Having made my test piece, I have now made a couple more of the glue and screw on t/stat savers. Just waiting for a length of 90mm round aluminium bar to arrive so that I can make a holder for my M30 die and cut the male threads. I ground a tool to cut the conical 60’ in the mouth of the male end – not brilliant but does the job OK.
With my ‘79SC being pre-82, having fitted an alternator with an internal regulator, it is probable that my charging light would not fully extinguish. Porsche’s Tech bulletin for moving to internal regulators indicates a resistor across the charging bulb (2W in pre-’82 and 4W, but not interchangeable holders 82-). So I fitted one. I actually stuck a piggyback terminal on each end of the resistor, added that to the charging light and re-attached the cabling. Simple to undo if needed.
I then spent a slightly wet afternoon cleaning the gearbox and inlet ‘stuff’. They’ve only had an initial degreasing, but I did notice that one of the rubber sleeves that join the inlet tracts to the main body had a slit. The slit was small and not puncturing the sleeve, but to be safe, a replacement set is on order.
I then fitted my pop-off valve. I’ll wait for the new sleeves to arrive before I strip the inlet manifold bits (more of a chance that I’ll remember how they go back then). When it’s all apart, I can have another go at cleaning the general oily cr4p from underneath them. My car leaked like the Torrey canyon before I took it apart – due at least in part to a failed (and mostly missing) gasket on the breather cover.
Had a bit of pontification, and then decided to tidy up the garage a bit. Amazing how much space you can reclaim when you put things away tidily. Took ages to clean up all the aluminium swarf from playing with the lathe.
Quite a lot of words there, but a distinct absence of photos, so let’s address that.
Having created some more (cleaner) space, I attacked the rear bumper. First came attaching the rear winglets.
Then I attached the valance to the bumper, followed by the over-riders. The rear valance may need to come off and be modified - my exhaust is a 2-in, 2-out, so I assume I'll need clearance on t'other side as well.
You may have noticed my purple wire - that’s there to act as a pull-through for the number plate lights later.
Next on the list was supposed to be my rear reflector. I fixed the clips into the rear panel
But realised that one of the post panels on the rear of the reflector was cracked at one end. In the absence of anything else, I reattached with JB Weld and left it clamped overnight to dry.
So, attach bumper and add black corrugated gaiter thingies, plus decorative strips.
And then today, add reflector
In preparation for the rear lights, the wiring connectors need to be fitted, as they will be a nightmare to fit later. It was a mare trying to fit the female plug / connectors in the rear corner of the inner wings, even with the small extra access through the light holes. On the driver’s side, I had an aftermarket connector that I had rewired for the rear lights (aftermarket lights as well, as my originals were in a squillion pieces, not all with the car). Unfortunately, I struggled to fit it. I moved to the NS, where I still had the original Porsche connector. This was a challenge, but ultimately, I won. Moving back to the OS, I struggled a while longer, then gave up. I managed to buy a used but genuine Porsche connector from on here a while back, so fitted that. Just need to splice the wires to my new loom now.
So, my finishing photo for today is the NS rear light cluster fitted – the rear of the car looks almost proper now. Not fitted my whale yet, as there’s not that much room to walk around the car, and I want to have another go at colour sanding the lid.
