Ocean Blue 993

[knapmann]

So I have a 993 now...

I basically jumped on this one as it was one of the only cars for sale that ticked all my boxes which were;

Coupe
Narrow Body
Manual
Not Silver
Within my budget

With the added bonuses of;

2 Wheel Drive
Sport Seats
Hollow Spoke Techincal Wheels

Its a 1997 varioram car and obviously I'm biased but I think it looks amazing, (the pictures are pretty crap tbh), while still needing a bit of tidying up. After completing the purchase I raced it home and immediately started taking it to bits.

The first thing I did was adjust the brake pedal. It was way too high. There was a chasm between the brake pedal and the accelerator making heel/toeing impossible. Fortunately the brake pedal can be adjusted easily, this is not the case with the clutch which is equally way too high but for which there is seemingly no adjustment. Im going to have to fabricate some way of adjusting it.

The one downside I noticed on my drive home was that I found the 993 a bit more cramped than the longhood, im not sure if the seat doesnt go back as far or if the pedals are closer... but it must be one or the other

Mainly I wanted to inspect and repair any rust in the rear frame rails that is a known issue with these 993s but as you have to take apart half the rear end to do so, it also opens up a whole host of "while your in there jobs" which are either impossible without stripping out the rear end or much more difficult, including;

Valve cover gaskets
Timing Chain cover gaskets
spark plugs
HT leads
Engine mounts
Replacing knackered heat protection, rusted bolts, knackered straps, brackets and fixings
Rear bumper arms
Gearbox Oil
Power Steering fluid
Clutch Slave
probably more things I cant remember

On top of this theres numerous cosmetic things, like getting new centre caps, disabling the rear spoiler which I'm not a fan of, getting rid of the noughties cd changer and head unit, and the nasty black shift knob....

Lots to tackle then but its all relatively simple stuff

[sladey]

Looks lovely

[StuMcc]

Very pretty car. I love the 993. Definitely a part of my fantasy garage. The colour and seat trim work very well together. Congratulations.


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[DustyM]

That looks to be in good order. Nice spec too.


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[Bootsy]

Does look really nice - well done

[Ferdynine11]

Love a 993 - sits lovely


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[knapmann]

Been busy doing some maintenance on the 993 since I got it. First thing I did was go through all the paperwork to make a list of everything that I have records for being done and what therefore needs checking and/or doing. One of the main things I also wanted to do was to inspect and repair/preserve the rear frame rails that are known to rust on these models and can only be seen/accessed by removing most of the rear end. I knew this would also open up a list of while your in there jobs.

First up was a gearbox oil change




Then I started to strip the back end down to access the frame rails, which is pretty easy, fortunately they were in good condition and just needed some wire brushing, paint and wax.









First while im in there job was a new rear N/S control arm, the drivers side one was a recent replacement but this one was original and had a split ball joint boot, I dont want mismatching arms etc The car has had new springs and dampers recently so they are all OK fortunately



Another whilst in there job was new chain cover and valve cover gaskets, valve covers are easy, but the chain covers not so much. The big difficulty is 1) splitting the catalytic converter from the manifolds as all of the bolts certain to be rusted to non-existance and will ALL need grinding the heads off and drilling out, and 2) removing the rear heat pipe thing that runs across the back of the engine which is mounted to the rear engine carrier that must itself be removed to access the covers. The two bolts that hold this pipe in place are the most impossible to access, stupidly positioned bolts I've ever seen, and are of course seized solid as well. I can see now why this is an expensive job that many people put off doing. I was surprised overall how many seized solid bolts there were disassembling all of this rear end. There are a lot of steel bolts into aluminium castings which, if they have never been removed and greased before are by now certain to be totally seized, the heads WILL simply break off. I was replacing everything with stainless as I went and copper greasing everything!






even with the heads all cut off separating the Cat from the manifold was very difficult




One of the above heater flap boxes was siezed as well as all of the Norma bands being corroded. I had to free off the flap by actuating it a thousand times and got new stainless Norma bands





I never understood why they never made thread taps with a hex head so you can ratchet them, so I made my own






The heater pipe you should be able to take out by itself but such was the impossibility of accessing and undoing the stupid bolts I had to take out the entire engine carrier and tinware to try and do it on the bench





Theres two bolts down here, you can just about see, which are virtually inaccessible on the car, naturally, the heads sheared off on both of them despite the blow torch heat, more drilling and tapping







I was then left with this





While I have it out, I'll re-inforce the engine carrier - supposedly known to fail





Now i can finally access the chain covers to replace the gaskets








Another while im in there job was new engine mounts





And finally some colour on the frame rails.... still a lot of jobs to do though!

[Bootsy]

Enjoying this - it's amazing how much 'stuff' there is once you get the bumper off.

I remember the constant messages from my mechanic to order parts when we went through mine a few years ago

[neilbardsley]

Some very nice work. I'm not sure I've ever removed a bolt near an exhaust without something breaking!

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[knapmann]

Enjoying this - it's amazing how much 'stuff' there is once you get the bumper off.

I remember the constant messages from my mechanic to order parts when we went through mine a few years ago

Yes theres so many heat shields and brackets, straps and clips, especially with such a complex exhaust and heater system. Fortunately many of my ones had been replaced in recent years so these didnt need replacing.

[knapmann]

Did some more jobs while I was at it

Cleaned out the Idle Control Valve




Replaced the DME relay





Refreshed the Power Steering Fluid






Someone had already drilled the air box motor-sound style





One of the motors on my drivers seat wasnt working, I traced it to a broken wire, not sure how this has manifested itself, but I soldered it back together and was working again fine. I have to say, all the electrics, plugs and switches on the 993 feel like pure quality items





I welded some bypasses into the mufflers to get a bit more engine noise, obviously coming from an MFI car with its open ITB setup, the engine sound on the 993 is one of its short comings, its just far too quiet. Spoiler - this made a bit of a difference but not a huge amount.





Fitted a period looking Bluetooth Stereo to replace the terrible aftermarket noughties CD changer unit it came with. I wanted the Blaupunkt unit but they are not cheap, the PCCM is out of the question! Treated it to some new rear speakers too, the fronts having been replaced recently already, these new ones fit under the original speaker grilles to look correct.

[knapmann]

More jobs as I continued down the rabbit hole

I rubbed down and re-laqcuered all 4 calipers








removed both headlights to replace the mounting brackets in the buckets that are known to rust badly, these were covered with wax before closing back up. While I was in there I was able to check both ballast resistors for the oil cooler and air con condensor? evaporator? in the front wings, both had been recently replaced and had recent dates stamped on them which saved me a job







I wanted to adjust the clutch pedal further away but there is no adjustment in the pedal by design, which I find rather odd. It is probably possible to fabricate some kind of adjustment mechinism if I were to remove the whole pedal assembly but I didnt fancy doing this. I found that I was able to spacer out the clutch master cylinder off its mount which in turn moves the pedal away. I have just done this with washers for now but I might make a more proper spacer in the near future.






windscreen frames are a big problem point on the 993. Fortunately they were in good condition on my car from what I could see after removing the outer seal/rubber cover. One of the solutions to the rust problems people have with these frames rotting in the corners is to fill the gap with silicone sealant all the way around. Indeed Porsche issued an official technical document detailing this procedure. The only problem is that it then makes it a nightmare to replace the windscreen if it is ever necessary. It is also appeared to be very difficult to get the silicone in the rather deep but narrow (~2mm gap) I decided to spray dinitrol wax into the gap on both my windscreens, it is also much easier to clean up the excess etc. I could spray it in using a WD40 spray can nozzle tube which was only just thin enough to fit in the gap







The rear end of a 993 is pretty fat but is also difficult to tell exactly where it is when reversing, and access to my garage requires some tricky reversing at times thanks to neighbours who love to make life difficult. Reversing sensors are a feature of modern cars I really like. So i bought a kit to retrofit into my 993 while the bumper was off. It was fairly simple to install after painting the flush sensors and cutting the 17mm holes needed. These holes would not be difficult to fill back in if someone was ever that bothered in the future, but I dont see why anyone would rather not have the sensors to be honest! The buzzer is hidden behind the rear seats





My car was missing both centre caps on the drivers side, this was an easy fix

[knapmann]

Got my parts powder coated and reassembled the rear end with a healthy dose of wax












Invested in anew rear reflector




All back together but in need of a serious wash