Porsche 924 - My First Car 10 months on
Discussion
Thanks!
Aside from the ignition coil breaking, my car continues daily duties. Happily, changing the coil has solved an occasional misfire and improved cold starting massively. Having taken off the roof rack, I washed it yesterday and even cleaned the windows, it still looks quite presentable.
I purchased the coilovers from a gentleman who has rallied 924's for over 20 years. He is stripping a 924 Turbo rally car and I'm going to have the big 924 turbo brakes with master cylinder and braided hoses to go with them. Also in the deal is a set of cookie cutters, 6j on the front, 7j on the rear, at the correct offset with black centres & polished lips.
This is how they would sit:
However I'm tempted by 928 wheels, with 16x7 on the front and 16x8 on the rear:
I'd like the sweeter engine, coilovers and 5 stud conversion done by May, which shouldn't be too much to ask I hope!
Aside from the ignition coil breaking, my car continues daily duties. Happily, changing the coil has solved an occasional misfire and improved cold starting massively. Having taken off the roof rack, I washed it yesterday and even cleaned the windows, it still looks quite presentable.
I purchased the coilovers from a gentleman who has rallied 924's for over 20 years. He is stripping a 924 Turbo rally car and I'm going to have the big 924 turbo brakes with master cylinder and braided hoses to go with them. Also in the deal is a set of cookie cutters, 6j on the front, 7j on the rear, at the correct offset with black centres & polished lips.
This is how they would sit:
However I'm tempted by 928 wheels, with 16x7 on the front and 16x8 on the rear:
I'd like the sweeter engine, coilovers and 5 stud conversion done by May, which shouldn't be too much to ask I hope!
Spotted it on a 924 forum that I used to belong to.
Im not sure that the 8" Gullydecksls will fit straight on. If you come across a set which haven't been 'dubbed' and are still at a sensible price then I might be interested though, as my 1988 car had them fitted as standard.
1970s 928 7" x 16" telephone dials will probably fit, as their offset is 65mm or thereabouts.
Im not sure that the 8" Gullydecksls will fit straight on. If you come across a set which haven't been 'dubbed' and are still at a sensible price then I might be interested though, as my 1988 car had them fitted as standard.
1970s 928 7" x 16" telephone dials will probably fit, as their offset is 65mm or thereabouts.
Hi !
Nice piece in the 924 mag with Patriks car on the ICE, thumbs up!
I tried the 928 wheels, completely s
te, wasnt even close. But they were cheap (50£ for the set or something like that). But i later bought a set from a 964 c4 (I think) that just bolts on. although 8+6, much to narrow at front at the autocross sessions, at least at the tight turns (my car is set up for 7" ET23 cookie cutters all around on the track tyres). But works as street wheels. You saw them a couple of months ago on my car 
. These wheels are HEAVY, would probably kill some acceleration. If I were you I would go for smaller wheels. Cookie cutters are way lighter.
have fun with your car
Nice piece in the 924 mag with Patriks car on the ICE, thumbs up!
I tried the 928 wheels, completely s
te, wasnt even close. But they were cheap (50£ for the set or something like that). But i later bought a set from a 964 c4 (I think) that just bolts on. although 8+6, much to narrow at front at the autocross sessions, at least at the tight turns (my car is set up for 7" ET23 cookie cutters all around on the track tyres). But works as street wheels. You saw them a couple of months ago on my car . These wheels are HEAVY, would probably kill some acceleration. If I were you I would go for smaller wheels. Cookie cutters are way lighter.have fun with your car
For most 924s, a set of 7" 1987> ATS telephone dials will be ideal. 52.3mm offset and they'll fit and fill the arches handsomely. 7" Cookie Cutters or 'Phone Dials both weigh approaching 7kgs, which is heavier than a forged Fuchs 7" wheel, but quite light when measured against other wheels.
Just spent, I don't know, an hour or two reading this thread from start to finish!
I'd just like to echo everyone's thoughts really. Fantastic read, fantastic photos, but above all, a fantastic story.
Felix, if you sell this car now I promise you will always regret it. In forty years time you'll be telling your grand children the stories of your adventures and finish up every time with the line 'I should never have sold that car'.
Buy your 924 Turbo, whatever, just don't ever sell the white 924.
Thanks for a great read. I've bookmarked the thread so I hope you keep updating it (and that it's never to tell us you've sold the car!!
)
I'd just like to echo everyone's thoughts really. Fantastic read, fantastic photos, but above all, a fantastic story.
Felix, if you sell this car now I promise you will always regret it. In forty years time you'll be telling your grand children the stories of your adventures and finish up every time with the line 'I should never have sold that car'.
Buy your 924 Turbo, whatever, just don't ever sell the white 924.
Thanks for a great read. I've bookmarked the thread so I hope you keep updating it (and that it's never to tell us you've sold the car!!
)Thanks Ari, I guess I'll have to hold onto it!
Glad you liked the article too Cedric, hope I did it justice! Cookie cutters looked great on your car, I hope mine turns out a bit like yours!
It seems like the cookie cutters are the way to go and I know this set are tried & tested!
I booked the weekend off with the idea of swapping the engine with a couple of 924 owning friends at first but then with a poor weather forecast, the engine being in the wrong garage and time limitations we fitted the Gaz coilovers instead. We also fitted new topmounts, shared with some USDM VW of the late 80's and £30 a pair posted from the states!
With the old lowering springs removed and the coilovers fitted 10 turns up from the lowest point the car is noticeably firmer but I'm hoping I can mellow it out a little. The plan is to drop the rear beam 1 spline soon, which should balance everything out.
Interestingly, I'm told the Gaz coilovers come from a tarmac rally/hillclimb sprint car and were commissioned as part of a magazine feature for Octane or similar, with the car built by the gentleman I bought them off. There's a few differences to the ones my friends have bought, most notably the lack of any way to retain the brake line and grub screws in the adjustable collars. This made it easy to count the turns at least!
New stuff fitted. Sadly the new ARB, tie rod ends, steering shaft etc all look like they're much older already!
Anthony's topmount tool, which has come in handy a few times and always proves a time & effort saver!
The spares 944 stuck behind my engine in a cheaply rented council garage somewhere...
Glad you liked the article too Cedric, hope I did it justice! Cookie cutters looked great on your car, I hope mine turns out a bit like yours!
It seems like the cookie cutters are the way to go and I know this set are tried & tested!
I booked the weekend off with the idea of swapping the engine with a couple of 924 owning friends at first but then with a poor weather forecast, the engine being in the wrong garage and time limitations we fitted the Gaz coilovers instead. We also fitted new topmounts, shared with some USDM VW of the late 80's and £30 a pair posted from the states!
With the old lowering springs removed and the coilovers fitted 10 turns up from the lowest point the car is noticeably firmer but I'm hoping I can mellow it out a little. The plan is to drop the rear beam 1 spline soon, which should balance everything out.
Interestingly, I'm told the Gaz coilovers come from a tarmac rally/hillclimb sprint car and were commissioned as part of a magazine feature for Octane or similar, with the car built by the gentleman I bought them off. There's a few differences to the ones my friends have bought, most notably the lack of any way to retain the brake line and grub screws in the adjustable collars. This made it easy to count the turns at least!
New stuff fitted. Sadly the new ARB, tie rod ends, steering shaft etc all look like they're much older already!
Anthony's topmount tool, which has come in handy a few times and always proves a time & effort saver!
The spares 944 stuck behind my engine in a cheaply rented council garage somewhere...
That's the problem - it looks like a jacking point but it isn't. If you jack there then the floor will deform and your throttle will end up sticking on.
Only use the jacking point marked with the ◊ on the sill. You can buy a machined pad which fits the jacking point and adapts it for use with a trolley jack - I will find it and post a link. Useful but not necessary as a block of wood will usually suffice.
Only use the jacking point marked with the ◊ on the sill. You can buy a machined pad which fits the jacking point and adapts it for use with a trolley jack - I will find it and post a link. Useful but not necessary as a block of wood will usually suffice.
Nice work, will you add the rear coil overs later or change bars? I hope its much more responsive now, what alignment are you running ?
Not to be rude but your car need a good polish under the bonnet, to match the rest of the car which looks really tidy. Easy for me to say when i only use my car in the summer, haha. But
Not to be rude but your car need a good polish under the bonnet, to match the rest of the car which looks really tidy
. Easy for me to say when i only use my car in the summer, haha. But Hey Cedric,
Thanks, yeah under the bonnet is functional
Running standard geo settings apart from max negative camber on the front. Going to turn the rear bars down 1 spline and take out the yellow Koni's for the Gaz's that came with the coilovers.
I work on shift in my new job and am fortunate to find myself with time & funds and yesterday something came up I had to have!
I've been looking out for a set of sports seats for awhile, but they always seem to be the electric ones or in poor condition. To my luck, a very tidy set of manual sports seats appeared on eBay just 30 minutes down the road from me! Black with Porsche script fabric, they're exactly the ones I'd choose.
I made a fairly generous offer on eBay to get the auction to end early as it's been a long time searching and they were so close I wouldn't have to pay much in fuel/p&P. Offer accepted, I drove up to collect them. The seller was a really nice guy with a 924 NA that had been sat for ages but with lots of Turbo parts on it. I asked about the scripted door cards and dashboard with two tiny cracks in it. Kindly, he liked the idea of them being put to use on my car and living on, so gave them to me.
The sports seats are fantastic, the comfort of the tombstones is there but they're so much more supportive. Without sounding like a hooligan, with the previous seats I found myself hanging onto the wheel during spirited driving. Now you stay perfectly placed in the seat. I hope they're as comfortable over long distance!
If anyone is interested in my old herringbone tweed seats, drop me a PM
Seats of old:
Thanks, yeah under the bonnet is functional
Running standard geo settings apart from max negative camber on the front. Going to turn the rear bars down 1 spline and take out the yellow Koni's for the Gaz's that came with the coilovers.
I work on shift in my new job and am fortunate to find myself with time & funds and yesterday something came up I had to have!
I've been looking out for a set of sports seats for awhile, but they always seem to be the electric ones or in poor condition. To my luck, a very tidy set of manual sports seats appeared on eBay just 30 minutes down the road from me! Black with Porsche script fabric, they're exactly the ones I'd choose.
I made a fairly generous offer on eBay to get the auction to end early as it's been a long time searching and they were so close I wouldn't have to pay much in fuel/p&P. Offer accepted, I drove up to collect them. The seller was a really nice guy with a 924 NA that had been sat for ages but with lots of Turbo parts on it. I asked about the scripted door cards and dashboard with two tiny cracks in it. Kindly, he liked the idea of them being put to use on my car and living on, so gave them to me.
The sports seats are fantastic, the comfort of the tombstones is there but they're so much more supportive. Without sounding like a hooligan, with the previous seats I found myself hanging onto the wheel during spirited driving. Now you stay perfectly placed in the seat. I hope they're as comfortable over long distance!
If anyone is interested in my old herringbone tweed seats, drop me a PM
Seats of old:
Nice seats. Technically these are tombstones. Their name came from their resembling the top of a gravestone. Unfortunately the name has been misappropriated by new owner and used incorrectly for the standard one piece seats.
How much did they cost? I have a set of tombstones which are perfect but need covers. They had a woollen berber trim originally and it has rotten, leaving perfect foam underneath. I have been meaning to buy covers for them but Im not sure whether itll be financially viable.
The dashboard is probably worth the best part of £200 and the door cards are quite rare and desirable now, too. They were an option for all cars but they were more common in the earlier cars and as a result theyre seldom seen now.
How much did they cost? I have a set of tombstones which are perfect but need covers. They had a woollen berber trim originally and it has rotten, leaving perfect foam underneath. I have been meaning to buy covers for them but Im not sure whether itll be financially viable.
The dashboard is probably worth the best part of £200 and the door cards are quite rare and desirable now, too. They were an option for all cars but they were more common in the earlier cars and as a result theyre seldom seen now.
I just noticed that where your speedo cable goes through the bracket there is no rubber grommet there. Mine was the same on my 944 and the bracket managed to wear straight through the cable and leave me with no speedo. I found that a grommet from a brake flexi was a perfect fit and should solve the problem.
I have one from one of the flexis I had to cut off of my 944S if you want me to chuck it in your direction?
I have one from one of the flexis I had to cut off of my 944S if you want me to chuck it in your direction?
Thanks for the heads up Rob, I've changed it now.
I went back to the gentleman who sold me the seats and bought his 5 stud setup. 924 Turbo hubs, calipers, disks, master cylinder and 5 stud spiderweb wheels for a bargain £250 and then I sold the dash for £200. He also gave me a set of bumpers with the rubbing strips removed.
The front wheel bearing on my 4 stud setup had gone and so I parked the car since the last update, knowing the 5 stud setup would be fitted. In exchange for some photography work, the fronts were fitted by a chap who rallies 924's and makes lots of bespoke parts. His attention to detail was more than I ever expected, with everything wire brushed/greased etc as we went along. It was some 5 hours before the car was set back on the ground. I will go back to have the rears swapped over in the near future. I fitted the bumpers as my old ones were cracked/trim was hanging off/both. The Cookie Cutters I'm getting are currently painted with bright orange centres. One of the rally cars has orange bumpers, and we offered them up. The whole thing looked surprisingly neat. Eventually I'll get a proper respray and go back to black & white details but that's at the bottom of my list for now.
Once the rear 5 stud setup is on I'll get a full alignment done. However, since I have only lowered the rear on the eccentrics I need to sort out the torsion bars really. I phoned EMC Motorsport to ask about this. They can either drop the rear beam or cut the sills. Personally I don't see a problem with cutting the sills as my car isn't the best aesthetically and I can always put the turbo sill covers on afterwards. They suggested replacing the bars with 968 ones at the same time and it would be about £300 all in. With my luck finding the recent parts so cheaply, it seems wise to spend some money getting it setup by EMC?
Bumpers:
From little solid discs to large vented discs. Excuse the red calipers and awful tyres, these will not be staying.
Still not convinced though...
I went back to the gentleman who sold me the seats and bought his 5 stud setup. 924 Turbo hubs, calipers, disks, master cylinder and 5 stud spiderweb wheels for a bargain £250 and then I sold the dash for £200. He also gave me a set of bumpers with the rubbing strips removed.
The front wheel bearing on my 4 stud setup had gone and so I parked the car since the last update, knowing the 5 stud setup would be fitted. In exchange for some photography work, the fronts were fitted by a chap who rallies 924's and makes lots of bespoke parts. His attention to detail was more than I ever expected, with everything wire brushed/greased etc as we went along. It was some 5 hours before the car was set back on the ground. I will go back to have the rears swapped over in the near future. I fitted the bumpers as my old ones were cracked/trim was hanging off/both. The Cookie Cutters I'm getting are currently painted with bright orange centres. One of the rally cars has orange bumpers, and we offered them up. The whole thing looked surprisingly neat. Eventually I'll get a proper respray and go back to black & white details but that's at the bottom of my list for now.
Once the rear 5 stud setup is on I'll get a full alignment done. However, since I have only lowered the rear on the eccentrics I need to sort out the torsion bars really. I phoned EMC Motorsport to ask about this. They can either drop the rear beam or cut the sills. Personally I don't see a problem with cutting the sills as my car isn't the best aesthetically and I can always put the turbo sill covers on afterwards. They suggested replacing the bars with 968 ones at the same time and it would be about £300 all in. With my luck finding the recent parts so cheaply, it seems wise to spend some money getting it setup by EMC?
Bumpers:
From little solid discs to large vented discs. Excuse the red calipers and awful tyres, these will not be staying.
Still not convinced though...
Nice update, Why are you chaning brakes, because you can ? Its always nice to get rid of the rear drum adjustment, which can get annoying if you drive alot, or on track. Are you changing MBC aswell? Do the 924 and 944 have the same brake line routing?
Why do you need to get the rear suspension apart? Do you want it even lower? 25.5 mm torsion bars fits really well with 43N/mm springs up front, will result in a really nicely balanced car. What do you have now?
Nice work !!
? Its always nice to get rid of the rear drum adjustment, which can get annoying if you drive alot, or on track. Are you changing MBC aswell? Do the 924 and 944 have the same brake line routing? Why do you need to get the rear suspension apart? Do you want it even lower? 25.5 mm torsion bars fits really well with 43N/mm springs up front, will result in a really nicely balanced car. What do you have now?
Nice work !!
Hey Cedric,
Yeah, to allow easy fitment of Porsche wheels and for more braking power. And those drum brakes are a pain! MC on the 924 turbo is the same as the NA so that doesn't need changing.
Currently running Gaz coilovers on the front and yellow Koni adjustables on the rear but will fit the matching Gaz ones.
Anyway, big news is that I am buying a new car and so this is now for sale. Slightly impulsive but I thought it was an opportunity not to be missed!
It'll be at Donington on Sunday with a huge selection of 924's as part of the 924 National Rally. Bring £2k and it's yours with the low miles engine and all my spares.
Reason for sale:
Yeah, to allow easy fitment of Porsche wheels and for more braking power. And those drum brakes are a pain! MC on the 924 turbo is the same as the NA so that doesn't need changing.
Currently running Gaz coilovers on the front and yellow Koni adjustables on the rear but will fit the matching Gaz ones.
Anyway, big news is that I am buying a new car and so this is now for sale. Slightly impulsive but I thought it was an opportunity not to be missed!
It'll be at Donington on Sunday with a huge selection of 924's as part of the 924 National Rally. Bring £2k and it's yours with the low miles engine and all my spares.
Reason for sale:
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