Pics of your factory leather covered dash and need advice

[86Carrera]

Hello old friends I used to post here all the time 13 or so years ago. You helped me decide which model to buy, what to look for and where to go for service.

What I bought

Coupe, Iris Blue Pearl, two owner car. 102k miles, original paint, leather seats like new (were always covered), no rust or accidents, Calif. owned the whole time.

I paid $18k for the car 15 years ago.

What I've done

Engine and trans were rebuilt by Aase Motors and Haydon Bros. with receipts. Recent tires and brakes. Sunroof cables, window regulators. A/C still works fine on R12. Repainted front fenders and hood to fix stone chips.

It would be depressing to add up all the receipts (which I have) but guess it would be about $20k, maybe more.

Value

I was really bummed on the car because I was so far underwater on it. There was nothing wrong with the engine when I did the top end, it was all because of one broken head stud. Then some good news… in checking the recently sold prices I figure I could get most of my money out of the car if I sold it now. I'm falling in love again!

Car has 162k miles now, runs and shifts like new and looks like a 40k mile car inside and out.

Next steps

I want to mint out the Carrera by fixing and improving a few little things #1 being the cracked dash. I need your opinion on these ideas and photos of factory-covered dashes.

1. Fix dash. You can't buy new ones any more. Until a couple of years ago you could get black for $1700. My interior is blue. So I decided to just have it covered by Tony Garcia in San Diego.

Request: I've seen stitching around the gauges on some leather dashes and on others a seam going across the whole dash there at the top. Anyone have a 1986 or so FACTORY leather dash that you could post a picture of? If possible a pic of the whole dash and also around the gauges.

2. SW chip. When Jeff's gang rebuilt the engine we went with 964 cams. Always hated the weak throttle response at low revs and want to fix by using Steve's chip. Is it worth it? Will it pass smog with the chip? Is there any real difference in the performance, test pipe versus keeping the cat?

3. A/C conversion. Mine works on R12 but has to be recharged every year. What's the most popular conversion here and how much will that cost me?

4. Ride too firm. I used to drive this car on mountain roads for fun but don't any more, it's too nice now. Want to take weekend trips in it and keep miles off. Comfort more important now.

I'm going to talk to the Westside guys about it but do you think going from the Bilstein HDs I have now to Boge factory would improve my ride comfort?

5. Steering too heavy. I want to take the caster down to make the steering lighter. Anyone done this? Don't care about handling feel just want it smooth and easy to steer on the relaxing trips I plan to take it on. This will happen to you too when you're 15 years older :-)

Plus I have another less valuable car that I can use when in the mood for aggressive driving.

Hope you can provide some dash pics for me and comment on the rest.

My newer car purchases have taken me to some other websites for advice on those but none of them can compare to the knowledge base here at Pelican Parts. You guys are the best and thanks again for all of your help over the years.

Pete

[FrenchToast]

Beautiful color combo!

As for the dash, I could be wrong, but it is my understanding that:

A factory leather dash for 1986 should have one seam (piped) running across the top of the dash. On a vinyl dash there is a small ridge here. There should be no seam around the gauges.

The 964 and 993 used a different style main seam, and also introduced a French (?) seam around the gauges. Probably because the gauge area is such a complex curve they decided to add ones.

An '85 (note earlier vents):



An '86 (note later vents, but what appears to be the same stitch pattern):



959 (note the seam has changed from piping to some other style):



964 Turbo:



993:




The 959 pic above ('87 I think) appears to be somewhat of an intermediate - specifically a main seam more like a 964/993 but still no gauge seam.

So if you desire to find out exactly what is original, it may be worth researching if this affected normal 911s as well, and if so, when. Otherwise, the picture of the '86 above appears to be the same style seam as used on leather covered '77-'85 dashes.

For comparison, here is a vinyl dash on an '89 Speedster (odd given the numerous Exclusive touches)



As for the rest, I can't comment too much. You can research converting to R134, but even that is expensive and not an end-all-be-all solution. It sounds like the best solutions are a total rework/rebuild of the system?

Your Bilsteins could be attributing to the tough ride.

I don't know how much a caster change would affect steering feel. It would definitely affect the contact patch though, and probably scrub angle. These cars already have vague steering under acceleration, trying for a softer feel might make that characteristic even worse?

[timmy2]

Beautiful car and welcome back.
I can only make a few suggestions:

For the A/C search for username Kuehl. Here is one recent thread: Adding a/c

For the harsh ride, maybe raise the car back up to Euro spec (Looks lower in the photo) and do an alignment and corner balance. If that doesn't help, the Boges may. I have Boge HD running at euro height and the ride isn't harsh at all.

Hope that helps a little.

[86Carrera]

Thank for that FrenchToast. I was mixing up the sew style for the 964/993 with the one for the '86s. What worries me is that Tony had them confused too so I really need a shot of the top of the dash for an '86 with leather. I'm assuming all '86-'89 are the same for stitching location.

[FrenchToast]

Originally Posted by 86Carrera

Thank for that FrenchToast. I was mixing up the sew style for the 964/993 with the one for the '86s. What worries me is that Tony had them confused too so I really need a shot of the top of the dash for an '86 with leather. I'm assuming all '86-'89 are the same for stitching location.

Glad it helps!

Again, given that 959, picture, I'm not sure when the main seam changed in style. It may have been a mid-year 86 change? Or maybe it was only for 959s, until the 964 at least.

I would suggest also asking the turbo forums for pics - someone over there surely has an '86 with a factory leather dash.

[javadog]

I've had two '86 cars with leather dashes and they both were like the photos posted above. One seam with piping between the front half and back half, no sewn seam anywhere else.

Keep the R12.

Change the shocks and raise the car up to factory height. Align it to Porsche's specs.

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by 86Carrera

4. Ride too firm. I used to drive this car on mountain roads for fun but don't any more, it's too nice now. Want to take weekend trips in it and keep miles off. Comfort more important now.

The car has 162k miles. It's too late to keep the miles off. You want to fall in love again, and feel good about the $20k invesment? Use it! Get as many miles from it as you can. It is now, and always will be a high mileage car. Take it on weekend trips AND mountain roads.

[Canada Kev]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

The car has 162k miles. It's too late to keep the miles off. You want to fall in love again, and feel good about the $20k invesment? Use it! Get as many miles from it as you can. It is now, and always will be a high mileage car. Take it on weekend trips AND mountain roads.

Amen to that. Mines got 130k miles and I drive it everywhere I can. Fall back in love because of what your car IS, not for what it will never be again.

[FrenchToast]

Update here.

Just saw pics of Magnus's new RHD ride.

It has a stitch around the gauge panel. Looks stock from the pics, given the wear and same seam style as on top.

My guess is this is a very early leather dash, and possibly done through Werk-1 before leather dashes were available. Note the early HVAC controls and wiper stalk.

As one of the very first, they may not have had a set template and decided to run a stitch around the gauges.

The interior also has other leather, color matched appointments which make me think it ran through Werk-1.

Maybe Magnus might randomly click on this thread and share what he knows about the car!