On the right track???

[mike satur]

Having recently purchased a 993CarreraS (I have been hankering after another 911 after selling my tweaked 75 Carrera 2.7 some 8 years ago) I was a bit dissapointed with the way it was handling compared to my recollections of the way I used to throw the 2.7 about. The Documents that came with the car indicated that the bilsteins had been changed and the wheel alignment had been adjusted, even so for an evolved car I felt the handling should be better. That said I decided to take it on a European tour visiting Belgium,Germany,Austria,Switzerland and back home via France. After a couple of days driving the rear tyres had scrubbed off down to the canvas
. That would explain the deterioration in the handling!! Unfortunatley it was Sunday and I was in Germany so no tyre shops open..I had some 300kms to our appointed hotel and about 50km from it the off side tyre burst. On with the spacesaver and a slow drive hoping the other tyre would hold out ..it did and we were thankfull for a few steins of beer to numb the stress. The next day I located a tyre firm but they didn't have the 285x30x18 tyres and would take 2 days, another nerve racking drive on the spacesaver and number two Kojak to the next tyre company but they couldn't get the size for 24 hours. I eventually got through to the local Porsche dealer and got two pirelli p zeros fitted.The reason for the tyre stripping in such a short time could only have been down to wheel alignment and I decided to steady up the driving and keep a close eye on the wear rate. To cut a long story short after getting back to blighty I decide to have a local 'specialist' check and adjust the alignment. He reports that it was badly out and resets it. expecting to feel a vast difference in the handling I find that it doesn't feel that much different. Not wanting to doubt any 'professional's' abilities without firm evidence I decide to use my own tracking gauges to check the settings and was 'gobsmacked..no double gobsmacked when we saw the results...it was 'king miles out to the factory settings, one rear wheel was toe out and the other toe in, the cambers were out and the front toe settings and camber settings were wildly out as well, not to mention the steering gaiters twisted..thank ebay for a cd with all the info on for a fiver. So after paying a 'pro' for 5 hours of his time to screw up the car I will set up the alignment myself and have to get a refund for the 4 days he had the car.Wish me luck


Migration info. Legacy thread was 33812

 

[Carrera]

I had some repair work done on mine a couple of yrs ago and a OPC did a full alignment check/adjust. The handling was much worse than before the work was done, so I took it to JZ. They found toe out instead of toe in the front and the rear were way out too. The handling with proper alignment setting was much better.

It's amazng how some garages can screw up such job as alignment which I'm sure they're doing rather frequently. Either they are careless or useless, later being quite scary considering how many alignments they do normally.

Anyway, hope you get your car sorted, and start to enjoy the car properly. Interesting to see how it compares to a '75 911, being much heavier but more power, supposedly better rear end control. Keep us informed.


Migration info. Legacy thread was 33814

 

[Used Porsche]

Mike

Complete refund from the incompetants sounds fair.

Migration info. Legacy thread was 33815

 

[mike satur]

Stevo, those are my thoughts as well..especially as I asked him to strip the front calipers off and clean the pad plates and fit new pads.

The braking hadn't really improved so had a look to-day.D'oh! The discs had not been deglazed and the crossed drilled holes were full of debris..so why 6 hours charges??? Ran a colbolt drill through to clean out the discs and de-glazed the discs with some production paper, a real pile of debris on the workshop floor and brakes work great now..if you want a job doing.. On a brighter note I ordered a turbo S front spoiler from Jasmine and it arrived the following day so great service there and I got a trade discount!! Decided to fit it to-day after priming and a good coat of wurth SKS water based anti chip last night and left overnight to dry ..great stuff 'cos it is water based and I use a gravity spray gun so it goes on smooth and it can be painted with any type of top coat. After a flat off this morning I gave it 5 coats of base coat Versuvio which covers really well and 3 good coats of two pack lacquer. Fixed the brakes while it was drying and thought it should be pretty straight forward..wrong! I normally dry fit spoilers but assumed 'cos it was a Porsche original part it would fit no problemo,D'oh! again!!Yes it needed the internal radii at each arch reducing and the lip that fits into the rebate around the bumper was a little too thick..so a bit of delicate trimming with a carbide burr and a die-grinder helped. Result is brilliant and makes the front blend in well with the side skirts now and just bulks up the front end nicely without being OTT. The new paint now shows the stone chips up on the bumper but it is staying as it is for the moment 'cos I want to drive it!! Well that is after I fix the wheel alignment and two new (again) rear tyres. Will take some pictures tomorrow , light was fading when I finally got home and dragged the kids and the OH to see it :lol:


Migration info. Legacy thread was 33896

 

[mike satur]

/images/migration/UploadedForumImages/180905%20007.jpg

Migration info. Legacy thread was 33936

 

[Fuchs]

Mike -i think we need to make you the official 911uk bodyman/painter? :lol:

Form an orderly queue please !! - :wink:


Migration info. Legacy thread was 33937

 

[mike satur]

Iam flattered

Migration info. Legacy thread was 33975

 

[smtk]

Is there a list of dealers/shops we can trust?

Because it does seem to be a mine field.

(I know its hard do judge a shop because it depends who serves you)

Migration info. Legacy thread was 33989

 

[Fuchs]

there IS a list of recommended dealers within this site - have alook at the main section of the forum

Migration info. Legacy thread was 33990

 

[Kiwi911]

Mike - what a sharp looking car! But is that an MG dealership also up your driveway?!?

I had a similar problem when I bought my 996 - picked it up in Chicago, drove 700 miles across 4 states in one 10 hour day to get it home (lived in Pennsylvania at the time), to discover rear tyres worn down to the wear indicator bars. The dealership I'd bought it off had only done front alignment - rears had big-time toe-out. To dealership credit they did cover some of the cost of replacement rear tyres.




Migration info. Legacy thread was 34081

 

[mike satur]

Yo Kiwi 911, the MG's are overflow from work ..I do run a couple for day to day driving as well, currently working on a supercharged Honda K20a type R engine install in the back of my '95 MGF..probably blow the socks of my 993
still haven't sorted the alignment out, I got a spare set of Turbo alloys (not hollow spoke) and going to put some chunky winter tyres on them while I refurb the ones fitted on the car at the moment as soon as I get the tyres fitted will re-set the 4 wheel alignment.

Once drove from Michigan to St Louis in a MGA coupe it was the hottest summer I can recall and was nigh on collapsing with heat exhaustion in the coupe that was one long drive
...rear tyres were OK though :wink:


Migration info. Legacy thread was 34131