Grahams 996 with Aero kit running thread

[TV8]

I'm in a village between Ashford and Canterbury. No we didn't meet but maybe when things return to some sort of normality the shows and meets can get going again

I popped along to a meeting on the A249 one Saturday morning and hope they start up again soon!

 

[jakerade]

Hi Malllone, it allows more movement on the seat runners. Just unbolt and remove the little bracket and pop the bolt back in. Clearly made a difference as my wife drove the car at the weekend and had to move the seat, which doesn't normally happen.

Hi

Does that bracket give any structural strengthening or is it just to locate the alignment pin. Eg does the floor bolt go through it or is it drilled bigger than the bolt head? I guess the other thing to watch is whether all the seat runner pins engage properly as you go further back?

I was looking at the "extendmyseat" option but it is crazy expensive for two bits of metal when you factor in postage.

Thanks

Jake

I can't see how it does but it's a quick job to have a look and form your own opinion.

I had a look at this today as I had the carpet up to redrill one of the gearbox mounting bracket bolts, and it does indeed give an extra click or two which is handy.

However, I think that bracket strengthens the fixing as the bolt goes through it and it is twice the thickness of the rails. Eg stops the bolt ripping through the rails in the event of a serious accident

I decided to fabricate a bracket out of a square unistrut washer as I didnt want to cut down the original bracket. You basically have to cut it down to the same width as the bracket and it ends up slightly thicker. Cutting down the bracket to probably half way through the pin would be the other option. The pin is handy as it stops the bracket twisting when you tighten it.

Either way, i am happy with the fix so thanks!

 

[TV8]

Thanks jakerade, I didn't think about the strengthening of the seat rail but I have been used to having my seat held in place with a washer in the fibreglass floor! I will look at the again.

 

[TV8]

The car is running fantastic. A couple of times recently, I have just got the car out of the garage and gone for a long-drive for the sake of it!

Someone on here is looking for my spec of car and contacted me to see if I wanted to sell. Given how much I am missing a convertible we had a conversation and I learned a few things about the car and my car based on the questions asked! It was clear we approach things differently (I hadnt seen the car when I agreed to swap it for my TVR) and we had a different view of value, so I didn't expect to hear back from the potential buyer but he did come back a few days later accepting of my valuation but it was to late, as more parts had been purchased!

It was time to tackle the air conditioning. Not sure why, but I thought it was the nearside condenser that was leaking but that looked fine (dated 2007 and this is probably in the history file...) the driver side was definitely bad!

It was a surprisingly easy job to do, once I jacked the car up. The bolts holding on the aerokit front bumper were further back than I expected and tricky to get a torx on them, for me at least.

I didn't fit the mesh I purchased on the bumper in the end as I wasn't sure about how they fit in the soft seals on the condenser surrounds. Plus, there wasn't that much rubbish in there!

Quickly put back together and I cleaned up the covers and the hidden paint.

I bought the condensers of eBay based on a recommendation I saw on Facebook and they came from a seller called coolpartsuk and they were quick to deliver and £90 for the pair delivered, which I thought was good, especially with the fit and finnish.

On arrival, one didn't look flat and checking the packing, it had been trodden on in transit.

a quick message to the seller and he put a new one in the post that came next business day and collected the old one. Excellent customer Service!

My local Kwik Fit isn't offering air conditioning refils at the moment, so I used a local garage that I haven't been to before. They spent an hour on the prep, which seemed a long-time - about 30 minutes of vacuum and similar on pressure test. I was very pleased that it held pressure and the air conditioning system is very chilly now.

The two guys that run the place in Keston race minis and with some success looking at their trophy cabinet in the reception area!

Now the aircon is working and using the auto means that the fan comes on full to get the temp where it is supposed to be and that in turn means that the radio interference has come back!

Obviously, it was always there but I had the air con off and fan on low-med and it wasn't a problem.

Sorting this and giving the car a good clean and wax are next on the list!

 

[TV8]

Well, I pulled that car out of the garage last weekend and a small puddle of alien blood was under the car by the drivers side rear jacking point.

This wasn't a surprise as there have been a couple of posts about the join there and there were historical traces of dye as well. DeMort had tried to change the seal when I had it serviced but the bolt was seized.

The local garage did the job for me and as it was leaking on the low pressure side, I hadn't lost much gas. Hopefully, this is all fixed now!

 

[simonas]

Lovely car And great thread. I also have a Chimaera 500. Great cars
I've bought a similar car last week and funny enough it has no condensers for the air con. I've searched that sellers name and can't find it fo you have a link? £90 for the pair?

 

[TV8]

Lovely car And great thread. I also have a Chimaera 500. Great cars
I've bought a similar car last week and funny enough it has no condensers for the air con. I've searched that sellers name and can't find it fo you have a link? £90 for the pair?

Hi Simon, the Ebay item number is 283078802770. Not sure if I mentioned earlier but you need to get the seals as well. I bought mine from type911 as I live close but I forgot when I ordered them to be honest!

 

[TV8]

I have just had the notice of Insurance and car tax renewal through, so its coming up to a year since I swapped the car and looking back, I am very glad that I did.

Even with the year we have had, I have managed more miles in it than I did in the last couple of years in the TVR, which I had just stopped using due to having the Boxster parked in front of the garage.

There has been more than one "shall I change the car" moment, particularly with the great summer we have had but I am really enjoying driving the car and thinking I could be keeping it for a while!

The car is still running fantastic and I only need to sort the interference from blower/fan into the sound system before next summer when the air conditioning runs on full.

Earlier in the year I fitted some Ring up-grade bulbs on the dipped lights and the were un-used until recently and they are surprisingly good. The old ones were border-line dangerous and I probably won't bother with the HID upgrade I was considering (and did to my Boxster)

I also managed to get along to Simply Porsche and all credit to the organisers for letting this go ahead. Good to meet a few people from here as well.

Next job is centre console delete and a good treatment on the front seats with Dr Leather.

 

[Wh1t3Kn1ght]

Looking awesome :worship: :thumbs:

 

[TV8]

Looking awesome :worship: :thumbs:

Thanks!

 

[TV8]

Its been a funny old year! Insurance renewal through, so its now more than a year I have had the car and sometimes it feels like a lot longer than that and others a lot less!

I am still managing to use the car most weeks, if only to visit my Mum and take the long-way home. Its funny how technology knows your habits. The head-unit syncs with the phone and then a notification from Apple Maps pops up with the traffic time and any traffic warning to my mums location, despite not even using apple maps!

As the weather has been getting colder, I am enjoying the coupe a lot. Getting older and as the gaps between the hairs on my head have got larger, I am not sure I would drive roof down during winter as willingly now!

I finally got around to buying and fitting the centre console delete. Matt at Type911 is very helpful and just down the road from me, so also handy if you forget something!

It appears there are two versions and Matt advised the correct one. Its easy to fit and fully reversible. Looks good as well but I do miss having somewhere to put the phone.

The next job is the treatment of the seats and hopefully, we will have bright day between Christmas and New Year to do this job.

 

[coullstar]

Still think this is one of the best things I did to mine. Just feels so much better with the room.

 

[wellsy]

Nice work on the console delete. It just looks right in my eyes and is on my to do list. Did you source all bits from Type911?

 

[TV8]

Hi Wellsy, I did get both bits from Type911. This picture show them a bit better. There is the carpet covered piece that goes over the sides of the centre tunnel in the floor and a small piece of plastic that clips in where you remove part of the centre console frame from. You have to completely loosen the various screws on the centre console to get it in and a relative simple job.

 

[jakerade]

Looking good and we seem to be doing similar things

Somewhere to put my phone is my biggest bug bear. It wants a small shelf below the stereo or a tray beyond the gearshift. I am trying to craft something that looks oem but removable!

I suspect the console parts are cheaper from an OPC with a bit of discount. I was suprised when I bought mine. £97 for the console and £32 for the crappy black plastic cover in front of the gear shift. (Plus VAT)