My Porsche 924 Turbo restoration project returned home this weekend, more than a year after it was painted by Rob Campbell at Racing Restorations. I had been storing it out in Worcestershire but recently lost the space, so it’s come home to be finished with a view to selling it sometime this summer for cash to plough back into my garage build.

This LHD non-sunroof Turbo is a nice example of the very cool Porsche 924. Having lived most of its life in Sardinia, this one is lower than average mileage, entirely rust free and still remarkably original. Despite being stored for more than twelve months and not being on a battery charger in all of that time, it started easily when the time came to load it on the trailer. It runs pretty well once warm – cold running is not great so will be taking a look at that. Bound to be something simple.

I spent a few hours on the 924 today and made some good progress. A few exterior bits have gone missing since the car was stripped for paint (probably still at Rob’s), so I excavated some of my 924 spares boxes and dragged out some prize pieces, including a brand new boot seal I bought from Porscheshop a few months ago. I put that on and made a little shopping list, which turned out to be quite a long shopping list in the end: more than £500 worth of rubber, including door seals, rear window seals and numerous detail parts including a new Porsche badge.

Other bits which were missing from the 924 when I bought it include the aluminium jack, spare wheel compressor and tool kit. I did find an ally jack and an old Blaupunkt Toronto stereo in my stash, which I need to test. I’ve stripped out the doors so I can clean and regrease the handles and lock mechs and also the electric window motors and regulators, which are notorious for seizing up. I’ll dynamat the doors and fit new membranes at the same time. I found a full lock set to replace all the mismatched keys, but no miracle finds can sort this steering wheel, which desperately needs a retrim, if not just swapping for a Momo Prototipo.

The carpets are quite faded from UV exposure, so I bought a good LHD carpet set last year, but I might try dyeing these carpets first as other 924 boys have had good results with carpet dye. Elsewhere, there’s a set of 205/60 15 Bridgestone tyres to go on and I’ll take some engine bits off for powdercoating to lift the underbonnet presentation.

It’s a good solid car in nice condition, so most of what it needs is simple. The hardest part will be UK registration. It is still Italian registered and I don’t have the Italian registration document, so getting it UK legal will be a bit of a ballache involving waiting for a Porsche Certificate of Authenticity and also getting it through an MOT, which will force me to fit a passenger mirror.

I don’t want to do screw anything into the bodywork permanently, as I like the uninterrupted line down the passenger side, so I’ve been looking at temporary fit mirrors which could be detached once the test has been passed. The single side mirror is an oddball European car throwback, which I have always quite liked. You have to hang on to these details.