A Diamond in the Rough
06-17-2019, 07:52 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
A Diamond in the Rough
Hi Everyone. I've been around these forums for several years, but I've tended to stick to the N/A 996 forum since I have previously owned a '02 C4S and a '99 C2. After a few year hiatus from Porsche ownership I recently decided it was time for another one.
My original plan was to find an M96 car with a blown engine for an engine swap. However, as luck would have it something much cooler came my way and I couldn't pass it up.
It's a 2001 6-speed, Lapis Blue with Savannah Beige interior, and 106k miles on it.
The car has a bit of a back story:
I bought it from my friend's dad, who purchased it in 2006 with around 40k miles on it. The first few years he owned it he used it as a daily driver. Then he got bitten by the HPDE bug and it became more of a weekend/play/track car for a few years and then it slowly started getting driven less and less for no particular reason. Then, about two years ago the serpentine belt snapped while out for a drive. He had it towed home and stuffed it in the garage out of annoyance/frustration and ignored it until a couple weeks ago when he decided it was time to sell it.
Originally, I was just going to help him get the car back on the road and ready to sell. I've always wanted a Turbo, but I had more or less written off the idea of getting one anytime soon because they're more money than I'd prefer to spend on a car. However, when I saw this one my hopes were raised because while not beat up by any means, the car needs some love. And a car that needs some love is worth less than a similar car in perfect condition.
Hey, I can suddenly afford myself a 996TT!
After a little back and forth, we agreed on a price. I think it was a good deal for both of us. To get top dollar for this car, he would have had to put as much money into it as he would get back out of it, so it was a wash. All of the work the car needs is stuff I can do myself no problem, so for me it's just the cost of parts and some of my free time.
You know you're off to a good start when you buy a new car and it gets delivered on a flat bed.
Once off the flat bed I tucked the car into my garage, where it spent its first couple weeks in my possession as I went through it and ordered the needed parts to get it running again.
While the serpentine belt had indeed shredded, that was a merely a symptom and not the cause. The real issue was the water pump, where the pulley had decided it couldn't handle the stresses of life anymore and sheared off the shaft.
Fingers crossed, I tore everything apart hoping to find a fully intact impeller so I didn't have to go on a fishing expedition for fragments in the block. Lo and behold, everything was in one piece when it came out. Awesome.
Everything looks fine and dandy under the car. No leaks, no drips, no seepage, nice and clean.
While I was in there I put a new thermostat in, then I buttoned it back up and topped off the coolant.
That was it! It fired right up like it was last run yesterday and runs fantastic. We have a running, driving car again.
Update:
Current pictures of the car (05/2020)
My original plan was to find an M96 car with a blown engine for an engine swap. However, as luck would have it something much cooler came my way and I couldn't pass it up.
It's a 2001 6-speed, Lapis Blue with Savannah Beige interior, and 106k miles on it.
The car has a bit of a back story:
I bought it from my friend's dad, who purchased it in 2006 with around 40k miles on it. The first few years he owned it he used it as a daily driver. Then he got bitten by the HPDE bug and it became more of a weekend/play/track car for a few years and then it slowly started getting driven less and less for no particular reason. Then, about two years ago the serpentine belt snapped while out for a drive. He had it towed home and stuffed it in the garage out of annoyance/frustration and ignored it until a couple weeks ago when he decided it was time to sell it.
Originally, I was just going to help him get the car back on the road and ready to sell. I've always wanted a Turbo, but I had more or less written off the idea of getting one anytime soon because they're more money than I'd prefer to spend on a car. However, when I saw this one my hopes were raised because while not beat up by any means, the car needs some love. And a car that needs some love is worth less than a similar car in perfect condition.
Hey, I can suddenly afford myself a 996TT!
After a little back and forth, we agreed on a price. I think it was a good deal for both of us. To get top dollar for this car, he would have had to put as much money into it as he would get back out of it, so it was a wash. All of the work the car needs is stuff I can do myself no problem, so for me it's just the cost of parts and some of my free time.
You know you're off to a good start when you buy a new car and it gets delivered on a flat bed.
Once off the flat bed I tucked the car into my garage, where it spent its first couple weeks in my possession as I went through it and ordered the needed parts to get it running again.
While the serpentine belt had indeed shredded, that was a merely a symptom and not the cause. The real issue was the water pump, where the pulley had decided it couldn't handle the stresses of life anymore and sheared off the shaft.
Fingers crossed, I tore everything apart hoping to find a fully intact impeller so I didn't have to go on a fishing expedition for fragments in the block. Lo and behold, everything was in one piece when it came out. Awesome.
Everything looks fine and dandy under the car. No leaks, no drips, no seepage, nice and clean.
While I was in there I put a new thermostat in, then I buttoned it back up and topped off the coolant.
That was it! It fired right up like it was last run yesterday and runs fantastic. We have a running, driving car again.
Update:
Current pictures of the car (05/2020)
Last edited by Capt. Obvious; 12-17-2020 at 07:54 PM.
The following 3 users liked this post by Capt. Obvious:
06-17-2019, 08:03 PM
#2
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
I went through the same thing with mine - I bought it from my boss and then immediately found tons of little things that were never done and spent the year getting it ready for the road. You'll love it.
Nice bike in the foreground, must be great in the wet...
Welcome aboard!!!
Nice bike in the foreground, must be great in the wet...
Welcome aboard!!!
06-17-2019, 08:22 PM
#3
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Ha! That bike is awful in all conditions for me; I built it to fit a 5'6" 120 pound woman, and I'm 6'4" 200 pounds. I have it back for a couple weeks to do some maintenance on it.
Here's the Pipeburn feature from when I first finished it up: https://www.pipeburn.com/home/2017/0...20-bobber.html
Here's the Pipeburn feature from when I first finished it up: https://www.pipeburn.com/home/2017/0...20-bobber.html
!["02996ttx50's Avatar](data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 50 50'><circle class='avatar-circle-default' fill='%23759d7b' cx='25px' cy='25px' r='20px'></circle><text class='avatar-text-default' x='49%' y='53%' fill='white' text-anchor='middle' alignment-baseline='middle'>"</text></svg>)
06-17-2019, 08:29 PM
#5
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Congrats, great color combo.
06-17-2019, 08:29 PM
#6
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Ha! That bike is awful in all conditions for me; I built it to fit a 5'6" 120 pound woman, and I'm 6'4" 200 pounds. I have it back for a couple weeks to do some maintenance on it.
Here's the Pipeburn feature from when I first finished it up: https://www.pipeburn.com/home/2017/0...20-bobber.html
Here's the Pipeburn feature from when I first finished it up: https://www.pipeburn.com/home/2017/0...20-bobber.html
06-17-2019, 08:52 PM
#7
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Overall, the car is actually quite nice. The previous owner took excellent care of the car mechanically, and all of the work was performed by reputable shops here in the Seattle area. Here's the folder of receipts and documentation:
Now that the water pump is replaced, the only other pressing issues are the brake rotors are getting near needing to be replaced, and the AC is blowing warm.
Where the car really needs attention is cosmetically. The car has clear bra on it, but it's 13+ years old now and just doesn't look good anymore. And everywhere that doesn't have clear bra is covered in swirl marks. On the plus side, there are minimal rock chips and deep scratches, and I've only noticed one very minor door ding so far. It's just going to take many hour to peel the damn clear bra off, and then many more hours to polish the paint back to life. It also needs a new front lip as the original one has seen better days.
The interior is what needs the most help. Being a light color like Savannah Beige, it just looks dirty. There's a lot of crumbs, dust, and whatnot that needs to be cleaned out. In addition to that, there is the usual scratches and peeling of the soft touch coating that is on all the interior plastic in these cars.
The original owner (I bought it from the second owner) of the car appears to have been trying to make the car a GT2 clone, as it has a Misha GT2 wing, OEM GT2 carbon fiber door sills, and the original rear carpet and seats have been swapped out for a GT2 carpet kit. Unfortunately, this carpet is black and the rest of the interior is not. I prefer black carpet, so I'll be swapping out the dirty beige carpet for black, along with a a few other interior parts to add a little contrast.
The car has had many parts of the interior removed and replaced over the years for one reason or another (stereo installs, etc.) and it's obvious that any fasteners that were broken along the way were not replaced, as many of the panels don't fit correctly and/or rattle. So, while I'm removing everything to clean I'll need to make sure to use some fresh fasteners.
My son approves though.
The car has quite a bit of modifications/upgrades on it. As luck would have it, the mod list is pretty much exactly what I would want to do to the car if I had started with a stock example, so that's a huge bonus for me.
- FVD Brombacher K24 Race turbos with 1 Bar wastegates and custom tune
- Fabspeed Sport Exhaust with 100-cell cats
- Evolution V-Flow intake
- Evolution Billet diverter valves
- Lightweight flywheel and upgraded clutch (not entirely sure which one it is though)
- Short shifter of some sort (I think it's B&M)
- JIC CROSS suspension
- Adjustable rear control arms
- Evo front strut brace
- Porsche Tequipment pedals
It also has some mods that I'm not super excited about, but they don't ruin the car for me by any means
- Misha GT2 wing
- GT2 carbon ciber door sills
- GT2 rear carpet/seat delete
- A very nice at the time (but a bit dated now) Pioneer double-DIN nav headunit and upgraded speakers (I think there's an amp under the passenger seat too)
- Escort Passport SR7 Plus Radar Detector (circa 2006, so it's pretty old but it still works)
The car currently has some 997 Turbo wheels on it, but it also came with the factory Turbo Twists, and a set of HREs that are in good structural condition but have some pitting and are in desperate need of a polish. I also think they might be for a narrow body car, so I'll probably just clean those up and resell them to recoup some of the cost of buying the car.
Now that the water pump is replaced, the only other pressing issues are the brake rotors are getting near needing to be replaced, and the AC is blowing warm.
Where the car really needs attention is cosmetically. The car has clear bra on it, but it's 13+ years old now and just doesn't look good anymore. And everywhere that doesn't have clear bra is covered in swirl marks. On the plus side, there are minimal rock chips and deep scratches, and I've only noticed one very minor door ding so far. It's just going to take many hour to peel the damn clear bra off, and then many more hours to polish the paint back to life. It also needs a new front lip as the original one has seen better days.
The interior is what needs the most help. Being a light color like Savannah Beige, it just looks dirty. There's a lot of crumbs, dust, and whatnot that needs to be cleaned out. In addition to that, there is the usual scratches and peeling of the soft touch coating that is on all the interior plastic in these cars.
The original owner (I bought it from the second owner) of the car appears to have been trying to make the car a GT2 clone, as it has a Misha GT2 wing, OEM GT2 carbon fiber door sills, and the original rear carpet and seats have been swapped out for a GT2 carpet kit. Unfortunately, this carpet is black and the rest of the interior is not. I prefer black carpet, so I'll be swapping out the dirty beige carpet for black, along with a a few other interior parts to add a little contrast.
The car has had many parts of the interior removed and replaced over the years for one reason or another (stereo installs, etc.) and it's obvious that any fasteners that were broken along the way were not replaced, as many of the panels don't fit correctly and/or rattle. So, while I'm removing everything to clean I'll need to make sure to use some fresh fasteners.
My son approves though.
The car has quite a bit of modifications/upgrades on it. As luck would have it, the mod list is pretty much exactly what I would want to do to the car if I had started with a stock example, so that's a huge bonus for me.
- FVD Brombacher K24 Race turbos with 1 Bar wastegates and custom tune
- Fabspeed Sport Exhaust with 100-cell cats
- Evolution V-Flow intake
- Evolution Billet diverter valves
- Lightweight flywheel and upgraded clutch (not entirely sure which one it is though)
- Short shifter of some sort (I think it's B&M)
- JIC CROSS suspension
- Adjustable rear control arms
- Evo front strut brace
- Porsche Tequipment pedals
It also has some mods that I'm not super excited about, but they don't ruin the car for me by any means
- Misha GT2 wing
- GT2 carbon ciber door sills
- GT2 rear carpet/seat delete
- A very nice at the time (but a bit dated now) Pioneer double-DIN nav headunit and upgraded speakers (I think there's an amp under the passenger seat too)
- Escort Passport SR7 Plus Radar Detector (circa 2006, so it's pretty old but it still works)
The car currently has some 997 Turbo wheels on it, but it also came with the factory Turbo Twists, and a set of HREs that are in good structural condition but have some pitting and are in desperate need of a polish. I also think they might be for a narrow body car, so I'll probably just clean those up and resell them to recoup some of the cost of buying the car.
The following users liked this post:
996TS (11-03-2021)
Trending Topics
06-17-2019, 09:26 PM
#9
Rennlist Member
Welcome to the Turbo fold Captain! I remember you from the 996 forum when I had my 2004 C2...
Great car. Be sure to put a boost pressure test on your to-do list. I'll virtually guarantee you have at least a few small leaks! And plugs. And coils.
I'm also not a fan of the 997 19" turbo wheels on a 996 Turbo, but some like them and it's an easy fix if you want something more fitting. Personally I think the Apex wheels in 996 widebody fitment are some of the best looking, best fitting, best made, and best priced wheels out there right now.
Great car. Be sure to put a boost pressure test on your to-do list. I'll virtually guarantee you have at least a few small leaks! And plugs. And coils.
I'm also not a fan of the 997 19" turbo wheels on a 996 Turbo, but some like them and it's an easy fix if you want something more fitting. Personally I think the Apex wheels in 996 widebody fitment are some of the best looking, best fitting, best made, and best priced wheels out there right now.
06-17-2019, 10:36 PM
#10
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Good looking front lips are available on eBay.
Aero - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aero-Style-...53.m1438.l2649
Standard - https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-01-05-P...IAAOSwIkNcE1FI
Aero - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aero-Style-...53.m1438.l2649
Standard - https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-01-05-P...IAAOSwIkNcE1FI
06-18-2019, 12:45 AM
#11
Rennlist Member
Welcome to the TurBro forum, Captain. Are you going to do the AWD delete on this car? And the Misha GT2 looks like the “Add-On” wing mounted to the factory rams. It’s a little less flashy than the fixed position GT2 wing because it sits lower when not deployed - it may grow on you. Agree that the 997tt wheels aren’t the best look on the 996tt. Love the color!
06-18-2019, 01:01 PM
#14
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Great car. Be sure to put a boost pressure test on your to-do list. I'll virtually guarantee you have at least a few small leaks! And plugs. And coils.
I'm also not a fan of the 997 19" turbo wheels on a 996 Turbo, but some like them and it's an easy fix if you want something more fitting.
I'm also not a fan of the 997 19" turbo wheels on a 996 Turbo, but some like them and it's an easy fix if you want something more fitting.
I'm not a fan of the 997 wheels either, they just aren't my style. They do seem to be pretty light though. Luckily, I have a set of Work VS-XX that I originally bought for my C4S that I never got around to mounting on the car before I sold it, so I'll be putting these on soon:
Good looking front lips are available on eBay.
Aero - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aero-Style-...53.m1438.l2649
Aero - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aero-Style-...53.m1438.l2649
Welcome to the TurBro forum, Captain. Are you going to do the AWD delete on this car? And the Misha GT2 looks like the “Add-On” wing mounted to the factory rams. It’s a little less flashy than the fixed position GT2 wing because it sits lower when not deployed - it may grow on you. Agree that the 997tt wheels aren’t the best look on the 996tt. Love the color!
I'm going to keep it for now. I've removed the rear seats from all of my other 911s, so I might as well continue with that tradition.