Hi,
First I had better explain what Plan A was going to be, I had always intended to get back into the air-cooled 911 scene after having bought my first in the 1980's.
So nearly 4 years ago I intended to find a really nice 964 C2 Coupe manual to back date probably by PS Autoart. After a couple of months looking I found just what I wanted a beautiful 70k mile example, even better, it was black!
This was on the test drive:
A new home:
The car was so nice I decided to just enjoy it while I considered my options. The first thing I did was put my son's initials on it, I had already decided it was going to be a keeper.
There were several little jobs which needed immediate attention. A small rust patch bubbling under the paintwork below windscreen pillar and the o/s rear window frame also had some corrosion under the anodising. While the front screen was out for first paint repair I renewed the rubber seal and did the same for the o/s rear window when a new frame was fitted.
Next came an oil leak from the thermostat housing with new clips and hoses fitted.
The I set to work cleaning the engine bay up with new Beru leads, dizzy caps, belt tension sensor. I tried cleaning the fan up with ok results but in the end decided to powder coat it, while it was off I also fitted a new fan bearing.
Engine bay before:
After:
The A/C was working but it was feeble, so the gas was changed to the more environmentally friendly variety and both rear brake/indicator clusters and rear reflector were changed for new items.
About 100 hours spent cleaning and Swisswaxing the paintwork to bring a deep glossy shine:
paris shuttle airports
The observant among you will have also noticed the indicator lenses were changed to clear ones. A Porsche Classic Sat/Nav/Phone/MP3 was next.
Some time out:
Last year the ride height was adjusted and I finally got rid of the awful D90's, I hated them when they were new in the 80's after the beautiful Fuchs on my previous 911 and IMHO time hasn't been kind to them. I replaced them with 18" Veloce Speedlines shod with N rated Conti's.
Right, I know what you're thinking, so what's plan B?? Well the thing is I had really fallen in love with the 964 and when the little niggles are sorted it can really put a smile on your face, not to mention 964's were becoming very hard to find and creeping steadily up in value. They are also becoming the weapon of choice for a lot of enthusiasts and now collectors as it's the last of the classic shape but has all the goodies and nice manners. It's hardly surprising that people like Nick Fulljames rate the M64 engine very highly indeed, more so even than the excellent 993 engine. There's just so much we can do with it, so......
Plan B: I decided no back date, just subtle changes to make the car as good as it can be (for me). I spent a lot of time researching engine builds with Motec M84 and EFI PMO's and finally booked a spring '13 build slot with the much respected Nick Fulljames of Redtek who still hand-builds each engine himself.
And after much consultation with Nick full top & bottom blueprinted and balanced build would be as follow giving 350Hp approx:
PMO Throttle bodies.
ITG Air Filters
Injectors
Fit ecu,throttle bodies, wiring loom and map engine.
Motec M84
Engine harness.
Fast lambda.
Throttle switch.
Air temp sensor.
Engine temp sensor.
Throttle position kit.
RS lightweight flywheel & GT3 clutch.
Blue print top end build; including RSR cams, heavy duty valve springs.Titanium retainers.
New TRW valves, guides, chains and guides.
Clean out oil ways in cam spay tubes.
Shot peen rockers.
Reface cylinder heads.
Heavy ARP duty head studs.
Blend ports and throats.
Rocker shaft seal kit.
New oil drain tubes
3.8 Malhe Barrels and pistons
Blueprinted bottom end build including; balance crank assemblies, polish crank.
Boat tail case.
All new Glyco bearings.
Cosmetics, renew as required and powder coat all engine tins and rocker covers black.
Powder coat (newly fitted) rear bumper stays and middle section metal strip.
Refinish fan assembly.
Re-plate all steel bright ware
Oils, filters.
Steel connecting rods (hp gain).
Exhaust system, fabricated to fit 964 twin outlet.
Now the last item is something I didn't see coming as I had already fitted a Dansk twin-outlet system, complete with new n/s under bumper quarter last year
While I waited for the build slot I got busy with the suspension and brakes to cope with the extra power. Luckily I managed to buy a second hand set of Big Red's from a 13k mile 965 Turbo which I had restored and repainted with correct 2 pack and matched the fronts up with heavy duty Pagid yellows ad 32mm Turbo disks. First though, fitting brackets for the front were required. Now here's the problem to make the pads fit it was recommended to skim the front pads by 3-5mm. As you know these "Yellows" are bloody expensive items and to waste some shelf-life every time new ones are required would an expensive pain. So the answer was to re-machine the adapter brackets by 3mm.
The rear turbo callipers were matched with 968CS MO30 rear disks (same as 964RS).
Finished items front & rear:
Since I had saved a bit of money over having to buy new brake callipers I decided to
up the ante on the new suspension and go all out for fully adjustable Bilstein B16's. Bilsteins had been my choice as I had always believed them to be more synonymous with Porsche 911's, although I know other makes are also very good.
The Bilsteins are on setting 5 and the car is a revelation to drive giving a fantastic amount of feedback.
My slot with Nick was a little delayed due to other builds so I a couple of other little items were planned, cup mirrors to replace the flags which I managed to get from Jasmine Porsche-link. Flags look great on SC's and 3.2's but IMO the shape of the 964 lends itself better to the cup mirrors, so these were painted and fitted with new gaskets.
And to finish the interior in which I had earlier restored all the leather, a new Momo Prototipo which feels great.
I'm pleased to say the engine build is well under way, the gas flow of the case is done and other machining processes are well under way.
Tinware completely shot, but Nick says the engine itself is in really good condition, I know what you're thinking, why the build then?? Well I've been a Porsche lover since I was in short pants but I'm now in my 50's and I thought I may as well enjoy it now as wait a few more years and maybe run out of time :grin:
Photo taken halfway through machining:
The new steel rods (a performance upgrade), I guess the marks might indicate the individual weights of 576gms since it's a blue-printed and balanced build:
This last week saw the crankshaft (which was also in excellent condition) balanced but the new Mahle pistons and barrels haven't yet arrived. Neither has the induction system but we will know more tomorrow.
However the new RS flywheel has and the bottom end should be completed this week.
At the moment if all goes well Nick reckons about 2 weeks to completion, I'll keep you posted :bye:
Cheers,
Paul
