin, and then covered with ensolite on top as per pics below. While I was at it I also installed a new Blaupunkt Toronto stereo (needed something with Bluetooth capability) and speakers and fixed up few other bits and pieces. New Momo prototipo installed with an adjustable spacer to bring it further out - vastly improved ergonomics, now I just need a taller gearstick. Still few things to tidy up (rear seatbelts and seat pads are missing in this pic) but I am mostly happy with the end result. Few additional pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnr356 Posted 6March, 2012 Report Share Posted 6March, 2012 may want to cut your deadening around the gearshift coupling,it will need to be accessable for any future work and pray that nothing goes wrong inside your doors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vas930 Posted 6March, 2012 Report Share Posted 6March, 2012 Great job, Randall. Thanks for all the pics. Good to see someone post a project on our forum. The car is looking awesome. These type of projects are of great value to all. I would encourage anyone doing a project on your porsche to post some pics, tell us about it. Turn it into a thread so we can all learn. Projects big and small are welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randall Posted 6March, 2012 Author Report Share Posted 6March, 2012 may want to cut your deadening around the gearshift coupling,it will need to be accessable for any future work You mean like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randall Posted 6March, 2012 Author Report Share Posted 6March, 2012 Thanks Vas. This part is worth repeating: These type of projects are of great value to all. I would encourage anyone doing a project on your porsche to post some pics, tell us about it. Turn it into a thread so we can all learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randall Posted 6March, 2012 Author Report Share Posted 6March, 2012 Momo Prototipo deserves its own post: Fitted this in combination with an adjustable spacer. Size comparison: Not a huge difference in the amount of effort required and only noticeable when maneuvering at very low speed, slightly smaller diameter and closer proximity of the wheel have really improved the overall feel and leverage - no complaints from me. The only slight issue is that indicator and wiper stalk are now further away, I am guessing I'll get used to it. The other side of the coin is that you do not accidentally turn on wipers/indicators as you twirl the wheel going around a tight motorkhana course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randall Posted 6March, 2012 Author Report Share Posted 6March, 2012 And on the note of Motorkhana courses I attended the first PC NSW event for the year: Someone suggested I need bigger swaybars, I wonder what made them say that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-banger Posted 6March, 2012 Report Share Posted 6March, 2012 Love the Prototipo. What diameter did you use? Did you lose any visibility of the dials? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randall Posted 6March, 2012 Author Report Share Posted 6March, 2012 350 mm - perfect size IMHO. Visibility - lost view of the oil temp and speedo over the 100 mark neither of which bothers me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vas930 Posted 6March, 2012 Report Share Posted 6March, 2012 Fitting a Prototipo to the turbo this week. Randall, if you are doing some track work, dont worry about the sway bars. However, looking at that pic, you may want to try a firmer shock. What have you got in the car now? Are they stock shocks and torsion bars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randall Posted 7March, 2012 Author Report Share Posted 7March, 2012 Vas, Yep, I think the suspension is largely standard. Shocks are in good condition but I have no idea what inserts are in the struts. Why do you say not to worry about sway bars if I am doing trackwork? Or did you mean to say unless I am doing trackwork? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vas930 Posted 7March, 2012 Report Share Posted 7March, 2012 I was saying that your car will gain more if you upgrade the shocks. After the shocks, if you want more, look at the torsion bars. These will give you the best gain for road and the odd track day use. I would look at the anti sway bars after that.. Just my opinion. Good luck and thanks for the pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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