Peter Simpson
911 Carrera 3.2 Targa
Sport
Year: 1989
Mileage: 105,957
Current Mods: Engine steam cleaned and nice new EBC brakes fitted
| Now, this is where it all begins – and I can hear everyone shouting: ‘and it will never end’. Oh, thanks a bunch! As I mentioned in the May issue, I thought the car would need a new set of brakes, so it was time to take off the front wheels, as I thought I would tackle these first. As this is my first Porsche, and I’ve never had any other air-cooled cars, I was going in completely blind to start overhauling the brakes. After jacking up the front end and putting some axle stands under the car, I proceeded to remove the four 19mm nuts and the locking wheel-nuts from the front wheels. Once the wheels were out of the way, it was time to get dirty. It looked to me as if the brakes had never been changed. After punching out the retaining pins, I noticed that the pads were not that bad but, after taking a look at the discs, I realized they had seen better days. The process of changing the pads is one of the easiest I’ve seen – first punch out the pins, then remove the bracket which holds the brake-pad sensors. After you have done this, you then need to remove the lid of the brake fluid reservoir, to stop the pressure staying in the calipers. This is so that you can push the pistons back in the calipers and check they are not seized. Once the pistons are pushed back in the calipers, you can now remove the pads with ease. The calipers are held on by two 19mm bolts – remove these and slide the caliper out of the way. Then it’s onto the brake discs. These are a little more complicated, but still a simple job. Remove the dust cap then, apart from the grease, you will see a cut-out in the edge of the hub. This is so that you can remove the bearing retaining nut which, as shown below, is loosened off with an 8mm Allen key. Once that has been loosened it will just spin all the way off, releasing the bearing behind it. Now remove the whole hub, along with the disc. Once this is off, you need to undo the five 13mm nuts and bolts which hold the disc to the bearing housing. Once this was all off, it was time to install the nice new EBC discs, purchased from Bart, at EBC. Then just reverse the process and you’ll find this was a very easy and satisfying job. After you have degreased the calipers, slide them back over the discs and get out the red paint – this will make them look a lot classier. Once the paint has dried, you can add the pads. I opted for Yellow Stuff pads from EBC. These come without the brake-pad wear sensors – but who needs these when you know they are new? The rear calipers are very simple – it’s exactly the same process as the front. Once you have removed the 19mm bolts and moved the calipers out of the way, take out the two screws which hold the disc on – but make sure the handbrake is off, as this is where the brake shoes live. Then it’s straightforward to put on the new EBC discs and screw them back up. Give the calipers a clean and get out that red paint again. Once again, install the Yellow Stuff pads and then you’re done and back on the road. Next on the list was to give the engine a good degrease and steam clean. This can be a scary process, as many people worry about getting water in the electrics. Don’t panic, just give it a good jet wash and don’t put lots of pressure around the areas that concern you. I gave my engine a few jet washes to get rid of 19 years of dirt and oil. My next task on the engine will be to remove the fan and get that ’blasted and painted, then try to get the car on the rollers to see how the engine is doing. I have a Steve Wong chip on its way, along with a front strut brace so, once the rolling-road test has been done, we can see the improvements from the new chip. I have also been busy sorting out a re-trim for the Porsche, so I contacted Newton Commercial and gave them the rundown of what I would like in the car. Johnny came back to me and said, as this will be a first for them on this era of Porsche, could I send them the passenger seat so they can make a template and source the leather that Porsche originally used. This sounds very promising, and I can’t wait to see what the guys down there have in store for the car. They also do full Porsche carpet sets, so I’m going for them also. This will finish off the inside a treat – I’ll give you a full rundown on how they do this work in an upcoming issue. While taking a look around the car, I noticed that the badges, wiper arms and front bonnet grille were all a bit dull and scratched. So out came the satin black paint and, after a rub down, they look as good as new, and without the expense of buying new parts from Porsche. Visit EBC brakes at: www.ebcbrakesdirect.com |
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