993 restoration

[Ferry Man]

OK, let's shorten the tale and get straight to the point.
I bought a brand new set of Speedlines.
Maybe I'll say what I paid, maybe I won't...

[KS]

Well, as used ones appear to go for about $4000 a set on eBay, I'm guessing I'd better sit down before you spill the beans!

[Ferry Man]

I was delighted to discover that the Speedlines were once again available from Porsche.
I negotiated hard with my OPC but they protested the margins on those wheels were less than normal Porsche parts (probably because they are made not by Porsche but by Speedline).
In the end I did a deal along with a lot of other Porsche parts so the dealer gave me a reasonable discount.

Along with that the exchange rate was much better when I pulled the trigger so I got them for about £5k.
Having earlier offered to buy back my old wheels (£3.5k), my man maths told me - in effect - they were only costing £1.5k.
Well that’s how I justified it to myself….
I think you’ll discover the list price on a set of those wheels is now nearer £6k. But they are rather lovely...

[Ferry Man]

The very early 993's encountered problems when fitted with the larger diameter wheels.
Porsche added a reinforcement to the steering rack to protect it from the stresses possible with the bigger wheels.
It's recommended that if your car doesn't have that brace it should be added.
Sure enough, my car - being an early car, a 1993 build - didn't yet have that 'upgrade'.
So, I took care to bolt it in. It's a simple metal strut that affixes over the existing steering rack mount points (using slightly longer bolts which are supplied with the bar).

[Ferry Man]

Here's a nice little story.
When I bought my new 993 in '95 I was offered: 'gold crests'.
They were centre caps for the wheels with coloured Porsche crests.
So, I paid for a set (about £60 I seem to recollect) and discovered they were dealer fitted and - when I took delivery of the car - they also gave me back the ones that were fitted by the factory (plain black versions).
After a year or so I sold the car but I kept the 'gold crests' and passed the vehicle on with the standard caps.
I put the gold centre caps in a drawer and kept them.
And over twenty years later I was able to fit them to my Speedline wheels.
So, I have a direct and sentimental link back to my old car.

Here they are in 1995:



And the same caps in 2016:

[misteralz]

Lovely wheels. I've always liked the 993 targa split rims, too.

[Bootsy]

Interesting re the steering. Guess that's why I had to have my rack rebuilt

[Tp81]

Love the update, engine looks brilliant, as do the wheels. In terms of the cost, I feel your pain. I bought a new set just recently to have with my car.



I could have sold you these.

[Mike]

Looking fantastic Paul, wonderful wheels! This car is going to be very special, can't wait to see it featuring in the new 964/993 DDK forum section!

[Ferry Man]

Nearly there. Very nearly there.
Not just the completion of this restoration thread but - for me - I was getting close to finishing the car.
Really just the suspension to go.

[Ferry Man]

Just the suspension to go.

Now the suspension wasn’t supposed to be an issue but it turned into one.

It started with the lower rear control arm.
I had noticed this:

[Ferry Man]

Now that’s bad. I’m no suspension engineer but I know that shouldn’t happen.
So, what has happened? Well, I confess I didn’t know. But the more I dug, the more I discovered.

[Ferry Man]

Let’s go back a few steps.
When I bought the car it had a comprehensive file of paperwork with it. Receipts going back years.
Lots of money spent, some wisely, some not.
But for the suspension there were two main episodes.

Back in 2008 (but only 20,000 miles ago) the car was ‘set up for track-days’.
Now that work was done by an ‘indie’ in the North West of England. They charged about £2.5k and fitted ‘good, used components’.
This was all very understandable because back then the car would have been worth very little (maybe £18K?) so the owner would have thought lightly used parts a cheap compromise.

However, I believe my troubles started there.
When I dismantled the car I found some suspension components from a C4, some Turbo parts and even bits from an RS. Along with the remaining C2 original parts.
Now fair enough, the replacement parts were listed as ‘lightly used’ but the mix of parts and their fitment was seemingly not undertaken properly.

[Ferry Man]

The main issue was the rear roll bar.
When I stripped the car the brand new rear roll bar bushes I had purchased from Porsche didn’t fit.

And I quickly discovered why, I had a thicker, RS roll bar.
There are several rear roll bar thicknesses available on 993’s, the Turbo cars ran thicker bars but - uniquely - the RS bars were thicker & adjustable. They have three holes in the bar end and you can select the stiffness accordingly. Now that’s fine, a nice upgrade, you’d think.

Here's my rear roll bar, refinished and with new saddles and the correct size bushes (my OPC kindly took the standard bushes back and swapped them for RS versions):

[Ferry Man]

Front bushes were changed with no problems:



But when I tried to install the bar on the rear I encountered problems: