New owner

Gentlemen ( and Ladies?)
I have just taken possession of my very first Porsche- an '83 SC coupe. It is beautiful and fast!! Black w/ black leather. I hope to have pictures to post in the next couple of days. I have been reading this bulletin board for months now (all during the agonizing search) and am very comforted by having such a great resource at my fingertips. I had a 5 hour drive yesterday (in the pouring rain) to bring it home, so it wasn't as fun as it will be- today is clear and dry , however, and my boss is out of the office ) Anyway, any advice for a rookie?


PS I am going to attempt replacing the headlight switch tonight. Hopefully it is as simple as the Haynes book makes it out to be....



[This message has been edited by magilla (edited 12-18-2000).]

Congrats on such a fine car, everyone here will tell you the SC 3.0 is clearly the finest P-car ever built! ;>

When I purchase my '78 SC Targa, I did this: Bought every single book I could find on the marque. Replaced oil and oil filter and cleaned the sump strainer, checking to see if it was the upgraded version (it was!). Next, off to the fuel filter: bought two from my local wrench. Put one on and ran two 20oz Techron bottles through w/ two fresh gas fills over the course of two weeks, finding little-used roads at early times of the day to OPEN THAT MOTHER UP and clean out all the buildup from PO. Dumped oil, replaced gas filter and oil filter second time. I do this to baseline the car and check for whatever I might find in the oil. If you have never changed oil in a Porsche, make an oil catch by cutting one of the huge laundry detergent buckets so that the bucket JUST slides in under the oil tank without hitting the bolt. (Use a hacksaw on the bucket to do this.) You'll be amazed how much oil comes out of that tank!

Other things I've done: Replace 'plugs to cap, including ignition wires. I used shielded wires from Kuryan, but many feel the shielding is not necessary; ask others or search this site for more info. Put psi in tires up to 36 rear/28 front. Replaced brake pads and adjusted wheel bearings. Put the car on jackstands and adjusted clutch cable, lubed the heater boxes, bled the brakes, rebuilt the alternator, replaced the battery...so many things to do!

If this is your first Porsche you may also share the wonder and amazement that you ever went this far without one. I've owned a '69 MGB, a '74 TR6, and had a 58 MGA as well: all precursors to this elegant and wickedly efficient SC I now own. Whatta car!

Again, congrats and enjoy!
John
johnw@wrq.com

More blather: do yourself a favor and use a 2-amp charger (motorcycle charger, for example) to charge your battery to full charge. Remember to pull both cables from the battery when you do this. You will lose trickle-related settings in radio, but you will also be able to diagnose any electrical problems from a position of strength. If you doubt your battery in ANY way, replace it. Best advice I got and kept me from misdiagnosing all kinds of things.

There is a thread on putting in the Optima battery with a conversion plate. I have not done this, but will after this battery fails, whenever that might be. My understanding is that P-cars eat batteries pretty regularly.

jw

I know that your police officers are not that co-operative over there, so you better get on a closed track or even better, a training ground for this:
Look for wet conditions and really try to understand how your car handles in difficult conditions. MAKE IT SPIN! Controlled, of course.
You will experience a WHOOPS for sure. Once you are through (3-5 attempts), it's for your own safety, as it will show you that this car is MUCH different to the other ones you know already! And is much more fun!

Congrats,

Jens

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Thanks for the great tips! Most of them were things I hadn't thought of.
It took over 4 hours, but I finally got the new headlight/ directional switch installed last night. Works like a charm! Of course, I did put the steering wheel back on a little crooked, which I didn't realize until this morning...

Once you get the steering wheel back on straight...make sure road wheels are pointed straight forward then reinstall steering wheel. For future reference get a small bottle of Testors white model paint...(white's easier to see in the dark of the innards) use a fine brush and with steering wheel installed correctly draw a line from the wheel center outer spline ring to the tip of the inner shaft. When you reinstall make sure these two lines line up. (remember...experience is what ya get...right after you need it)!


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Howie
79SC