Losing the whaletail - Jamie

Nathan · 6 Jan 2003

Jamie, forgot to ask, where have you got your new lid from?

I've been considering losing the whale but really am indecisive on this. The wife hates it (and I must value her opinion!) and I do prefer the sleeker, more modern look without it but most of the people I ask say "it's not a proper 911 without it"!!

I suppose I could keep it swap it as the mood takes me!

Nathan

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Jamie Summers · 7 Jan 2003

I was lucky enough to notice a post on the Titanic 3.2 forum (definitely worth joining by the way) by a guy who had sold his 3.2 and still had a spoilerless bootlid and a Bentley Manual to get rid of. I paid £150 for the lid including the grille (the occassional ones I'd seen in 911&PW and Porsche Post seemd to change hands for about £150 without grille (about £80 on its own !) so it seemed a good deal.

Overall I think it's a preferable route to go rather than welding up the holes in the spoilered lid as it always gives you the option to change back. I've had a quote of about £250 to have it sprayed up and fitted. The total cost of £400 compares to quotes I had a few months ago of between £600 and £700 for a specialist to source the parts and do the work - so it represents a useful saving.

The supply of 2nd hand spoilerless bootlids is pretty scarce as more and more people are getting rid of their whaletails - it's always worth checking the small ads and the Porsche breakers. I'm sure you can buy a new panel from Porsche but probably v. expensive, there are also various companies who produce fibreglass lightweight replacements, I suppose it comes down to whether you're a stickler for originality, but then again so long as you keep the original lid then it's not worth worrying about !

Looking forward to shaking the 80's stockbroker image !

Jamie

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Al G · 7 Jan 2003

I would be interested in any change in handling that you notice 'sans tail' - The whale tails and front rubber spoilers were there for a reason and there has been discussion on other forums about the loss of downforce this causes.

Al G

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Jamie Summers · 8 Jan 2003

Al,

You're right there has been a great deal of debate about what happens if you remove the whale tail, but do keep in mind that they were only ever an option and not standard issue, so theoretically the car should be perfectly happy without it.

For what it's worth one story I've heard is that the tail only really starts having a significant effect above 130mph, and we all know how likely it is to achieve that speed anywhere !

Physics dictates that if you remove the rear spoiler you should also remove the chin spoiler to keep the balance, but most of the 3.2s I've seen without whaletail do still have the chin spoiler. I'm going to leave mine in place for starters, both for reasons of economy (the bolt holes would need welding up and the valance spraying = £££££) and aesthetics.

I'll let you know how I get on once the spolier has gone - I'm going to hang on to it though just in case it proves to be a disaster !

Jamie

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s marjoram · 8 Jan 2003

Apparently it's ok to have the front spoiler without the rear. It's the other way round that's dangerous.

My car only has the front spoiler - and bringing it back home on the autobahn it seemed fine at 140. The windscreen wipers were getting pushed up the screen though.

Other options are a ducktail or the retractable 964 spoiler.

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Jamie Summers · 8 Jan 2003

I looked into the retractable 964 option but my car has aircon which makes the job more or less impossible. On the 3.2 the condensor is attached to the underside of the bootlid, on the 964 the condensor is up at the front somewhere - the mechanics for the lifting spoiler means there is no space for the condensor under the bootlid. It would seem a bit of a waste to sacrifice the aircon (which does work !) for the sake of a nifty spoiler. It's all rather annoying as it would have been a very neat solution. I don't suppose anybody has any particularly clever ideas on how to get around this ?

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s marjoram · 9 Jan 2003

A strong cable going from the accelerator pedal to the spoiler. That way - the faster you go the more it comes up ; )

Sorry - I haven't got a sensible answer.

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Jamie Summers · 9 Jan 2003

I suppose the spoiler could be wedged in the 'up' position thus negating the need for all of the workings, but that would rather defeat the object of the exercise wouldn't it !

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Jamie Summers · 21 Jan 2003

Well folks, I've got the car back sans spoiler and I must say it really does make a difference to the way the car looks. It becomes much easier to see the original classic lines (which I though were rather spoilt by the whale tail). I'll get some pictures posted next time I find someone with a snazzy digital camera ! As for the aerodynamic effects I can't say I've noticed a difference yet - admittedly I've not really even had it up to motorway speed yet, so more on that as things progress.

Something worthy of note which I had not appreciated - if a spoilerless car is fitted with a rear wiper the hole for the spindle needs to be drilled out which means a small semi-circular notch has to be cut out of the top of the engine grille. The boot lid that I put on my car had holes drilled out on both the left and right hand side (seemed odd as I thought the wiper was always on the left - but maybe that's a lhd vs rhd issue). The upshot of this is that I can either ignore it, get a new grille with no notches cut out which will cover the holes (only 1/2 inch diameter) or find some suitable rubber bungs to block up the holes. It really doesn't look too bad and if you didn't know to look you wouldn't notice it - I just thought it was strange that the car requires surgery to fit a rear wiper. I suppose that I could have a wiper fitted seeing as the hole is already there, but I shouldn't think that would be a cheap job !

Whilst the spolier was being done I also had the clutch replaced and a 12,000 mile service (there is a worthwhile saving to have both done at the same time). One thing that came up was that the clutch linkage is slightly different on the current OE Porsche clutch kit which needed a modification on my car - apparently mine still had the old set up (more evidence that this was still the original clutch), which has a slightly fatter shaft somewhere that wouldn't fit the new clutch. Anyway the adapter kit cost another £120, but does mean that my car now has a beautifully light clutch - so probably worth the money. Apparently most 3.2's have had this modification done by now, but it's worth keeping in mind and budgetting for.

After the service I've noticed that the car seems to be much quieter and smoother which is probably a combination of the new boot-lid and the K&N airfilter I had fitted at the same time. It sounds much more purposeful and less like a sewing machine at idle !

All in all I'm very happy with the results, and for the first time ever since I've owned any car it cost me what the garage said it would and not several hundred quid more ! Well done Chelsea Carrera !

Jamie

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Losing the whaletail - Jamie

Nathan

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Jamie Summers

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Al G

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Jamie Summers

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s marjoram

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Jamie Summers

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s marjoram

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Jamie Summers

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