1990 Porsche 964 Carrera 4: metal, paint and original leather
Twenty years of ownership, extensive corrosion repairs, a black respray and a linen cabin restored without replacing its leather. Chrism964’s diary also follows a return to the bodyshop when rust reappeared.
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Twenty years, one Carrera 4
Chrism964 bought this black 1990 Carrera 4 with a linen interior in July 2005, choosing a car with room in the budget for maintenance rather than stretching to a 993. It became a daily driver. Mechanical upkeep came first: the engine was rebuilt in 2013 at 117,628 miles, including bearings, piston rings, gaskets and camshafts. That rebuild is part of its earlier history, separate from the later body and cabin restoration. In 2024, a clutch-hydraulic failure brought further work including front wishbones and ball joints, rocker covers, belts and a clutch hose/slave-cylinder change.
The rust under the trim
Small bubbles around the wings, screens and rear lights were only the visible part. Removing sill covers exposed trapped dirt and salt; bumper removal revealed crumbling wing edges, a rotten light bowl and corroded supports. Seized fasteners made even dismantling difficult. The damage was beyond a local touch-up and beyond the owner’s bodywork experience, so the car went to professionals. The photographs below follow the exposed corrosion rather than presenting the car as a clean starting shell.
Back to metal
Doors, bonnet, engine lid and front wings came off. Paint was stripped, the shell received weld-through primer and fabrication addressed the decayed areas. Two new Porsche front wings and a replacement rear light bowl were ordered; the light-bowl supply delayed the metalwork. The body returned from fabrication for filler, flatting, primer and undercoat preparation. These images retain the progression from damaged seams and exposed metal to the prepared shell.
The parts being prepared alongside it
The diary also follows bumper support tubes, exhaust parts and loose components. BCS painted and stencilled the spare calipers and pressure-tested them; the owner explicitly says they did not need a full internal rebuild, with only bleed screws and caps renewed. Purchased parts do not all represent completed installation: the Rennline mounts were later sold unused, while the fuel-pressure regulator and lines were still preparation for later work. The exhaust photographs include a separately bought used stainless assembly; its maker is not established merely by the later Hayward & Scott purchase.
Black again
Prepared panels and the shell were refinished in black, with a later flow-coat stage recorded by the owner. Bumper reinforcements, lighting surrounds and replacement wings were also prepared and finished. Oil-pipe surfaces were refinished during the bodywork; that is not a claim that every oil line was replaced. Glass and trim went back in before transport for the MOT. The photographs show loose panels, the masked shell, separate components and reassembly as distinct stages.
A familiar car, renewed
The owner drove the car home and later took it back to work. Refurbished alloys, new tyres and centre caps joined new body trim, liners, lighting and hardware. He later chose ceramic coating rather than PPF. There were fitting details to revisit: a new Porsche rear-screen seal was rejected and the original seal reused, so the early claim of all-new seals needs that qualification. His running total was about £50,000 before the professional cabin work, not a general price for restoring a 964. Photographs record the exterior after the initial body restoration; later remedial metalwork is described separately below.
The cabin before the specialist
Seat removal revealed dirty carpets and worn linen trim. The owner documented a substantial home steam-cleaning session, the extracted dirt and the cabin put back together. This was the earlier cleaning phase, not the later professional leather result. A replacement CCU fan and small trim or relay work appear alongside it. Retaining this sequence makes the later material restoration visible without mistaking cleaning alone for a complete retrim.
Original leather, restored
Colin Grace at Leather Restorations Ltd in Newbury treated the cabin over three and a half weeks. The before-and-after photographs were supplied by Colin. No leather or piping was replaced: the original seats, handbrake, gear gaiter and piping were repaired and refinished. Old coatings were removed, worn areas strengthened and cracks filled before four colourant layers and four satin-sealant layers were applied. Vinyl trim was chemically deep-cleaned and the carpets improved further. This is restoration of the original materials, not new upholstery or a complete retrim.
The smaller jobs did not stop
The diary includes a rear lamp coming loose and scratching the paint, followed by the owner reporting that the marks polished out. Alarm/interior-sensor work and replacement Porsche engine mounts followed. A mount bolt snapped during tightening; recovery took hours and the owner discarded the suspect torque wrench. This is his incident, not a validated bolt-extraction procedure or universal torque specification. He later opened part of the intake, but the reviewed update does not establish completion of every planned regulator, fuel-line or injector job. Timing-cover oil drips, idle vibration and a buzzing stereo fit remained separate follow-up concerns.
When the rust came back
A later update reported bubbling near a fabricated area and the car was booked back in. In the latest reviewed post, the owner confirms collecting it after remedial work: the passenger-side rear lights, bumper, windows and sill covers had been removed; underseal was stripped, a sizeable rotten section cut out and replaced, then underseal, Waxoyl protection, paint and trim restored. He reports rust had tracked from the rear-light aperture beneath the rear wing’s underseal; the explanation that it had remained enclosed under the earlier work is the account’s assumption, not an independently proven diagnosis. The remedial return is confirmed by the owner, with no new repair photographs or long-term outcome yet. It does not establish that the separate oil drips or vibration were resolved.
