worthwhile upgrades
 

Well it finally happened. I was wondering when my wife would get around to questioning exactly how much I've spent on our P-cars. When I told her a year ago that I wanted to buy a 25 year old SC to maintain and upgrade as a hobby, she didn't blink. When I told her six months ago that I would sell her convertible and buy her a Carrera, she started to become a little suspicious. Now that I've bought tools, car alarms and some bling-bling, she's become very concerned with the expenses. So I promised her that I would only add the most worthwhile upgrades to both our cars and perform all the maintenance myself. My question to you is which upgrades would you do to a 25 y/o SC and a 16 y/o Carrera. Another question is what upgrades have you done that would not do again because it either did not deliver the desired results or return on investment was poor. Thanks.

930s steering wheel, done it and would do it again in a heartbeat.

True, it did make the speedometer hard to see after 60mph, but the solution was to simply rotate the speedo 90 degrees to the left. Looks pretty nice actually.

Next 'upgrade' will be to rip out the rear seats and warped leather rear deck and replace it with RS style cloth.

Like so, but for the rear only...

RS Carpet Installation

Dunno if it'll be worth the pain I'll go through in doing the job, but I'll see. A local upholstery shop said they'd do it for $300-$400 (labor alone). I shall try it on my own first...

What about just keeping on top of the maintenance, sometimes just a highly maintained car is the trick, Kevin

My wife likes the paint to be perfect and the interior to look and smell good. Its taken me seven years on my 78 to make this happen.

Every upgrade that I have done to my car has been worthwhile. I doubt if the wife would agree. So we have separate bank accounts and I don't care if she agrees:D

You're always welcome to use the guest bedroom at my house Dean. :D
-Chris

I have the same thing and it works great, only problem is when another box shows up from UPS as she heads out to go shopping and likes to use OUR money. Now if I could just figure out how to PU some new sway bars versus delivery ;)

Buy your wife a helmet for Christmas, and take her to a Driver's Education event.

So does mine so I've bought a polisher and will try a couple of wax products.

I had this item on a wish list but took it off. It's going back on soon.

Doing that now but I think I'll have the valve adjustment done by my wrench.

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!!

Don't know about the SC, but without a doubt the best upgrade to my Carrera has been the Steve Wong chip, about $200.

I really like my 930 steering wheel, even with the bling-bling crest... Especially with the bling-bling crest.

I would upgrade the SC to a '72 or '73, and I would upgrade the Carrera to a 993. You'll have one true sports car and one true GT.

I'm pretty happy with the few things I have done to my car. Probably the two most transforming to the Carrera was the 8/16 and 9/16 and Al Reed polished wheels. Sticky rubber and looks great too.
http://www.a1-staffing.com/big_rear_qtr2.jpg

2nd biggest transormation would have to be the Steve W chip.

3rd on the list would have to be the Dansk premuffler and dual out SS dansk. It sounds (as well as performs) like a sports car now.
http://www.a1-staffing.com/rear_dansk.jpg

4th would have to be the steering wheel upgrade. I went with the MOMO course. Less Bling than the gold tooth 930s crest... More rs type look, comfy too
http://www.a1-staffing.com/momocorse_jwd.jpg

As far as the SC - I guess the best upgrade would be to a Carrera! http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/nahnah.gif

Sell them and buy a 944 and a 951?SmileWavy

1. New engine with no oil leaks and Porsche-like performance
2. Carrera oil cooler with fan--never have to worry about overheating
2. Sport Seats--because now my car is fast enough to need them!
3. Optima battery--clean look, lots of power, no rusty battery area
4. European type headlights and relays to power them.
5. New door hinge bushings and door stays so it doesn't sound like it should be in a junkyard when you open and close the doors.
6. New seatbelts

Hmmm, I made it clear to my wife that the car is my hobby and the garage is my domain. She gets the garden and inside the house. Ask anyone who has been to my house how much foofy crap there is :) Keeps her happy. On the UPS thing, get stuff sent to the office. Hey, you may need someone to sign for the package :)

Best upgrade? Definately headers and Sport muffler, and all of the suspension stuff. Bling-bling? Probably the Momo steering wheel and shift knob, and Porsche crest mats.

Oh yeah, NEVER leave your invoice/packing slips/credit card receipts laying around!

-B

I have stuff delivered to my moms.;) I recovered my stock steering wheel & found a mint horn pad at the swap meet. Looks like new, I love the feel. About upgrades, I would say that depends on what you want, horsepower, handling, cosmetic, or watch DVDs on your way to work.:rolleyes:

I Know this sounds boring but a good upgrade might be the replacement of your sway bar bushings if this has not been done chances are they have seen better days. I think this project could be called "just mainance" so upgrade your torsion bars at the same time. then you have only done one upgrade

Thanks Chris:p