Andrew
It would indeed be great to get the cars together at some point.
In terms of Miracle Detail, you can contact Paul Dalton via his website at
www.miracledetail.co.uk. I've known Paul about 3 years now, and he's detailed a number of my cars. At first, I thought the whole process was a bit expensive, but the I've found the results well worth it. The key is that he corrects any defects (swirls, scratches etc.) in the paintwork. On my 1989 Club Sport, it took him a whole day, but the paint looks incredible now. He then protects the paint with special waxes and it makes cleaning the car dead easy - dirt and flies just drop off. I drive my cars as they are meant to be driven, so they do sometimes get very dirty, but then half a day with Paul and they are back to showroom condition.
Having bought my car from Paragon, I found a few things that weren't quite to my liking, most especially the lowered H&R springs. The original dampers were clearly past their best, and the whole car was way too stiff for fast road use. So I went to JZ Machtech (Steve McHale), who has previously worked on my GT3, and has strong links with Manthey Racing in Germany (with whom I have done a tiny bit of racing). He recommended the KW Variant 3 coilover kit, which I've now had fitted. It has transformed the car and it handles very well, without being overly stiff. When at JZ, Steve found two issues that Paragon probably should have picked up - namely a cracked front wishbone mount, and second a large oil leak in the oil tank sender (which is in the offside wheel arch). Both of these were fixed.
I then decided to give the car to Porsche Reading, with whom I have a strong relationship thanks to the fact that I own a CGT. They have some great technicians there who worked on these older cars way back when. A chap called Vinny worked on my car, I asked him to check the car from head to toe, for mechanical and cosmetic deficiences. They did not find much - as I had hoped - but what we have done is as follows:
- refurbished all four Speedline wheels
- refurbished and repainted brake callipers
- replaced numerous damaged undertrays and wheel arch linings (from 15 years of use)
- fitted new headlamps and rear light covers
- replaced old rubber strips (e.g. between the doors and lower sills - these had shortened with age)
- fitted a new Carrera Club Sport style steering wheel (the previous owner had fitted an overly thick rimmed three spoke wheel - nice, but too thick for my taste)
- replaced the 3.6 emblem (the dreaded "dot" was missing)
- replaced the windscreen with a Porsche OEM item (the previous windscreen was cracked and the radio connection was broken)
- fitted new brake discs and pads all round (previous items were corroded on the inside; again probably something Paragon should have corrected, but never mind)
- replaced numerous non standard screws and fittings (on the underside of the car particularly) with OEM parts
It was great going to pick the car up last Tuesday; Vinny, the technician, spent an hour with me going through everything that had been done, with the car up on the ramps. We went for a road test together (as they had corner weighted the geometry). It was really enjoyable to learn about the car from a real expert.
All in all, including the suspension, I've spent about £11k on the car since buying it from Paragon, and I am delighted with the results. Its condition is now really close to A1, which is how I like to keep my cars.
There are still some items I need to attend to, including a leak from the air conditioning condensor. This is a big job (dash out) to replace, but fortunately Paragon's comprehensive warranty should cover this.
Once I have had the car detailed by Paul (in about a week's time), I will post up some pictures.
Kind regards
Steve
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