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trying to achieve the 'new car' feeling

A

aporschefan

PCGB Member
I'm slowly working towards restoring to the car to its former glory. It's been a long journey so far and a pretty expensive one as I'm useless with DIY and anything mechanical. :( But I do love the car and have decided its a keeper.

So, apart from an engine rebuild and new suspension and bushes and new geometry set up, what other changes can one make to make the car feel 'new'? (Assuming all regular servicing by 944 specialists has been carried out and there are no mechanical faults.)

I've had varying replies from friends so far ranging from replacing engine and transmission mounts, replacing the steering shaft to addressing any rattles.

I thought I'd ask here to see what popular opinion is.

I know it depends on the actual car but lets exclude the items listed above and assume the car is in above average condition but naturally has 20 years worth of wear.

Your thoughts please...

ETA--> Top mounts were inspected by Chris at CG and he didn't think they needed to be replaced.
 

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

Gearbox linkages and the lever itself?
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RPM inspected the grearbox linkages and replaced one of the linkages last year. They seemed to think the others were fine.

That said, I will be speaking to Jon at JMG regarding some of their short shift kits. I've not had a chance to meet anyone with one of these fitted but have read positive reviews.
 
With the stuff you've done, the stuff on your friends' list, and the stuff you are doing, you have a lot of it covered. Cosmetically on the outside what makes a surprising difference is replacing all the plastic and rubber trim, but you'll really only do that when you're having a proper glass-out respray at some point. Obviously any interior grime or wear will dent the new-car feeling. If your interior is all solid and not showing any visible wear then a really thorough interior valet makes them come up very nicely, generally.

Apart from that all I can think of that I've needed to do is
a) replace the windscreen, because any car that's done more than about 50,000 miles in the UK has a hazy windscreen from all the micro pits and scratches over the years, and having a nice new one makes a terrific difference to the perceived age of the car from the driver's point of view
b) put in a new head unit which looks reasonably retro, but which has an MP3 / iPlayer / what-have-you connector, and if radio matters to you I would think about putting in a DAB unit at this point as they are now pretty much mainstream. If the speakers have ever been damp, or hammered a lot, then replacing the speakers may make a fair difference too.

What car is it by the way? (Hint: if you put it in a sig line then people won't need to ask...)
 
I had JMG replace the engine mounts on my car and fit their shortest through gear change kit - both made a big difference to the feel of the car. If you fancy trying DIY, there was an article on how to change the mounts in Porsche 911 and World magazine a month or two back.
 
I wouldn't recommend engine mounts as a first DIY project [:D]


Don't know what your seats are, but a refurb of leather seats could make a big difference. I saw some that These people had done & they were very nice.
 

ORIGINAL: Lowtimer

Apart from that all I can think of that I've needed to do is
a) replace the windscreen, because any car that's done more than about 50,000 miles in the UK has a hazy windscreen from all the micro pits and scratches over the years, and having a nice new one makes a terrific difference to the perceived age of the car from the driver's point of view
b) put in a new head unit which looks reasonably retro, but which has an MP3 / iPlayer / what-have-you connector, and if radio matters to you I would think about putting in a DAB unit at this point as they are now pretty much mainstream. If the speakers have ever been damp, or hammered a lot, then replacing the speakers may make a fair difference too.

What car is it by the way? (Hint: if you put it in a sig line then people won't need to ask...)
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The car isn't perfect in terms of looks (some stone chips, could do with a new sunroof and some bits of rubber could do with being replaced etc.) but I will start working on that when I'm happy with most of the rest of the car.

I have considered replacing the windscreen previously but I'm not sure if that effects our claims or insurance in any way. Does anyone here know?

The head unit is replaced with a Macintosh head unit. Not DAB but personally speaking, I think there is little else out there that will look or sound as good. Can post a pic if anyone is interested?

 

ORIGINAL: Ewan

I had JMG replace the engine mounts on my car and fit their shortest through gear change kit - both made a big difference to the feel of the car. If you fancy trying DIY, there was an article on how to change the mounts in Porsche 911 and World magazine a month or two back.
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Did you fit

1. http://www.jmgshop.com/quick-shift-pro---9xx-quickshift-for-944---20-to-50-short-shift-341-p.asp

or

2. http://www.jmgshop.com/race-shift---9xx-quickshift-for-944---shortest-shift-336-p.asp

How do you find it on the road? I use the car as an everyday car although only really get the chance to drive it on the weekends. Assuming you have the second option, does it require too much effort when shifting between gears? Or is it not that bad? (I'm based in London so need to be careful not to have something that becomes a strain.)
 

ORIGINAL: edh

Don't know what your seats are, but a refurb of leather seats could make a big difference. I saw some that These people had done & they were very nice.
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Agreed. My 944 has comfort seats. They are a little dated. I'm currently looking for electric sports seats in Linen. If I can find some that are heated, even better!

I am considering after market seats but want to keep the car as original as possible. I think Edd (or someone else here) has Recaro PP seats retrimmed in leather but that's way out of my budget.
 
I dont want to sound negative, but I fear the search for the 'new car' feel may ultimately end up with disappointment. I'm just saying so as have been doing a similar thing with mine recently, new coilovers, new brakes all round, new seats, recent paint, refurbed wheels, etc. I was also hoping the recent gearbox mount was going to remove some of the transmission slack the car has, but it has not. I then thought it must be the cv joints, but its it not, so its looks like its play in the transmission itself, not alot, but its there. I had been allowing myself to be annoyed by this, but now I am accepting that this is really part of owning a 25 year old car.

The issue I think you may find its that after spending alot of money and time trying to get the car to feel new, it probably wont, as its not, and this side of a complete nut and bolt rebuild your` efforts may be in vain and you may never be happy with the end result. Whilst my car feels much better than when I first bought it, I know it still has its old car quirks, squeaks, rattles and such. I am now more of the opinion that it will never feel like a new car and whilst I will continue to improve it as I see fit I dont want to get too het up on that new car feeling.




Edd
 
The issue I think you may find its that after spending alot of money and time trying to get the car to feel new, it probably wont, as its not, and this side of a complete nut and bolt rebuild your` efforts may be in vain and you may never be happy with the end result. Whilst my car feels much better than when I first bought it, I know it still has its old car quirks, squeaks, rattles and such. I am now more of the opinion that it will never feel like a new car and whilst I will continue to improve it as I see fit I dont want to get too het up on that new car feeling.
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I reached the same conclusion.

If I was aiming for the new car feel, I think seam welding the shell would be step number 1.

Modern body shells are immensely strong due to Euro N Cap testing and modern tailored blank construction methods.

Progress.......[:)][8|][&:]

George
944t
 
I dont think a new one would feel new now after modern stuff with fl by wire throttles, dual mass flywheels etc.

I did my linkage on the gearshift (much wailing) and eventually after an abortive go at fitting a quickshift got a good second hand one, mine looked ok but the bottom part of the bush was siezed, this was why 5th and revers were hard work to get
 

ORIGINAL: aporschefan

I have considered replacing the windscreen previously but I'm not sure if that effects our claims or insurance in any way. Does anyone here know?
Click to expand...

Call me old fashioned, but what I did was buy a windscreen. Apart from the fact that I had no particular desire to defraud my insurance company, I didn't want some gorilla from a lowest-common-denominator windscreen replacement company damaging the car. I had the body shop do it.
 
I hear what you're saying Edd.

But, at the moment, I'm quite some way from being satisfied with the car. I know there are some improvements that can be made so it'll bug me unless I scratch that itch.

Once all the major components have been replaced, I'll be satisfied. I won't go the extent of changing every nut and bolt so accept there is a limit to how close to the new car feel one will get.

There are certainly some cosmetic improvements I can make which will help. They will come later.
 
Just buy a "new car smell" air freshener and spend the rest on v-power.

No need to thank me ;)
 
Have to say, I think Edd is right; it won't feel new until you have replaced every single moving part on it. Which would be impractical, for lots of reasons. But getting it most of the way there is quite possible - gear linkage rebuild, new suspension (with all suspension mounts, including those awkward ones that involve dropping the rear axle to get at) and new steering rack, column and tie-rods and you'll be a reasonable chunk of the way there. Updating some parts will help it - 968 wishbone bushes, for instance.

J4acko makes a good point in that modern cars feel totally different to cars from the 944 era. My experience of them is that they are very responsive to small control inputs and hence feel very 'sharp' and 'lively', which is achieved by having steering geometry that would be unthinkable 20 years ago. (Small cars all have huge castor angles now, and hence need power steering to make them drivable). A 944 wouldn't have felt like a modern car even when brand new.


Oli.
 
Yes, Edd's spot on...for me the key word is patina!! Enjoy it for what it is, a superb 1980's classic...what else can I do with an all blue interior (only in the '80s; blue seats, dash, carpets, centre console, even the headlining!!.) Had the armrest and gear lever re covered in black leather to match the Momo wheel, but beyond that, my car gets mechanical stuff fixed only when necessary. Mind you, from the photos (posted on here a while back), Edd's seats do look good.

However, re George's comment about stiffer bodyshells, I'm interested in the effects of a strut brace on the strut towers....25+ years in the steel construction business have convinced me that a welded structure will degrade with continuing cyclic movement, and a car's shell should be much worse than a building in this respect. Opinion seems to be divided on strut braces, though. Perhaps I should just bite the bullet and do it...not an expensive mod (so long as we can get the bonnet to close afterwards!!)
 
I think there is some confusion regarding what I said and what I meant so I'll try again...

I'm not trying to get the car to drive like a new car or a modern coupe. Rather, my aim is to get the car driving like it would have when it left the show room in 1991. I realise though most of what is said by everyone still applies.
 
Ah. In that case you just have to replace everything on it that would have been new when it was driven out of the showroom. [;)]


Oli.
 
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