There is no car that’s quite like a Porsche. When Tony Montana walked into Lopez Motors and purchased his first silver Porsche 928, he knew he was the man. In general, German sports cars age like fine wine, but this rule particularly applies to a classic Porsche.
If they are well cared for or they are properly restored, they can perform just as good today as they did thirty years earlier. There is something exhilarating about whipping the small 1969 Porsche 911 around tight mountain roads, and it’s something that most modern cars can only hope to aspire to.
Today, we’re going to be looking at all of the Porsche restoration tips that you need to know to become the proud driver of a classic sports car that will never go out of style.
Know What Your Getting Into
One of the first mistakes that first-time classic Porsche owners run into is that they aren’t adequately prepared for what’s in store. They see an old car and they immediately fall in love. The warning voice that says, “check the mechanical records” quickly turns into, “this looks like a simple and fun restoration project to do this summer.”
Hint: You should always pay attention to the first voice.
Unless it’s a car that’s been in your family for a long time and that you know the ins and outs of, you should ask for a mechanical record and at the very least get it properly inspected by an authorized Porsche mechanic.
Although you can’t learn everything that you need to know based off of a preliminary inspection, you’ll get a good idea of some of the work that you’ll have to put in, and how much money it will cost you.
Mechanical Porsche Restoration Tips
The most expensive part of your restoration is usually going to be your mechanical and drive train work. Many older vehicles will be in need of a complete engine rebuild for starters. While you could attempt an engine swap with a newer model, that will more than likely lead you to further complications down the road, and is much more expensive.
A lot of the time, you’ll have to find parts that are off older models themselves or you’ll have to rig newer parts to work with the older vehicle. Take care of the big things first (engine, transmission, exhaust) and then get into the smaller details as they appear.
Exterior Porsche Restoration Tips
Your exterior restoration will probably be the easiest and most fun part of the journey, and will be the part least likely to have you throwing tools at the wall in anger. You’ll be doing a lot of polishing, painting, sanding, and Bondo work.
The best place to start is to check for rust holes. Take note of problematic spots and sand them down. If there are holes, you’ll need to take out the Bondo and get to work. Plan on sanding down your entire car and giving it a fresh paint job when you’re finished.
Interior Porsche Restoration Tips
Porsches are famous for their luxurious leather interiors and simple, yet elegant design. Depending on the quality of the car, your restoration job can either be very simple or very tedious.
Your seats will likely need to be removed, re-stuffed, and reupholstered. The carpet can usually be cleaned with a bit of Oxi-Clean and some shampoo. The ceiling fabric may be dangling or torn, so you will likely need to remove it completely and cut new fabric to be glued.
Interior restoration may also involve a bit of electrical work. You’ll want to get your lights fixed, speakers and radio working properly, and may need to replace a few fuses.
Final Thoughts
We hope that you’ll be able to make use of some of these Porsche restoration tips. If you’ve got the money saved up, and you’re prepared to spend a good bit of time running into problems and fixing them, then you’ll be rewarded with one of the best classic cars that you could ever own. Before you know it, you’ll be cruising through your town or city with one of the most iconic cars on the block.