DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Oh my god I am absolutely fuming!

These headlights are just the worst design in history, right up there with the MFI pump adjustments, the trailing arm eccentric bolts, and a myriad of other things.

My headlights need adjusting so set about it tonight. Adjusted one side fine, came to the other and the main beam reflector inside the H1 assembly is hitting the lense whilst its still way out of adjustment. Apparently its a problem with the terrible H1 design. So I have to take the headlight back out to mess with its stupidly complex adjustments.

Remove the lower holding screw... but will the headlight come out... will it bollocks, push it, pull it, prise it, f'ing everything, it just will not come out. It is tight solid in the wing, nothing will shift it. Get my tiny rubber mallet out to tap it whilst pushing and pulling and bang, my original RHD H1 lense shatters. 2 taps with a tiny rubber mallet on 5mm thick glass! To look at it youd think I bashed at it with a steel hammer! Quite how it has shattered I have no idea. I can only think all my pushing and pulling and prising has put stress in it or something and the mallet tap has sent it over the edge.

Im absolutely f'ing raging. One bolt and they should just pull out! But no! If they weren't designed so shite I wouldnt be having to take it in and out in the first place. I still cant even get the headlight assembly out even now its fuked. Truly god awful from assembly to installing to uninstalling everything, F****** terrible.

How the hell do you get it out! I honestly think it is IMPOSSIBLE to get it out without destroying the trim ring, the lense and/or all of your paint work.

Finally, is anyone able to take pity on me and have a RHD H1 lens with raised lettering they are willing to part with? im guessing this is a long shot.

I feel for you. I don’t think it is an H1 issue, but more widely headlamps up until the 993. I have not had the same issue as you because mine are not fitted to the wing properly and have massive gaps, therefore easy to remove but look sh*te. If they are, I think the only way is loads of padding on the paintwork and a lever off, preferably with someone pushing on the top of the rim at the same time.

I hope someone has one for you as you have come so far. But you are not alone in your hatred of 911 headlamps.....

I think im going to cry myself to sleep tonight

..............

I had the opposite problem. I have 'lost' two headlamps whilst driving! All because there was too much primer thickness on the lip of the mounting flange. I now fit cables ties just to be sure.

Dearest 911, Please forgive me for I know not what I have done! Thine oil leaks and crappy headlights are not but minor faults compared to thy glorious engine and handling, as if sent from god above!

Fixed my headlight thanks to Alan at Canford Classics (there can never be too many guys like him in the community) and my dad who took pity on me and paid for my replacement lens (thanks dad!).

Bad news- my No.8 bearing repair has stemmed the flow somewhat but not completely. I would say it has gone from an 8/10 "terrible" leak to a 4/10 "bad" leak. I can live with it for now but it will need sorting this winter or next at the latest.

Got myself a cheapo 3rd brake light and installed it. Im much happier now. I would never run a classic in modern traffic without one. I really notice their effectiveness when tailing a vehicle whose 3rd light has failed and you nearly slam into the back of them. Maybe its because Im kind of young and I have no experience of pre-3rd light driving but for me the 3rd light is the primary light I respond to. Im sure im not alone in this either probably 80% of drivers out there react of the 3rd light I think. Especially with the 911 std lights being so low.

The big change I had this weekend was I got a Rennshift shifter and it has transformed my driving experience beyond words. I really appreciate a good gearshift that gives you confidence. It is why I developed my own home made 6 speed Mazda RX8 gearbox conversion on my BMW 2002. The 02 shift was crap and the 6 speed was way better in every way. The stock 901 shift in my opinion is rubbish, again maybe its be being young-ish and not used to having to fish for gears but thats just what I think, im sure years ago it was called "driving skill" . Its not the gearbox, its the shifter. All my bushes etc are new but it is still crap. Fundamentally the throw is way too big (hits my knee) and it doesnt self-centre, and the gate is far too weak. This means I have spend a good few months trying to find 1st, catching reverse, trying to find fourth, praying to god what I think is fourth really is fourth because if it is 2nd im in big trouble... etc etc, i just have no confidence in it, and shifts take forever to find.

But the Rennshift is like a dream. Snicks into every gear, self-centres to the 2nd/3rd plane in an instant, reverse lock out. 1st to 2nd shifts in an instant, no worrying about shifts into 4th or down into 3rd. It has transformed the drive for me now. I can whack it into any gear super quick, no fishing around or letting the clutch out super slow because what you are hoping is 4th might actually be 2nd. No, I can shove it in gear and drop the clutch in total confidence. I have spent all weekend driving my car like I stole it and its been amazing, driving experience transformed!

When you get the rennshift it comes default with the stronger gold spring on both planes. I put the weaker spring in my 4th/5th plane. so that I have a hard push to engage 1st/rev but an easy push for 4th/5th. I think its better this way.

I think the Rennshift is the best £500 I have ever spent on a car. It wont fix a knackered gearbox but it will make finding those knackered gears much easier!

I also got a replacement speed switch off eBay, theres a few of the new/old stock Bosch ones on there for around the £100. Once they are gone they are gone I think. I bought it, hacked it up to remove the panel and swapped it into my original casing. Looks totally original! It works too! ishould have just bough this rather than try and repair my original, which no doubt even if I had managed would have failed on another component a month later

Those headlamps have haunted more than a few on here, I for one have fought and lost but all ok now. The key is getting the fit to the top lip. Dansk wings make it harder...

I've had my Rennshift for many years now, part of a Group Purchase on DDK no less, and it is very very nice as you have found, good to read you have had some luck with both.
Have you re-run the engine with the seal kit fitted yet?
You are getting there in big steps, soon be as 'done' as any classic vehicle ever is (ie it is never done), tinkering will be a part of your life with it!
Graham

Good update. Gradually beginning to get to a decent level of enjoyment with a 911 then.

I admire the “driving skill” of my immediate older generation who had crash gearboxes and had to constantly match revs to find a gear. I’m thankful I have synchromesh and a wonderful long throw 901 ‘racing pattern’ gearbox.

Enjoy the ride.

Regards
Mike

911hillclimber wrote:Those headlamps have haunted more than a few on here, I for one have fought and lost but all ok now. The key is getting the fit to the top lip. Dansk wings make it harder...

I've had my Rennshift for many years now, part of a Group Purchase on DDK no less, and it is very very nice as you have found, good to read you have had some luck with both.
Have you re-run the engine with the seal kit fitted yet?
You are getting there in big steps, soon be as 'done' as any classic vehicle ever is (ie it is never done), tinkering will be a part of your life with it!
Graham

Come on now Graham ..... keep up at the back. Read the above post again (all of it !). You have now answered your own question.

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Glad to hear that you've overcome your headlamp problems & are thrilled with the transformation in gear changing that the Rennshift has provided.

I'm sure it probably is an 'age' thing - or certainly a contributing factor -but I've never understood the criticisms (you're not the first person to air their frustrations on that matter).

I've always found both the 901/911 'dogleg' & the 915 gearchange (assuming it's adjusted correctly & all bushes are in good condition) perfectly fine - but I know many younger 911 owners who have been 'spoilt' by the 'knife through butter' changes in their (even mundane) everyday cars find the 901/911/915 gearchanges painfully slow/vague/cumbersome ...

.

That's irritating about the oil leak.
As to the Rennshift, I found my Bainbridge box harder to change down through than change up, but also I found the rubber boot supplied was really thick and resisted the change action, the stock boot is so much better and it covers the tower casting to the carpet.
I also lengthened the shift rod itself by 40mm which helped me, giving precision but 911 stock throw.

Just driven the car for 20 miles, reminded me how nice it is.

Unlike some on here, I learnt to drive in a Mk1 Escort, hard to beat that gearbox for smooth action.

Lightweight_911 wrote:.

Glad to hear that you've overcome your headlamp problems & are thrilled with the transformation in gear changing that the Rennshift has provided.

I'm sure it probably is an 'age' thing - or certainly a contributing factor -but I've never understood the criticisms (you're not the first person to air their frustrations on that matter).

I've always found both the 901/911 'dogleg' & the 915 gearchange (assuming it's adjusted correctly & all bushes are in good condition) perfectly fine - but I know many younger 911 owners who have been 'spoilt' by the 'knife through butter' changes in their (even mundane) everyday cars find the 901/911/915 gearchanges painfully slow/vague/cumbersome ...

.

Yes I'm sure it is an age thing. I have indeed been spoiled to date! The gearbox its self is fine great ratios and shifts great now. The issue for me is all in the shifter unit. I wouldn't trade my 901 for anything now. I really see the benefit of the dogleg pattern, 2nd and 3rd are all you need when you can rev to 7500

Things have slowed down of late as the car is mostly in working order and i have been busy with "normal life things". I would like to say that I have been enjoying it a lot but the weather has been so bad the last 3 weeks I haven't been able to get out for more than a local run out.

One of the things I have done is procure a 5th wheel so I now have a spare. I got a non-heart wheel to go with my other 3, so I now have a set of 4 non-hearts on the car and a hearted wheel as the spare. Although technically not correct having a matching set of 4 is still much better than an odd set. This wheel needed cleaning up as with the others.






Another thing I have started working on is an oil cooler. My 69T never had one originally but it is now effectively a 69S and they did have one. Im not sure how necessary they are on these early cars, my car has so far never gone over 180 on the gauge. I do wonder if they ever really come into use in UK weather? That said I dont want to be left wanting on a hot day in traffic. I hope one day to take my car abroad and im sure in the hot weather it will be peace of mind to have one, and may well come into use.

Luckily I already have the most expensive and hardest part to get. The 69-71 oil console. However on my car, it goes nowhere, it just U-turns in the rear wheel well and goes back, so its doing nothing.

Ideally I would love to get the proper through-sill oil lines installed and the correct 69-71 cooler but realistically im never going to be cutting up my sills to install the pipes and the 69-71 cooler is ridiculous money. So first I needed some 74-on oil lines, which I was very lucky to get from Keith Fellowes on here in good condition (not crushed) and for a great price. Obviously no one will mail these, so getting hold of a set is pretty difficult even though they aren't a super rare part.



Having got the pipes I flushed them with thinners to clean them out as best I could and set about installing them. Easier said than done when you are on your own. You have to come up with all kinds of elaborate ways to hold the pipes in place in order to establish where to weld the M6 nuts into the sill. Having done that they bolted up great, I zip-tied plastic bags over the ends of the pipes to keep crap out so I can still use the car if needed for now.








With the pipes installed I now need to install a cooler and connect the pipes up to the oil console at the back.

Just noticed that you are running wheel spacers - are they 15mm?

Did you have to clearance the back of the wheel face at all to clear the nuts holding the spacer on?

Cheers,

Ralph wrote:Just noticed that you are running wheel spacers - are they 15mm?

Did you have to clearance the back of the wheel face at all to clear the nuts holding the spacer on?

Cheers,

Hi Ralph, yes I run 15mm spacers front and rear. I had to grind 1mm off the original mounting studs in order for the wheel to sit flat on the spacer, otherwise like you say, the original studs would foul the wheel recesses on the back face. 1mm will never be missed and hub studs can be replaced. I wasnt going to take a grinder to the wheels! If you could find a 16 or 17mm spacer that would be ideal but they cant be had off the shelf as far as I know and a 20mm spacer is too wide for the wheel to fit under the arches.