2016 PORSCHE CLASSIC RESTORATION COMPETITION
PORSCHE 928 S4
WHAT’S THE BEST colour for a Porsche 928? Its original one. At least, that’s what the team from Porsche Centre Leeds and its bodyshop partner, JCT600 Body Clinic Bradford, concluded at the start of its restoration of a 1987 S4 example, as part of the Classic Porsche Restoration Competition 2016. The colour of the car in question was officially called Velvet Red Metallic, but, in its slightly faded pre-restoration condition, the big front-engined coupé became affectionately known as the ‘Pink Beast’. Some in the team believed that the restoration was the perfect excuse to repaint it a less unusual colour, but the consensus was that it should stay as the factory created it.
Obtained via Porsche GB, the 90,000-mile 928 S4 initially appeared to be in reasonably good condition. ‘However, once we started removing bits, it became clear that it had at some stage suffered accident damage at the front and been poorly repaired,’ recalls Andy Harrison, of JCT600 Body Clinic, ‘and there was some rot at the corners and along the panel seams.
‘The right-hand front wing had been repaired with a lot of filler, and once we had dug it all out we discovered quite a bad crack in the metal,’ Harrison continues. ‘The 928’s front wings are aluminium – as are its doors and bonnet – but fortunately we have an aluminium welding specialist in-house. The whole project was challenging yet enjoyable.’
Porsche Centre Leeds also put long hours into the 928’s mechanical restoration, as service manager Paul Mulliss explains. ‘This car had been poorly maintained outside the official dealer network, and our challenge was to return it to network standards. When we first received the 928, the engine briefly ran but then deposited all its coolant on the workshop floor – so that was instantly £1000 for a new radiator.
‘The cylinder heads’ water jackets required repair, the pistons had to be modified, the suspension had collapsed, the brake pipes needed replacing, various electrical issues had to be sorted; but the biggest problem we faced was sourcing specialist tools for a car that was, in its day, very complex.’
But while restoring the 928 wasn’t without its trials, the team was enthusiastically committed to returning it to the best possible condition. ‘As an example,’ says Mulliss, ‘one of our trainee technicians, Stacey, hand-coloured the piping on the leather seats: all of us went the extra mile for this car.’