Porsche 924 - My First Car 10 months on
Discussion
Thanks once more all!
Cedric - That sounds like a plan!
I'm just in Belgium now, having made my way from Luxembourg, into Germany and on the way back to Cardiff. It has been a fantastic week of all things cars! Here's a quick tease:
Please excuse the processing on the images, I'm using a woeful laptop screen. As for the other images, to make them warm, simply change the colour temperature. And equipment doesn't matter
Cedric - That sounds like a plan!
I'm just in Belgium now, having made my way from Luxembourg, into Germany and on the way back to Cardiff. It has been a fantastic week of all things cars! Here's a quick tease:
Please excuse the processing on the images, I'm using a woeful laptop screen. As for the other images, to make them warm, simply change the colour temperature. And equipment doesn't matter
Downtown Mini - I'm sure that Nikon is a great camera, I like buying my equipment second hand to save money and remember all the images in history were made just fine without the latest bit of gear.
On the weekend I went to cover the Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or at Dijon-Prenois and took the scenic route home. It was a bit of a detour, ending with a drive from Luxembourg to Cardiff in one day and 4 cups of coffee.
Since Turkey went smoothly, I took one of the photographers along with me and kept telling them what to photograph as we drove along. I haven't got all the images yet, but it's enough to share.
The first day I drove down to Reims, sadly missing the old GP circuit on the way. This is the view from one of the cheapest hotels in Reims:
Toll roads were taken down to Dijon so we could cover ground quickly to get to the racing.
I got a sticker which meant I could park next to some interesting cars.
With the race weekend over, the adventure continued!
From Dijon, the next hotel was in Strasbourg, but Switzerland was calling:
We had a parking space but not the correct currency.
By now, the weather was getting rather bleak! This didn't spoil the scenery too much however, which made Brecon look tame.
The weather got worse still and adding beam deflectors to the already vague headlights didn't help matters. At this point I put all my trust in the proven reliability of my car!
It was dark by the time we made it to Strasbourg and no effort was made to see the town before going to sleep.
Getting up the next day and unfortunately the weather was still awful and any Autobahn antics would have to wait.
The Porsche Museum wasn't exactly on the way, however it was close enough. In isolation the proportions of the 924 are lost, it's only when you park it next to some modern cars (or a lard arsed 944
) that you want to get in and find some twisty roads, which is exactly what I did!
Another old 924.
Peering into the workshop before getting a coffee.
Can't escape them!
Time to leave Stuttgart and get to the hotel in Luxembourg, where petrol is cheap and the sky is clear.
By virtue of booking the hotel so late, we got the end room, which had a balcony with some flags in the way.
Getting up early, it was time to drive home, which was nearly 600 miles away. The roads were sublime, with the GPS there to help anticipate any tight corners.
One German morning.
Passing by Spa, with Eau Rouge in the distance.
The car was faultless as always. Just goes to show what you can do with the humble 924 and some petrol!
On the weekend I went to cover the Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or at Dijon-Prenois and took the scenic route home. It was a bit of a detour, ending with a drive from Luxembourg to Cardiff in one day and 4 cups of coffee.
Since Turkey went smoothly, I took one of the photographers along with me and kept telling them what to photograph as we drove along. I haven't got all the images yet, but it's enough to share.
The first day I drove down to Reims, sadly missing the old GP circuit on the way. This is the view from one of the cheapest hotels in Reims:
Toll roads were taken down to Dijon so we could cover ground quickly to get to the racing.
I got a sticker which meant I could park next to some interesting cars.
With the race weekend over, the adventure continued!
From Dijon, the next hotel was in Strasbourg, but Switzerland was calling:
We had a parking space but not the correct currency.
By now, the weather was getting rather bleak! This didn't spoil the scenery too much however, which made Brecon look tame.
The weather got worse still and adding beam deflectors to the already vague headlights didn't help matters. At this point I put all my trust in the proven reliability of my car!
It was dark by the time we made it to Strasbourg and no effort was made to see the town before going to sleep.
Getting up the next day and unfortunately the weather was still awful and any Autobahn antics would have to wait.
The Porsche Museum wasn't exactly on the way, however it was close enough. In isolation the proportions of the 924 are lost, it's only when you park it next to some modern cars (or a lard arsed 944
) that you want to get in and find some twisty roads, which is exactly what I did!Another old 924.
Peering into the workshop before getting a coffee.
Can't escape them!
Time to leave Stuttgart and get to the hotel in Luxembourg, where petrol is cheap and the sky is clear.
By virtue of booking the hotel so late, we got the end room, which had a balcony with some flags in the way.
Getting up early, it was time to drive home, which was nearly 600 miles away. The roads were sublime, with the GPS there to help anticipate any tight corners.
One German morning.
Passing by Spa, with Eau Rouge in the distance.
The car was faultless as always. Just goes to show what you can do with the humble 924 and some petrol!
Vianden was great, I'll definitely go back!
Last week the garage phoned to remind me that my MOT is due, I told them I'd been anticipating it for weeks if not months!
I had some welding done on the floor of the car, the front jacking points are a hollowed out design and they'd gone a bit crusty. These were cut out and plated again, the rest of the car is perfectly solid. Aside from this, I was still feeling quite anxious about the MOT, just because I've covered a lot of miles this year and not really had the motivation to sort out some niggles. A member of the 924 Club kindly offered their afternoon to have a thorough look over the car, so I drove up to Tamworth, with the petrol being 1 hours labour at the garage. Packing spark plugs, filters & oil, we gave the car a service. The old spark plugs suggested nothing untoward going on. With a Crypton tuner at our disposal, the emissions were super clean and not actual tune up was needed. A slightly spongy brake pedal was taken care of by adjusting the drum brakes and some grease on the sunroof seal saw it fit much better. I took it down to my local garage for the MOT test and it failed on a wheel bearing, which was a great result! Now I've got 12 months MOT and not a single advisory! My pessimism dashed by the MOT station & some 924 owners, I'm waiting for some parts to turn up in the post. These include rebuilt front struts, lowering springs and a full set of Koni adjustable dampers.
Meanwhile, I've been pouring the hours and my own bias into the 924 magazine, which always seems to have something on my car inside. Classic Car Weekly have named it club magazine of the week for the second time this year and it'll be making an appearance in Practical Classics soon. I'll have to get some miles in before the next MOT, I'm sure they'll be full of enjoyment wherever they take me...
Last week the garage phoned to remind me that my MOT is due, I told them I'd been anticipating it for weeks if not months!
I had some welding done on the floor of the car, the front jacking points are a hollowed out design and they'd gone a bit crusty. These were cut out and plated again, the rest of the car is perfectly solid. Aside from this, I was still feeling quite anxious about the MOT, just because I've covered a lot of miles this year and not really had the motivation to sort out some niggles. A member of the 924 Club kindly offered their afternoon to have a thorough look over the car, so I drove up to Tamworth, with the petrol being 1 hours labour at the garage. Packing spark plugs, filters & oil, we gave the car a service. The old spark plugs suggested nothing untoward going on. With a Crypton tuner at our disposal, the emissions were super clean and not actual tune up was needed. A slightly spongy brake pedal was taken care of by adjusting the drum brakes and some grease on the sunroof seal saw it fit much better. I took it down to my local garage for the MOT test and it failed on a wheel bearing, which was a great result! Now I've got 12 months MOT and not a single advisory! My pessimism dashed by the MOT station & some 924 owners, I'm waiting for some parts to turn up in the post. These include rebuilt front struts, lowering springs and a full set of Koni adjustable dampers.
Meanwhile, I've been pouring the hours and my own bias into the 924 magazine, which always seems to have something on my car inside. Classic Car Weekly have named it club magazine of the week for the second time this year and it'll be making an appearance in Practical Classics soon. I'll have to get some miles in before the next MOT, I'm sure they'll be full of enjoyment wherever they take me...
I use various Canon cameras and my favourite is a little Ricoh compact.
It's more than 2 years since that snowy train ride to buy the car, I can't believe time has gone so quickly!
This arrived, it's a stainless steel Dansk one. I'll laud it over you all that I paid £49! I'm waiting for my Koni adjustables to turn up now! I'm looking forward to building up something this year, and going on more road trips of course!
It's more than 2 years since that snowy train ride to buy the car, I can't believe time has gone so quickly!
This arrived, it's a stainless steel Dansk one. I'll laud it over you all that I paid £49! I'm waiting for my Koni adjustables to turn up now! I'm looking forward to building up something this year, and going on more road trips of course!
Yeah, the Dansk exhaust was a real bargain!
I've got it fitted now, it sounds fantastic! The car has always been a thrill over 3.5k rpm but now it is really rorty! It's not an annoying boy racer drone at all. I've had great fun driving around in 2nd & 3rd gear everywhere. The Koni shocks are in a Parcel Force depot and should arrive tomorrow, in the meantime, here's what the exhaust looks like on the car:
I've got it fitted now, it sounds fantastic! The car has always been a thrill over 3.5k rpm but now it is really rorty! It's not an annoying boy racer drone at all. I've had great fun driving around in 2nd & 3rd gear everywhere. The Koni shocks are in a Parcel Force depot and should arrive tomorrow, in the meantime, here's what the exhaust looks like on the car:
Just renewed my insurance for £585! A mere £50 voluntary excess and mods declared. I must be getting old!
Not this weekend but the next it will be having the Koni adjustables fitted along with the suspension lowering. Here's a photoshop mock-up:
Nothing too drastic as I want to enjoy driving it everyday, however the Koni's should improve upon the old shocks!
But I am having naughty ideas about some banded steels:
Not this weekend but the next it will be having the Koni adjustables fitted along with the suspension lowering. Here's a photoshop mock-up:
Nothing too drastic as I want to enjoy driving it everyday, however the Koni's should improve upon the old shocks!
But I am having naughty ideas about some banded steels:
It's a standard policy since I park it on the street and don't have another car.
It's not that original, the photographs are quite flattering too! I've fitted a 924 Turbo bonnet and the larger 944 rear spoiler. The decals are repro, it's had a respray in Zanussi white and the herringbone tweed interior is from an early car. I suppose I've cherry picked the best bits for it!
It's not that original, the photographs are quite flattering too! I've fitted a 924 Turbo bonnet and the larger 944 rear spoiler. The decals are repro, it's had a respray in Zanussi white and the herringbone tweed interior is from an early car. I suppose I've cherry picked the best bits for it!
I'll definitely be down a breakfast meet soon!
Amusingly, my insurance is with Good Girl. It's part of Sabre and was the best deal.
Alex - I might have to look into those decals, mine are cheap repros which aren't on perfectly straight either.
Yesterday I visited a well known ride height altering establishment.
It started with these amazing cakes, and it was down from there, particularly for my car...
Got the car on the ground, with the lowering springs achieving a great drop to start with.
Initial plan was to drop the rear beam to reindex it or cut the sills and smash it out. Decided it was very cold and I wanted a driveable car, so had adjusted the eccentric bolt instead.
I said something about the exhaust being a weird angle...
Result:
For the first 5 minutes I thought I'd messed it up, but having driven back from Bristol and been for a good drive today, I'd never go back. It'll get a full alignment this week which should finish it off. I might get spacers for the rear in the meantime, or just get wheels?
The Koni's are old school, you have to fully compress the damper to engage the adjustment mechanism. They're set at 75% hard and I don't think I'll take them off to readjust.
A few purists in the 924 Club were crying themselves to sleep yesterday but If I was driving Luxembourg to Cardiff again, I'd have a lot more fun!
Amusingly, my insurance is with Good Girl. It's part of Sabre and was the best deal.
Alex - I might have to look into those decals, mine are cheap repros which aren't on perfectly straight either.
Yesterday I visited a well known ride height altering establishment.
It started with these amazing cakes, and it was down from there, particularly for my car...
Got the car on the ground, with the lowering springs achieving a great drop to start with.
Initial plan was to drop the rear beam to reindex it or cut the sills and smash it out. Decided it was very cold and I wanted a driveable car, so had adjusted the eccentric bolt instead.
I said something about the exhaust being a weird angle...
Result:
For the first 5 minutes I thought I'd messed it up, but having driven back from Bristol and been for a good drive today, I'd never go back. It'll get a full alignment this week which should finish it off. I might get spacers for the rear in the meantime, or just get wheels?
The Koni's are old school, you have to fully compress the damper to engage the adjustment mechanism. They're set at 75% hard and I don't think I'll take them off to readjust.
A few purists in the 924 Club were crying themselves to sleep yesterday but If I was driving Luxembourg to Cardiff again, I'd have a lot more fun!
Thanks all!
I'll probably do at least another Euro trip this year...
I took the car for full alignment today and after compliments on how clean it is underneath, they told me the rear camber on one of the wheels is way off. Because we lowered the rear on the eccentric bolts on the torsion bar, there is no adjustment left. I'm tempted to now get the rear torsion bars reindexed (I know a specialist who will do it for £200) and then it will match the front and it can be setup properly. The handling is the cars trump card thanks to it's lack of HP, it has been improved dramatically with the Koni shocks and I feel like it's worth now just getting this done and having it 100%.
Big Raff - These are 16x9 all round:
Lowered with Photoshop:
I could get 8's for the front and 9's for the rear.
Also edited to add:
I love the look of the deep dish wheels but I do wonder about keeping the standard ones (or some big minilites?) I seem to have a theme of subtle changes going on, with the 944 spoiler, turbo bonnet, early tweed seats, slight lowering etc and perhaps it would be best to continue down this path, having a sort of factory looking 924 which commands a second look to see the changes. Big dishy split rims could be an expensive and passing phase. I spend too much time thinking about it and my ideas do seem to change daily however!
I'll probably do at least another Euro trip this year...
I took the car for full alignment today and after compliments on how clean it is underneath, they told me the rear camber on one of the wheels is way off. Because we lowered the rear on the eccentric bolts on the torsion bar, there is no adjustment left. I'm tempted to now get the rear torsion bars reindexed (I know a specialist who will do it for £200) and then it will match the front and it can be setup properly. The handling is the cars trump card thanks to it's lack of HP, it has been improved dramatically with the Koni shocks and I feel like it's worth now just getting this done and having it 100%.
Big Raff - These are 16x9 all round:
Lowered with Photoshop:
I could get 8's for the front and 9's for the rear.
Also edited to add:
I love the look of the deep dish wheels but I do wonder about keeping the standard ones (or some big minilites?) I seem to have a theme of subtle changes going on, with the 944 spoiler, turbo bonnet, early tweed seats, slight lowering etc and perhaps it would be best to continue down this path, having a sort of factory looking 924 which commands a second look to see the changes. Big dishy split rims could be an expensive and passing phase. I spend too much time thinking about it and my ideas do seem to change daily however!
Edited by FelixP on Monday 21st January 17:39
Would love Fuchs but being the 2 litre N/A my car is 4 stud. Same as Ford/Citroen/Pug/Audi if anyone has suggestions?
I've decided it's best to get the torsion bars done and a friend who races a 924 in the championship has offered me his geometry settings. Just some road legal semi slicks for summer and I'll upset powerful cars until there's a straight...
I've decided it's best to get the torsion bars done and a friend who races a 924 in the championship has offered me his geometry settings. Just some road legal semi slicks for summer and I'll upset powerful cars until there's a straight...
At the end of last week my car developed a misfire. When I wasn't working it was generally dark, cold & wet so I couldn't do much in the way of fault finding. I was hoping it was maybe a loose spark plug but a bit more testing revealed one of my HT leads had broken. A new set of leads and it's running sweetly once more.
The car is booked in at a local specialist on Thursday for the rear to be reindexed properly, so I'll get the adjustment back to get the geometry spot on and lose the nose down stance for the perfect handling.
Popped to the shops today and parked next to this E28. Both look petite next to the Xsara Picasso, with my roof just about level with the rear windows.
The car is booked in at a local specialist on Thursday for the rear to be reindexed properly, so I'll get the adjustment back to get the geometry spot on and lose the nose down stance for the perfect handling.
Popped to the shops today and parked next to this E28. Both look petite next to the Xsara Picasso, with my roof just about level with the rear windows.
5TUE said:
I heard that!
Anyway, Felix the car's looking good, now when are we going to see it at breakfast?
Stu.
Cheers! Anyway, Felix the car's looking good, now when are we going to see it at breakfast?
Stu.
Hoping to make it to the next one and the run is tempting too. Went for a bit of a drive today, first time it has been dry. The car is fantastic, you point it where you want to go and then it goes there!
I keep seeing 924 Turbos for sale and I'm really thinking of selling this for one. Thoughts?
Maybe it won't share the reliability but as a car to own long term, surely a turbo is a better base to start with? I wonder what my N/A is worth? I'm fond of the 924 and the Turbo costs the same to insure but has discs all round and 50% more power. If I got a Turbo and something went bang I'm not sure if I could fund fixing it but what if it doesn't?
Maybe it won't share the reliability but as a car to own long term, surely a turbo is a better base to start with? I wonder what my N/A is worth? I'm fond of the 924 and the Turbo costs the same to insure but has discs all round and 50% more power. If I got a Turbo and something went bang I'm not sure if I could fund fixing it but what if it doesn't?
Collecting the Turbo on Friday now.
I know I'll feel perhaps too emotional when my NA goes, whoever buys it must give me first refusal if they come to sell it! Had a huge amount of interest, it's just a case of waiting for a day when I'm home and it's not dark!
I had a fun weekend in Sweden driving a track prepared 924 Turbo on a frozen lake with some studded rally tyres!
Opposite lock and silly hats aplenty!
I know I'll feel perhaps too emotional when my NA goes, whoever buys it must give me first refusal if they come to sell it! Had a huge amount of interest, it's just a case of waiting for a day when I'm home and it's not dark!
I had a fun weekend in Sweden driving a track prepared 924 Turbo on a frozen lake with some studded rally tyres!
Opposite lock and silly hats aplenty!
Thanks for the comments as ever!
Today was meant to be the day I picked up the Turbo but it hasn't played out that way. Last night I tried to arrange insurance, only to find the policies were £1600+. Changing my car to the Turbo left me with quotes identical to my N/A but I found there was a reason for this: I've owned my N/A over 2 years now. If I had already owned the Turbo for 2 years it would be just as affordable to insure. I phoned around but nobody wanted to know about it. Then I phoned my insurer and explained I'm coming from a 924 to a 924 Turbo and have driven one before, along with other transaxle cars, it's not like going from a Clio 1.0 to a 924 Turbo, but nope, that was the price. Interestingly, if I'd owned my N/A from this February as opposed to December 2010, it was £1400 to insure.
I didn't want to pay a 120% rise in insurance so called the owners of the Turbo, explained my situation and everything was amicable. I was dreading calling them! It was a beautiful car at a very good price, so sadly it'll go to the next person in line.
Part of me feels relived I am keeping the car I know, but at the same time it's frustrating. I've realised it's perhaps best to keep mine until I can unflinchingly insure/run a 924 Turbo, maybe alongside my humble car.
Putting my car up for sale lead me to look at with a critical eye, and I'd like to now spend a bit of time & money sorting out those last little bits and perhaps realising the full potential of the car. With lighter, milder days approaching and spare funds from reasonable insurance and fuel costs, I'm excited to now get back into it with renewed enthusiasm.
In the coming weeks I aim to:
Replace the cracked dash
Replace the headlining (With herringbone tweed to match the seats?)
Recover the steering wheel/replace it
New bush on the gear stick to get rid of the sloppyness
Put the original bonnet back on, which has a perfect colour match and better fit
By summer I would like to:
Replace the drivers door to fix the window guides
Replace the cracked sunroof panel
Replace the cracked front bumper
Fix the dent in the rear ¼
Get above parts painted in matching Zanussi white or whatever my car is!
Wishlist:
New gearbox mounts
Wider wheels
I think sorting out these little issues will make all the difference and it's not asking to much. Otherwise the car is wanting for nothing and I'll keep enjoying the dividends of the work I've had done over the past couple of years.
Yes, it's a shame I've not got Turbo but I know my car well, have a lot of memories with it and would love to start a new chapter in it's story.
Today was meant to be the day I picked up the Turbo but it hasn't played out that way. Last night I tried to arrange insurance, only to find the policies were £1600+. Changing my car to the Turbo left me with quotes identical to my N/A but I found there was a reason for this: I've owned my N/A over 2 years now. If I had already owned the Turbo for 2 years it would be just as affordable to insure. I phoned around but nobody wanted to know about it. Then I phoned my insurer and explained I'm coming from a 924 to a 924 Turbo and have driven one before, along with other transaxle cars, it's not like going from a Clio 1.0 to a 924 Turbo, but nope, that was the price. Interestingly, if I'd owned my N/A from this February as opposed to December 2010, it was £1400 to insure.
I didn't want to pay a 120% rise in insurance so called the owners of the Turbo, explained my situation and everything was amicable. I was dreading calling them! It was a beautiful car at a very good price, so sadly it'll go to the next person in line.
Part of me feels relived I am keeping the car I know, but at the same time it's frustrating. I've realised it's perhaps best to keep mine until I can unflinchingly insure/run a 924 Turbo, maybe alongside my humble car.
Putting my car up for sale lead me to look at with a critical eye, and I'd like to now spend a bit of time & money sorting out those last little bits and perhaps realising the full potential of the car. With lighter, milder days approaching and spare funds from reasonable insurance and fuel costs, I'm excited to now get back into it with renewed enthusiasm.
In the coming weeks I aim to:
Replace the cracked dash
Replace the headlining (With herringbone tweed to match the seats?)
Recover the steering wheel/replace it
New bush on the gear stick to get rid of the sloppyness
Put the original bonnet back on, which has a perfect colour match and better fit
By summer I would like to:
Replace the drivers door to fix the window guides
Replace the cracked sunroof panel
Replace the cracked front bumper
Fix the dent in the rear ¼
Get above parts painted in matching Zanussi white or whatever my car is!
Wishlist:
New gearbox mounts
Wider wheels
I think sorting out these little issues will make all the difference and it's not asking to much. Otherwise the car is wanting for nothing and I'll keep enjoying the dividends of the work I've had done over the past couple of years.
Yes, it's a shame I've not got Turbo but I know my car well, have a lot of memories with it and would love to start a new chapter in it's story.
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