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Inheritance 911 Project
Hi all, I'm new around here but have been an avid Porsche fan since childhood when my uncle bought a new 996. In the roughly 12 years I've been driving I've had a pretty lengthy automotive history: a muscle car, some trucks and SUVs, economy cars, an NA Miata, and most recently a few Audi A4s.
Currently I'm daily driving a manual B8.5 A4 sports package with quite a few mods. Very solid as a jack of all trades car. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c08b00d6dd.jpg The reason I'm here, though, is different. My stepfather got into Porsches after my uncle got his 996; the first one he bought was a 1987 924S, seen here in a circa-2002 picture with my uncle's 996 (which he still has). https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...44a1438461.jpg Unfortunately my dad lost a brief battle with lung cancer earlier this year. The cars had been a huge part of our relationship, and he left them to me when he passed. The keeper: 1984 Carrera 3.2 Targa We found this together, sitting by the side of the road, in the fall of 2005. He revitalized it and drove it a extensively for a number of years; it got put on the back burner when he retired and started sailing more than driving. Ancient picture: https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cfae430e2e.jpg Current pictures: https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2acdf32803.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...33ada8ba43.jpg The plan: Friday it gets hauled to a Porsche specialist (ButziGear) to get back on the road. It shouldn't need too much aside from TLC to get going again; it ran perfectly when he parked it and had no major issues. Once all the paperwork is taken care of (yay probate!) it'll go in for some more work and mods. Priority will be sorting out whatever issues I run across once it's back on the road. For mods, as of now I'm thinking 17" Fuchs, Euro ride height, a Momo Prototipo wheel, possibly a WEVO shifter. Essentially I want to clean it up aesthetically and make it drive as well as possible (including in traffic) while keeping the original character and a generally factory look. The one that will be sold: Low-mileage 1997 993 Cabriolet, Aerokit II and Porsche Exclusive. He picked this up when I was in college, and hardly drove it due to the rarity and low mileage. I'm pretty sure it is a factory Aero Kit/Exclusive car; it has all of the aero components and an Exclusive-badged carbon interior with red gauges and belts. Anyway, I don't have room for two toys and have no personal attachment to this, plus (while I don't believe in having cars and not driving them) I recognize that this having under 40k miles makes it unique and desirable. Don't hate him for the wheels, they were on it when he bought it. Ancient picture: https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...082a0b8380.jpg Current: https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...49bbe9621a.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6ee089abdc.jpg So, that's my story, thanks for reading! I have about as much mechanical ability as a doorknob so most of the actual hard work will be done by others, but I'll keep this thread updated as things progress. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Welcome. Looks like we have the same factory stick to hold up the front hood.
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Welcome to the board. Sorry to hear about your father. I am definitely more of a gear head than my dad ever was/is.
I grew up in the same area as you. I worked my first job at AmeriSpec Ferrari Conversions on Mill Plain Road in Danbury. I too had a 924 I bought in Bethel. My advice is to learn about the cars. They are what I call 'Complex Simplicity' Once learned, they are quite easy to work on and fulfilling. You picked the right car to keep. PS. Those wheels don't look too bad on that car, actually. I usually hate non-stock wheels, but that cab is a little over-the-top, so they work well. |
Welcome to the forum! Great looking rides that I'm sure you'll have a blast with. Let us know if you have any questions or if we can assist with any part needs.
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The wheels arguably look worse in person... it's crying out for a set of twist wheels. And I agree, it's very over the top but from what I've gathered some people love the Aero Kit style. |
Pictures are so gigantic you can’t read the script
Bruce |
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I've got new shoes too Never got around to installing them. I have new shocks for my 944 hood too but the sticks just seem to last longer.
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Just sent you a PM.
Joe |
Over the years, i’ve Learned that the factory stick works more consistently than the factory gas pressure struts. A large umbrella can also work in a pinch if you lose the factory stick! ��
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Sorry to hear about your dad.
Beware of driving the 993... you might get much more attached to it than you might think, and quickly too. We have a 79 SC, 96 993, and two sons. They can’t wait to get their hands on them someday... |
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How long since the 993 has had a bath? Poor girl.
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Several years for both of them, the gloss black just shows it worse. His widow thinks they were on the road during the summer of 2016 but I'm not entirely sure that's accurate. And yes, every time I saw him I asked if I could take care of them and got turned down. Lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
The hood shocks are much easier to replace if you don't bother to put the retaining clips on the lower pins... The pressure from the shock will keep the pins in place, at least it has for most of my miles.
HTH, Chuck.H '89 TurboLookTarga, 438k miles |
Sorry about your dad. What color blue is the Targa?
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Unfortunately I'm not sure what color the Targa is, nor what it was originally. This is very close to (if not exactly) the original shade. It is a Porsche color for sure, but they did about 432,238,955 different very similar blue-gray colors in the '80s. We had it resprayed about 10 years ago; I thought it was a factory-correct respray, but my dad remembered that it was a different Porsche color. I'm not sure who is right. He kept exhaustive records throughout his ownership but for whatever reason the paint job information didn't end up in there. It's a little frustrating that I'm unsure of the color since I would probably like to do a Euro headlight conversion at some point and ideally I'd paint the bezels. I'll have to either run them black, which is fine and would match the Targa bar, or have a shop figure out how to match the paint for some ungodly amount of money. |
Condolences on your dad's passing. Get the chrome bezels, will look better than flat black..
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I have a factory tomato post. Maybe it was just an ‘88 thing...
Anyway, welcome to the board, get lost in all the fun topics, “search” is your friend. These are always more than just cars. Your car has a bit of your father to it. That is beautiful. Be sure to check out all the fun past posts on targas. I seem to remember a “show me your targa” post from a while ago. This may give you some mod ideas. |
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I generally have a vendetta against chrome on anything made after the mid-70s; I think the black would match the Targa bar if I go that route. I'd ultimately want them body color, though, so I may just hold off until I feel like dealing with all of that. It should look good when the other mods are done, even with the sugar scoops. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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If you do paint the trim rings for the Euro H4s, I'm sure the shop can match the color. |
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I'll post some better, if dusty, pictures tomorrow when we go up to get it. ;) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
So sorry for your loss. What a great way to remember him. What a great thing to leave them to you. Targas are great you will enjoy it. Take it to bear mountain and play with it in the twisties. Some great roads there over the bridge and up to the fire tower. The best of luck with it.
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Failure on moving it today. Further north in CT they got hammered with snow this week so today was spent getting it off stands, freeing the slightly stuck brakes (just took a big shove), and a whole lot of shoveling. If all goes well it should ship down to the shoreline tomorrow.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...45ac73b225.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Mission successful thanks to Dave at ButziGear! The Targa is now at his shop and on the road to revival.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a42316591b.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...10c0d13a53.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Another quick update, and a question I'm currently contemplating.
Shop has been busy for the last few weeks but he's been slowly working on the Targa. He's spent some time replacing failed relays and fuses, and has power back to most of the car. It definitely needs a fuel pump, and then he'll see if it'll fire. As of now no major concerns have popped up; anything catastrophic would force this onto the back burner until everything is settled with the estate but so far so good. So, the question. Given that it's been sitting, the car definitely needs tires. In my finished/future state plan I had been thinking about going with 17" Euromeister Fuchs replicas, but I'm not sure if that is the right call. Does anyone have any input on keeping 16s vs. uprating to 17s? I'm sure there would be a ride quality penalty, which is a significant downside to me. I've also heard that it changes the steering feel significantly. Another option would be a square 16x8 setup, to push the front tires a bit more flush. Has anyone done this? I'd ultimately like to set it at Euro sport ride height, and don't really want to roll the fenders. Basically I have no idea what I want to do between keeping it stock fitment, going 16x8 square, or 17x8 and 17x9. It doesn't look like the tires I want (Continental DWS) are difficult to come by in any of these sizes. 16s are a good bit cheaper, too. Any advice or input is appreciated. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
My advice is to keep the 16s, get some good tyres and keep the change for something else that will really improve the way the car drives. I would only look at a different wheel size after everything else between the driver and the hubs has been checked and improved and optimised.
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You can't run 16x8 up front without significant modification. Many folks (myself included) move the 16x7 rears up front and get 16x8 fuchs to run in the rear, using the same stock tire sizes for the factory 16x6/16x7 wheelsets (205/55-16 front and 225/50-16 rear). This will push the outside edges of both front and rear tires closer to the fenders, but may still result in some rubbing up front (which can be fixed by rolling the front fender rims). Another option is to mount spacers on your current wheels to move them slightly outward too.
I agree with Costr's advice -- get the car dialed in first and then, once running/working RIGHT, consider what you want to make it BETTER. My other piece of advice is to consider the Michelin Pilot Sport A/3+ tires, I find them to be more performance-oriented than the summer-only continental extremecontact DW tires they replaced). |
Lovely car. Lovely story.
I'm of the mind that you should get this car safely on the road with a minimum of expense before spending or changing much more. You may find your priorities will shift drastically once it's on the road. I've had three 80s 911s. The one that drove the best was the bone-stock car at stock ride height with stock torsion bars and shocks, stock rubber bushings everywhere, and 6/7 16" wheels. I'm not saying this can't be improved upon, but it can much more easily be ruined, particularly on the majority of streets that have bumps and potholes and steep parking lot entrances. The two cars I've had since have been lowered. Motion control was not noticeably improved and ride quality was significantly reduced. Steering is worse, unless you raise the spindles. Pushing wheels out also negatively impacts steering, and wider wheels make steering heavier (both to a negligible or significant degree, depending on how drastic the change is). Most go for a look and accept the compromise—which is fine—but I think it's important to understand what you might be giving up. A lot of "upgrades" you'll read about are geared towards maximizing tire grip around turns, and if you're not already sliding around on dry roads, this probably isn't an area that needs to be improved upon, and since it comes with downsides...well. It's costly to do right, and easy to do wrong. Similarly, you may find a 350mm steering wheel to be irritating in the way it blocks gauge visibility and exacerbates heavy steering feel. I have one, and it's fine, but it's suboptimal. There are ways to mitigate the effects by using an offset adapter, and there is a current thread pleading with Momo to reissue the 370mm Prototipo, so. There are options, but maybe see if the current steering wheel actually bothers you during a run up a mountain first...I never liked the stock steering wheel on these cars, but my concern disappeared after the first drive. The Wevo, on the other hand, is hard to beat. Whatever you can do to improve the shifting of the 915 transmission without opening it up is money well spent. It might still be worth experiencing the stock shifter first, though. Get the car on the road, put a few tanks of gas through it, see how much oil it uses, and enjoy it. Over time, you'll find areas for improvement and personalization that are based on first-hand experience, for which no amount of research can substitute. Hang around here enough, you'll soon come away with plenty of ideas (good, bad, and counter arguments to both—all costly)... |
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Appreciate the input, you all raise some salient points. I'll get it going on the stock wheels for now and maybe do a 16x7/16x8 setup once it's all sorted out, if it's the look I want. Based on some research I can run the stock tire size up an inch with it being tight but not too stretched, so that's great. The WEVO shifter is almost a definite; Dave (Esposito, owner of ButziGear who is doing the revival) is putting one in an SC that he's building for himself as a track car. He offered me some seat time once it's installed and assuming I like it I'll probably do that just to get the car closer to modern driveability standards. I'll likely take it to work in traffic pretty often so improving shift feel is paramount. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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Also, if you're going to re-use the clip, tie some dental floss or fishing line around it so if (or when) you drop it or it slips out of the forceps, you can fish it out of the car's depths. Some quick work with a utility knife will take care of the string once you're done. YMMV. HTH. |
I'd stay with the 16s you have over going to 17s.
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IT'S ALIVE!
Apparently I can't upload videos here but the car now runs. More details as I have then... but this made my Friday afternoon. The paint also cleaned up beautifully; there are advantages to having a Porsche mechanic who is also a detailer. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6afa63293.jpeg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...242f88f6ee.jpg I also picked up a new daily driver to placate my better half; she wasn't thrilled about having 2/3 of our fleet be manuals. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...01f8f1d324.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
de-badged BMW --- way to go Erbe!!!
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It cleaned up beautifully!! Now it's time to enjoy the car a bit :)
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Car needs to be lowered a bit, but maybe that's just me. :)
Congrats on getting it running. Now enjoy it for a while before thinking about mods. I have mine mostly stock except for the stereo, the steering wheel, and replaced the A/C system. It did come with 16*7 and 16*9... |
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Haha asymmetrical badges always irritate me so they come off nearly every car I own. Quote:
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It's not quite done yet, unfortunately, and Dave still needs to figure some stuff out. - Runs fine, after some fiddling. Drives, clutch seems ok, trans works although the shift linkage bushings will need doing eventually. Basically as expected. - Needs a lot of brake work, and probably more than a few calipers. Mostly expected. - Ignition is shot and needs replaced. Unexpected but not a huge deal and apparently common. - Tires are dry rotted and need replaced. Unfortunate, since they're barely worn, but also expected. - The big one: Exxon Valdez-level oil leaks. He's not sure where from, exactly, yet but if they're bad enough it could put this project on hiatus until everything is settled and the 993 is sold. Hopefully they settle down with some heat cycles, or if not then hopefully it's something that won't be cripplingly expensive. If not, back to the garage it goes. As for the height, he brought that up on the call also. We can quickly mess with the torsion bars to get the front looking better and that'll be in the cards for sure, whether it's in a few weeks or a few months if those oil leaks prove to be ****ty. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Alright so, after several heat cycles we have good news! The engine seals seem to have revived sufficiently, so we should be good to go without a project-crippling reseal bill. At least for now. It still leaks some but it shouldn't be a damaging amount.
The paint and interior cleaned up great, for the most part, so cosmetically she's in good shape. Dave said that it still smelled a little musty, but as soon as I got in it memories came flooding back... it always smelled like that when my dad had it. Wouldn't change a thing. Next up will be a full brake job all around, and replacing the ignition which behaves erratically at best. Once it hits, though, the car fires right up every time and seems to run, idle, and pull well (even over the dragging calipers) thanks to Dave's TLC and tinkering. So, hopefully we're into the home stretch of the first inning here. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8acd47196b.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2db33e2890.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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