by John Glynn | Apr 9, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche News, Project Cars
Had some nice feedback on my latest 924 Turbo maintenance piece: thanks for that. I finally heard back from Porsche GB on getting a build date for the car, so I sent off my £65 for a Letter of Origin. Should be enough to register it here once it’s MOTed.
While writing the cheque for Porsche Cars GB, it occurred to me that Italy must have a HPI system for its cars, so I googled that and found the Automobile Club d’Italia (ACI) website. It’s the only source of info for Italian cars, and looked great. If you speak Italian and have a Codice Fiscale (Social Security number), you can find out anything you want about a car for a modest fee.
Much as I love Italia, I have neither the language nor the residency to go all the way with ACI, but Google Translate helped me find a section of the site to check tax status on a car registered in Italy. My 1980 924 Turbo carries the reg prefix RA, which is Emilia-Ravenna district, but the tax site showed it as last registered in Sardinia. The ragu thickens.
Amongst the nondescript paper shrapnel pulled from the car, I did find a stack of business cards from a bodyshop in Cagliari, capital of Sardinia. I emailed them a few months back but heard nothing in return. It’s obvious that they painted it, many moons ago.
The paint is now shot to pieces, but at some stage it probably looked OK. This led me to searching 924 Turbos in Cagliari and finding more Italian 924s with these Fisher-Price indicators on the front wings. I’m probably taking them off mine when we paint it: wonder who at Porsche Italy thought they were the right way to go.
Anyway, Sardinia Car Tax Online says this car was registered 1/1/1980, so I am guessing there was no official production date put forward when it was registered there. I could try to register it using the paperwork I gleaned from the ACI site, but I’ll wait to see what £65 buys me from Porsche: I’ll be cross if they also say 1/1/1980.
At least I’m now sure that rust-free chassis is because it lived in the sun for ages. I know it’s nothing special to most people, but I really like this car.
by John Glynn | Apr 8, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
Just watched a terrific Storyville on BBC4. Entitled “From the Sea to the Land: Beyond Britain’s Coast on Film”, the programme gathered up 100 years of archive footage, to tell the story of 20th Century Britain’s relationship with the sea that surrounds it. With a thought-provoking soundtrack playing in accompaniment, it was spellbinding television.
The most impressive part for me was a shipyard section filmed in the 1960s, with amazing cinematography showing the scale of some of the vessels being built, when the UK still made the world’s greatest machinery. Deeply impressive on a multitude of levels.
The age of great British fabrication was briefly revisited on Saturday, when I finally managed to strap best mate Rob Campbell at Racing Restorations to his lathe for long enough to make a bush for my 924 Turbo’s steering rack. The 924 car failed its UK MOT on steering play, ascribed to a track rod but wound up being the bush in the end of the steering rack: those bumpy Italian back roads roads taking their toll.
I was happy to go and track down the part, but Robert insisted he could easily make it. Sorting this is the penultimate job before registration: all I need now is a set of tyres fitted, a retest on the MOT and official confirmation of date of construction, and it’s off to the DVLA with some paperwork.
In true OTT John & Rob style, the plastic bush I pulled out out of the Volkswagen steering rack – worth about 50p on a good day – was replaced with something that took rather more expense to manufacture. Robert turned it out of solid brass, giving me an hour’s entertainment and something good to blog about.
If you’ve ever seen brass being machined, you know it goes everywhere in splinters. But all metal is amazing to watch in transformation. Careful measuring throughout Operation Overkill meant the rack all went back together with no big dramas. I’ll get it back in the car sometime next week.
by John Glynn | Sep 27, 2012 | Project Cars
I just spent two days up in Yorkshire with the lightweight Porsche panel manufacturers at EB Motorsport and picked this up on my travels: a tidy 924 tailgate from an eBay seller in Bolton.
It’s not perfect and suffers from the same peeling glass paint they all have, but the spoiler is in better shape than the original one on my 924 Turbo, so I was pleased to get hold of it. I’ll strip and refurb the hatch with some help from Racing Restorations and get it on the car when we do the fresh paint this winter.
If anyone ever asks whether a 924 tailgate fits in the back of a Subaru Outback, I can confirm that yes, it does. Don’t expect to fit more heavy stuff in there, though.
by John Glynn | May 3, 2012 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
British law says that cars over three years old must have an annual safety inspection, known here as the MoT (Ministry of Transport) test. Racing Restorations UK recently took our Project 924 Turbo for its test. It’s the first step in registering the Italian-plated Porsche here in England.
The test checks what you’d expect:
- Body or vehicle structure free from corrosion or damage, engine mountings secure etc. Fuel system: No leaks. Security and condition of pipes or hoses. Fuel cap fastens and seals securely.
- Exhaust emissions: dependent on the age and fuel type. Exhaust system: secure & complete. Catalyst where one was fitted as standard. Without leaks and is not too noisy.
- Seat belts: checked for type, condition, operation and security. All seat belts must be in place. Seats: driver’s seat can be adjusted. All seats for security and seat backs can be secured in the upright position. Doors: Latch securely. Front doors open from inside and outside. Hinges and catches for security and condition. Mirrors: minimum number required, condition and security. Load security: boot or tailgate can be secured in the closed position. Bonnet: securely latches in the closed position.
- Brakes: condition, inappropriate repairs or modifications, operation and performance. ABS or electronic stability control (ESC) where fitted. Tyres and wheels: condition, security, tyre size and type and tread depth. Spare tyres are not inspected.
- Registration plates: Condition, security, colour, characters correctly formed and spaced. Lights: Condition, operation including HID and LED headlamps for cleaning, self levelling and security. Headlamp aim. Main beam warning light.
- Wipers and washers: operate to give the driver a clear view ahead. Windscreen: condition and driver’s view of the road. Horn: correct operation and of suitable type. Steering and suspension: condition, steering oil level, operation, a check for inappropriate repairs or modification including corrosion to power steering pipes or hoses. Operation of steering lock mechanism.
After an hour’s worth of checking, the 924 failed, but only on a few things.
First was the headlamps, which are left hand drive and dip to the wrong side. Track rod ends and one rear wheel bearing were past it. There’s a problem with the rear fog light being intermittent, the windscreen washers don’t work and it needs new wiper blades. The tyres passed but they are pretty old, so we’re changing them.
Rob at Racing Restorations will do the track rods and wheel bearing, I’ll swap the lamps and fix the other bits from my stock of 924 and 944 parts and we should be good for a re-test next week. Then I need a letter from Porsche confirming the build date, and we’ll be ready to submit a registration application.
The boys say it drives well: worn second gear synchro being the only real issue. My transmission guy has our spare gearbox apart and apparently it’s not pretty, with worn selectors on 1 through 4. We’re still trying to figure out what bits Porsche and Getrag used in the early 924 Turbo gearbox: must be Mercedes or similar from the period. More news on that as we find it.
As an aside, I’ve just bought a complete 924S back end including the aluminium arms from a mate, so that might come in handy. Aluminium arms will be nice if we go for this Carrera GT idea and try for trick underpinnings – same as fitted to 944 Turbo.
by John Glynn | Apr 24, 2012 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
My growing car collection just went up a notch, as new Ferdinand Magazine bought its first Porsche project.
The new addition is a 924 Turbo: a Series One car from the late 1970s, in Silver. It’s LHD (of course) and has a non-sunroof shell. Condition is reportedly very solid, but I’ve not seen it yet so will advise when it arrives with me, later today. The seller knows his Turbos and says this is the fastest one he’s ever had. Count on some test drive video! I’ve been looking for a good 924 Turbo for ages, so I really hope this is as sweet as it sounds.
The odometer is showing very low kilometres, which may or may not be genuine. There is absolutely no paperwork with the car, so a detective hunt lies ahead. It still carries its Italian registration: tracing that back should be interesting. Completely unconnected, I just started Italian lessons but have enough Italian Porsche friends to help me with the digging.
Plans for the car: it is seriously tempting to make this a Carrera GT replica. I’ve always loved 924 Carrera GTs and a silver one would sit well in the garage with the Orange 911 and my M3 saloon. I’m having the car delivered to Racing Restorations UK in Pershore, where Rob Campbell will give it a good going over. Rob has just finished tidying up the M3 – chopping out some rot in the sills and overhauling the suspension and underside – so the 924 will drop into that space.
Whatever about the Carrera GT plan, I know I have a gearbox fault to fix on this 924 first, so the spare transmission I bought with the car will be stripped later this week to check it out before swapping it into the newbie. Once the car is MOT’d, we’ll decide what to do for the future.
I know you will now ask me: what’s happening with the 944 Kombi/Estate project? The donor car we bought and paid for turned into a bit of a nightmare, with the seller initially agreeing to store it for a while, but then moving it and refusing to tell us where we could pick it up! Buying through eBay with Amex was a sensible move. We are back on the hunt for a donor: I still have my 86k-mile 1983 944 Lux stashed away, but I think that’s a bit too nice to chop up.
More updates later: follow Ferdinand Magazine on Facebook to get the news first.
