JonathanDLP
New member
- Joined
- 13 Mar 2020
- Messages
- 33
I thought I'd post up a summary of life with my 964.
I've had my Polar Silver LHD C2 since 2005, when I bought her privately to be my daily driver for my commute up to London from Kent (140 miles round trip). The car was an eBay purchase and I think the combination of LHD and magenta interior deterred a lot of buyers. At the time I was working to a tight budget so neither of those factors were an issue. 16 years later and I love both the LHD and the interior (with one exception - see later).
The car started its life in Germany before moving to Greece and then to the UK, via Oakhills.
For my first two years of ownership the car ran up and down the M20/M2 into London every day and performed faultlessly. Regular servicing and consumables. Beyond that, the only change I made was to fit a cup pipe for a little more noise.
I then started a new job overseas so the car went into hibernation with the exception of a memorable trip to Austria, three young children shoehorned into the car. A few complaints but I'm sure they loved it really! Adrian Streather's recommendation that C2s be put away when there is snow on the ground is one that I would second. Getting up to the ski resort was fine but a week of snow made the return journey down the mountain interesting - even with snow chains on the rear. I have vivid memories of trying to negotiate a corner and just carrying straight on.
Fast forwarding to 2021, I've at last been able to spend some time bringing her out of hibernation and into use again. First job was tyres, brakes and suspension. Bridgestone Potenzas all round, PAGID discs (fronts at £18 each from Eurocarparts), Bilstein B6s and Eibach springs (Rose Passion were very competitive on these). New OE magnesium wheel nuts all round. Bushes were good, having been previously replaced.
On to lighting. I finally replaced the faded, cracked rear lights and centre reflector with new parts, big visual improvement, and swapped out the clear front and side indicators with amber units.
In the engine bay, two new struts for the lid. For the first time it now opens fully when the lever is pulled. Quite a fiddly job to fit and I managed to drop one of the pins into the depths of the engine but with the help of a powerful torch and a magnetic screwdriver managed to retrieve it. Engine mounts were both shot so after some research I fitted two 993 C4 mounts. These were considerably cheaper than OE 964 mounts and are apparently somewhere between OE 964 and RS mounts in terms of stiffness. They actually came with a 996 part number but also show a previous 993 part number. Most posts on this subject talk about needing to raise the car to replace them. I managed to remove the under tray and jack up the engine without raising the rest of the car.
All of these changes have really firmed up the car. Beautiful to drive now.
Still in the engine bay, the plastic ducting above the fan had disintegrated so had to buy a new one. Strangely this didn't come with the recesses to enable it to dovetail with the rest of the cowling as the original did but some work with a Dremel sorted that out. New oil, oil filter and air filter. Leak under the OSR wheel arch which I tracked down to a corroded oil level sender in the tank. It had actually rusted through rather than leaked at the gasket.
What else? That magenta steering wheel. Whilst I grew to love the interior overall, its very 1990, I do find Porsche's need to colour code everything a bit much at times. So I fitted a black Nardi Gara steering Wheel. It's beautiful and I think complements the rest of the interior very well.
The only other upgrade/change I've made internally is to fit a Continental radio in place of the horrible modern unit that was previously installed. It took a bit of removing but searching YouTube I found a video made by a Russian where he showed how to use two carving knives to remove a stereo in minutes. It worked perfectly! I now have Bluetooth connectivity, hands free phone and can stream music from my iPhone.
Next job is to address some bubbling around the windscreen surround and front ding/scuttle joints and a partial respray to include front and rear bumpers. Those years on the motorway took their toll. But that's a job for this winter, for now I'm just going to enjoy driving her.
Pictures to follow
I've had my Polar Silver LHD C2 since 2005, when I bought her privately to be my daily driver for my commute up to London from Kent (140 miles round trip). The car was an eBay purchase and I think the combination of LHD and magenta interior deterred a lot of buyers. At the time I was working to a tight budget so neither of those factors were an issue. 16 years later and I love both the LHD and the interior (with one exception - see later).
The car started its life in Germany before moving to Greece and then to the UK, via Oakhills.
For my first two years of ownership the car ran up and down the M20/M2 into London every day and performed faultlessly. Regular servicing and consumables. Beyond that, the only change I made was to fit a cup pipe for a little more noise.
I then started a new job overseas so the car went into hibernation with the exception of a memorable trip to Austria, three young children shoehorned into the car. A few complaints but I'm sure they loved it really! Adrian Streather's recommendation that C2s be put away when there is snow on the ground is one that I would second. Getting up to the ski resort was fine but a week of snow made the return journey down the mountain interesting - even with snow chains on the rear. I have vivid memories of trying to negotiate a corner and just carrying straight on.
Fast forwarding to 2021, I've at last been able to spend some time bringing her out of hibernation and into use again. First job was tyres, brakes and suspension. Bridgestone Potenzas all round, PAGID discs (fronts at £18 each from Eurocarparts), Bilstein B6s and Eibach springs (Rose Passion were very competitive on these). New OE magnesium wheel nuts all round. Bushes were good, having been previously replaced.
On to lighting. I finally replaced the faded, cracked rear lights and centre reflector with new parts, big visual improvement, and swapped out the clear front and side indicators with amber units.
In the engine bay, two new struts for the lid. For the first time it now opens fully when the lever is pulled. Quite a fiddly job to fit and I managed to drop one of the pins into the depths of the engine but with the help of a powerful torch and a magnetic screwdriver managed to retrieve it. Engine mounts were both shot so after some research I fitted two 993 C4 mounts. These were considerably cheaper than OE 964 mounts and are apparently somewhere between OE 964 and RS mounts in terms of stiffness. They actually came with a 996 part number but also show a previous 993 part number. Most posts on this subject talk about needing to raise the car to replace them. I managed to remove the under tray and jack up the engine without raising the rest of the car.
All of these changes have really firmed up the car. Beautiful to drive now.
Still in the engine bay, the plastic ducting above the fan had disintegrated so had to buy a new one. Strangely this didn't come with the recesses to enable it to dovetail with the rest of the cowling as the original did but some work with a Dremel sorted that out. New oil, oil filter and air filter. Leak under the OSR wheel arch which I tracked down to a corroded oil level sender in the tank. It had actually rusted through rather than leaked at the gasket.
What else? That magenta steering wheel. Whilst I grew to love the interior overall, its very 1990, I do find Porsche's need to colour code everything a bit much at times. So I fitted a black Nardi Gara steering Wheel. It's beautiful and I think complements the rest of the interior very well.
The only other upgrade/change I've made internally is to fit a Continental radio in place of the horrible modern unit that was previously installed. It took a bit of removing but searching YouTube I found a video made by a Russian where he showed how to use two carving knives to remove a stereo in minutes. It worked perfectly! I now have Bluetooth connectivity, hands free phone and can stream music from my iPhone.
Next job is to address some bubbling around the windscreen surround and front ding/scuttle joints and a partial respray to include front and rear bumpers. Those years on the motorway took their toll. But that's a job for this winter, for now I'm just going to enjoy driving her.
Pictures to follow
