Found My 87 Coupe - So It Begins

[Gretz]

That interior work is looking great. It's one of the next projects on my list and seeing your work is very helpful. Thanks!

[almostordinary]

Decided to open pandora's box this afternoon.

Been reading a lot about rotted out torsion bar tunnels, and my car had some major salt issues that have all been fixed. This one has had me wondering... the spring plate cover is rotted out and I had no clue what I'd see once I removed it.












Happy to report this side looks great! Ordered new URO covers and bushings for both sides from PP. Likely going to order new hardware all around as these are pretty spent.

Any recommendations for cleaning up the springs? Aside from some surface corrosion they look to be in good shape. Would love to save some cash at the moment and hold off on buying new spring plates.

[nospiners]

Keep up the great work , we are all watching!!

[almostordinary]

Got both spring plates removed.

Plan is / was to disassemble and get them re-zinc'd locally.

The passenger side plate cover looked horrible, but everything came off without a hitch.

Cleaned them up a bit and decided to take apart the driver's side.

The driver's side torsion bar was stuck inside the assembly, some propane and a rubber mallet persuaded them to part ways.

Now I have a dilemma, the driver's torsion bar rusted to the inner cover, is this something that can be cleaned?

I think I will need to bite the bullet and get two new torsion bars, but wondering if the driver's spring plate is shot since the inside is so corroded?











Plan was:

- Get these and the hardware plated, replace all the bushings
- Remove rear trailing arms, clean them up and remove the bushing and steel inserts

Now I may have to come up with a spring plate solution, as I don't want to just go down a never ending rabbit hole... trying to keep the build cost sensible, but also looking to not take an L by cutting corners.

Looking at these Rennline EZ adjust spring plates.
https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/RENS08022.htm?pn=REN-S-08022&SVSVSI=0590

Thoughts?

[FA-18C]

That's what I have in the garage with plans to install in JAN. When you factor in the time, parts, plating and shipping, a bargain. Believe these are made by Prekom, so the same manufacturer that supplies Porsche. I ordered OEM covers and new HW from the dealership - so it will all be fresh. Holding off on rear control arms until I drop the motor. Nice work!

[almostordinary]

Originally Posted by FA-18C

That's what I have in the garage with plans to install in JAN. When you factor in the time, parts, plating and shipping, a bargain. Believe these are made by Prekom, so the same manufacturer that supplies Porsche. I ordered OEM covers and new HW from the dealership - so it will all be fresh. Holding off on rear control arms until I drop the motor. Nice work!

Thanks for the quick reply! In the kit are there any kind of caps for the end of the torsion bar tube? Looks wide open to the elements from the pics.

Wondering if I can clean up my torsion bar ends and re-use them with this rennline application.

May just pull the trigger and order these today.

Great thing about being in LA is that PP parts get here almost next day

[Showdown]

I’d be inclined to just replace all the rusted parts. The new parts will last forever and you won’t have to fight them to make them fit and worry about them being compromised.


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[almostordinary]

Some parts just arrived.

- URO spring plate bushings (may return these if the Rennline ones come pre-assembled)
- URO trailing arm bushings
- Spring plate covers

[t6dpilot]

I have done bushings on my two early 911s and need to do a third. I am not relishing that project and hate doing to rears. I would suggest getting new T-bars and you might find a good used set here. It is possible that the one end will clean up, but why risk that?

Also, don't plate the spring plate, paint it. That is how they were originally. I also used rubber bushings from Classic Speed Parts on my first job and they worked fine. However, after doing more research, the ones from Elephant racing are far superior, last longer, and have way less deformation over time. I used those on my 69 hotrod. Very happy with the result.

Since the engine is out, I would recommend replacing the rear trailing arm bushing with ER monoballs. Now is the time and if you are doing all that other stuff, replacing those will make the job complete.

[FA-18C]

almost - the Rennline plates come fully assembled and are cadmium plated already. They look identical to the ones I plan on replacing, just new, and with more adjustability without removal for height adjustment. If you engine is out, agree 100% with t6 - good time to replace the trailing arm bushings. I am gonna wait until the engine is out, or I buy a lift, or both.

[almostordinary]

It's been a very productive start to the year.... starting a new commercial production company so trying to get heavy lifting work out of the way before life gets real busy.

Started with a pre-new years clock fix. Replaced the capacitors, not too tricky hardest part is removing the black bezel.

I was stumped when I bench tested it and didn't hear anything moving, as others said they have... but after stepping away from it, and coming back, it indeed works, and makes zero noise.



Had to take it apart fully a few times, so hoping to never go back into this thing again










Next up was deciding what to do with all the hardware that I would need to likely replace for the new incoming Rennline spring plates. Decided to snag a cheap harbor freight ultrasonic cleaner, filled it with evaporust and let it cook.

Parts came out pretty clean, hit them with a wire wheel and now going to home plate with Nickle.





Still have some cleaning to do, but wanted to turn my attention to the trailing arm bushings before the morning got away from me.

Cleaned up one of the trailing arms, with some 3M Green and Silver non-ferrous pads. Came out pretty decent for about 20min of scrubbing with dish soap.

Popped out the metal caps and rubber bushings, but ran into a head ache trying to remove the steel inserts. Decided to call a local Porsche shop, hoping this would be a no-brainer for them....parts out of car, just need the steel inserts pressed out. I'd even press the new ones in... $500! I laughed, said no thanks and hung up as politely as I could....

Bought the elephant racing tool sold here on PP, will be selling it at a discount after I pull the bearings.





Hoping to have the car put back together by this weekend so I can check this major hurdle off the books and focus on my other life projects that fund this one.

[almostordinary]

Quick update, decided to cut out the middle man and save some cash by restoring the bolts on the suspension. Going with Nickel plating.

Before:


Setup:


Result:



One of the best tutorials I've seen on the subject:
https://youtu.be/G-PtnwtOR24

Voltage / Amp source (I bought better quality banana plugs, kit's were trash):
https://amzn.to/3WXdygG

Nickel:
https://amzn.to/3QfsV1H

Used some stainless aircraft safety wire that I use instead of cotter pins to suspend the parts to be plated.

[Larmo63]

I got caught in a fluke mild rainstorm on the way home from Rancho Santa Fe Cars and Coffee last year to witness my windshield dripping right over my passenger’s lap. Dripping quite consistently.

WTF Porsche?

[almostordinary]

Originally Posted by Larmo63

I got caught in a fluke mild rainstorm on the way home from Rancho Santa Fe Cars and Coffee last year to witness my windshield dripping right over my passenger’s lap. Dripping quite consistently.

WTF Porsche?

Ooof!

I looked at my rear seal yesterday after putting an Xfaktory grille cover on and see three spots that the previous installer failed to properly seat the seal.

I'll be redoing all the seals to redo the headliner and to repair and recover the cracked dash. Likely the last repairs once I finally get the car on the road again.

I want my 87 to be an all weather long distance driver, but driving this afternoon in the pre-bomb cyclone in my G55 in LA this afternoon... I do know that I won't be looking for rain to drive in... just want to make sure the car is ready for when the rain finds us.

[almostordinary]

Got a lot of parts in and had a bit of time to get to the trail arms.

Got the bushings out with ease using the elephant racing removal tool.

Used my vise and then a quick bolt tool I cobbled together to start the pressing of the second bushing.

Hoping to put it all back together tomorrow

[almostordinary]

Almost ready to reassemble the rear end.

Quick question for the body guys that may be following along.

Just sprayed the passenger fender well, looking at the other work done on the rocker repair there is definitely a high gloss clear coat. Wondering if I should bother clearing this paint?







With a bit of light there is a bit of a sheen, but no where near close to the other repairs inside. There will be barely any UV light getting here, just curious.

I hate spraying clear in enclosed spaces because it gets everywhere, but if I need to I will wrap the garage and car.

Once the car is back on the ground I will be addressing the trans tunnel and engine bay after a thorough cleaning outside the garage.

[PeteKz]

It's not clear coat. The original solid color was a one-stage color paint. In the two-stage paint systems used today, the color coat is a little dull, and relies on the clear coat to make it shiny and to seal it. If you used the two-stage color coat in the wheel well, then you should clear coat it.

Edit: I see your car is an '87. Porsche might have switched to two-stage paint by then. That doesn't change the advice though.

[almostordinary]

Thanks for the insight, just sprayed with 2K clear.

Going to let is gas off then finally get the suspension back on the car and the wheels back on the ground.

[almostordinary]

Finally done with round 1 of the suspension refresh.

Used Rennline's EZ adjust spring plates with the bushings already pressed in.

Used two 50mm M10 x 1.5 bolts to start the new bushings into the housing.


Also used White Lithium grease on the splines and coated the torsion bars with a thin film of bearing grease for longevity.

Coated the outside of both bushings in a silicone based grease to help with the install, this or glycerine is what I've been reading as alternatives to soap/water.





Using the two 50mm bolts in the outer top and inner bottom I tightened them down until they bottomed out. Then added stock bolt in the upper inner section as I removed the bottom one, then replaced each bolt as I moved on to fully press in the inner and outter rubber bushings.




All in all it took me a couple weekends to complete, especially with plating all the parts.




Next up
- Rebuilding and painting the rear calipers (Upgrading once the car is built)
- Rebuilding the ebrake setup
- New shocks
- Re-Welding the sway bar mounts
- Cleaning the remainder of the underbody once the rain gives way here in LA.


Going to pause for a bit to finish my cafe racer build that will be up for sale soon, then focusing on a few film projects to get the year going.

Cannot wait to just wake up and go cruising.

-Ian

[AutoXer23]

Impressive work.