Q – I have a 1986 Carrera Cabrio and it needs a new top. The top shop has offered me a 993 top which has the integrated rear window instead of the original zippered type. They offered me either top at the same price and I am thinking about it. I wondered what you thought about the idea. Have you seen this done before? Paul
A – Well Paul, I sure hope that you have insurance on the top…it is very expensive! When I got estimates on mine they ranged from $1,600 to $2,100. And if that hurts, you can spend $3,000 to $4,000 on the newer tops with the heat bonded rear windows!
I have seen the later style top on the earlier car and I like it a lot. The car looks more streamlined and the rear window is smaller. It looks a lot more like a Speedster. When you look at a 993 Cab compared to the older Carrera and 964, the top on the older car looks dated…classic but funky.
The newer top has a flat rear window rather than the original zippered rear window. So you can’t open it. Being able to open the rear window can be handy but one aspect of it that I don’t like is that with the window zipped up, the top curls oddly if you leave the top down too long. On my car, it always stays curled to some degree, I assume based on the age of the top. So to get the top to stay flat, I have to unzip the rear window each time I put it down, an annoying gymnastic exercise.
If you consider your car a collectible, you should only consider the original style top otherwise the value of your car may be reduced. If you are comfortable taking artistic license (it is your car after all) you get to decide. Either way, you will get a lot of compliments and a rear window that you can actually see through. Won’t that be a treat? – MC
Q: My Carrera 2 just had the clutch replaced and ever since then, there is a funny noise coming from the shifter when I am going very slowly and accelerate. It did not make that noise before the clutch and I am worried if there might be a problem with the transaxle or the clutch work. Is there any way to know what is going on? – Pat
A: Porsche used a rubber center clutch disc in many models to minimize noise intrusion into the cabin. My hunch is that you replaced the rubber center clutch with the heavy-duty spring center clutch. The only way to be absolutely sure is to listen with a stethoscope, with the car safely hoisted from the chassis points, while a helper “drives the car in the air” and very gently accelerates up to five to ten miles per hour. If the noise is coming from inside the clutch bell-housing, there is either an issue with the release bearing or it now has a spring-center disc. Try to find out what parts, exactly, were used in the clutch job…if you were not warned about the noise, shame on the guy who sold it to you, but don’t worry. The noise may be irritating, but it is not harmful and won’t cause any problems. Most enthusiasts prefer the spring center clutch to the rubber center anyway, it grabs a lot better! – MC
Q On my way to the Woodward Cruise my 1966 912 got stuck in two gears at the same time! My mechanic got it unstuck but I am worried that it might happen again. Why does this happen? Help! I don’t want to miss the party. – Eric
A: How annoying, all dressed up and no way to go! On the early 901 and 915 transaxles the transmission gear selection has a lot to do with the front shifter adjustment compared to newer transaxles. This is just one of the annoying traits of the early boxes, but the sticking in gear problem is easily corrected. First of all, you do not need to take the transaxle out of the car. The fix is getting the shifter in front correctly adjusted. If the bushings are worn, this would be a good time to do this as well. If you follow the guidelines in the manual and adjust the fore and aft travel, odds are good that it will not happen again. — MC
Q – After washing my 08 Cayman and letting it sit overnight, next morning, the brakes seem to be seized. I can break them loose by tapping the accelerator pedal but applying the brake pedal doesn’t help. Is this normal? Do the pads oxidize and bond to the rotors? My car has the manual shifter. This happens only when the car sits after washing. – Mark H.
A – You are correct, the pads are corroding to the rotors overnight. After washing the car, I suggest that you drive the Cayman at a speed of about 50 to 70 miles per hour then apply the brakes to evaporate the water. Problem solved. MC
Q: My 356 wanders on the highway. It really is a chore to keep it in a straight line even though it has been fully restored and aligned. My mechanic says everything feels tight but I have to wonder why it feels so loose. – Guido
A: The most common problems that I have seen on these cars are incorrect tire pressure, worn king and link pins, and worn tie rod ends. Tire pressure is a common issue not only on 356’s but on all cars. Use the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations for pressure. Do NOT rely on the info that is printed on the tire since those values are for maximum load and have nothing to do with your car.
King and link pins can be checked with the weight off the car by grabbing the tire top and bottom and viewing the side to side play in those parts. Link pin wear can be adjusted and they often need to be adjusted. King pin wear can only be corrected by replacing the pins and bushings. Recently I discovered (by a vendor error) needle bearing link pin kits. If you need to replace the king and link pins, these “heavy duty” link pin kits are pretty slick.
Tie rods are a very common problem since checking them is traditionally been done by wiggling the wheels back and forth while the car is jacked up. While checking them this way may detect grossly worn tie rod ends, the method I use is to compress them between the top and the stud with a pair of large “Channel Lock” pliers. If you detect more than a sixteenth inch of wear, I would suggest that they be replaced. Some cars I have inspected have over an 1/8 to 1/4 inch of movement. When a tie rod end is worn, once the car is on it’s weight, the steering will feel loose even if it felt okay when it was jacked up. — MC
Q: My 944 steering feels loose. I have replaced the tie rods, control arms, struts, and stabilizer links but I am still getting a rattle. What did I miss? — Mark
A: My guess is the steering universal shaft. The shaft connects the steering column to the steering rack and I frequently find them detectably loose. The way to check for a worn shaft is to grab the shaft near the universal joint and see if you can move it side to side. Another method is to have a helper saw the steering wheel gently side to side while wrapping your fist around the joint. A small amount of slop when the car is up in the air, stationary, will translate into a rattle when driving the car. It is not dangerous, just annoying. – MC
Q: I tried to replace the timing belt on my 944 and I am in a jam. I got everything apart except the top bolt on the camshaft. Not only is it very tight, the “star drive” socket has stripped the head of the bolt and it is down in a hole. I can’t get anything to grab hold of it either. How does that work? — Erik
A: Do it yourself timing belt jobs are sort of like “military intelligence” or “jumbo shrimp”. Something just doesn’t seem right. My opinion is that you can do a lot more damage than what it costs to pay someone who has done it before. But OK, I will get off my soap box. That pesky bolt has a very shallow head to screw it in. It also has Loctite on it to keep it from coming loose. Even pros strip them out.
The trick is to drill the head off the bolt (it is soft metal), remove the ignition rotor sleeve, grab the remains of the bolt with vise grips and remove it. New bolts are about $3.00. They are not worth a lot of struggle. — MC
Q: On my 85 Carrera the dome light works erratically on the driver’s door and not at all from the passenger’s door. Sometimes they work and sometimes not. If I operate it manually, it lights up. Any idea why? I notice that the rubber boots that cover the switches don’t look too good either. — Carlos
A: When it rains, water runs down the “A pillar” where the switches are mounted. The rubber boots keep water out and prevent corrosion at the contacts. To fix this erratic switch issue, remove the rubber boot, unscrew the switch and spray the contacts with electrical contact cleaner that you can buy at Radio Shack. Reinstall the switch and I bet they will work fine. Install new boots (they cost about $4.00) and they will work well for years. — MC
Q: The door on my Carrera, wouldn’t stay open as it used to so I had the latch bar replaced. Now when I open the door, I hear a snapping sound from the latch bar. Of course it stays open…but. – Jim
A: I may have some horrible news for you. First make sure that the latch bar is genuine Porsche and that everything is tight. Next, put a stethoscope on the “A pillar” and have someone exercise the door where the snapping sound occurs. If my suspicions are correct, there is a stress crack in the body where the latch bar anchors into the A pillar and this is the horrible part. The door needs to be removed, surgery performed on the A pillar to reinforce the cracked area, then paint and door re-installation. It sounds painful and it is. About $500.00 per door last time I checked.
This is a common problem with earlier cars and eventually the crack spreads and the anchor breaks free from the A pillar. At this point, the damage gets far worse quickly sucking hundreds from your wallet. Putting that old, weak latch bar back in might be the best thing to do to postpone further damage. I hope you didn’t throw it away. – MC
Q – I want my 08 Cayman to corner like it is on rails but when I really push it, it plows and under steers. I would also like it to be easy on tires in between track sessions. I already had the camber adjusted to maximum on the front. What alignment do you recommend that will do both. – Art
A – There is no single correct answer to this question. Your car is engineered to under steer since it is a safer condition than over steer. That is the way the lawyers like it, but not the engineers. Who doesn’t like to hang the tail out occasionally? For the track, my suggestion is to increase the front camber and decrease the front toe-in measurements. These settings will chew the tires faster than a 2 stroke blender can stir a margarita but it will stick like Velcro. An excellent resource of information on the topic is the Michelin web site, (Kudos to Jim Long, the club’s Michelin man.)
What you really want is two alignments that you can toggle back and forth between track and street settings and this can be done. To get the front camber that you need on this model, you will need camber plates. There is simply not enough adjustment available from the factory. You will also discover that, just like the older Carreras, both sides are different when the alignment is optimal. How odd.
Start with an alignment measured on a level alignment rack and get a printout. Most shops can show you how the car measured at the start and how the finished alignment came out at end. Since repeatable alignment results are critical, the car cannot be jacked up during this process. Unloading the suspension changes the alignment angles!
Have the alignment adjusted first to the street settings and make witness marks on the adjuster components. With your street alignment printout in hand, then have the car adjusted to the track settings and print out the results. Make your witness marks on the adjusters for this setting and in theory, when you put the car back to the original witness marks (street setting), the car should be back in alignment. To prove it, have it re-measured and print out the results.
When you get ready for the track, install your track pads, adjust camber and toe to your track settings and have a ball. Now I assume that if you are contemplating this, you have access to a lift, a helper and torque wrenches. If you fail to tighten any components you can lose parts (and control!). It is critical to check torques on wheels and components both before and after stressing the car on the track. – MC