If you’ve been following my Instagram at all (@da_wangsta), then you’re probably aware of the string of financially inconsiderate purchasing decisions I’ve made over winter. It all started with a sweet deal for a set of Work Meister S1s’ from Toronto, and ended with lowering springs, new struts, and a slew of maintenance items. Another day at TT Automotive, really…
In terms of what the car was actually in for, it was for a few things: oil change, brake fluid flush, rotor service, front strut install, lowering spring install, and an exhaust tip install. Obviously things don’t always go their way, and more had to be done than I initially expected. More of that to come!
Monster truck front
Monster truck rear
Clearly, the 911 had some pretty questionable ride height. Being a non-PASM equipped car, the ride height is about 20mm higher than its PASM equipped counterparts. I believe Porsche kept the ride height due to European regulations to allow for snow chains to be in installed, but seeing as that’ll never happen with this particular example, we’re going to drop it.
Wheel gap is a sin
To remedy the situation, I chose H&R sport springs. I wanted to retain a like-stock ride quality, and seeing Terence’s (now sold) 997.1 on H&Rs, it was a no-brainer for me.
Terence started with the rear struts and accessed the top mounts through the back of the car. After removing the subwoofer and sound deadening, we stumbled upon our first issue.
Although the struts themselves were in excellent condition thanks to the previous owner, the strut top mounts were shot. The rubber holding the mount together was destroyed and caused the struts to not sit straight in the mount. Unfortunately, these are also close to $300 each and wouldn’t arrive the week after. Thankfully, I was squeezed in for an appointment and new mounts were installed with no drama. For today though, the mounts will be reused.
Hammer Time!
During the strut and spring removal and replacement on the front, Terence said that everything was stuck on pretty good and required a bit of coercing to come out. The car is a Toronto car and was also winter driven by the previous owners, so this does not come as much of a surprise. However, it also is a lesson in the importance of rust protection. Don’t make your mechanic’s job harder (you’ll have to pay them more! haha).
Old & New. Old struts and springs have been on the car for 150 000+ kms so they were due for replacing
The master poses
While the struts were being installed, the rotors were also being serviced. Over time the aggressive pad compound wore grooves into the rotors and the brake feel wasn’t great.
Smooth
Terence is super thorough, cleaning the individual rotor holes to ensure no debris will make their way onto the pads or affect the cooling of the brake system.
The refreshed brake setup. Hilariously, the black calipers have faded over time to a dull grey. Terence also gave the wheel bearing and hub a coat of black undercoating, as the Work Meisters don’t have center caps.
I’m usually not a die hard fan of any specific brand of oil (I just run whatever synthetic Wai @ Jasper Autoworks does eg. Castrol or Eneos in the Camry) but with the Porsche, it’s a high strung DFI engine with a less bullet-proof design than the 2AZ-FE in the Camry. As a result, I’ve decided to run with AMSOIL European Formula at Terence’s recommendation, who runs AMSOIL in all his cars. Although I don’t believe all the marketing hype, I do believe it is a high quality oil that will serve the 911 well. I mean, if Terence used it in his old 911 and runs it currently in his F430, I think we have a solid product.
The rest of the work on the car, such as the exhaust tips, brake system flush, and oil change were done on a different day, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to document any of it. However, picking up the car, I saw this:
Stance on point
As the springs settle, the drop will become even more evident. After some fender rolling, and shaving the rear bumper, the end result speaks for itself.
For the sake of comparison, lets compare it to Mark’s RWB, which runs the same wheel and color scheme (albeit in a much more badass offset)
Hmmm…maybe one day I’ll get there
Not much else is expected for the Porsche, minus some carbon fiber aesthetic pieces, and fixing some small issues here and there. Overall, I’m very satisfied with how the car rides. It’s firm but still comfortable and handles cornering better than before. I’m excited to get it out and drive it more this year.
I’ll also admit that I’ve got a backlog on content, so expect a few posts in quick succession coming up.
Cheers,
Gary