Back in Black

[Bugs 77]

Thanks Chris,

Just went for a test drive around the block in the dark, very impressed. I had set the lights dead level in the housings and at that are just about right, car is fairly low in ride height so could be adjusted up a touch more to be spot on. I'll make that adjustment when I switch the lenses over to the clear ones, but at this stage the lighting is good through the H4 ones. I would expect the lighting edge to become a sharper cut off with the clear ones but will see.

Low beam

High beam, would see a greater difference over longer distance.

Certainly bright and white.

[Bugs 77]

Received the clear lenses today.

These were ordered as early VW parts not Porsche, They're made in Brazil.

All fitted they show off the LED units.

Bit of reflection off them here, at some angles they're just black.

The halo parkers are now sharper when on. 

Will go round the block later at night and see if there is much difference in the headlight beam.

[Dyaque]

Super cool. Echoing many others: you are really nailing this, mate 👌👍

[Bugs 77]

Thanks for the kind words 

I must admit I'm really pleased with how the car is coming along, I'm not made of money so have to do as much work on the car as possible myself, and when I do try not compromise quality at the same time.  We're lucky these cars are all hand made so it's possible to restore much of the car quite easily, little resto mod things like the lights have been fun and the result luckily up to scratch. I'm super lucky this car is straight and rust free, saved a bomb there and as yet have never tackled welding, what I see some of the IB crew do to rectify rust with solid results leaves me in awe.

[Bugs 77]

I tested the lights with the clear lenses, there is no real improvement over using the H4 lenses, in fact I would say it makes setting the beam direction a bit more critical. The H4 lenses do seam to control light direction and scatters (if that's the right term) the light more which I think helps you pick up more visually. Once the clear lenses are in you seam to need to adjust the beam more accurately to pick up where you want to see, once adjusted they do work very well though but I wouldn't say you have to go clear for the best results, I could imagine some projector style units wouldn't be that good, these units at least have parts to spread the light to pick up more in width, which is what the H4 lenses enhance. In the end it's more about the look you desire for the car while upgrading the lights as opposed to having to be a certain way in order to have improved lighting.

So, I'm happy with the performance of the lights plus the ability to customize the look of the car, all with the use of a simple adapter and adding your choice of light unit, paint treatment and lenses. In true DIY tradition was hugely cost efficient too, hope this helps some of you.

Cheers, Bugs

Yet another look, chrome outer ring, clear lenses, black internals, picks up the chrome drivers mirror.

 

 

[Bugs 77]

Not a ton to report about, being winter here it's been chucking it down topping up the dams for summer, but with that comes a little less hooning round the streets. But when I've had the opportunity I'm happy to say the car is going well, engine is freeing up a bit more which is noticeable up the rev range with a bit more surge/zing accompanied with some new very addictive soundtracks.

Any excuse for a drive I went and picked up the Thai takeaways for dinner last night and got to test the new lights properly and they are very good, along with things like the new electric AC the car is getting efficient in modern ways, fantastic mix of the classic Carrera experience but few classic shortfalls, do things carefully and you really can have it all with an IB, it's an interesting exercise.

She deserves a treat so got a bit of a polish (even the S/S muffler, sad I know) and I shouted her a new cover.

Edited August 15, 2022 by Bugs 77
grammar, again.

[Bugs 77]

Went up to Coffee and Cars at the UWA in Perth for Fathers Day treat, took my dad along so he could find some Morgans to check out. Got snapped on the way in, that little fella in the passenger seat used to be an RAF jet fighter pilot with No. 1 squadron.

.

Anyway he found some Morgans, amazing array of classic cars in Perth. Not long after we parked this came in and parked behind us,

Full carbon fiber finish with yellow bits, nice to see that it showed signs of being well thrashed, not a total garage queen.

[SurlySurdi]

Full respect to the old fella, those fighter jocks....phew!

I can attest to first hand experience in one of those big macs, blooooody fast!!

[Bugs 77]

Being a little guy he could pull more Gs without blacking out, but often got his wrists smacked for it, but the wings didn't fall off so all good. The brakes could fail though,

This is digging his plane out of the mud off the end of the runway, no damage but to the wallet in the bar later.

Off to go chase some bandits into the jungle.

 

[World Citizen]

Your dad is a bad ass 💪

 

[tea boy]

On 07/09/2022 at 22:48, World Citizen said:

Your dad is a bad ass 💪

 

What he said, your dad is a cool dude!

[strosek34]

Your dad's a top man,  respect..

[Bugs 77]

Thanks guys, he is a good bloke, very proud of him.

I got an order for two more sets of LED headlights, I made the adapters so you can DIY but I'm getting people wanting me to put it all together for them. 

I ordered the lenses from the UK on a Friday and they turned up on the following Tuesday!, the same for the light units from Melbourne, not as far but great service. This time I had the housings and adapters powder coated satin black. Have to pick up the second set of housings when I drop off the first set of lights.

All assembled ready to go.

A job I had to do on the car was to pop out the rear quarter windows and powder coat the window trim to match the rest, plus put back in with new seals so they seat better. I reused the ones that came with the car but they where a bit hardened with age and didn't go back in well, they were pressing too hard on the door frames flexing them a touch that put some drag on the electric windows when the doors are shut. Sent these bits in with the headlight parts.

 

 

[Bugs 77]

Here's the second set ready to go, these are going on a guards red wide bodied SC Targa that's been fitted with all 930 running gear, so is essentially a Targa Turbo. Will go back on with the red paint rings.
I satin black etch primed the housings this time like I did mine, housings where in good condition so paint stripped the factory silver frost paint off and cleaned with acetone then repainted black.

[Bugs 77]

Refitted the rear quarter windows with the now satin black powder coated trim to match the door frames and all other powder coated window trims, door frames sit better now too.
Quick tip, use Porsche original or the best OEM seals you can get, I used what I call third tier who flung dung seals and they were very hard to fit. The drivers side went in with a few hassles but OK in the end, the passenger side was a nightmare. I managed to damage one left hand seal and had to get another. The problem being that these seals where quite hard and it was extremely difficult to peel out the cord to get the rubber lip over the car window lip to the extent that the rubber lip fell to bits in the effort despite using plenty of lubricant. The drivers side seal was a bit softer than the passenger side ones but nowhere as soft and flexible as genuine, finally got the passenger side one in but needed the use of some extra tools I made up as the string just couldn't do it!

[fat fuchs]

Nice work. I've experienced the pain of aftermarket seals again recently and agree with using genuine seals every time.

Cheers

FF

[Bugs 77]

Not much new happening with my car, just enjoying driving it. Still have a minor oil leak from the oil pressure switch (which we replaced) so will take a closer look soon.
One of the sets of LED headlights I put together have been fitted back on the SC Turbo Targa.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Bugs 77

[Bugs 77]

Been a busy summer, tied up in non car related stuff hence not much going on in here. Have been driving the SC as much as possible, mainly to work and a few runs up to Perth and back putting about 3,000 miles on the clock.
The car has been faultless, only thing to note has been that very slight oil leak in the pressure switch area and the drivers side electric window is really quite tired so I should replace that. The cars getting it's first service as we speak which will just be oil and filters pretty much, will have a crack at that leak and just check things over, oh and we're replacing the fuel pump as the old one still sounded like it had little rocks in it when running.

Things to do through winter as time becomes available, will be fitting a Wevo shifter, think will fit ducktail engine lid and as I've done back seat delete I will make what is called a luggage deposit. That goes in the rear over the seat recesses forming a luggage shelf with the seat recesses become two storage compartments below. I'll make it in foam sandwich construction to keep it light and strong and cover in cork vinyl and carpet, one thing it may do is just knock back some of the muffler drone when cruising, otherwise may investigate a switchable exhaust. I love the noise but on long runs my wife would like a little more conversation or listen to some music without it having to be turned up to 11.

[TargaWayne]

The electic window lifter is a lever type affair, with a sliding track. Over time these use get gummed up with dust and dirt. 

A good clean and relube of the mechanism might do the job, Mine sounded like it was on its last legs, but after a good clean it's like new.

[Bugs 77]

Hi Wayne, I have had the mechanism out, cleaned and lubed, it is the one you described on my drivers side which used to be the passenger before conversion to RHD. The other door has had the later type mechanism fitted and had stopped working even after a clean an lube too so replaced that motor and all good, so I think I'm in for a fresher motor. May go the whole hog and fit later type mechanism too.

Just got back from picking up car from Perth, a longer run time than usual with nearly an hour delay on the freeway due to a truck blending in with some cars, but no more excess fuel pump noise and we seem to have nailed that small oil leak. Now checking out some Ducktail options.

[Bugs 77]

Just ordered Wevo billet shifter with SL knob, going to get a Ducktail locally (well Melbourne anyway) but will make a grill for it to fit rather than alter the plastic one I have on the plain lid.

[Bugs 77]

Black WEVO shifter with SL knob just turned up

Nice precise looking bit of gear, have just replaced the bushes in my stock set up so can keep the big one as a spare. Will have to paint or powder-coat the stock housing satin black.

[Bugs 77]

After disassembling stock shifter I cleaned and painted the housing'

WEVO setup now all assembled, clean simple design, deserves to be on display.

So I retrimmed the hole for the shifter housing so you can see it all.

 

All installed, I could contact glue the carpet down around the housing now so the housing sits a bit more proud out of the carpet. will be ok to do that as if you need to remove the housing at any time it will be all exposed and easy to get to.

Slotted my black over mats back in, Nice how the SL drilled knob matches the Rennline foot boards.
On removing the stock shifter I followed the "put it in third" rule, after fitting the WEVO shifter all gears selected fine, fired her up and went for a test run.

Before getting the WEVO I had replaced all the bushes in the stock system and all was working very well, I had a sneaking suspision that when you fit some aftermarket performance shifters much of the improvement comes from the usual replacement of the bushes over possibly quite worn ones so this was going to be a good test.

Around the block a few times revealed that the feel was a bit more precise, the shorter shift can contribute to this feel, the taller lever was good too and the drilled out SL knob feels light but grippy to the hand. There was a change in feel to using the shifter due to it now being sprung to the 3rd-4th plane but as you get used to it it all falls to hand once again, overall a good improvement worth having. To take things to the next level I would have the box rebuilt, it doesn't really need it but is the only place we haven't been in this car, when doing that I would include the WEVO 915 gate shift and a 40% LSD, and then a break upgrade, and then.....

But very happy with things as they are 😁

Edited June 3, 2023 by Bugs 77

[Bugs 77]

Had been getting a greater whiff of fuel over the last month and spotted some drips from under the car on the ground that evaporated quickly but couldn't trace it from the car crawling under for a look. 
Went away for a couple of weeks and on return fired up the car to go for a run, backing out saw a puddle of fuel had just appeared on the garage floor and a trail leading out to the car so turned the car off and went under for a look. Fuel was dripping off the gearbox mount so thought had sprung a leak where the fuel lines attach to the lines through the floor but it turned out it was coming from the inline filter fitted up closer to the engine compartment front bulkhead. The filter had become so blocked with crud from the tank it was pressurizing on the in/filter side and leaking. Bought two new filters and fitted one so all good now, will change the filter again in a few months of driving, should really flush the tank or maybe even replace it due to age, but driving the car with fuel sloshing around and regular change of filters may do the trick. Before this rebuild the car hadn't done much work over the last 20yrs so I guess plenty of muck had settled in the tank and is now being stirred up with use.
Chasing up a Ducktail at the moment.

[TargaWayne]

12 hours ago, Bugs 77 said:

Had been getting a greater whiff of fuel over the last month and spotted some drips from under the car on the ground that evaporated quickly but couldn't trace it from the car crawling under for a look. 
Went away for a couple of weeks and on return fired up the car to go for a run, backing out saw a puddle of fuel had just appeared on the garage floor and a trail leading out to the car so turned the car off and went under for a look. Fuel was dripping off the gearbox mount so thought had sprung a leak where the fuel lines attach to the lines through the floor but it turned out it was coming from the inline filter fitted up closer to the engine compartment front bulkhead. The filter had become so blocked with crud from the tank it was pressurizing on the in/filter side and leaking. Bought two new filters and fitted one so all good now, will change the filter again in a few months of driving, should really flush the tank or maybe even replace it due to age, but driving the car with fuel sloshing around and regular change of filters may do the trick. Before this rebuild the car hadn't done much work over the last 20yrs so I guess plenty of muck had settled in the tank and is now being stirred up with use.
Chasing up a Ducktail at the moment.

Have you checked the filter in the tank? It should strain most of the crap out unless is damaged?  On the bottom of the tank looks like a drain plug, but is actually this. Prevents crap being drawn into the fuel pump.

 

Edited October 9, 2023 by TargaWayne