I made a big mistake!

[ianmorrow]

I bought a 174 k miles car from a lovely marine engineer in the South of England. It’s a 3.2 1989 Baltic Blue with linen interior. He had had it for ten years and had himself fully rebuilt the engine sorted the electrics new drive shafts heat exchangers new brakes refurbished wheels the interior is immaculate body great what’s not to like....I know motor boats too as I’ve had them over the years and planned preventative maintenance is the only way so you replace before failure... the problem is that it is a bit obsessive...as I found with my boat I couldn’t leave it alone..the same with this car...I am in NI so we still have great local independent electrical motor engineers and the car had some minor electrical issues with the seats and mirrors so I dropped it in . Rodney the spark has a mechanic Derick in the shop as well. I asked Dereck to give it a’once over’ . Dereck found a hole at the front drivers side lifting point. To fabricate it the oil flow and return pipes would needed to come out. So I decided that let’s get the pipes bead blasted back to copper colour from horrid black gummy , the oil cooler out and resprayed, and replace the braided original connector pipes to the oil cooler with new Opc ones at 108£ each. I should point out at this stage that everything was perfect before I touched it but I was slightly surprised that the highly experienced engineer prior to me hadn’t done this . Anyway Dereck did say these were 31 year old connections were vulnerable but the thought of bright shiny pipes running through resprayed blue arches and underbelly would not deter my ardour. Yep after respray underneath I got the call. The joints were leaking at the cooler and the rear thermostat. A call to the OPC for the worst case scenario was £2500 and Design 911 £1200 plus fitting.I rang my local independent Porsche specialist Mcmillan Porsche in tears. I now understood why the previous engineer who had owned the car knew to leave well alone ‘ if it not broke don’t fix it ‘ as President Kennedy said. Now local guys Autorad have rebuilt threads on oil cooler and pressure tested but they couldn’t open the rear valve with the thermostat to remove it before welding new threads so I have their bill their bill and 370 £ from Design 911 for new rear thermostat and Dereck s bill for removal replacing and again removal replacing the oil lines I’ve learned a hard lesson’ if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ but there again it’s now all bright and shiny!!!

[Ignatzcatz]

That's no mistake, these boys don't run on pocket money and it's 31years old and done 174K miles, there is going to be expense somewhere. But then again didn't you know we're all pirates in the South of England. Seriously, at the end of the day you have a very desirable '89 Baltic blue Carrera, how about some pics?

[jjeffries]

"You play, you pay, baby".... was it Kojak who said that? The more you drive this (magnificient) car the less you'll be worried about tarting-up the details. Don't get me wrong, we all want ours to look just-so, but the real pleasure is in driving them as they were intended. Best wishes for enjoying your Carerra. John (who replated all the suspension hardware on his 82 SC, polished nuts & bolts, etc...I can't help it...)

[911hillclimber]

I think a 911 when done is a very cheap car to run.
Insurance being the biggest cost?

[MikeB]

Ian

There are a few of us locals on here, so don’t be afraid to get in touch

[ianmorrow]

We had blue skies today! So as the car is back I gave it a wash and polish and took it out . The oil pipejoints seem good . The new Boge replacement suspension that I had worried about and researched is great . Geometry seems ok to me and it is comfortable for our country roads. My chum Richard has a C4S and replaced using Bilsteins B6s and they are too firm and he is younger than me! So for me Boge are the way to go. If I was being fussy the ride looks a tad higher but maybe it will settle?
The engine is running beautifully after George at McMillan Porsche spent ages tracking down a slight resistance on high revs that i didn’t notice until it wasn’t there
Today’s trip was to Givran who are a paint specialist. When the cills were off there was a noticeable difference in the colour above and below the cills. My darling wife always wanted an older 70s car. So a slight compromise was that I would remove the rear spoiler ,much to the chagrin of every country boy in these parts, so I have a Dansk replacement ready to go to the paint shop. Two issues arise,
1. According to the laser paint match my car is an undetermined colour above cill level. Baltic Blue is no longer in their records and to me looks too dark.
2. The car has a rear window wiper so do I leave that on when replacing the rear deck or take it off? Is it necessary? The car might look neater wingless without it?
All help appreciated

[MikeB]

Ian

Go to Coachfinish in Donegal Avenue, Belfast, they have a wider colour range than Givran, who only have the modern range of colours, Coachfinish do classic shades, as I found out recently when doing my Elan

[ianmorrow]

Mike thank you very much I will do exactly that. Isn’t DDK great for connecting like the minded ?

[Chris_ABZ]

Sounds like you got off lightly in my book. Try an engine out "service" once! Anyhow its sorted and you don't have to worry about that issue for a long time. 174k miles is alot; be prepared! I have about the same on my '71. She runs good, but dig deep?

[ianmorrow]

Hi Chris
Maybe or maybe not! Yes 174k is a lot but the car has had a lot replaced. The body is good no rust after two visits to a great body shop . Starting from front new horns reconditioned brakes all round discs new upgraded turbo tie rods new steering bearing new Boge suspension new drive shafts rebuilt engine heater box’s heat exchangers exhaust leather all redone internally. Yes gearbox whilst performing perfectly may be an issue later but a well care for high mileage car surely is preferable to a lower mileage example which has not had the money spent. I honestly don’t believe mileage to be an issue.