Rotor hat refresh...

Every once in a while the rotor hats need a refresh - they are subject to continuous contamination by road grime and hot brake dust, which is corrosive, unsightly and difficult to remove. I enlisted Craig at Rivieria to carry out the work...

Give the rotor hat a rub down using an abrasive scotch brite pad - removing any surface debris and keying the surface in preparation for the etch primer.  

Clean surface with degreaser, and mask up bolts and calipers using masking tape. 

Spray on 'PRO XL Etch Primer' aerosol, which gives excellent adhesion direct to bare metal and has active rust preventing pigments that provide corrosion resistance. It's very quick drying, which is also handy. Note that we didn't mask the rotor / disc and it's easy enough to remove any excess using a cloth soaked in paint thinner.  

Key primer with fine scotch brite pad before applying the basecoat - we opted for a flat silver, which resembles the rotor hat finish of the latest 911s for a fresh modern look, as opposed to the flat grey that is stock on these older cars. 

Blow on a little hot air to speed up the drying process. 

Finally apply a clear lacquer for some additional protection.

Then throw the wheels back on, and job done. This photo doesn't do them justice but they do look great. Worth noting that the untidy edge on the rotor / disc soon goes as the brake pad naturally cuts a perfect edge on the drive home! Nice. 

Next time, I think I'll have a go myself.  

'The Push' and 'The Pull' - Rear Quarter Window Seal Replacement

Back at Riviera today. And no, this isn't Ty doing 'the plank' against my car to improve his core strength, instead he's using a technique know as 'the push' to replace my rear quarter window seals. 

The seals were looking a little worse for wear so I decided to have them replaced. It didn't take long but it's a two man job and requires some good old fashioned tricks of the trade. Ty and Craig made it look easy: Loosen off the original seal with a blunt edge and pop out glass. Remove seal and take the opportunity to give it a clean (use razor blade to remove any stubborn residue). Squeeze on new seal around glass and run a length of rope along the grove. Offer up glass - one person gives it 'the push' whilst the other give it 'the pull' - pop - et voila! 

Safety first...

After hearing some horror stories of owners watching their car burn without the ability to do anything about it (whether a known manufacturing fault or pure bad luck) I decided to do the sensible thing, and get myself an on-board fire extinguisher, especially if I intend to throw in the odd track day here and there. 

I spoke to the guys at JJC and opted for this one - a handy 2kg ABC powder filled extinguisher with support bracket and quick release fasteners. There are plenty of mounts available, like this one that neatly secure small extinguishers to the front seats, but I didn't really want mine on show, so decided to tuck it away under the bonnet - not so easy to reach but accessible nevertheless - they can be mounted anywhere, except near anything hot since the bottles are pressurised.

Under the carpet there's a space saving spare wheel, bolted to the body with a single bolt & plate. I thought that this would make a good safe place for my extinguisher to live - all I needed was to secure the bracket to the plate. So, off to see a friend with a welder, and 8 small spot welds later all is done.

Feels good to have one now - let's just hope that I won't ever have to use it! Gulp.

Blowing cold...

...I was back at Northway's to have my new reconditioned air-con compressor fitted. It went a little something like this:

1. Mike rolls in his special air-con machine; connects one pipe into the high pressure line (the thicker one) and one pipe into the thinner the low pressure line. This allows him to collect the CFC gases safely. 

2. Unbolt the hose manifold and free it from the main unit. 

3. Disconnect the wiring which runs to a single connector in the electric box (remove plastic cover to gain access). 

4. Undo the main mounting bolts. Be sure to secure the square M8 nuts which can fall and get lost in the darkness of the engine bay. 

5. Remove old hose 'head' from manifold, and using some emery cloth clean up the surface before securing onto new unit (which should come with new gasket and fully oiled). 

5. On the bench and in the vice, Mike bolts the old hose 'head' onto the shiny new unit. 

 6. A little rethreading to remove any surface rust / residue to ensure bolts go in easier than they were to take out. 

7. Using emery cloth again clean up surface of hose manifold before securing onto original 'head', now mounted onto new compressor unit. Replace old O-Rings with new ones as it's likely that the original ones would have perished causing them to leak / fail. Also rub with the same compressor oil (PAG) to ensure better fit. 

8. Bolt the main compressor unit back onto the mounting plate and into the engine bay. Before securing Mike plays around with the adjusting bolt (which slides the unit back and forth on one axis) finding the right position to give the belt it's correct tension (approx. 10mm of play). Then connect old manifold back onto 'head'. 

9. Plug back onto the special air-con machine and re-gas. The system also pushes dye through the system so should any other leaks appear they can easily be identified. We got up to full pressure and no signs of any dye - so job done. 

10. A nice new shiny compressor. For the first time since I've owed the car, she was blowing cold. Just in time for the summer. Nice. 

Thanks Mike for a sterling job. 

Spotted...

Thanks to Jamie who spotted this 993 on his travels...

 'Mint 993 4S in Dubai car park!' 

My first track day...

...as always it's great to get the boys together - it had been a while. Myself, Rob, Jamie and Robin set out early to get to Castle Combe Circuit in Wiltshire for a 7.30am rendezvous, where we met with two gentlemen, namely Mike Wilds and his son, Anthony Wilds, our instructors for the day. Father & son, both licensed ARDS Grade A Instructors, with a tonne of top-flight motor racing experience between them - in fact Mike's celebrating 50 years of motor racing this year!

My intention was never to track my car (far too risky), but I did want to learn how to drive it fast and more importantly safely on the open road, so decided to give Mike a call. This is what he had in mind:

'...a day on track to focus on learning and practising the techniques required to drive quickly and more importantly safely on road or track. There is no emphasis on speed, just good driving techniques of smoothness, looking well ahead, getting the driver in a settled mind set to think well ahead of the cars actual position on the road, corner lines of maximum continuous radius, vehicle dynamics under braking, cornering, power application etc etc.' 

So, that's exactly what I did...a track day...but nothing could prepare me for what actually happened on the day.

Mike and Anthony's style is all about relaxing at the wheel so that the car can do what it's designed to do and that's most of the work (super important for endurance racing!), yet the conditions on the day sadly meant it went the other way for me. It was my first time on the track, in my precious pride & joy, it was wet (which amused Rob no end, as he knew how anxious this would have made me), there was no run off with Quarry Corner being responsible for 25% of the UK's track day accidents, plus I had to get my head round performance driving for the first time; short braking distances (brake-points), quick gear changes, turn-in points, racing lines, apexes, exit points etc. All of which I would have probably normally coped with, but add a swam of 'muppet' driven race-prepared MX-5s (all out testing and quite happy to ignore the code of conduct), being 'relaxed' was easier said than done.

So, what happened? Well, for me, not much to be honest. Mike was of course fantastic, but I simply wasn't. The car drove beautifully, handled really well and we got a few sessions in, one of which was pretty good, but all in all my nerves got the better of me, and with my concentration waning and front discs starting to judder towards mid-afternoon, I decided to call it a day early. It seemed like the sensible thing to do for both me and the car. 

The good news is that I got a taste of the track - it was without a doubt an exhilarating experience and I learnt a huge amount - the performance driving and racing basics about lines, smoothness, looking ahead, braking and relaxation are basic skills that can be adopted for everyday road driving with high performance cars. Yet, I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for myself, and a little battered after the onslaught of banter from the boys!

That said I remain determined and aim to get back behind the wheel, with Mike or Anthony by my side once again, later this summer. We're thinking Bedford Aerodrome would be better suited for a beginner like me, who obviously needs to be gently broken in. Also it's an open pit lane track day venue, has lots of run off and there won't be too many race cars using the circuit, which sounds perfect to me for track day number 2.

As for the other boys. Rob was having a blast in his Boxster (giving a 911 GT3 a run for it's money, see photo below), Jamie was loving his 944 (with new suspension set up) and Robin had fun, but sadly like me retired his 996 due to a few plumes of smoke from the exhaust (the air-oil separator is a known problem when tracking 996s). I'm still waiting to hear how Jamie's car is doing, as on the way home it began sounding like a tractor. I know that Porsche's are renowned for being bulletproof but Robin summed it up nicely: 'the old timers amongst the group are certainly showing their age'. 

I'll take this opportunity to say a huge thanks to Mike and Anthony for being brilliant - an absolute pleasure meeting you both and we're all very much looking forward to the next one. Onwards and upwards, and sideways. Well, perhaps not sideways for me - I'll leave that to Rob. ;-)

At Northway's for the annual health-check...

At Northway's for the annual 12K mile service, brake fluid change, MOT and general health-check in advance of my very first track day and performance driving tuition next friday! I can't wait - Castle Combe Circuit + Mike Wilds here we come...

Plus, I took the opportunity to replace the front brake backing plates (they tend to rust through and can be a bit of an eyesore) and investigate the failed Air-Con. Mike gassed up the system and spotted some leaking from the compressor. He said that the cheapest way to do this is to look for a reconditioned one - and I was lucky enough to stumble across one, in stock from these local guys in Chertsey (A.C.R. Ltd), who specialise in rebuilding automotive air-con units. Here's the part and at 252.00 all in (for the full assembly) I've certainly saved a few beans. It's less than an hour labour to replace so I'll be heading back to Northway's some time soon.