Just cleaned the old girl up

[steveoz32]

Just finished checking all the joints and parts at the backend, it's all looking pretty good and I'm impressed.

I did wash all the dust and muck out of the inner arch liners and cleaned / waxoiled the inner part of the rear quaters / arches. I also cleaned all the joints, although they were pretty good anyway and I coated them in a lithium grease spray to protect them (as well as the wishbones and rods etc). Just re-sealed the anti roll bar as the coating was flaking until the new one comes through (it doesn't really need it but just being fussy).

I cleaned most things under there and behined each wheel, and was surpised to see clean metal underneath with no rust on all the joints etc. I coated them after with a clear grease. Also cleaned the springs and shocks up.

I also gave the inner side of the alloys a good clean while I was there and sprayed them with a clear laquer to protect the inside from corrosion.

The wheels are back on now and everything is looking nice and tidy - time to move on to the front end tomorrow.

I've also done some detailing on the body work too, buffed out some fine minor laquer scratches, treated the plastics with autoglym and superguarded all pannels. I cleaned and fed up all of the leather too and used some carpet shampoo inside to make sure everything was nice and clean.

Two small things I have noticed while cleaning her up is that the rear window seal lifts up as well as the front a little, so I have booked in to the local autoglass to get the seals checked and re-done (there is no dirt or corrosion under the seals, they are just a little loose in the corners).

Anyway, here are a few pics of the exterior and interior, will post some up of the underside later in the week when I get them off of the wifes phone, and speaking of phones, sorry for the poor quality as they were taken on an iphone...

Cheers,

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

Nice job!

There is a Porsche Technical Service Bulletin about the loose screen seals on early 996s. Drop me an email and I'll send it to you.

 

[chriscoates81]

Sorry to partially hijack the thread, when you say the seals are loose do you mean just in the corners where the seals overlap?

 

[steveoz32]

Thanks Richard.

Yes primarily Chris, the corners of the rear window seal at the bottom sits on top loosely, and if you pull at that part or catch it when cleaning the remainder of the seal can be lifted. There is no corrosion underneath and it is clean, but I do not want water getting trapped in there. I can press the seal on the rear window down and it presses firmly against the window but the corners remain loose.

On the front there is aprox a 6" area at the bottom of the front screen which is similar.

Cheers,


Steve

 

[steveoz32]

Well, last night was spent under the front, and I am pleased to say that everything under there is looking good!

Steering arms / rack, wishbones, drop links and rods, chasis rail, bushes and joints are all looking good, and very tidy. After removing a thin layer of road dirt, the metal again underneath was very clean on all parts. As per the back, I coated the inside of the wings and arches with waxoyl to preserve, I also cleaned out the inside of the alloys but ran out of laquer, so will need to coat the inside again another time The rad pipes, air con pipes etc all look pretty new, the documents show the condensor within the past year, so these may have also been replaced at the time. I coated all joints in lithium grease and the other metal parts (of course I cleaned the disks with brake cleaner after just incase!).

I put the new battery in too - it's starting much better now, I must get a new optimiser for a large capacity battery to keep it in good condition over the winter.

I also cleaned around the battery tray and vent area, it was surprisingly good, but there was still room for improvement I siliconed the pipes and connectors / electrical blocks around the battery tray (the silicone spray I use is used on my electric airsoft rifles and other equipment - it's forumlated to protect electrical connections and devices).

I've just ordered the foam rubber seal for the back and front windows and a touch up stick to make good the few small stone chips on the front bumper - it should be getting there after this

I can rest easy that I am happy that she is a good, solid car now and in great condition. I just have to hope now that she doesn't let me down!

Time to drop the oil and change the filter over the weekend and sort out transfering my plate and she should be ready to enjoy some more

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

When you have a spare weekend, would you like to come and clean the underside of mine?

 

[steveoz32]

trust me it's taking enough out of my busy schedule doing mine []

 

[gonzosquidgy]

Nice car Steve. Identical to mine except the guy before me added a K&N air intake which makes the car go like s***t, sounds great too.

 

[steveoz32]

Thanks, very similar yes

I really like the colour Zenith Blue. I was originally looking for a very dark blue or black, but when I saw this one in the flesh I was surprised. The colour in all but direct sunlight resembles a nice purply colour. I may yet get the GT3 front end to match the skirts, but likely not the spoiler. I was going to opt for some GT3 wheels later too, but I have grown rather fond of the turbo ones.

 

[berrytastic]

Steve,

your engine bay looks fantastic too. Wish mine looked like that.

Did you clean it at the sametime? If so how did you do it (did you cover specfic electricals etc), and what did you use (cleaner).

Regards

 

[DivineE]

Thankyou. As a new owner coming from older cars you have inadvertently just covered all my questions about whether these cars are starting to rust yet and where protection could be applied to prevent it happening. I will be doing the same to mine before the new owner enthusiasm runs out!

 

[philippe]

I have had my car for 6 years this November and the enthusiasm has got more than less, saying that i have not cleaned up the underneath to this level, as of yet.

Phil

 

[steveoz32]

Berrytastic, the air box and intake was siliconed before I purchased the car - I've done similar before myself, just clean off with a damp rag and then apply autoglym plastic care product with a soft cloth.

I dusted off the intake manifolds, and cleaned the pipes off with a solvent spray. The rest was the damp wrag treatment.

Divine, I'm glad the post was of some help to you.

I've also just complete the rear window seal fix, as recomended on the technical bulletin by Porsche:

I took the old seal off, cleaned the area, replaced the seal and then inserted two strips of the foam rubber cord betweem the outter part of the seal and the tailgate to compress the seal against the window and bodywork much better - no chance of any water or gunk collecting there now!

Cheers,


Steve

 

[steveoz32]

Did a few more checks and a couple of more jobs today:

Checked air filter housing for any muck, pleased to say all was clean and the six month old filter is still looking good. Also disconnected a few sensors and checked around the bay a bit more, looked in TB to check for excessive oil but all was nice and clean, also checked the belts condition and for wear:

Also cleaned out the blocked channels on the rear discs with a thin file and the compressor:

Investigated the leaky plug tube too on one of the nearside banks:

The odd thing is, the top seal is clearly leaking, as oil built up behined the o-ring and was leaking through from behined it, but the seal is in great condition as is the tube. I think to be on the safe side I will order a new tube and new seals top and bottom.

Have cleaned up the leaking area and will call Porsche tomorrow to order the new bits.

Thought a few of these pics may be handy for some, although sorry for the quality, when uploading from my phone it appears they were compressed a little too much!

Cheers,


Steve

 

[andywill]

Steve
VERY impressive Pictures, please keep us updated, I'm sure this type of info can only help others who are a little bit sceptical of attempting what is quite an easy cost saving and rewarding job.

 

[thirteeneast]

@Steve,

I believe the fault was actually the early o'rings were undersized.

 

[steveoz32]

Thanks Andy, have some more pics to post up soon. I understand that the plug tube is an hours labour + parts, so likely £100ish to replace at an OPC. I don't mind spending the cash to maintain her, but I enjoy getting stuck in and having the satisfaction of doing these niggly jobs myself The saving of money is a bonus as well that can go towards other bigger jobs

13east, thanks for that, the orange o-ring seems in good nick, but loose. I've ordered a load of new bits from the OPC today to replace some common bits (variocam actuator solonoid flanges/seals, air oil seperator breather pipe and plug tube) - lets hope the new tube and o-rings are better.


Cheers,

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

Steve - there is some great stuff on this thread. However, it has gone a bit off topic. []

Would you mind starting new threads with new topics? Don't take this as criticism - we all appreciate the really useful information you have posted, and the great photos. It just makes it a bit difficult to find info on the screen seals, for example, when you do a search.

 

[steveoz32]

Sure no problem, I just didn't want to flood the forum with lots of topics

I was thinking of putting together a few small guides on some bits I have done as time goes on which I will post up (but only after the fixes have been tried and tested).


Cheers,

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

We don't mind a flood of new topics!

There are quite a few guides in our Technical Articles and FAQ sections, but you can only see them if you are a club member.