Squeaks that need expensive attention...

1st November - 2020

How do you handle squeaks in one of your Babies?

This week l decided that it was well overdue that l went trouble shooting to find out where this annoying & persistent squeak was coming from the right-hand side front suspension of my 1977 2.7 Porsche Coupe.

The story really begins way back in 1979 when my ex-wife & l flew down to Melbourne, Victoria to check out this 1977 2.7 Porsche Coupe that was on the market by a friend of a friend of mine.

If you are interested to read the full story on my history with this car click here to view that Blog page of mine.

This shows my Porsche jacked up on stands in my 
garage waiting for my TLC treatment.

Here are some details about this particular vehicle: 1977, 2.7 Porsche Coupe, 4-speed manual. Australian delivery from Hamiltons in Victoria. This treasure is now 43-years young, and l am just only the vehicle's 2nd proud owner.

Right now, after 43-years the speedo reads (genuine kms) only 175,000 kms (109,000 miles) or 4,070 kms (2,520 miles) per year. When l went to school that works out to be 77 kms or only (48 miles) per week. Hardly run in, wouldn't you say?

ln another life before l became a 'Trolly-Dolly' for Qantas in 1974, l was trained as a fully qualified motor mechanic, little did l realise at that time how beneficial this education would be for me down the track once l retired from Qantas after 32-years service. 

This photo shows the RHS front suspension after l replaced
the wishbone bushes to eliminate that annoying squeak.

Thank heavens l have this knowledge because with the fleet of motor vehicles that l own, there is no way l could afford to pay the repair bills at say a minimum of $100.00 per hour for any decent motor mechanic.

Anyway to cut a long story short, l tracked down the annoying squeak to be in the right hand front wishbone bushes and that required me to completely remove the front end suspension, while l was at it, l decided to overhaul the left-hand side also.

A friend of mine who owns East Coast Suspensions in Taren Point, pointed me in the right direction to purchase the correct parts & also helped me with his hydraulic press to replace the worn out bushes.

This photo shows front (large) & rear (smaller) brake pistons.
ln this photo you can clearly see where l had to weld
the slide hammer puller to the piston to remove it.

Seeing that l was in the mood, l also decided to completely overhaul the brakes, because a couple of the brake calipers were frozen & required major surgery. As you can see in one of the photographs, l had a major job to overhaul the calipers due to the pistons being seized into the caliper itself. 

ln the photo (above) you can see where l had to weld a slide hammer puller to the piston itself so that l could extract the piston from the caliper, that is how seized it was. ln that same photo you can see one of the front brake pistons (larger one) in good shape.

Now for the good news, because the vehicle is 43-years young, it is very hard to purchase these brake pistons off the shelf. Luckily for me l am still well connected in the motor trade & another friend steered me in the right direction to one of his suppliers that saved me a lot of anguish, time & money.

This photo shows you the RHF machined brake
disc or as some people call it a brake rotor.

Wait for this! those little brake pistons & there are eight of them cost me (trade price) almost $100.00 each, adding to that cost you have to include: Front wheel bearings - brake pads - overhaul kits for the calipers - machining of the discs - brake fluid - high temperature black paint for the calipers, l was left with very little change out of $1,400.00 just for parts.

As l mentioned earlier, thank heavens l can do the work myself otherwise it was a trip to the Commonwealth Bank for a loan.

These are the inner & outer front wheel bearings.

l still find it very satisfying to do all my mechanical repairs, l just wish that l had a work shop hoist so that l could raise my cars off the ground while working on them instead of crawling around my garage floor on my creeper board, that was OK when l was a spring chicken, however now that l am in my 70s it sure gives the old body a work out & the following day l am looking for the bus that hit me the day before, if you know what l mean.

My friends that's about it for now regarding my story overhauling the brakes & front suspension of my '77 Porsche.

Hope you enjoyed it, so until my next adventure stay safe & healthy.
Cheers for now.

Warbo