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Silver
1984 Porsche 928S
Zinmetalic on Metropol Blue - 4 Speed Auto
I have done a few of the minor interior repairs listed below and am getting a feel for the restoration process. Its a lot of fun and certainly very rewarding. Its nice to get into the car and see everything neat and tidy and fitting the way it should.
Below is a list of the repairs required. As I complete each I will document it and add the details to this page. I hope it proves useful
Required repairs:
Over the years the console side panels of my shark have been broken into bits by ham fisted radio and alarm installers. The result being that they didn't fit well, fell out, and just looked scrappy. So I pulled them out a little while back and repaired them. They are now nice and rigid, with their upholstery reapplied and new screws holding them in place.
About a week after I bought my shark I made the fatal mistake of putting my elbow down too hard on the lid of the change pocket in the centre console. There was a crunch and a general sinking feeling. I have seen a few 928s with this problem. It easily spotted by looking for a skin that is not taut
Its a fairly easy repair, but can appear daunting. You have to peel the leather skin off, then hack away all the foam padding and generally clean up the underlaying plastic. This is no easy task and takes patience! Your one advantage here is that the plastic underneath is a thermoset plastic (similar to bakalite) and is quite impervious to everything (except for elbows). I used thinners (not acetone) to help clean off the original contact adhesive.
There few things worse than annoying little rattles. I have spent a fair sum of money getting the basic mechanicals of the car right, but its seriously annoying to drive along on a sunny day with the windows half down and have them rattle and clunk with every bump.
I took a drive to my local Porsche shop on the weekend and bought the required parts to rejuvenate my windows. This included the plastic (nylon) runners that are bolted to the bottom of the window and two sets (four in total) felt brushes that press the window out against the outer weather seal. Total cost: $210 inc. GST. Nothing for these cars is ever cheap.
I then had the pleasure of installing them. Its not a snap, as there are a few things to learn, but not that hard if you have a couple of hours to spare. I now have nice tight windows that don't rattle! I have a funny feeling that this may also reduce my water intrusion problems.
Its a fairly comon thing for the skin along the top of the door liners of a 928 to become loose over the years as the glue holding it down degrades and lets go. The result is that it just looks a bit daggy. Its a fairly easy repair though.
Door liners also tend to suffer water damage. My guess is that over time the felts that hold the window out against the seal wear and colapse. This allows just a little bit of water to get in every now and then (especially when the car is washed). If the original plastic coverings have been removed (as many have), then its highly likely that the bottom of the moulded fibre door liner will be water damaged.
The first task has been fixing the arm rests (both drivers and passengers side). Over time the plastic that holds them on simply cracks and breaks away. The result is the centre trim of the panel tends to continually pop out and the arm rest becomes loose. Then one day it half pulls off...
Having discovered that both my arm rests are in dire need of repair I have pulled them off and started the job. The driver's side is the worst. The plastic supporting five of the six bolt points has broken clean off. My aim is to make moulds that reproduce the shape of the original (lost) plastic and rebuild it using fibre glass.
3/11/02 - The progress so far is encouraging and I will post photos when I have them.
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