What have YOU done to your 986 today ?

[½cwt]

31 minutes ago, bally4563 said:

Rather than over the top for a manual I reckon underslung, and bushed mountings would do it.

Good call.  I can see that working.

[Crazymind]

On 2/28/2021 at 11:00 PM, ½cwt said:

 

And you will need heat at some point, probably on the drop link bolts into the upright casting and, if the rear geo hasn't been done regularly, the eccentric bolts on the inboard end of the coffin arms will most likely need cutting out. 

I have done all my suspension in the last 12 month and 3 or 4 drop links and all 4 of the eccentric bolts on the rear rear arms all needed cutting.

Recommend Spyder Performance on eBay for coffin arms and front tuning forks I got drop links (along with shocks, bump stops and a few other bits as I was doing a lot more than coffin arms) from Autodoc and the replacement eccentric bolts from my local OPC.  Rear tuning forks from Carparts4less TRW (original supplier to Porsche) are about £150.

Done Yesterday the job. Track control arm from TWR. 
2 hours to replace it. Freeing off heavily seized fasteners, no fun. 
Now drives like a dream 🥰

I have also fixed the fast blinking side indicator. It turns out the off side headlight pin is not in place properly. Now working as it should. 

 

[½cwt]

Collected my freshly resprayed front bumper PU.  Better colour match and no big chunk of colour missing where the old paint had split.  It is a replacement that used to be green and must ahve been badly prepped when changed to Arctic Silver to go on the car.  Re-fitted the number plate plinth and plate, the grilles I had already painted titanium and backed with black mesh, and fitted black mesh to the centre rad grille to ready to fit tomorrow.

Also fitted the gear shift from a 987/997 to get a shorter throw than the standard 986/996 shift. Very straight forward swap that only needs 4 tools (T20 and T30 drivers, 10mm socket and a pick to get the plastic cover out of the bottom of the console storage box.  Even remembered to fit the micro switch cable for the storage box first time.

If I can get the bumper on quickly tomorrow I'm hoping to get a geo check done so I can do a proper test drive of the new rear suspension top mounts, a 'Bally' Technobrace (all fitted last weekend) and the shorter throw shift.

[map]

20 minutes ago, ½cwt said:

.....the grilles I had already painted titanium and backed with black mesh.....

Can you share a photo of these installed in the repainted PU please?

🙃

[½cwt]

53 minutes ago, map said:

Can you share a photo of these installed in the repainted PU please?

🙃

Will do, hopefully tomorrow when it is all in place.

[½cwt]

Newly repainted front bumper (£240 inc VAT from PaintFX in Kettering) now refitted with titanium finish grilles and black mesh behind.  Only snag I found was the loom to the air temp sensor is only just long enough to be able to put it back in place and still get your arm out to refit the bumper...

Before:

 

After:

  Sorry about the scabby old number plate.  Its on the list but only slowly getting towards the top.

 

Imgur seems to not be happy with my cropped images which is why the right of the images are truncated.

Edited March 7, 2021 by ½cwt

[½cwt]

Here's the details on the centre grille mesh fit:

 

The gluing is a little tidier than the side grilles.

 

[Natplant]

Looks great 

[McDonald]

8 hours ago, ½cwt said:

Here's the details on the centre grille mesh fit:

 

The gluing is a little tidier than the side grilles.

 

Nice work. You won't need new condensers anytime soon. looks really discreet.

[map]

Washed it.

Two bucket method.

Used one bucket of foamy water and then another. Then rinsed it off with a watering can. 

Job done. 

Also addressed the green stuff that had got hold of the roof - Milton tablet in water (as recommended on here) and clean the whole roof. Worked really well. 

Then I went out for a roof down drive - to put some grime on it again.

Very little traffic which meant plenty of space to enjoy it.

After all this time I’ve been it’s keeper I  still get a proper kick out of it.

The only downside was finding that a couple of the headlamp washer nozzles had gone AWOL. Drat 😕

[the baron]

8 hours ago, map said:

Washed it.

Two bucket method.

Used one bucket of foamy water and then another. Then rinsed it off with a watering can. 

Job done. 

Also addressed the green stuff that had got hold of the roof - Milton tablet in water (as recommended on here) and clean the whole roof. Worked really well. 

Then I went out for a roof down drive - to put some grime on it again.

Very little traffic which meant plenty of space to enjoy it.

After all this time I’ve been it’s keeper I  still get a proper kick out of it.

The only downside was finding that a couple of the headlamp washer nozzles had gone AWOL. Drat 😕

You’ve cleaned it!!!!

[map]

1 hour ago, the baron said:

You’ve cleaned it!!!!

Yes. I know it was an odd feeling - mrs_map wondered if I’d changed my meds without letting her know....

In all seriousness whilst I’ve got to get the next stage of engine development implemented I’ve been looking at sorting a few other tweaks and I wanted to see what state the paint work was in beneath its protective organic layer. 

In terms of Next Step Tweaks these are specifically: Interior, audio/carplay and lighting.

Have always liked the Endurance Racing light rigs and it gets a bit murky up here (Yorkshire Wolds) so....

.....have some Yellow main beam bulbs on their way and will probably mount up some yellow halogen auxiliary lamps too.

Got some ideas around CarPlay and because I’ve got the door card off to sort a leak I’m going to start by installing aftermarket drivers in those. 

Interior will include aftermarket seats to get me lower in the car and to be able to safely fit harnesses for track work. Really like the work @Saxosim has done in terms of the seats he’s fitted to his car and his research has helped me work out how to achieve my own goals for the driving position.

So why now? Well we moved to this part of the world in December 2019 and the roads up here have rekindled my enjoyment of this car. Simple. 

[Tony Daniel]

11 hours ago, map said:

The only downside was finding that a couple of the headlamp washer nozzles had gone AWOL. Drat 😕

Their a bit of a pain those washers, I know they are required for the MOT to be working if fitted but I'm sure if you removed and plugged the holes you would get away without them. Think of the weight saving!

Have you ever thought of an Aerokit for your car Matt. My first 2.5 986 had the MK1 aerokit and I must say it always felt beautifully stuck to the road at speed. Front bumper was similar but not the same as early GT3's (Loz fitted one to a 986), rear boot lid was fibreglass with a large fixed spoiler. The boot lid itself was longer and deleted the tea tray spoiler so again less weight

[map]

5 minutes ago, Tony Daniel said:

Their a bit of a pain those washers, I know they are required for the MOT to be working if fitted but I'm sure if you removed and plugged the holes you would get away without them. Think of the weight saving!

An interesting idea - thank you.

Am slightly torn on this - remove altogether and fit blanking corner pieces or source a pair of replacements (2 of the 4 are still in situ).  Remembered that someone on this forum had ID'd a BMW part that would substitute - @K.I.T.T. has suggested they are BMW 3 series/E46 items - will do a bit of digging.

My plan for a better lighting rig may see me jettison the Litrnonics for something more modern.....

9 minutes ago, Tony Daniel said:

Have you ever thought of an Aerokit for your car Matt. My first 2.5 986 had the MK1 aerokit and I must say it always felt beautifully stuck to the road at speed. Front bumper was similar but not the same as early GT3's (Loz fitted one to a 986), rear boot lid was fibreglass with a large fixed spoiler. The boot lid itself was longer and deleted the tea tray spoiler so again less weight

Good call - I really like the extended bootlid/spoiler setup and if I pull the trigger it will have to be a Factory part.

To be candid I am not so sure about deeper front spoilers on the 986 generally.  Sometimes they look ace and then I see one on another car and I'm not so sure.  That said I like the one Loz had installed and his car is silver too.  Maybe it depends on the wheels and how they fill the space the deeper front bumper creates.  Off to Google some images.....

In terms of weight reduction, a change in seats will shed a fair few KGs but the combination of so much extra raw grunt and vastly improved chassis control that I don't feel the need for more performance.  

At the moment 🤔

[½cwt]

6 hours ago, map said:

An interesting idea - thank you.

Am slightly torn on this - remove altogether and fit blanking corner pieces or source a pair of replacements (2 of the 4 are still in situ).  Remembered that someone on this forum had ID'd a BMW part that would substitute - @K.I.T.T. has suggested they are BMW 3 series/E46 items - will do a bit of digging.

 

The BMW bits are jet replacements I believe, the problem with the 986 washers is that the plastic that holds the jets in place cracks and fails over time.  AFAIK, only totally effective solution is £150 each from OPC....

Edited March 8, 2021 by ½cwt

[Halfordwill]

7 hours ago, Tony Daniel said:

Their a bit of a pain those washers, I know they are required for the MOT to be working if fitted but I'm sure if you removed and plugged the holes you would get away without them. Think of the weight saving!

Have you ever thought of an Aerokit for your car Matt. My first 2.5 986 had the MK1 aerokit and I must say it always felt beautifully stuck to the road at speed. Front bumper was similar but not the same as early GT3's (Loz fitted one to a 986), rear boot lid was fibreglass with a large fixed spoiler. The boot lid itself was longer and deleted the tea tray spoiler so again less weight

Are they HID or Led? I believe it’s only these that require the washers to be working. 

[map]

37 minutes ago, ½cwt said:

The BMW bits are jet replacements I believe, the problem with the 986 washers is that the plastic that holds the jets in place cracks and fails over time.  AFAIK, only totally effective solution is £150 each from OPC....

Ah - will take a look at the socket the missing jets were in and compare them to their neighbour.  Once I can see what's going on I can make a call on the solution.

If it's going to cost me £300 for new washer jet assemblies I can put that towards an alternative setup that is likely to be far superior in performance to the Litronics.

Some research to be done....

[map]

2 hours ago, Halfordwill said:

Are they HID or Led? I believe it’s only these that require the washers to be working. 

In my case they're Litronic - Porsche for Xenon.  If factory fitted - as mine are - then you need the washer jets.  If dealer fit then the washers weren't required.

If washer jets are installed they must work.

So essentially I either get them working as designed or remove them altogether.

[Patt]

I'd bet a packet of Jaffas, if you removed and put the covers in - it would pass an MOT.

Most testers are of the mind set - if fitted must work.  I've had many cars pass the test with aftermarket HID fitted over the years.

[edc]

The washers only work with the headlights on. I think also they don't work every pull too?

[map]

1 hour ago, Patt said:

I'd bet a packet of Jaffas, if you removed and put the covers in - it would pass an MOT.

Most testers are of the mind set - if fitted must work.  I've had many cars pass the test with aftermarket HID fitted over the years.

Inclined to agree with you on this. Will wait to see what the fix to maintain function is and go from there. 

[map]

11 minutes ago, edc said:

The washers only work with the headlights on. I think also they don't work every pull too?

Washers activate when headlights are on and you push the washer stalk forward. They run until you release the stalk - just like screen wash. 

[Boxob]

I've not looked at the 986 washers but at £150 each surely they are a candidate for 3D printing.  There's probably an intellectual property issue but if done low key and not commercially then I doubt there'd be an issue.

[bally4563]

19 hours ago, map said:

Ah - will take a look at the socket the missing jets were in and compare them to their neighbour.  Once I can see what's going on I can make a call on the solution.

If it's going to cost me £300 for new washer jet assemblies I can put that towards an alternative setup that is likely to be far superior in performance to the Litronics.

Some research to be done....

I’ve found these last time I bought some , worth checking?

[Boxob]

After cancelling yesterday's MoT due to an untimely exhaust leak, I spent part of yesterday fixing the nearside exhaust flange. Easy. But the offside not so, so I've left it for another day! It's not leaking. Some good news, the manifold bolts look clean and sound. 

MoT rebooked for today. Pass. 🙂