Motosport

I absolutely love the 968 and even more so when they come in some of those bright bold 90's color that Porsche offered in that period. My midnight blue coupe certainly looks great, but when I spotted a mint green cab for sale in Holland earlier this year I got very excited.. It was not cheap and it was not perfect, but it was pretty special and it looked like all the important stuff were good. After two trips to Holland, some price haggling and a bit of nervous waiting while we away on holidays for a month, I could finally drive Minty's european twin back home to Denmark and park her in my garage..

Here is how she looked when I drove her home just after finalizing the purchase..




It was an 850 km drive back home and the trip went without any issues. The car has been owned by a dutch doctor since 2000, but for some reason he didn't keep records of maintenance history and the car had been stored for the last 10 years and just pulled out of hibernation.. It has clearly been looked after by a competent shop however, as the car drives really well, clutch is light, gearshift smooth and everything works as intended. Quite likely by a Porsche shop as I noticed the oil filter was a genuine Porsche item. Luckily the seller had just had the cam and balance belts changed, so I was safe to drive home. Even through some serious downpours the top kept the elements out and the inside dry and warm.

One thing that did need immediate attention though was the tires.. As mentioned, the car had been sitting in storage for the better part of the last 10 years and the tires were some very old Dunlops that, even though they had plenty of thread, were out of round and dried out causing vibration and noise. So first order after I got home was to take the wheels off, give them a thorough clean and mount some brand new Michelins all round..



While the wheels were off I took the opportunity to go through the brakes and give them a good clean and some mechanical TLC, as some of the pads were stuck due to lack of use. After that the brakes and handling were much improved and no more noise and vibration from the tires.. Time to take Minty to her first inspection here in DK in order to get it registered, and she passed with flying colors..




This minty has a quite interesting history which it also part of the reason I wanted this car besides the beautiful color. She is an original German car from 1992, and as mentioned it has been in Holland since 2000, and before that it was owned for 7 years by a German gentleman from Bonn. He bought it from the Porsche factory who was Minty's first owner for just under a year. This can be seen in the service book that has Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche registret as the first owner of the car, as well as the two first service stamps which are also performed by the Porsche factory under the same invoice number (Auftrag Nr.) I am not sure what the full story is of that first year Porsche ownership, but I will definitely look more into that, hopefully with some assistance from the Porsche themselves, and then I'll see what interesting history that will uncover..

Here are the first pages of the service book..





Here in DK we are still allowed to go out and drive our cars despite the corona restrictions, and with beautiful spring weather in the air what better way to combat cabin fever than take minty out for spin..







Alex

Charlie

Congratulations, very nice car. Hope you enjoy it.

jeff968

Very nice Alex, The next time we have a mint green 968 convention here in the US you need to figure out how to get here. BTW, Alex has one big fix to do on his Minty. It was factory equipped with 17" cup1s in Mint green! So he needs to source a set.
Congrats Alex and enjoy.

Z3M&968

You lucky dog!

Motosport

Thanks Jeff, and yes, how cool would it be if I could somehow bring my minty to US to meet her twin..

Another reason why I particularly wanted this car, was due to its comprehensive option list.. As Jeff pointed out, it was originally born with 17" cup 1 wheels with body colored centers, option XD9. Unfortunately those wheels got swapped with the Cup 2's its wearing now. Even though they are lighter and in the correct size and offset, they are NOT a suitable replacement for such an important part of euro Minty's history. So the hunt is on for a set of 17" Cup 1's. Then it should look something like this:

This is a another German minty twin, the only one in Germany I believe. I wonder if that car also had the XD9 option, or perhaps thats my original wheels that ended up there.?!?


Besides this quite distinctive option, my Minty has an impressive list of options:



The VF interior option code is the full leather in Marine Blue, which is quite rare according to Jeff. Then there is the 220 - limited slip, 454 - cruise control, which I know is standard in all NA cars, but very rare in Euro cars, 383 + 387 - sport seats left and right, 139 + 340 - heated seats left and right, 490 - Hi-Fi stereo system. Perhaps Jeff can give the full description of the option sticker for those interested, but she is pretty loaded..

You can see some of the interior options here:













Luckily the interior is in very good condition, as it would be very difficult to find replacement parts.. And when I've had a chance to give the entire interior a proper clean and leather care treatment, it should look near mint..

Alex

Jay Wellwood

I suspect that the factory optioned heated Sport Seats are like hen's teeth in these cars.

Motosport

Probably, but I am sure Jeff can give the exact answer to that question..

jeff968

Of the 2,234 North American 968 coupes, 154 were equipped with sport seats. Of those 154, 77 were heated.
Of the 2,008 North American 968 cabriolets, 67 were equipped with sport seats. Of those 67, 42 were heated.

Jay Wellwood

So, 119 out of 4,242 cars built. I would have thought they would be more scarce than that.

Obviously, 968 owner's have good taste!

Motosport

My midnight blue coupe also have heated sport seats, just in black.. So its a 100% score in this household.. Which is great as those sport seats are the best car seats I've ever tried.. I simply love them and they hug my frame perfectly..

Alex

Yogii

Congratulations, looks like a beauty.!

-Yogii
AKA 968 Novice

Motosport

So, with somewhat of an unknown service history since 2000 besides that it clearly has been looked after by someone, I decided to inspect the cams, cam chain and pads and hopefully avoid any unpleasant surprises.. I would also like to tidy up the engine bay a bit, as it looked a bit scruffy and not really how I like my cars be..

Before inspection started..


When I got the cam cover off I was pleasantly surprised.. Cams, chain and pads looked pretty much like new.. A bit of discoloration as per usual on the pads, but no groves in them what so ever.. All the cam teeth are not only present but also in like new condition with nice square tops and no wear marks.. It kind of make me think that Minty had new cams, chain and pads not many miles ago..







Sparkplugs looked pretty good, but I think these particular Bosch plugs has gone out of production so mine are probably due for a replacement..



Removed a few more parts and decided to send these bits of for a bit of spit and polish..



While I was taking stuff apart it became clear that this engine had most likely never been renovated in any way, as most of the original fasternes, hose clips, ties etc was still in place. So pondering on that over a coffee made me realize that most likely the engine was still running its original head gasket.. And from here its only really a matter of removing the cams, exhaust manifold and head in order to install a new head gasket.. Which would also allow me inspect pistons and bores.. So thats what I did..



Not looking to bad even though the HG looks like its on its last legs..


A closer inspection shows corrosion where its in contact with the coolant and it would've been a matter of time before it would burst.



New HG ordered along with some other "while you're in there" stuff.. And while the head is off, it would be a shame not to give it a refresh.. So off it went the engine shop...

I made this little device to compress the Variocam unit which makes removal and installation of the cams SO much easier, especially if you are also replacing the pads and chain..



Alex

jeff968

Impressive Alex. I'll be interested to hear what you decide to do on the upper finish restoration. It seems to have a textured paint finish.

Motosport

Jeff, I will get back to that.. Luckily I have some experience from doing the same tidy up to my coupe..

With easy access I wanted to replace the O-rings on the AOS even though they weren't really leaking, but its so easy to do now. Only problem is that during removal of the intake I managed to break off that little vacuum plastic nipple on top of the AOS. Pricing up a new one I quickly decided that a repair was in order instead.. Cleanly broken off right at the base..


So I drilled the hole a fraction bigger, just enough to let the nipple squeeze in tightly..


Glued the base of the nipple and squeezed into the hole, then filled around the base with a granulate filler which will harden up when its exposed to glue.


Then poured a couple of drops of very strong superglue on the granulate which forms a sturdy support to the base of the nipple when hardened. Very solid and airtight.. Job done and money saved..



Another issue I noticed during disassembly was the little pad on the belt tensioner roller bracket had gone missing, meaning that the piston on the belt tensioner itself was pressing directly onto the recess rather than onto the little raised pad thats suppose to be there.. It also means that the belt tensioner extends to far with the risk of not supplying the right tension..



So I made up this little replacement pad from a roll of hard nylon bar I had lying around. It had exactly the right diameter, so its was just a matter of cutting a slice in the right thickness..


Then glue it in place after a thorough clean with acetone.. Now its like the original with a slightly raised edge, about 1,5 mm above its surroundings.. Another job done..


Another often overlooked maintenance job that is very easy to do with the head removed, is to clean up the grounds at the back of the engine.. There are two of them located next to each other, and we all know how important it is to stay grounded.. So much easier to access now..


Then a good clean with a wire brush and then with sand paper until the metal looks like new.. Assemble with electrical grease and they should provide years of trouble free service with no electrical gremlins..



Speaking of electrics.. The original alternator to starter cable was pretty dried out and the insulation had started to come apart, but luckily I had received a very nice high quality replacement harness from Z3M&968, so next job was to get that beautiful new harness installed.. The old harness was starting to crumble at both ends and when bending the cable it sounded like a bag of chips..





This little plug on the solenoid trigger cable was going to be reused. I was quite easy to undo the old pins and the new ones on the replacement harness plugged straight in..


And here is the new super quality harness ready to go in.. Besides the above plug the little rubber boot at the generator end is also reused..


With a new soft pliable cable it was easy to install and not only does it look great its also much safer to use with no risk of shorting out..




In the mean time I had got back a nice bag of shiny goodies from my local metal plating shop.. No need to buy new when old parts can look like this again..







Alex

Eyeman

Wow Alex. I think after all this you will get bored, I'll loan you my two 968s so you can have fun doing this to them..lol. I have to warn you, my 197k mile one might take you a few years to tidy up. Great work, keep feeding us your progress please.