Classic Porsche 924 advertisement

Very aerodynamic...

Bumper repair

I had a spare moment today so I decided to hit the front bumper repair. After cutting and sanding back I had a decent hole. The bumper is held on with two 18mm bolts that came out easily. Once off I prepped the surface, mixed the epoxy, painted the glass and began the repair. I'll wait 24 hours for it to cure now before filling and sanding the front.

Classic Porsche 924 advertisement

Porsche rethinks the sportscar.

Porsche 924 TV advertising

Here's a series of ads for the Porsche 924. Very classic... I'm thinking I'm gonna need a European 70s wardrobe to drive this car. Knits with tight slacks. Excellent.

Alternator fixed

After experiencing a charge problem I pulled the voltage regulator, hoping it would be a simple repair. It was pretty worn.

After getting no love from several local parts supply companies I ordered one from eBay. It arrived today. Easy install, and problem solved!

Classic Porsche 924 advertisement

Here's a classic ad from the launch of the 924.

Dashboard solution

Like many (most?) 924/944s, my car has a cracked dash.  I looked at a stack of options to try and bring it back to a pristine finish - ranging from carpet (poor solution methinks) and ABS caps (can look dodgy) through to sanding and manually reskinning with a flexible filler, texture and paint (SMC type things).  In the end I had to concede I wasn't going to get an original looking finish, so a customised solution was the only option.

I've decided to order the Classic 9 leather dash kit.  Robert Budd was super fast at replying to my questions, and is currently making up my new dash (black leather with black stitching).

Although the leather texture won't match the original finish, I'm sure I'll forgive myself every time I see a lovely stitched leather dash in front of me...

My main concern with taking on the covering job myself was getting a neat job around the demist vent area.  Fortunately, Robert machines a new metal strip to cover the demister vents making the installation much easier.  The kit was US$520 including delivery and should be here in a couple of weeks!

Door handle repair

The passenger side door handle was fairly easy to remove. The cast metal has broken annoyingly. Prices on eBay for a new handle were a little higher than I hoped, but I found a German seller who supplied just the hinged bit I needed. AUD$39.50 later and it's on its way...

Door cards colour change

The door cards are in excellent condition. In one sense it's a shame to pull them off and change the colour. But brown....

After much googling, I determined the VHT vinyl colour dye was the best option - picked some up from Autobarn. I pulled the cards, removed every detail, scrubbed with a scourer and detergent, hit it with some wax and grease remover, and set them up in my garage. A few light coats of the VHT spray and the difference was amazing!
I hope the VHT spray is long lasting - but I did a quick test first. My daughter has a vinyl booster seat which I use in the Prius. I used the VHT spray a couple of weeks ago to change it to white. The coverage was excellent, and her bum rubbing on it has so far not had any impact on the colour. The door cards won't have a particularly hard life, so I hope all goes well.

I also tried using iDye Poly in a saucepan on the stove to change the colour of the plastic bits. It resulted in a sticky mess that took ages to clean. The electric window parts changed colour pretty well, but are a bit chalky. The other bits just went darker brown and sticky. So, I suppose I'll order black replacements from eBay. Final door card looks amazing (factory!)

New steering wheel

The steering wheel leather is ripped and coming off. And also, I can't say I'm a fan of the brown interior. So, I've decided to convert the interior to black. Jumped on eBay, found an excellent steering wheel for US$179 that includes the rare extended hub. Now I just wait, and I'll change it over. Time to start on the rest of the interior...

Early arrival!

It arrived a day early! I couldn't contain my excitement... I purchased a 1 day rego sticker and booked it in for its roadworthy check. I called a taxi and got dropped at the depot hoping it would be driveable... and it was! Sweet engine. There is a bearing noise coming from the back - pinon maybe? And the battery isn't charging. Oh yeah, and the rear vision mirror was on the passenger seat...

I took it for its roadworthy and it failed on a few things. Drivers side mirror cracked, windscreen washer not working, steering wheel had loose material on it, passenger side door won't open from outside, and rear vision mirror (obviously).

I brought it home and glued the mirror back on to the windscreen. Took 2 minutes. The windscreen washer motor was unplugged - I plugged it back in and it worked! I'll have to order bits to repair the other problems. Hopefully the passenger door problem is simple.

Transport

Autotrans (Toll Auto) provided the best quote to get the car to Canberra from Perth, $1100. OK, so that's what I paid for the car, but it's still a cheap buy. Should be here on the 11th June!

Finding a Porsche

I've always wanted a Porsche 924. I had a poster of one as a kid. There was a lot of debate in the motoring press in the 70s as to whether the 924 could really be considered a proper Porsche. The fact that it was spurned by so many in the motoring community has worked to my advantage. The costs are lower than other Porsches, and because of the high use of the VW/Audi parts bin, the repair costs are quite reasonable too.

So, I started looking for one. Annoyingly, there aren't that many available in Australia, and the prices are pretty high. After a month of looking, I found a suitable candidate on eBay; a good runner, with some panel damage. The 924's were only sold until 1982 in Australia, but this one is 1984 - a personal import from the UK. Now to get it from Perth to Canberra!