INTRO :
A 1987 Porsche 924S …..
An Ebay purchase September 2012 taxed and tested and had been driven daily
which showed …..as everything worked, the car had been serviced regular, and was in great condition and drove really well.
Within a week of ownership the wheels seemed to just find their way into production at
my business The Wheel Restorer where they were stripped and freshly Powder coated
I also treated her to 4 Brand New Michelin Tyres.
Having previously owned another 924S , four 944’s and a 968 over the previous 10 years
I came to the conclusion that this 924S was probably the best car of the lot for many reasons:
- The cost of purchase at the time was hard to beat, (Since then values have increased 3 times!),
- The driving experience was great, not due to the fact it had been in regular use and was serviced regular but also the slimmer lighter package (1260kg) which is surprisingly similar and less than some modern small hatchbacks especially with heavy diesel engines,
- The slippery narrow track & body before Porsche Morphed the chassis into the wider (944),
- The fantastic feel of a Manual steering rack and the Skinny 6” wide wheels and tyres really made this standard classic car a perfect balance of 2.5 litres of power, low weight and a joy to drive briskly on the road.
I was using the car for my daily drive and it was just getting better and better.
Then what happened next and the chain of events that followed were not planned or did I realise this car would ever go down such a direction!
An opportunity arose to modify and improve the car’s performance simply at first with some lightweight Kevlar bucket seats………..but then it got a lot more serious………..and then some!
This is the first shot where all these items were removed and weighed
(Passenger Seat, Spare wheel, Jack handle, sunroof bag, rear carpet, rear seat back & Belts….)
The last 4 years have been an interesting pursuit of my time and a varied train of activity where this standard car has changed massively but not that much at all externally.
A big priority was to keep it and make it a very competent Road car and not something stiff as a board, dragging it’s arse on the floor and wearing a “look at me” Bodykit,
Quite the reverse, a wolf in Baa Baa Black sheep’s coat for sure !
I felt the need to document all my work and this website illustrates the journey , and what has been achieved so far… the car will hopefully be fully finished and ready to Roll…………….May 2016
Hence all the various components / tabs on the top will be constantly updated as further work is completed in time
This standard 2.5 Litre classic Porsche when finished had a engine change to a 2.7 Litre 8 valve
Lindsey Racing Engine, and only weighed a tad over 1000Kg !
Look at all the fun and progress on all of the car on the various sections at the top……….
Split into 3 sections the car’s weight loss modifications resulting in the following:
Section
1. 112kg
2. 70kg
3. 68kg
This Illustrates how “BIG” modern cars have become,..
Even against an old 2004 Ford Focus…this 2.7 classic Porsche is nearly 400Kg Lighter!
If you want to jump to the “End Result” click on this undelined link below to see what was acheived
If you would like to contact me please click on the link below which will take you to
my companies online contact page where you can fill in the boxes and send me a message……
http://www.thewheelrestorer.co.uk/contact.html
Roger Bracewell
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INTERIOR
Originally it has a typical 80’s Beige interior !
Half Black / Beige doorcards, and Blue Floor Mats……….
When an opportunity to install 2 Cobra Kevlar lightweight Racing seats dropped on
the mat……..It was showtime………. The car was never going to be standard again in
it’s life, I changed and increased the steering wheel from 360 to 380mm and also fitted
a lighter wheel than standard…
The bigger diameter wheel gave the steering more leverage as it’s a Manual steering rack
which is of course dead stiff at slow speeds especially parking ! but it was also quite tough
when hussling roundabouts at speed, so this Italian Suede Sabelt steering Racing wheel
was a performance addition and not just cosmetic…. the deep dish also brought the wheel
closer to the chest (Rally Style) and allowed the seat to be further back for good legroom
Mock up seat fitting…….
Then I wanted a Black interior and sourced a second hand good condition full Black
carpet set I removed the rear seat upholstery and foam
The doorcards were removed and the lower Beige section sprayed Satin Black………….
Transformed from beige 80’s road to a semi Racey black look !
Carpet glued to the panels..
Acoustic speaker cloth! for the central section..
Seat backs Sprayed in Graphite and 2 pack Lacquered….
Sparco 3 point 2″ Road buckle Harnesses fitted
Gear Gaiter
A new Gaiter Made by Top Gaiters (Ebay) in Black Leather with Yellow Stitch..
And a top Metal Insert which I painted the gate pattern in Yellow.
Instruments
Colours
I Decided to add some colour to the drivers clocks with a German Flag 3 colour theme
cluster, with three 2nd hand sourced Yellow writing dials……..
You’ll notice the central Speedo has an inner circle in KPH which I think looks a bit too busy….
So I took it apart, ……painted it out with Black and also painted the inner Bezel in a Matt Red.
This clock has been sent away to JDO Instruments for a service and Mileometer reset
to Zero so this can be used to show the true mileage with the newly rebuilt engine.
Aluminium Rollcage
As a road car project, I didn’t need to have a Steel rollcage fitted. or did I want to add
anything heavy!
The area behind the front seats was quite long and empty ! And it needed something
a little more pleasing to the eye, so I designed and fitted an aluminium rear road cage.
Having just made the interior look tidy in the black cloth I was not prepared to
consider welding and cutting the body & Chassis to house such a roll cage…..
So after some visual research I saw 3 pick up points and designed 2 brackets that could
be fitted on to the car with no welding or modification required. The design consisted
of 2 Lateral bars (One in the centre & one across the rear hatch) 2 bars from the centre
bracket to the B Pillar point where the seatbelt was originally bolted, and 2 more bars
triangulating the rear bar to the central one.
Each tube / bar is fitted with a left & right hand aluminium threaded Rod end and this
means each tube can be tightened very stiff, putting pressure on the chassis, hence why
the end result not only looked racey but also added significant rigidity to the chassis
which could be felt very clearly when driving……
Here is the central bracket which bolts to the inside of the C Pillar where the body
has a captive nut fitted where the original rear seat latch was originally fitted…..
These are the 2 brackets for the sides of the rear hatch…which bolt together
sandwiching the body….
The two bolt holes go through where the original carpet poppers usually fix !
Here the rod ends have been fitted to the brackets with the aluminium thick threaded
discs which will be welded to the tubing once the measurements had been taken….
I mocked up all the tubes with some aluminium angle
Each Aluminium tube has a thick disc welded on each end and 1 side tapped left and
the other a right hand thread.
Each tube is Powder coated graphite grey….
Battery
Standard Bosch = 15KG
Lithiumax (Australia) Including the Bracket is 3.75kg !!
https://www.lithiumax.com.au/about