Peter Wilson Adelaide, Australia
February has been a busy month, partly the result of completing the major service and reassembling the car in preparation for our road trip to Phillip Island. As usual, once the engine is rebuilt I cut open the old oil filter and examine the drained oil, checking for any metal particles. Then there are a few last-minute adjustments, including examining the fan belt and clutch cable, before going on test drives and checking for leaks. Based on recent electronic failures, I’m taking a growing list of spare parts on long trips to reduce the risk of an unexpected roadside intermission. This now includes a spare CDI (a rebuilt standard unit because I’m now running the Classic Retrofit CDI+ unit), spare coil, rotor, voltage regulator and spark plug.
Those familiar with G-series 911s will probably be aware of the problems with the inflatable space-saver spare wheel and staggered tyre sizing. The spare can only be fitted to the front of the car because of its load limitation, so a rear puncture requires the side of the car to be jacked up, inflated spare on to the front, front on to the rear and rear on to the passenger’s lap because it won’t fit in a frunk full of luggage! Then a slow limp at 80kph on a 40-year old spare tyre to find a replacement. Hence I carry a tubeless puncture repair kit in addition to the factory jack and compressor. Plugging a puncture is far preferable to the aforementioned rigmarole.
I also carry a couple of litres of oil and a comprehensive tool kit that
I’ve assembled over the years. It has everything from common tools to a multimeter, wiring diagrams and even a hip flask of whisky if everything goes awry. A final addition to the packing list is my driving shoes, because of the narrow pedal placement of the 930.
In parallel with getting the car prepared, I’ve been investigating paint colours with the mid- to long-term intention of respraying the car. The original 436-9-3 Sienna metallic still intrigues me, so I had a local panel shop spray a test panel so that I can check it out in different lighting. Initial impressions are positive, with the colour providing lots of variation depending on ambient lighting and angle.
Regular readers will recall my efforts to improve the 930 headlights. This included replacing reflectors and lenses, upgrading to high-performance halogen bulbs and adding a relay kit (which made a huge difference). The final step was installing LED H4 bulbs, which provided a quantum leap in brightness.
However, I’d been experiencing strange switching delays when on the open road and dipping from high beam to low. This was a real issue on night country drives, because it was taking up to two seconds to dim the beams and impossible to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers when they came over a crest. After lots of investigation, I confirmed that the “sticking” is actually a heatrelated issue within the LEDS rather than anything to do with my switching or relays. Unfortunately, I’ve had to revert back to halogen bulbs for safety reasons until I can find an LED solution without this anomaly.