Porsche 924 - My First Car 10 months on
Discussion
This time last year I was just returning home in my car for the first time!
I placed the dashboard cover I bought on the car to see how it looked. Having put some interior shine stuff on the cracked one, I can't get it to stick on. A year on I will actually get a new sunroof seal too, even if it costs £50. The leak has worsened and so I'm wasting time demisting and more importantly, upsetting passengers as water drips onto their heads. I had different issues today, having picked up someone who was desperate have a ride. We were driving through Cardiff with the roof out and the heating on when someone shouted “Look at that massive gay!” I'm not sure what gave that impression but it is one of the funnier things to have happened.
My cassette collection is ever expanding, I've been in the mood for Supertramp for the last few months unfortunately. REO Speedwagon is a fantastic antidote, on motorways I nonchalantly shout along to the lyrics I know, which is unashamedly all of them! Tomorrow I'm going to the South Wales Pistonheads meet, which will be a nice way to round off the first year.
And I do yearn for a Texas album, but that's not in keeping with the period so I couldn't pass it off as a joke.
I placed the dashboard cover I bought on the car to see how it looked. Having put some interior shine stuff on the cracked one, I can't get it to stick on. A year on I will actually get a new sunroof seal too, even if it costs £50. The leak has worsened and so I'm wasting time demisting and more importantly, upsetting passengers as water drips onto their heads. I had different issues today, having picked up someone who was desperate have a ride. We were driving through Cardiff with the roof out and the heating on when someone shouted “Look at that massive gay!” I'm not sure what gave that impression but it is one of the funnier things to have happened.
My cassette collection is ever expanding, I've been in the mood for Supertramp for the last few months unfortunately. REO Speedwagon is a fantastic antidote, on motorways I nonchalantly shout along to the lyrics I know, which is unashamedly all of them! Tomorrow I'm going to the South Wales Pistonheads meet, which will be a nice way to round off the first year.
And I do yearn for a Texas album, but that's not in keeping with the period so I couldn't pass it off as a joke.
Yesterday I made an impulse purchase on eBay before I'd even drunk all of my coffee. Next I was in the car, heading for Minehead in Somerset. Having finished my coffee first.
Someone had just listed some freshly refurbed wheels with new tyres, surplus after the mechanical side of their 924 turned out to be a disaster and they'd bought a 2.5S, which is 5 stud. My justification for driving 200 miles to get some wheels was flawless: They'd probably cost lots to post and I wanted to pick my nose listening to Fleetwood Mac in relative privacy.
I offered my tatty wheels with their horrendous, borderline legal tyres in part exchange and we struck a deal. I left the workshop with my old wheels the burden of someone else, 5 beautifully refurbished wheels, 5 new tyres, fancy valves, new bolts, everything balanced perfectly, etc etc and I was only £140 down!!!
Progressing along the A39 the difference in grip was immediately obvious, it's like driving a different car! Everything is so tight and sharp now, I can't believe I wasted a year on mismatched turd. Joining the motorway, I moved at serene pace. The car is even a joy on every road, with refinement to add to the comfy tombstone seats. Oh and the car looks very smart now, I'm feeling very car proud, with what's turning out to be a very tidy & well sorted 924!
Someone had just listed some freshly refurbed wheels with new tyres, surplus after the mechanical side of their 924 turned out to be a disaster and they'd bought a 2.5S, which is 5 stud. My justification for driving 200 miles to get some wheels was flawless: They'd probably cost lots to post and I wanted to pick my nose listening to Fleetwood Mac in relative privacy.
I offered my tatty wheels with their horrendous, borderline legal tyres in part exchange and we struck a deal. I left the workshop with my old wheels the burden of someone else, 5 beautifully refurbished wheels, 5 new tyres, fancy valves, new bolts, everything balanced perfectly, etc etc and I was only £140 down!!!
Progressing along the A39 the difference in grip was immediately obvious, it's like driving a different car! Everything is so tight and sharp now, I can't believe I wasted a year on mismatched turd. Joining the motorway, I moved at serene pace. The car is even a joy on every road, with refinement to add to the comfy tombstone seats. Oh and the car looks very smart now, I'm feeling very car proud, with what's turning out to be a very tidy & well sorted 924!
Time for a long overdue update!
My insurance came down as I was hoping, it's a touch over £800 with a sensible £150 excess and 10k miles including commuting. Not bad considering I just turned 22 and only have 1 year of driving under my belt.
I haven't done much to the car lately, instead I've been happy just knowing it's my dependable old whip! It's done a lot of miles recently as I've been all over the country for jobs & job interviews. I gave it a quick service and cruising at 70mph returns 38mpg! If I'm not making such a conscious effort to waft along I'm still easily in the 30's.
After one of the side indicators fell out, I splashed out on some original amber ones for £2. I gave it a good clean today too and then took some snaps since I had my gear in the car from a shoot earlier in the week. The shiny wheels make a huge difference to the overall appearance, just the tatty turbo bonnet lets it down but the NACA duct makes up for this short coming!
My insurance came down as I was hoping, it's a touch over £800 with a sensible £150 excess and 10k miles including commuting. Not bad considering I just turned 22 and only have 1 year of driving under my belt.
I haven't done much to the car lately, instead I've been happy just knowing it's my dependable old whip! It's done a lot of miles recently as I've been all over the country for jobs & job interviews. I gave it a quick service and cruising at 70mph returns 38mpg! If I'm not making such a conscious effort to waft along I'm still easily in the 30's.
After one of the side indicators fell out, I splashed out on some original amber ones for £2. I gave it a good clean today too and then took some snaps since I had my gear in the car from a shoot earlier in the week. The shiny wheels make a huge difference to the overall appearance, just the tatty turbo bonnet lets it down but the NACA duct makes up for this short coming!
FelixP said:
Just 1 of 4 London trains was actually running, so I was standing all the way to Swindon. This influenced the standard of car I'd accept.
I enjoyed your posts and think that you bought a good example! I know people who have more problems with cars that are twenty years younger.
Thanks all!
Meoricin - Nope, it wasn't for that
I've been talking a lot lately about how good my car has been to me, so the starter motor broke. I ended up taking it to the garage for them to sort out, a bit frustrating but nevermind.
With the weather being nice and mild my enthusiasm has been at an all time high and I've spent some afternoons sorting out the last few niggles. I painted the drums and cleaned the interior properly for the first time in ages. This month I've got about 1000 miles of driving to various events and meet-ups which I'm looking forward to. Then in April I'm doing a Euro trip for the first time, which is very exciting!
I did peruse the classifieds looking at cheap 944's again but the time, funds and effort I've put into my 924 over the last year are starting to show and that's a great feeling. And insurance dictates that I should stick with it!
I've got my eye on some beige sports seats too, which I think will contrast nicely with the rest of the interior. Dare I say a sunroof seal would actually finish it!
Maybe this will happen next year? Then again I could just refresh the suspension with OEM stuff, not that it needs it. Decent standard 924's seem to be thin on the ground so perhaps it's best to keep mine one of them?
Meoricin - Nope, it wasn't for that
I've been talking a lot lately about how good my car has been to me, so the starter motor broke. I ended up taking it to the garage for them to sort out, a bit frustrating but nevermind.
With the weather being nice and mild my enthusiasm has been at an all time high and I've spent some afternoons sorting out the last few niggles. I painted the drums and cleaned the interior properly for the first time in ages. This month I've got about 1000 miles of driving to various events and meet-ups which I'm looking forward to. Then in April I'm doing a Euro trip for the first time, which is very exciting!
I did peruse the classifieds looking at cheap 944's again but the time, funds and effort I've put into my 924 over the last year are starting to show and that's a great feeling. And insurance dictates that I should stick with it!
I've got my eye on some beige sports seats too, which I think will contrast nicely with the rest of the interior. Dare I say a sunroof seal would actually finish it!
Maybe this will happen next year? Then again I could just refresh the suspension with OEM stuff, not that it needs it. Decent standard 924's seem to be thin on the ground so perhaps it's best to keep mine one of them?
I initially thought it needed lowering, but as you pointed out standard ones are rare, plus I remembered they're quite low compared to modern cars anyway! As for your tape collection, some real corkers in there! Rush, 2112 is the only track i've heard of theirs, although bloody good it was. Supertramp, loads of great tracks.. Rumours album, not really a bad track on there and great for driving to in your 924 I should imagine! And a Miami Vice tape, hero.. Like you I am also wasting my study time away on here, so please keep up the amusing updates 
Cheers, Chuck
Cheers, Chuck
Good deal on those wheels and enough to really improve the overall look of the car. If i were really picky I'd say consider some slightly lower profile tyres when those need replacing.
Cracking project though and I can't read an update without having to go off and read more about 924s
Cracking project though and I can't read an update without having to go off and read more about 924s
I don't mean to spam with constant updates, but here's another:
On Saturday I made the journey to the Ace Cafe in London for a Porsche 924 meeting. I'd never been to the Ace before and this seemed like the perfect excuse. I managed to arrive at the right time to be parked right in the middle out front, with my dirty daily! Altogether about 20 cars turned up, some of them in better condition than mine. This upset me until I realised mine does about triple the mileage of the other club cars and lives on the road. Anyway, there were cars and people of all ages making it worth the trip.
After the Ace Cafe I was back in surprisingly sunny South Wales and it was decided that my car should be “detailed.” Fortunately I have a friend with such things I can only dream of, like a hose and every product from the Autoglym catalogue. I didn't bring my camera, which was a shame as it would've been a good example of what 26 years of dirt looks like when you wash it off. We started with snowfoam, which made lots of crap seep off. Then it was time to don the wash mitts! Even at this point I'd never seen my car look so clean. Next up was this “Iron X” spray, which turned purple when it met contaminants in the paint. The results were hilarious and I feared my car would now stay purple. It took about 3 tries with the pressure washer to rinse it off and stop everything turning purple again! After that it was time for the clay, with every movement I ended up folding the clay in on itself since it got so dirty. Next up was a quick rinse and dry before the polish. Each step made a massive difference and the polish was no different. All the little scratches around the door handles and even the ones along the length of the car where I opted for a freshly cut hedge instead of a Land Cruiser just disappeared! Once the polish was buffed out I took the car home and borrowed some wax to finish it off, after resting my aching arms. This morning I awoke excited to see my car covered in beads of water! I never used to understand detailing but actually it was both therapeutic and satisfying. My car came out absolutely stunning too, it has never looked so good and I'm keen to keep up the finish to show off at the 35th anniversary of the UK launch of the 924 at the Porsche Experience centre next month at Silverstone. One niggle that came to my attention on the weekend is the play in my gear stick, so I'm looking to replace it. A short shift kit costs the same as OEM, so perhaps I'll go down that route, especially having used a 944 S2 with the short shift kit...
For the first time I'd say the car looks better in the metal than in the photographs. It's wonderful to find such a clean car under the dirt, just look how good my lower front valence is!
On Saturday I made the journey to the Ace Cafe in London for a Porsche 924 meeting. I'd never been to the Ace before and this seemed like the perfect excuse. I managed to arrive at the right time to be parked right in the middle out front, with my dirty daily! Altogether about 20 cars turned up, some of them in better condition than mine. This upset me until I realised mine does about triple the mileage of the other club cars and lives on the road. Anyway, there were cars and people of all ages making it worth the trip.
After the Ace Cafe I was back in surprisingly sunny South Wales and it was decided that my car should be “detailed.” Fortunately I have a friend with such things I can only dream of, like a hose and every product from the Autoglym catalogue. I didn't bring my camera, which was a shame as it would've been a good example of what 26 years of dirt looks like when you wash it off. We started with snowfoam, which made lots of crap seep off. Then it was time to don the wash mitts! Even at this point I'd never seen my car look so clean. Next up was this “Iron X” spray, which turned purple when it met contaminants in the paint. The results were hilarious and I feared my car would now stay purple. It took about 3 tries with the pressure washer to rinse it off and stop everything turning purple again! After that it was time for the clay, with every movement I ended up folding the clay in on itself since it got so dirty. Next up was a quick rinse and dry before the polish. Each step made a massive difference and the polish was no different. All the little scratches around the door handles and even the ones along the length of the car where I opted for a freshly cut hedge instead of a Land Cruiser just disappeared! Once the polish was buffed out I took the car home and borrowed some wax to finish it off, after resting my aching arms. This morning I awoke excited to see my car covered in beads of water! I never used to understand detailing but actually it was both therapeutic and satisfying. My car came out absolutely stunning too, it has never looked so good and I'm keen to keep up the finish to show off at the 35th anniversary of the UK launch of the 924 at the Porsche Experience centre next month at Silverstone. One niggle that came to my attention on the weekend is the play in my gear stick, so I'm looking to replace it. A short shift kit costs the same as OEM, so perhaps I'll go down that route, especially having used a 944 S2 with the short shift kit...
For the first time I'd say the car looks better in the metal than in the photographs. It's wonderful to find such a clean car under the dirt, just look how good my lower front valence is!
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