1986 3.2 Refresh

[NeedAJoker]

I spent the majority of the last 6 years of ownership appreciating the lines of my Iris Blue 1986 3.2 from under a car cover. Sure I drove it on a nice little 10 mile loop half a dozen times a year to keep the battery charged and things reasonably lubricated, but since I bought the car in 2014(One Month Anniversary), I have only managed to take it from 147k and change, to the 152,451 that it sits at today, most coming in the first two years pre-children. Although I have been a PCA member for 8 years, I have not attended a single PCA event after year one, C&C, or even opened the plastic on the enormous stack of Panorama magazines I have in the basement. I turn 38 next week, the time is now.



In July I posted asking you all about a small growing bump under my passenger door sill(1986 Carrera Door Sill Bulge) which in a weird way turned out to be the catalyst that I needed to fall back in love. Funny how a little rust bubble could revive the obsession that I had years back before Dad/Husband/Work life took over. Since that day less than a month ago, I have spent upwards of 40 hours on the forums, probably at least an additional 40 in YouTube time, and hours upon hours in the garage with a flashlight just looking, inspecting every inch, dreaming, and building a decent sized initial shopping cart here with our host. My biggest hold up is that while I truly enjoy reading, watching and learning, I have zero experience turning a wrench. Watching Greasy Fingers channel is both therapeutic and intimidating at the same time. I set two appointments at Indy shops, but ultimately decided for me a big part of ownership of this car is going to be the work I am going to do myself and be proud of, regardless of how slowly I have to move. I canceled both appointments. Analysis paralysis is finally over, and I clicked the 'submit' button on a few shopping carts. I expect the flow to be similar to Amazon boxes the first few months of having a newborn, with the addition of a Porsche tax generously applied. If I go slow and steady, how much can I really screw up, right?....right?......

I plan to tackle each task bit by bit, try to keep the car immobile for as short of periods of time as possible, and will rely on the many threads before me to lead the way. The few things I/mechanic did with this car 8 years ago are completely gone from my memory, so having all my efforts in one place should serve to help me greatly in the future and if someone out there can learn from my efforts, better for all of us.

What is likely to come in no particular order... Corrosion Assess, A/C Delete(then replace with Electrocooler), Heat Backdate, 7 and 9 17's, 36 Year Old Suspension Refresh, Shifter Bushings/Karsten Spring, SW Chip, SSI's, M&K 2-1, replace Alpine deck from my high school days and untold 'while I'm in there's. I picked this car up for $23k, maybe have $5k into it since then, so I feel like I can drop a little cash without much guilt to get it to the ultimate street driver I want it to be. None of my ideas are set in stone so everything is up for debate and subject to change. If anything gets too far outside my comfort zone, I will hand it off to the Pro's but I hope that is minimal.

Enough talking, here are some photos from current and I will post the first update below as I am already through my first low hanging fruit project.

[NeedAJoker]

Something that bothered me from the moment I got the car was the Alpine head unit that although not the worst I have seen, just simply didn't fit this car. I was surprised when I removed it that it was stamped "2006" and was only 8 years old when I bought the car. I guess the age wasn't the issue as much as it simply didn't fit what I wanted aesthetically. On top of that it's function wasn't really up to par. For the first time since 2001, I found myself sitting at my PC burning MP3 CD's.



I read through numerous forum posts, reviews, and ultimately decided on the Continental/VDO unit that is common here on the forums, this specific one being the VDO TR712UB-BU. Most people go with orange backlight but I decided to give blue a shot, as it seems it might go better with my largely blue interior as opposed to introducing orange. Equipped with a 4 page instruction manual, a handful of electrical components from Ace hardware, and a dozen hours of forum reading in my back pocket, I went at it. What I found wasn't the horrible rats nest some people find, but, the PO did cut the factory harness, and I had to do a bit of work to figure out what I was looking at. I probably said "Black to Brown, Yellow to Red, Red to Yellow....or wait is it...?" in my head about 100x times. Somewhere in the middle of the project on one of the dozen trips between my office PC and garage, I learned about inline fuses, and went on a journey to find some to add to the power AND ignition lines. I did, installed those along with the new ISO harness, and somehow when I hooked back up the negative terminal on the battery and pressed the dial, everything worked! I didn't have a fire extinguisher in hand or anything, nope, total confidence.











I really like the look, and having Bluetooth and hands free in this car is going to be very nice. I will hopefully get out for a drive tomorrow and get some pictures of the blue backlight in some different settings if I get a chance.

Next up I think I have to tackle the elephant in the room and assess the corrosion situation. I won't rehash what I already posted in the rust thread, but to say I am scared to pull the fender and take a peek would be quite the understatement. As much as I would love to forget about it and tackle it this Winter season, I just can't bring myself to wait. Hell, I am scared to even wash the car at this point so something has to be done. It just so happens I have a familiar virus and am stuck home in quarantine through the weekend...hmmm.

[Discseven]

NAJ... I had to do the math for amusement---57 miles a month and about 3 gallons of fuel. For someone like myself that has a 911 daily driver, those numbers are wild! Condition looks amazing. Luv the Iris color. If I repaint my car, that's where I'd go with it. If your looking for rust, check the sill the battery sits on. Damm nice car!

.

[Cairo94507]

That is a very clean looking radio and install. Great job.

[famoroso]

"None of my ideas are set in stone so everything is up for debate and subject to change."

Smart approach. Very smart.

You've slow rolled your ownership experience so far, but it's critical to use the car and confirm what you think you want to do to / with it, by driving it and living with it for a while. Being intellectually honest about your intended use and building around that use is important: daily driver vs. Sunday driver vs. canyon carver vs track car vs race car, etc, etc.

Congrats on your recent "moment of clarity" and ensuing progress!

[GH85Carrera]

I have had my 85 911 for 27 years. I have only put about 4,000 miles per year on it. It is my toy car, and I have driven it in 41 states and Canada and multiple race tracks, and 150+ autocrosses. After 186,000 miles it still can win car at shows.

Just keep taking care of your 911, and drive it more and start going to PCA events. You will likely meet some amazingly cool people. I have been a PCA member for 46 years and have a lot of great life long friends I met in PCA.

Make the car fit your dreams, and enjoy it.


You have a great looking car and all it needs is your steady hand to keep it running great.

[NeedAJoker]

Originally Posted by Discseven

NAJ... I had to do the math for amusement---57 miles a month and about 3 gallons of fuel. For someone like myself that has a 911 daily driver, those numbers are wild! Condition looks amazing. Luv the Iris color. If I repaint my car, that's where I'd go with it. If your looking for rust, check the sill the battery sits on. Damm nice car!

.

Oh wow, I didn't do that math but that is pitiful. I mentioned in the rust thread that somehow I became THAT GUY that we all roll our eyes at. Sweet. Only can move forward from here.

Originally Posted by Cairo94507

That is a very clean looking radio and install. Great job.

Thanks! Clean was the look I was going for and this forum made it easy. Biggest hurdle was fitting the surround, as my dash has warped a bit over the decades, and the corner down by the glove compartment was pretty tight. I have some plastic safe silicone lubricant if it squeaks but it might be so tight it can't move.

Originally Posted by famoroso

"None of my ideas are set in stone so everything is up for debate and subject to change."

Smart approach. Very smart.

You've slow rolled your ownership experience so far, but it's critical to use the car and confirm what you think you want to do to / with it, by driving it and living with it for a while. Being intellectually honest about your intended use and building around that use is important: daily driver vs. Sunday driver vs. canyon carver vs track car vs race car, etc, etc.

Congrats on your recent "moment of clarity" and ensuing progress!

Being 29 when I bought it, of course I thought I would be driving it off to Monterey for Porsche Parade, carving all the beautiful mountains of the Pacific Northwest, and attending Cars and Coffee every Saturday Spring to Fall. I was naďve, but on the flip side I am damn proud of myself for resisting the urge to sell during a combination of zero use and insane value appreciation. I almost talked myself into selling Blue, buying an E39 M5, pocketing the extra $30k and not looking back, but, an M5 is not the poster I had on my wall growing up. An M5 is not the first car I looked for in every racing video game I played growing up. I knew if I sold the chance of me getting another was near zero. I have to give my wife a lot of credit, she talked me off the ledge more than a few times over those years.

Goal is for sure making it the best street car I can make it within a reasonable budget, while maintaining a 95% stock look. I won't be doing anything that can't be reversed easily, am cleaning and storing every single part and piece that comes off, and more than anything just don't want to cut any corners and want it done correct.

Thanks for the encouraging words all!

[NeedAJoker]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Make the car fit your dreams, and enjoy it.


You have a great looking car and all it needs is your steady hand to keep it running great.

THIS is so spot on! I drool over so many peoples cars on these boards, when I have a perfect candidate to drool over of my own sitting 15 feet away if I give it the attention it deserves.

[NeedAJoker]

Dad gave me this Porsche book in 2005, must have been my 21st birthday.

[NeedAJoker]

The weekend didn't go exactly as planned, and although I spent roughly 10 hours in the garage and another 10+ reading and researching, I didn't achieve much beyond getting the car up on jack stands and wheels off. Pelican boxes were starting to arrive Friday, got some new rubber from Tire Rack delivered, and I went into Saturday hair on fire, ready to really start digging into the car. I decided there was a decent chance it might be off it's wheels longer than I anticipated, so I went out early Saturday morning for a 37.7 mile drive. It was glorious. Shifts were a little meh, but overall the car drove amazing, no hiccups, and I was smiling ear to ear streaming '80's Hits' on the new VDO deck via Bluetooth.

After I got back home and got one last online refresh of jacking points and methods, I went out and got to work. Feeling accomplished that I got the car in the air, I realized I forgot to loosen the lugs a touch while on the ground which gave me pause to ponder if I should just drop it back down, take it to the mech and write the damn check. But, I persisted and kept forging ahead. Once I got the Fuchs off, I searched the part numbers to find out I do not have 16x6 and 16x7's that I thought I had, but instead realized I think I have 944 Turbo 7's and 8's.

Next I went to give the rotors a turn to see if they made any noise, etc, and they barely move with a decent amount of force. Hmm, maybe that one is the parking brake and it needs adjusting, check other side...nope. Both backs barely turn, are not very consistent with some of the rotation taking medium force, and then basically locked without much rotation at all. Warped rotors perhaps? How did these not just catch on fire on that drive? Fronts spin a bit more freely, and I do see pads were replaced in 2014, not too many miles ago, ;-). To the PC I went and I spent most of the day back and forth reading threads, looking at my setup, reading more, looking more, cleaning a bit, then reading more into the night and next morning.

Fast forward and I have determined the brakes need desperate attention. To anyone who works on cars a lot this is obvious and I feel vulnerable admitting how little I know, but I had never even heard the word 'hygroscopic' before so assuming how few miles I have driven, thought I was fine in the brake department. Now I know, brake fluid can simply not sit in the system for 8+ years without attention, ESPECIALLY when it is not used, does not get hot and allow for some of the moisture to burn off. For sure need at the minimum new soft lines, as these are assuredly stock and probably swollen internally badly, restricting my calipers from releasing their grip, but considering how bad the fluid is, I can't imagine not going the distance and replacing rotors, sending off calipers to PMB and doing it all. Well, since I will have the rotors off, while I'm in there... I can now see first hand how this goes. Slippery slope.

All the rubber looks shot on the suspension. The rubber is so worn on the sway bar drop links(?) that the nut is starting to bite into the metal a bit, and every piece of rubber I can find is either mushroomed or deformed in some way.

As my new wheels just showed up today from France, I had a pretty quick realization that I was a little quick to pull the trigger there, and doubt those will be going on for a while. I spent last night reading Craig_D's 48 page suspension thread for the third time this week, floundering between "I can do this.." and "How much would the shop charge to do this.." At the moment I am still undecided on how I am going to proceed. I know I can't drive the car like this anymore, so I have to do something, just how much something am I willing to bite off is the question.
Kevin.

[wjdunham]

I'm in the "you can do this" camp when it comes to the suspension rebuild. It's a lot of work but there is always someone there to help and the rewards are so worth it once you are done. I've done it twice in my garage with no lift and only a few specialty tools (like the ball joint nut socket). Just make sure you budget a fair amount of time for each step, things like getting the old rubber off the a-arms and spring plates and cleaning them up can take an afternoon. There will be challenges, but nothing that hasn't been seen before and somewhere on this board a solution :-)

Bill

[redridge]

when I refreshed my targa... my aha moment was putting the windshield back in. I thought the rope in the seal was so old school that I felt like an artisan putting together a fine watch. lol.

[NeedAJoker]

Thanks for the encouragement. Been thinking all day, and maybe I should just take on the brakes soup to nuts now, get those tires/wheels mounted and see if I can't at least be able to drive this Late Summer/Fall which is my favorite time of year around here for drives. I know I would be doing a few things twice and adding a bit extra work, but, at this stage in learning doing a few times won't hurt a bit. Doing one system at a time might be an easier way to highlight if I messed something up as well I suppose.

Then get everything ordered for suspension and tackle it this Winter. I don't have a heated garage, but do have my tandem bay(w/ window) heated so any cleaning or bench work can be done in there.

Seems like a decent way to go, so I am going to dive deep into brake research and get a cart built. Will report back. Thanks.

[famoroso]

Given my understanding of lead times and turnaround times for places like PMB, your hopes of driving the car late summer / early fall seem like a pipe dream. I'd love to be wrong about that.

Embrace being "in the army now" and do the braking system and suspension refresh. Spring '23 isn't that far away! ;-)

One thing is for certain, you don't want dragging calipers to boil your fluid and lose your brakes on the freeway, which is what happened to me...

Name that brake failure mode! Pedal goes to the floor w/o warning. Stranded.

[Showdown]

Before I threw myself into a massive winter project, I had only ever changed a flat tire. 8 month later, EFI/ITB conversion, backdate, paint, classic retrofit ac, interior work, suspension refresh….

You can do it! And you’re correct, a large part of the fun of owning the car is wrenching on it.

[NeedAJoker]

Originally Posted by famoroso

Given my understanding of lead times and turnaround times for places like PMB, your hopes of driving the car late summer / early fall seem like a pipe dream. I'd love to be wrong about that.

Embrace being "in the army now" and do the braking system and suspension refresh. Spring '23 isn't that far away! ;-)

One thing is for certain, you don't want dragging calipers to boil your fluid and lose your brakes on the freeway, which is what happened to me...

Name that brake failure mode! Pedal goes to the floor w/o warning. Stranded.

Thanks for the input and sharing your thread. My wheels spin exactly like yours in the first of the two videos you posted. Rears worse than fronts. I am absolutely not driving it until it is fixed.

Re timetable, yeah I suppose you are correct, Summer is already fading fast and I still have some reading to do before I dig in. Also in the little time that I have had to crawl around the car the last week on jack stands, my wife has been worrying, and WANTS ME TO GET A LIFT to be more safe. Umm, ok, no problem. So that is now #1 on the shopping list. Nothing crazy, mid rise scissor.

Thanks again and I will keep the updates coming.

[NeedAJoker]

Originally Posted by Showdown

Before I threw myself into a massive winter project, I had only ever changed a flat tire. 8 month later, EFI/ITB conversion, backdate, paint, classic retrofit ac, interior work, suspension refresh….

You can do it! And you’re correct, a large part of the fun of owning the car is wrenching on it.

No kidding, impressive. Going to check out your build thread.

[darrin]

Re brakes -- I'm very much in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp -- Thus, especially given your goal to get the car back on the road for a while, you might want to consider simply replacing the soft lines (as the likely source of the dragging calipers), flushing the system and then seeing if that resolves your dragging caliper issue. Worst case (if the calipers still drag), is that you're out some brake fluid. Similarly, unless your rotors are out of spec (or are warped), I'd save your time/$$ and use your current ones until they're worn out.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by NeedAJoker

Thanks for the input and sharing your thread. My wheels spin exactly like yours in the first of the two videos you posted. Rears worse than fronts. I am absolutely not driving it until it is fixed.

Re timetable, yeah I suppose you are correct, Summer is already fading fast and I still have some reading to do before I dig in. Also in the little time that I have had to crawl around the car the last week on jack stands, my wife has been worrying, and WANTS ME TO GET A LIFT to be more safe. Umm, ok, no problem. So that is now #1 on the shopping list. Nothing crazy, mid rise scissor.

Thanks again and I will keep the updates coming.

Do it! Beside the Air Conditioning and heat in the garage, my lift is a favorite garage addition. I tend to put mine up in the air to clean on it, or do electrical work at eye level and not be bent over.

I put mine in a pit, and I use a piece of 1/2 inch plywood to cover the lift when not in use. There are lots of threads on the site about scissor lifts. Mine is the Bendpac MD 6 XP and has been flawless for nearly 10 years.

[NeedAJoker]

Well, it has been decided...



No going back now, the catch for buying this was that I will not be paying mechanic fees hopefully for the next decade plus, so everything is now on me to learn and do. Not going to lie, I am beyond excited that I am going to really make this car mine, and learn a lot of skills along the way that I have only admired in other people until now.

Suffice it to say I am not going to start work on the 911, who my 6 yo daughter has recently named 'BlueJay' until I get the lift in place. I can't risk having the car non-mobile when this 900lb package arrives and needs to go exactly where my German friend is floating on jack stands at the moment.

Instead I am going to spend the next few weeks(or however long it is) to make a temporary large workbench in my heated tandem garage space that I can clutter with greasy parts as they come off. I wish there were a blasting cabinet somewhere between the crappy Harbor Freight and the overly expensive $2k ones that are more than I need, as I would add that to my list also.

Won't be any updates for a while, but hopefully I have a really solid setup to share with you all sometime before Fall.

Kevin