back to previous pagePhil's Porsche 911 3.2 | Testimonial & Pictures
On this page you will find:Phil's Testimonial
“Gordon Brown has tried to encourage us to spend, spend, spend like no other Prime Minister has done before, he has poured billions of pounds into the banking system in order to stimulate the money supply and free up the markets. Alistair Darling has cut V.A.T. and the Bank of England interest rates are the lowest ever. Far be it for me to thwart our leaders fiscal policies, I decided to do my bit to help our ailing economy, so earlier this year I booked my 1986 3.2 Carrera in for a long awaited front end restoration and repaint.”
“Since purchasing the car, some 3 years ago I had noticed with increasing frequency the amount of bubbles appearing around the n/side headlight, but what really annoyed me most was that the front bumper, spoiler and wings from previous repaints and touch ups that had been done prior to my ownership where in 3 different shades of white. It looked ok viewed from ten feet away, it was when you were up close you really noticed it, well I did anyway.”
“I have known Ian Heward and Paul Taylor from Porscheshop for a number of years, and always had my previous Porsches serviced and maintained with them, so it was logical that I commissioned them to undertake the work. I had already had two lengthly discussions with Ian on how to proceed with the job and what did and did not need doing. It was agreed that a new n/side front wing would be fitted, for which I had purchased some time ago and had stored it under my bed, shot blast and repaint the front bumper, repaint both wings, bonnet, spoiler and near side of car, repair the small ding in the door and finally repair the off side wing (there was a patch of bubbles on the top where it joined the inner wing). An estimate was produced which I accepted, and on the 17th of January I took my 3.2 for it's last spin before delivering it to the Porscheshop, everything sorted, no problem, straight forward.”
“Well those of you who have had cars restored or have restored them yourselves know that all is not so straight forward in the world of restoration, a few days later I received an email from Ian saying they had found a few small problems and would I like to come in and see for myself and discuss the matter. I arrived at the Porscheshop to find my pride and joy sitting on a ramp minus it's n/side wing, spoiler, front bumper and wheels and looking very sorry for itself. Ian pointed out 3 areas of concern, the inner wing had about a 12 inch strip of corrosion right on the top, which only became apparent once the outer wing had been removed, there was a small area at the front of the inner wing ,opposite where the battery is housed that also needed attention, finally, the rear of the near side sill, just behind the jacking point had corroded badly and also there was a small hole in the off side sill. "It's ok" said Ian with a smile, he must have seen the forlorn expression on my face "it's nothing serious, seen a lot worst cars than this one". We then moved to the rear of the car and inspected the back bumper, which initially seemed in good condition, it was only when the car was on the ramp and up close we noticed all the usual signs of oxidization, so it was agreed that the rear bumper would be removed, shot blasted and painted along with the front one. "Just one more thing" said Ian, "we are going to remove the off side wing as it will be easier to repair once it is off the car and also we will be able to inspect the inner wing for any corrosion". Well that all seemed logical so I gave them the go ahead to continue the work, I left the Porscheshop with slightly mixed feelings, happy in the knowledge that they where leaving no stone unturned and doing a professional job but feeling that this was not going to be the simple make over I had originally envisaged.”
“The next email I received read like the "good news bad news joke", though I am sure it was not intended to sound that way, "The inner wing is fine,solid as a rock, but the outer wing has corroded far worse than we first thought, so I would suggest replacing it with a new one". OUGH that had not been planned for. The following Saturday I visited the Porscheshop again and inspected the offending wing, now it would have been possible to repair it but there would be no guarantee that sooner or later the rust bubbles would not rear there ugly little heads again,so a new one was duly ordered. At this point I must add that Ian is dead against the fitting of second hand wings or aftermarket copies "It's false economy" he says "you only fit them once so fit the genuine ones then you will have the peace of mind knowing they are going to last you at least another 20 years".”
“A few days later I returned to the Porscheshop to collect the old wings to sell on ebay, (lt's surprising what you can sell on ebay), when a proposition was put to me. It transpired that 911 and Porsche World had approached the Porscheshop in order to do a big brake upgrade feature, and Ian was wondering if I would be interested in allowing them to do the upgrade on my car. Now those of you who drive SCs and 3.2s know that when it comes to the braking department, let's say it's not there strongest point, it's something that we live with and get use too. So the chance to have the front brakes renewed with 4 pot calipers and cross drilled discs and to have the car in the magazine was too good an opportunity to miss, so I eagerly gave my permission. The new wing had arrived and was sitting in a large cardboard box at one end of the workshop waiting to be prepped so I felt confident and relaxed that everything was now moving along nicely with no more worries. I can recall this feeling of contentment lasting at least 10 seconds "just one little problem I have to point out" said Ian in his usual pleasant manner "the small hole in the off side sill is no problem to fix but, in order to do it we have to drop the oil lines and there is a very slight chance they may split , but don't worry we will be careful". he said don't worry twice as he could see the look on my face had turned a whiter shade of pale. On leaving the workshop i encountered Mark there chief mechanic who gave me another sobering piece of news, the bodyshop,in order to do a proper spray job with no masking lines, wanted to take out the front screen and in doing so there was a 10% chance that it might crack, "but it won't "said Mark confidently. I drove home thinking of the worst case scenario, dreading what the next email might say "spilt oil lines and a crack screen" this was not doing my blood pressure any good, so for the next 3 weeks I stayed away from the Porscheshop and let them get on with the job in hand.”
“Eventually came the news I was waiting for, the car had been repaired and painted and was ready to be reassembled. Bumpers, side sills, quarter panels and other bits of bodywork were all stored on the top floor of the Porscheshop newly painted and ready to be fitted, the front wings which the bodyshop had fitted were going to be removed so a comprehensive job of under-sealing and stone chipping the inner wings could take place. Which I must say impressed me, for there are some so called restoration specialists that simply would not have bothered. The front brake kit had been assembled, big shinny red calipers and cross drilled discs adorned the front axles,and they looked awesome, in fact they looked too good. You see the whole point of this exercise was not only to restore the car but to have continuity in the paintwork now that continuity had been compromised by the fact that the front and rear brakes did not match, so I asked Ian if he would fit cross drilled discs on the back and have the rear calipers painted red to match the front ones, which he said would be no problem. The only problem was, that the budget had been blown ages ago, I now know what the treasury must have felt like when they finally costed the millennium dome, still I was pleased with the way things were progressing.”
“The following week, after thoroughly stone chipping the underside of the car, it was sent back to the bodyshop for "mopping" and a few things that Mark was not pleased with (never did find out what) he also informed me that the front fog lights where naff so I spent the next few days sousing a new pair whereupon I delivered them to the Porscheshop one evening when Ian was working late, the car was back from the bodyshop by now and was in the final process of bring reassembled. Initially I was only going to have the front and near side of the car repainted, but the rear end was added due to the oxidization of the back bumper. Which only left the off side quarter panel and door in the original colour, but it appears that no matter how much "mopping"was applied there was still a noticeable difference between the old and new paintwork, and knowing my insistence, that the colour had to match Ian had the remaining panels repainted, which meant that the car has now had a total re-spray and I must admit it did look good even though there was still a great deal of work left to do on it, but Ian promised it would be ready for the Porscheshops open day on the 21st of March.”
“Friday 20th of March, just had to take a sneak preview of the car before the open day so I left work early and raced down to the Porscheshop. Now I know this may sound silly but I felted like a 5 year old child just about to unwrap his presents on Christmas day, imagine what you where like at 5, all the adrenalin, excitement and emotions swirling round your body, as you ripped open the wrapping paper in search of your favorite toy, for they say men are all children at heart only the toys become more expensive, how true that is. But do you recall the felling when you found that toy you wanted so badly, well it was the same feeling when I saw my porsche, I am not going to bore you with superlatives, only two words come to mind when describing my car "simply stunning". It sat there in the middle of the workshop, gleaming white with a flawless finish and near perfect shut lines, but that's what we have come to expect from a repaint I hear you say, and thats true, but it was the time the lads at the Porscheshop had taken in detailing the car that made it special , for example they had painted the spoiler grill black, powder coated the door handles, replaced all the naff rubbers, fitted rear stone guards, new number plates and bonnet badge and a whole host of other things you don't notice but adds that final touch of perfection. For lets not forget this did not start out as a full resto job with unlimited funds, and there are areas of the car I would like to improve and I will have them done at a later stage, but for all those people who where at the Porscheshop open day who viewed the car must have surly been impressed. It only leaves me to sincerely thank all the team at the Porscheshop for a fantastic job.”
“Just one last thought, if we all spend our money and have our cars restored and our engines rebuilt, then Gordon Brown will have no worries and the recession will be over and it will all be thanks to Porsche.”
Phil's Porsche 911 3.2 Pictures
Please see the pictures below and click to enlarge them.
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