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My 996.1 thread


JWM
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Great story @JWM  !  it must be an interesting feeling being in a plane making a reasonably hefty commitment sight unseen.  Fantastic to have people on this forum like @LeeM who are willing to go out of there way to help a fellow enthusiast fine a quality car from afar.  I have considered doing something similar myself depending on where I find my next P.   Inspirational stuff - thanks the effort with the post ! 

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13 hours ago, D2000 said:

Is that a child seat I spot on the left! I have two in mine...

Yeah, took a few attempts (and a discussion about the trade practices act at the baby store 😂) to find one that fit. Only for emergency use really but good to have it. 

11 hours ago, Thommo66 said:

Great story @JWM  !  it must be an interesting feeling being in a plane making a reasonably hefty commitment sight unseen.  Fantastic to have people on this forum like @LeeM who are willing to go out of there way to help a fellow enthusiast fine a quality car from afar.  I have considered doing something similar myself depending on where I find my next P.   Inspirational stuff - thanks the effort with the post ! 

I was pretty tired from a few long weeks at work, I blame that for the fact it seemed like a perfectly normal thing to do 😂. I was thinking on the way down it was going to be a difficult conversation if the car didn’t live up to what I’d heard and seen from afar but it seemed like a remote possibility by that point.

Agree, really fantastic. For me it was having multiple people, including Lee, giving really good feedback on the car and owner and a few good conversations with the owner that gave me the confidence to go ahead. I’d run a million miles from a caper like this if everything didn’t feel really spot on. 

Good luck with the search!!

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The only thing that I didn't particularly like about this car was that the rear numberplate holes had been drilled to suit a SA plate, not my NSW slimline one, and the factory bracket for mounting the plate on the font really made it stick out a long way, and looked weird straight and upright against the curved and downward slowing nose...

So, I ordered a set of brackets and covers from https://www.lakinplates.com.au that I'm sure a lot of people are aware of. I remember he shut down for a while due to health reasons but happily Philip is well again and has resumed making these.

A couple of shots from last night when I got around to attaching them to the car, as you can see, a really nice fit, so I highly recommend them. I also got a set of the Kinpin covers for front and rear as well.

 

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Great story and write up. Thanks so much for sharing. Just started to write up about my, 996 purchase as well and this story gave me even more motivation to get mine done. Goegoeus and clean looking machine. I now have a soft spot for silver 996 mk1 cars after I saw this beast.... 

 

 

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Can’t wait to read about yours. Great to have all these stories around on the forum I reckon. 

I was a bit like you, I was wandering around Autohaus one morning and saw a silver 996 and  I think that was the point I started to let go of finding a 997 and focus on 996s...

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  • 2 months later...

Thought I might keep using this thread as a bit of a history of the car... Might be good to look back on. 

I’ve been enjoying it immensely as something to get out on a sunny Sunday and it’s been fantastic to meet various people from PFA on a couple of runs. 

I put a new battery in it last month, cranks a lot better now. Old battery was over five years old (thanks to the previous owner for writing the date on it in texta) so that’s not bad.

A “slightly” more expensive exercise that will start on Monday at Autohaus is fixing what seems to be a noisy lifter that’s appeared on the left had side. A flush, oil change and a bit of a run didn’t fix it this week, and I actually took a few days to ponder whether I want to start down this path, and make it a keeper (I’ll admit I may still look at other things on Carsales 😄) but after a bit of a tour I decided yes, so it’s booked in Monday to get sorted.

I have to remember to ask them to look at the clutch pedal which isn’t that smooth to operate, one of the little things the PPI noted.

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1 hour ago, JWM said:

Thought I might keep using this thread as a bit of a history of the car... Might be good to look back on. 

I’ve been enjoying it immensely as something to get out on a sunny Sunday and it’s been fantastic to meet various people from PFA on a couple of runs. 

I put a new battery in it last month, cranks a lot better now. Old battery was over five years old (thanks to the previous owner for writing the date on it in texta) so that’s not bad.

A “slightly” more expensive exercise that will start on Monday at Autohaus is fixing what seems to be a noisy lifter that’s appeared on the left had side. A flush, oil change and a bit of a run didn’t fix it this week, and I actually took a few days to ponder whether I want to start down this path, and make it a keeper (I’ll admit I may still look at other things on Carsales 😄) but after a bit of a tour I decided yes, so it’s booked in Monday to get sorted.

I have to remember to ask them to look at the clutch pedal which isn’t that smooth to operate, one of the little things the PPI noted.

It’s a keeper IMHO.

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On 02/08/2019 at 22:44, GC9911 said:

It’s a keeper IMHO.

Well if it wasn't before, it will be by next week... 😂 Since the engine had to come out anyway, I decided to do:

  • All lifters on both sides (nothing would send me more batty than this coming back on the other side!)
  • IMS solution
  • Oil air separator
  • Engine mounts
  • Clutch and flywheel
  • Rear main seal

Can't say checking of that list so soon was in my plans when I bought it, but it's all stuff that it was going to need at some point, and in some ways I'm happier to know it's all been done now, by someone like Autohaus, and I can just enjoy driving it. 🙂

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Just read your story @JWM, I'm a bit slow on this forum......

Firstly congrat's on the car and you making it home without skippy embedded in the bonnet....lol

Looks like your car has some good options 👍 Annoying about the lifter, but all of the other stuff I had done to my car as well. The new clutch & flywheel will make the gearbox feel smooth & the pedal will be much softer. 

The way I look at it......My P car is a Hobby (weekend car) and hobbies cost money......but as you know 996 's are a good thing and worth keeping the maintenance up to a high standard..... ....you'll get it back in enjoyment.😊

 

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7 hours ago, PIC said:

Just read your story @JWM, I'm a bit slow on this forum......

Firstly congrat's on the car and you making it home without skippy embedded in the bonnet....lol

Looks like your car has some good options 👍 Annoying about the lifter, but all of the other stuff I had done to my car as well. The new clutch & flywheel will make the gearbox feel smooth & the pedal will be much softer. 

The way I look at it......My P car is a Hobby (weekend car) and hobbies cost money......but as you know 996 's are a good thing and worth keeping the maintenance up to a high standard..... ....you'll get it back in enjoyment.😊

 

Cheers mate! Haha those bloody kangaroos 🦘 I still shake my head whenever I think about that!!! 😂

Good way you have of looking at it and that’s the one I’ve adopted too with the car having the same hobby role for the most part. You can’t buy a 20yr old car imagining never having it cost you something eventually can you! 😄 

As a bit of an update, I’ve been in NZ on a work trip since the weekend, so I took today off after getting back last night. When I called Chris to talk about doing the Fister/Gundo mod to the mufflers while they’re off, he offered me the chance to come in and have a look at things in progress, and walked me through it all, which I thought was really nice of him. 

I took a couple of photos for posterity! Here it is up on the hoist, where the engine and gearbox should be, and just after getting new lifters on one side... These are quite a big motor (gb too) when you see it out of the car!

 

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12 minutes ago, daveyoul said:

Great photos - I think I can also see why my engine needs to come out to get that pipe! 

Maybe I better ask for a new one before it goes back in 😬...

Might see you over there next week when they’re both done!

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21 hours ago, JWM said:

 

 

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May as well do the coolant overflow as well because this cannot be done without the engine being dropped slightly and tilted down on the left side as well.

I will be doing mine soon as it has a tiny split in the joining seam.

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50 minutes ago, TINGY996 said:

May as well do the coolant overflow as well because this cannot be done without the engine being dropped slightly and tilted down on the left side as well.

I will be doing mine soon as it has a tiny split in the joining seam.

Thanks for the tip on that. Inevitable something else will bloody happen as soon as I get it put back together 😂 but nice to do as many things as possible...

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Lovely car JWM, can't be too many left in this condition, definitely a keeper. I am curious if Autohaus have given any indication why the lifters were noisy on such a low k's car and were they noisy all the time or only when cold, hot, idling etc?

I learnt early on with my 996.1 that starting the car to move it only a short distance, (i.e. shutting it off after only a few minutes running) the following cold startup a few days later the lifters would be noisy until the engine warmed up. However starting and running the car to a full heat cycle (which I now always do) the following cold or warm startup the lifters are always quiet and stay quiet. So I wonder if too many 'short starts/moves' is perhaps what damages the lifters?

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22 hours ago, DT said:

Lovely car JWM, can't be too many left in this condition, definitely a keeper. 

Cheers DT! 👍

22 hours ago, DT said:

I am curious if Autohaus have given any indication why the lifters were noisy on such a low k's car and were they noisy all the time or only when cold, hot, idling etc?

That's a good question, I'll ask them for their opinion on that when I collect it. The only thing we talked about when I first took it in was that sometimes an engine flush, oil change and a good blast out on the road can clear it up, as idling about doesn't really do anything any favours, but in my case that didn't help. I decided to change them all, but it was only one lifter on my car that was actually noisy they think, so perhaps just bad luck, which is typical for me! 🙄😂

22 hours ago, DT said:

I learnt early on with my 996.1 that starting the car to move it only a short distance, (i.e. shutting it off after only a few minutes running) the following cold startup a few days later the lifters would be noisy until the engine warmed up. However starting and running the car to a full heat cycle (which I now always do) the following cold or warm startup the lifters are always quiet and stay quiet. So I wonder if too many 'short starts/moves' is perhaps what damages the lifters?

On my car, it either didn't do it when cold, or I just couldn't hear it with the engine revving a bit higher and generally a little noisier when it's cold. When it was warm, no matter whether I let it warm up in the drive or came back from a good solid drive, you could hear it.

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It took a handful of codeine to make it there after whatever cold or flu I've had this week, but ... I managed to make it in to Autohaus to collect the 996.

Now, thankfully PFA is a safe space, so I can admit to you all that I was really rather missing the car the last couple weeks... 😂 So it was nice to see it out the front when I got there:

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The list of work and parts is a pretty long one, so perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise but wow, what a transformation to the car! I was struck as soon as I picked it up, and after a good run this morning on my usual touring roads, genuinely couldn't stop smiling today! I sent Chris a note to thank him for his great comms, service and the work the guys did. You never know how these things will turn out, especially starting out as a "surprise" but I'm really happy with the result.

The clutch was "about 70% worn", and the flywheel had a couple of hot spots, but neither were in dire need of changing, it just made sense to do with the motor out now, so I wasn't expecting much difference, but there sure is (as you tried to tell me @PIC 😁)... The clutch action is so effortless now, you can't help but do things smoothly, whereas it took a bit of concentration before... And it makes the whole drivetrain feel better. Nice.

I had the mufflers sent away to get the "Gundo hack" done while I was there, thanks to the inspiration from @Raven & @TINGY996 and they were spot on, what a great little mod to do! Subtle but lovely change in the exhaust note and absolutely no drone at all. Funny thing is, thanks to some magical mix of changes the engine noise inside the car is much quieter now, especially when you're just cruising. I don't know why, hole in an exhaust gasket, muffler (not sure if they exchange or modified mine), or even if the new engine mounts are just isolating things better, but there's a big difference now. I think the Gundo hack has kind of kept the dB level the same as it was, just instead of hearing things through the firewall, its clearly from further behind you, out the exhaust (as dumb as that seems to type!). Very glad I did it, would be too quiet now otherwise I think!

Anyway, definitely a kind of 'feels greater than the sum of its parts' improvement overall. Each new part has added up to a big increase in how fresh everything feels overall, and it's a much, much smoother and freer flowing car to drive. The Autohaus guys told me it felt very tight on their final test drive, and that it was one of the best they'd driven of late, but I'm not sure if that's just part of making you feel better about spending so much money on the most universally unloved 911 at the moment... 🤣... However, I'm now more convinced than ever that they'll have their day soon! 😁

Since, as I said, I want to keep adding to this thread as a bit of a history of my custodianship, here's the list of parts that went into it the last couple of weeks:

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And the snap I took this morning before I headed out on my first proper shake down run...

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  • 1 month later...

Great thread @JWM   back in 2013 I bought a 987 sight unseen in Sydney and drove it back to Melbourne.  I had a PPI done and the seller was really great to deal with.  The whole experience driving it back was something I'll never forget.  So much fun!  It was May too and I even got a flukey warm day so drove all the way home from Syd to Albury with the roof down.. was gorgeous..  memories....

Car looks fantastic and sounds like the latest work has just improved it 10 fold.

I'm P-carless at the moment but next year I'll be shopping for my first 911 (I think)   most likely a 996. I am a little concerned on how often I'll get to drive it tho as all my trips are short given I live in the inner city. Drive to work is like 7km  and as it is my MINI on a cold day only just reaches running temp a few km from work. Thats kinda the worst driving to do to a Porsche :(   so lots to consider.  

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11 hours ago, amanda said:

I am a little concerned on how often I'll get to drive it tho as all my trips are short given I live in the inner city. Drive to work is like 7km  and as it is my MINI on a cold day only just reaches running temp a few km from work. Thats kinda the worst driving to do to a Porsche :(   so lots to consider.  

You'll just have to leave earlier and take the long way to work .... problem solved!! .. :Chuckle2:

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1 hour ago, Dreamr said:

You'll just have to leave earlier and take the long way to work .... problem solved!! .. :Chuckle2:

I'm lucky.  If I leave 20 mins earlier I can do 4 current / former Targa Tasmania stages on the way to work, but unfortunately have to go a little slower during the George Town stage though 🙂 

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13 hours ago, amanda said:

....... I am a little concerned on how often I'll get to drive it tho as all my trips are short given I live in the inner city. Drive to work is like 7km  and as it is my MINI on a cold day only just reaches running temp a few km from work. Thats kinda the worst driving to do to a Porsche :(   so lots to consider.  

Move house so it's further away, or change jobs so it's further away. Not really a big problem to solve.

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