On Jun 6, 2009, at 22:36 , Rob Studdert wrote:
On 6/6/09, Ken Waller <kwal...@peoplepc.com> wrote:
2005 Porsche Boxster S new - what can I say, simply the best handling
vehicle I've ever driven - not your typical committee car - these are
designed by people that know what a driver wants & provide it.
This is the hardest thing to convey to anyone who just thinks a car
has four wheels and gets you from point a to point b. Porsche makes
driver's cars straight off the factory floor, I wish I still was able
to afford one (or two as used to be the case).
Amen.
I'll never be able to afford an old 914, because to be in good enough
shape it would have to have been so carefully cared for, and have low
mileage to boot. That would be very expensive. There was a time when
you could buy a "body in white" and build your own. It's the body that
ultimately gives up. You can tell it's getting old by taking off the
roof and driving it hard. If the car seems to oversteer with only a
little steering input, the car frame is twisting and is no good.
Because they are tight cars, if you run them hard, over time the spot
welds begin to work, and body strength and stiffness goes away. Water
can get in the seams, and rust follows, usually starting at the rear
of the front fender wells where the front trunk wall and the fender
come together. Hose out behind the "rocker panels" from the front
wheel well and engine compartment until water squirts out around the
jack sockets. If water doesn't come out around the jack holes, you
have to drill out the rivets that hold the rockers and kick panels in
place, then clean up and apply wax or repaint any bad spots. Same goes
for the front turn signals. Remove them and clean the area inside the
fenders thoroughly. Most attention should be payed to the right hand
side trunk lid torsion bar retaining bolt and mount near the battery,
and the battery support structure, both of which tend to be surrounded
by battery fumes (even maintenance free batteries breathe all the
time). After modifying the factory bolt mounts so they would drain,
some aftermarket versions appeared and could be welded on to replace
the corroded ones. If you see a 914 with the right front of the trunk
lid raised up from half an inch to two inches, this has not been done.
The headlight bucket drain tubes should be kept clear, as should the
two drain tubes in the front trunk, and the four drain tubes in the
rear trunk. They tended to get clogged with sand from the trunk or mud
from the road. The front and rear bumpers, the rubber seals around
both trunk lids need to be removed periodically, and everything
cleaned up. The rubber seal channels will hold water under the seal,
and corrode away. Behind the bumpers need to be cleaned and waxed
every couple of years. The drivers side floor carpet should be removed
(it just sits there, no glue) every time you wash the car and vacuum
under it. Keep that area clean and dry. Wet shoes, snow on boots, etc,
all do damage to that area. The clutch cable needs to be cleaned and
lubricated fairly often, as it gets greasy, then sand sticks to it,
and it eats away at the clutch cable pulley (which I used to replace
every couple of years) and itself, then breaks. The rear calipers also
act as the emergency brake through a mechanical linkage. The brake is
adjusted at the caliper by an allen head screw that you screw out to
allow new pads to be put in, then screw in until the pads are just
touching the rotor. What happened to me on several occasions is that
the steel allen head screw would corrode in the aluminum caliper, and
the head would get stripped out. So I always advised to back the screw
out and screw it back in every couple of months in the winter. Just
count the turns.
If any of you pick up a 914 for fun driving anytime, keep a copy of
this email, and you'll be able to care for it properly, or at least
find out where it's screwed up.
Can you tell I was the Potomac (Washington D.C.) Region Technical
Chairperson for the Porsche Club of America from 1979 to 1982?
Anyway, I've test driven several late 80's 928 S cars over the past
few years. If I stop being a photographer and sell ALL my camera
equipment, I can probably buy one in OK condition. But that won't
happen. No. Never happen.
Thanks for reading.
Joseph McAllister
pentax...@mac.com
http://gallery.me.com/jomac
http://web.me.com/jomac/show.me/Blog/Blog.html
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