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964 Targa - Spring refresh

It's been some time since my previous post. After deciding to retire the car from winter use this year the 964 was consigned to sleep in the garage during the cold months.
I decided to invest in another vehicle just as practical & reliable as the Porsche. The Defender is noisy, leaks in the rain and requires constant inspection for oil leaks, it's almost a like- for-like for the Targa.
Its the most fun you'll have driving slowly to a destination.
The Porsche came back out of the garage last month for its MOT and squeaked through with an advisory identifying an oil leak in the rear wheel arch. I've had to change oil pipes 24, 26 & 46 to get the car back on the road. This is the second time in 4 years since I last replaced oil pipe 46, (Thermostat to Oil Filter), it's a P.I.T.A to swap so I was not impressed that the last pipe only lasted a few years before the lower crimp connection corroded & split.
Ran the car out for a few miles tonight and all going well that's the oil lines sorted for the summer.
 

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I finally got around to installing new suspension on the car this weekend.
It's been on the 'To Do" list ever since I purchased the car but apart from changing the rear shocks a couple of years ago the stance of the car has remained front high for too many years as you can see in my older posts.

I managed to get hold of a low mileage, second-hand set of Bilstein b6's with eibach springs for an unbelievable good price and have spent the weekend installing and adjusting to suit its new stance.

The car is now sitting at approximately RS+10mm. The front is about as low as it will go. I wound down the adjustment rings to the bottom of the thread and have put in one revolution only to see how the car settles in with a full tank of fuel next week.
I will probably lift the back up a further 10mm to try and get a bit of forward rake. As the Targa only sees street use, I'll set it up more for aesthetics in lieu of pure performance.

I've been reading through most of the webs previous posts on Bilstein b6's with eibach springs and it looks like the only way to lower the front a desirable inch or so further is to get some drop rings or cut further threads into the shock body. At the moment I am happy with the initial installation as the old suspension was toast so it's a notable improvement.
I'll drive it gently for a week to see if the height drops a bit in the front and then get a full alignment done to dial the car in.
 

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After a week of driving, the suspension has bedded in nicely.

I lifted the rear a further 10mm last night to get the rake angle right visually, the front is measuring RS+5 and the rear RS+15.

I have to get it booked in for a full alignment now but compared to the original suspension setup it's a million times better.

I took a quick run out to 'Caffeine & Machine" this morning, worth diverting to if you're in the Warwickshire area, plenty of petrol heads out early this morning for their caffeine fix.
https://caffeineandmachine.com/

Always appears to have a few Porsche's parked up.
 

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Just remeasured the height. I'm at 130mm at the front, RS+5 & 240mm at the rear which I believe is RS+22! Anyone got a similar bilsten b6 hd setup to compare notes?
 
Just remeasured the height. I'm at 130mm at the front, RS+5 & 240mm at the rear which I believe is RS+22! Anyone got a similar bilsten b6 hd setup to compare notes?
 
Car looks great, thinking of trying this too on my 964, if I can get the 10mm nuts off.
Quick question after polishing the Targa bar does anyone lacquer/ clear coat it or are they usually left as raw metal?
 
Hi rod635,

As far as I can ascertain, all targa bars in all generations up to the 964 are stainless steel so when stripped, the majority of people polish them to their desired level of shine and let them dull naturally as the car gets dirty, reapplying their preferred cleaning regime to the bar alongside the rest of the car.

The potential problem with lacquering stainless steel is its ability to adhere to the surface without delaminating and potentially going milky in the future.

I prefer the DeLorean type brushed stainless finish look.
Once the targa bar is stripped use Scotchbrite purple & grey pads, carefully brushing in one constant direction. People generally use stainless steel cleaner, WD40 or other cleaning products to get the desired level of shine.

I have noticed that there are a couple of stripped targa bars on eBay at the moment which may be a quicker process than stripping the paint off the original as new recipe paint strippers leave a lot to be desired as they lack the strength of the old chemical products.

Good Luck with the process.
 
Spring 2022, a long weekend and another opportunity to install various purchases obtained in recent months in readiness for the summer.
1) First on the list was a F9T DME, Solid State Fuel Relay. This has a self-priming, fuel pump feature giving added, audible reassurance every time you turn the key, an added bonus on a car that only gets occasional use.
2) Yesterday completed the 993 coil conversion upgrade. This has been well documented on many forums over the years. This is a reasonably straightforward exercise, albeit requiring a bit of patience to align the various component parts & bracketry before drilling through the 993 coil pack to create a mounting point.
While I haven't had time to road test any improvements, the car turns over with a bit more venom.
3) Last on the list and top of my wish list was the installation of 'new to me", 17" Fuchs replicas.
I have been meaning to purchase and install these alloys for almost as long as I have owned the car.
After removing the existing Cup 2 wheels I ended up removing the rear 15mm spacers as the initial mounting offset was a fraction too wide visually. A 5mm spacer appears just right depending on how aggressive you want the stance to look.
The only thing I'm in two minds about is dust cap colour, (grey or black) or omission?
The photos below have grey caps on the driver's side which closely match the RSR finish or no caps at all on the passenger side which is a slightly more aggressive look. '1st world problems as they say".
Enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend. Look forward to the weather warming up a bit and the Targa roof coming off the car.
 

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Targa badges

Gorgeous car, I like your style. My weekend project is taking off the targa bar cover ti bring it back to stainless like yours. Got it off and about to start attacking it with pain stripper, any tips on getting it back to bare metal?
Also are the targa badges metal or plastic and can these be polished, mine are a faded dark grey, or should I just buy new ones.
 

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Snap, trying to work out if the cars are the same colour? Mine's Marine Blue Metallic. Due to the flip in the paint and how clean it is the visual colour can change considerably.
Paint stripper for environmental reasons is now weaker than my coffee in the morning. While I haven't tried, I have seen people cover objects with cling film after applying stripper for better curing. Might be worth a try?
From memory mine took 3-4 coats of stripper then sanding down with various grades of sandpaper, (be careful what grade is used, not too heavy or you'll create deep scratches) finish with purple then grey Scotchbrite pads. YouTube people refinishing Delorean's as there are various techniques for creating the desired finish.
My targa badges were a soft metal. I can't remember how they are secured. I may have left mine in place and worked around them.
Look forward to seeing the end results.
 
The stainless steel bar looks great and I think it's a massive improvement in appearance compared to the original black bar. Good work! :thumb:
 
Thanks for the advice. Mines Baltic Blue, quite similar.

I finally got all the paint off, car was previously restored and whoever painted it used a coat of primer on the bar, then another thicker layer, then a very thick layer of paint. As mentioned modern pain remover is *****. Probably took me around 12 hours in total to get it to bare metal.

Not sure if its from original or previous paint job but there are quite a few swirl marks etc. on it, looks like I'm going to have fun getting the original brushed finish I'm after.

Do you know if the grain / lines run front to rear or side to side L to R on the bar?
 
Agree, the paint stripping process is a pig.
Stainless lines want to run in the long direction. Start at the top in the middle of the bar and work with even strokes towards the targa sign.
I started by adhering a purple scotchbrite to the bottom of a small triangle electric sander. You end up with swirling lines but it's a starting point. Alternatively you can build a cylinder sander on a drill bit with a wood block or any solid material the right shape, again with purple scotchbrite. Just make sure the back face of the bar is evenly supported to avoid bending.
The next step in demonstrated in the YouTube video below.
https://youtu.be/FOmUran35dE
Some people choose to polish with Vaseline but it gets a bit too shiny. Stainless steel cleaner is available for more of a matt finish.
Just start carefully so as to not add deep gauges which will be more difficult to remove.
Good luck
 

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