1987 3.2 Carrera Backdate project - Sladeys hotrod

[jtparr]

Noice……..

[911hillclimber]

Weren't you at Centre Gravity yesterday?

[sladey]

Yes I was - did you drive by?


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[sladey]

OK just to wrap this up.

I went to raise the front but because of the front a- arm setup there is more pressure on the spring and they wouldn’t just wind up.

Luckily some time ago I bought a bunch of C-spanners with this exact job in mind. Out of the 6 spanner’s, not one of the fitted the spring so it was out with the bandsaw and grinder and I ended up with this


I also went to fix/bodge that rear cv boot. I picked up one of the split boot things, thinking I could wrap it round and cable tie it in place. But after wrestling with it for 10 minutes there was no way that was going to work unless I took the old boot off. I felt that was opening another can of worms so didn’t want to go there.

After some more thought I remembered I had some fairly thick damp proof membrane. I ordered some extra thick cable ties and ended up with this

it ain’t pretty but should hopefully last me through the upcoming road trip.

On the way to pick up the split boot I was able to play with the car a bit more - mainly on suspension setting 5 (still didn’t know what these all mean yet) and it felt amazing. I was turning quite sharply and it was just going round the corner with no fuss

You know that bit in the Matrix where Keane reeves says to Lawrence Fisher “I know Fung Fu” and Lawrence replies “show me”? Well in this scenario the car was Keanu and it was showing me what it could do. Very exciting and then yesterday to cap it off i was off to Center gravity.


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[Ian Comerford]

You stopped just as it was getting exciting! What happened at CG?

[sladey]

On Sunday I was tidying up the barn. - putting tools away, throwing rubbish etc when I suddenly realised my locking wheel nut key wasn’t where it should be. shite shite shite.

I looked everywhere and eventually came to the conclusion that I may have thrown it away.

I was picking stuff out of the bin and eventually decided the only way was to tip it out and got through EVERYTHING


No joy. I was starting to get stressed now as I was wondering how far Center Gravity could get without removing the wheels.

About 15 years ago when changing a wheel I left the locking key on the nut and drove off. Back then I walked down my road and found it in the gutter at the bottom of the street.

Had to be worth a try

I worked out the last side I’d torqued up was the left hand side so starting pacing down the drive looking for anything shiny.

No joy.

Then it was out into the road. Eventually I saw this


This was my second happy dance in under a week.


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[sladey]

So, Center Gravity then.

I dropped the car off before 9 and had a good chat with Chris - it must be 15 years since I first went there. I talked him through the issues I was having - speaking from the front, knocking from the rear (occasionally) and when you accelerate it pulls to the right.

I took the hire car away and arrranged to come back at 4 as I wanted to go through programming the tractiv screen with him as well.

When I got back the car was sitting nicely


Chris explained that my front an arm bushings were worn a needed replacing - that accounted for the front squeaking. the knocking at the rear was a worn out bushing in my anti-roll bar. Neither thing is great but similarly they won’t stop me enjoying the driving.

With regard to the pulling right under acceleration he said that my right rear tyre dated from 2021 and the left rear from 2024. I remembered that just before Ians funeral last year I’d had a flat on the rear left and replaced just the one tyre. That one was barely had any wear at all but the other one has been ragged around a bit so it’s two different tyre diameters leading to the pulling on acceleration.

I’m having a near rear right tyre fitted in the morning. I’ve got new front bushes and new rear anti-roll bar ordered (but that will be for after my driving holiday - doing that lot on Saturday might be a push even for me!

So he talked me through all the settings he’d changed.

Here they are in pretty pictures - first the before settings


Then the after ones


Then we sat and programmed the tractiv screen.

You’ve got 5 preset-programs - when driving along you can use the touch-screen or (much better) a control knob to cycle between them.

For each of the 5 settings you can control:-
- damper softness for front dampers (in 5 settings)
- damper softness for rear dampers (in 5 settings)
- amount of roll control (to stop you leaning from side to side) (in 5 settings)
- amount of pitch control (to stop the weight going forward or back under braking/accelerating) (in 5 settings)

Roll control and pitch control work via the sensor in the middle of the car (under the passenger seat). If this sensor detects you are turning left because the weight is going right, and you’ve got roll activated, then it will soften the dampers on the left and harden the dampers on the right.

it does this in a scarcely believable 5-10 milliseconds. As I understand it this is some 16 times as quick as Porsches PASM system, and way quicker than you can personally detect the movement.

To start with we set up preset 1 with
- front and rear on softness 1 out of 5
- pitch and roll on level 1 out of 5

Then went on through each preset turning each setting up one each time. - the only variation was that for 2,3 and 5 we made the rear shocks one level stiffer than the front.

Then it was out for the test drive. initially with Chris Driving and then I took over.

First trying it on setting 1 - so everything soft/minimal help. The car felt a bit wallowy but compliant. The dampers absorb shocks better than my previous Bilsteins did - I suppose that’s just a modern shock.

I think hardness level 2 or 3 puts them at a similar stiffness to my previous bilsteins.

After a while I moved onto preset 5 - everything turned up. the ride was firm but not uncomfortable but the pitch and roll control was phenomenal. When you turn the corner it just goes round - no mess, no fuss. When you accelerate you just go forward (well also a bit right until I change that tyres…) - you realise it’s cut out that initial backward sag as you put your foot down. Again on hard braking it just feels controlled - no ‘diving’ sensation - just controlled stopping. It feels fantastic and I’m looking forward to getting to know it more. At this stage my nearest frame of reference is my GT4 -the level of control seems similar - but obviously with a lot less power and more squishy tyres.

I then set up level 3 to be level 3 damper softness but maximum roll and pitch. On the way home on very fast dual carriageways this felt perfect - a bit of give to cope with undulations and road imperfections but that stability was very confidence-inspiring.

I’m thinking of setting max roll and pitch for 3,4, and 5 and just varying the damper softness.

Chris mentioned that if you wanted a wet weather setting then turn down the roll and pitch a bit to give you more grip - the body movement means a smoother tyre transition and less chance of them breaking away.

So overall I’m over the moon and can’t wait to get to know it better. Next week I’m away with mates in Austria and Slovenia alongside a variety of other Porsches - earlier and later - it will be interesting to see how I get on.

Was it worth it? For me definitely yes. But it’s a shedload of cash - for me it’s ended up about 12K fully set up, and that’s with me fitting it all myself. it’s a well made bit of kit and for me the active aspect takes it to a new level.

For some later cars the kits are quite a bit cheaper but for the G body they have to make brand new front struts so that’s a factor.


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[sladey]

A couple of other things before I forget.

My ride height is still low - about an inch lower than what he would class as ‘sport’. However I think it’s about the same as I had before, and I can drive into my barn without hitting the step so we’ll leave it at that for now.

The second thing was that he said he thought there was play in the steering rack and he was suspecting the bushes at either end. I’d not changed them because no-one is making them now and they seemed fine to me. I don’t know if Chris was right about that - I’m wondering if the thrust washer needs to be tighter - dunno. He gave me the name of a specialist steering rack building company in Birmingham who he said did make new bushings for the end. I’ll do a bit more investigating myself before i start pulling all that out again


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[hot66]

sounds impressive Sladey

[Nige]

Regarding the CV boot, you probably know this but you can install a new outer one without having to remove the outer spline/hub nut.

You just remove the CV joint on the inner/gearbox end (about 8 cap heads and a C clip) and slide the outer boot up the shaft. You might want to order 2x CV boot kits if you do it this way.

[sladey]

Regarding the CV boot, you probably know this but you can install a new outer one without having to remove the outer spline/hub nut.

You just remove the CV joint on the inner/gearbox end (about 8 cap heads and a C clip) and slide the outer boot up the shaft. You might want to order 2x CV boot kits if you do it this way.

Thanks Nige - didn't know that. I'm guessing it's a bit of a stretch and the spare one is in case you split the first one? Still, got to be easier than taking the whole thing apart

[sladey]

I got that replacement tyre fitted this morning and it's stopped the pulling to the right straight away. I've barely done any miles since that was fitted so the two rear tyres should be pretty similar

[Nige]

Regarding the CV boot, you probably know this but you can install a new outer one without having to remove the outer spline/hub nut.

You just remove the CV joint on the inner/gearbox end (about 8 cap heads and a C clip) and slide the outer boot up the shaft. You might want to order 2x CV boot kits if you do it this way.

Thanks Nige - didn't know that. I'm guessing it's a bit of a stretch and the spare one is in case you split the first one? Still, got to be easier than taking the whole thing apart

No mate, once you unbolted the CV from the gearbox flange you remove the CV cover, then a c clip and and the whole CV assembly comes off, just leaving the shaft splines. You then just simply slide the new outer boot up the shaft to the outer CV. No need to stretch over anything.

[Nige]

Video shows the removal of the CV joint, although removed and on a bench. You do this under your car with the outer CV still bolted up the wheel hub, then drop the inner CV joint from the box, remove it and slide your new boot up the shaft to replace your knackered one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtZlHU78bQg&t=9s

I did this on mine some years ago, just make sure you pay attention to the CV joint orientation, bearings, etc. You do get lathered in grease, but you like that.

[sladey]

Just had notification that the new front bushing will be arriving on Friday. Do I fit them on saturday before the big trip on Sunday? Should be do-able. disconnect ball joint, unbolt front a- arm and slide out from rear after disconnecting the ARB. Then I'll have it on the bench to take out the old bushing and install the new one. Reassembly is the reverse as they say. That way I wouldn't have touched any of the adjustments made by Center Gravity. Still thinking about it