Porsche 911UK Forum

Welcome to the @Porsche911UK website. Register a free account today to become a member! Sign up is quick and easy, then you can view, participate in topics and posts across the site that covers all things Porsche.

Already registered and looking to recovery your account, select 'login in' and then the 'forget your password' option.

First 911 - Early 2004 3.6 Gen 1

Hertsdriver

Well-known member
Joined
12 Nov 2018
Messages
644
Hi all,

Thought I would start an ownership thread :thumb:

I started looking for a 911 about 6 months ago, first thinking that 996's might be the way forward, and although they drove well, the interior and exterior didnt really do it for me, so the search moved on for a Gen 1 997. Lots of forum reading then commenced around borescoring, IMS etc etc etc... I saw a lot of cars, drove some nice and some not so nice, and during the process was approached by a forum member (Mark - SausageCreature) who was thinking of selling his C2.
We went back and forth a fair bit on messages, and I looked at other cars, had PPi'd dont on other cars... walked away from other cars... and eventually I went up to see Mark and was very impressed by his honest car. Spec was good - PASM, Highbacks, Lobsters, rear parking sensors, Basalt Black on Black Leather, and only really missing Chrono and cruise from my list of 'wants', so on the basis I would need to compromise on spec or seemingly look forever.... So I drove it and we struck up a deal and the car was off to Quorn Sports and Classic for a PPI (recommended if you are in that area, very competitive rates).

I was confident that the engine was good as there was no smoke on start up, nothing sooty on the exhausts and no sound of ticking (plus the fact it was an OPC replacement in 2015 and had only done 35k), but I asked for a borescope anyway for piece of mind. Mark had owned the car for the last 7 years and had really looked after it, but it was getting old and had done over 100k so I expected a few bits to come up on the PPI.
So Quorn replaced a driveshaft oil seal, replaced both AC condensors and regassed the system, did some work on the exhaust (rusted bolts replaced, new sleeves etc), carried out a major service inc Brake fluid, new plugs also went in which made sense to change as they were out for the borescore report. They also identified the rear discs/pads needed doing and an engine mount had failed (leaked all fluid out) and I agreed I would do these myself after collection.

So I booked the friday just gone off to pay Mark and collect the car :thumb:

Got the train up from St Albans to Luton, then change and on to Loughborough where Mark met me at the station. A quick bank check to ensure the funds had been transferred then off to Quorn to collect the car. They had also valeted it :) Mark and I finished off the paperwork and then it was off home for what I have to say was a pretty boring first drive back on the M1 (bloody average speed cameras......) but at least it is now home :).

I'm planning on keeping this car for a long time, and hope to continue the good work that Mark had previously done in keeping the car in good shape :thumbs:
 

Attachments

  • img_5340_916.jpg
    img_5340_916.jpg
    1 MB · Views: 22,447
  • img_5339_114.jpg
    img_5339_114.jpg
    895.6 KB · Views: 22,446
  • img_5332_123.jpg
    img_5332_123.jpg
    1,016.2 KB · Views: 22,446
So now its home its time to get the hands dirty - first job was to tackle the engine mount and sort out the rusty tandem pump cover....
I thought about options on the engine mount, new ones are £130ish and I imagine that ultimately I will upgrade to something a bit 'sportier', so I took a chance on a used mount from a dismantler in germany. Now most people would laugh at the idea of a second hand engine mount, but I justified it (in my head) in 2 ways: 1. It saved £100 :) and 2. the other engine mount isnt new so they will both be 'used'.... anyways I had already ordered this up so it was a simple case of swapping over, once I had managed to persuade the old bolt to undo (heat required..).

While that was being replace it made sense to drop the engine down a few inches to give access to the tandem pump cover. This was in a bit of a state as seems to be the norm, but it wasnt leaking so rather than let it fail I though a good poke /prod with a screwdriver to make sure it wasnt holed followed by a wire brush and liberal coats of hammerite might see it last another year? 2 years? who knows...

As the car has had new condensers it seems to make sense to try and protect them as much as I can, however £180 for 2 zunnsport grills is a bit much for this month on top of a car purchase/Insurance/tax/ppi/service, so I popped in to the boy racer section of Halfords (whilst buying a clay bar and some wax), and picked up some black grill stuff.... will tackle taking the bumper off another time and make some grills up. Any pointers gratefully received, from what I have seen the headlamps need to come out?

And then lastly I treated the car to a full snowfoam, wash, clay and 2 coats of carnuba including sealing the wheels. Car feels much more like mine now, I always think you dont really know a car until you have hand washed it and spent time going over each panel...

Removed the carerra badge from the rear temporarily as the silver had started to wear off and it looked a bit scruffy. Unsure yet whether to refurbish this one or just buy one to fit?

:bandit:
 

Attachments

  • img_e5384_103.jpg
    img_e5384_103.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 22,401
  • img_e5385_475.jpg
    img_e5385_475.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 22,401
  • img_e5394_198.jpg
    img_e5394_198.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 22,401
  • img_5386_254.jpg
    img_5386_254.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 22,402
  • img_5359_581.jpg
    img_5359_581.jpg
    732.8 KB · Views: 22,403
  • img_5357_170.jpg
    img_5357_170.jpg
    810.3 KB · Views: 22,403
  • img_5364_115.jpg
    img_5364_115.jpg
    1.1 MB · Views: 22,402
Forgot to add that I also ordered rear discs and pads last week from carparts4less.co.uk but when the box arrived pads were fine (standard Pagids) there was only 1 brake disc.... bit odd I thought, so called them and asked for the missing disc to be sent out.. 'Oh no sir, we cant send one disc out' - but youve already done it?? so they sent a courier to come and collect the lone disc and now Im waiting for a pair to arrive before I can fit them....
:floor:
 
Thank you for sharing your story and such a lovely looking car. I think the carrera in black on black with some choice options is the way to go. You can always add Sports Chrono (minus the dash clock) at an OPC for around £1,200 if my memory serves me correctly. I added it to my 997.1 a year and a half ago and I had a discount for being a PCGB member. Enjoy and keep the photos coming.
 
Lovely looking car Hertsdriver. Glad you found the right one for you!
 
Congrats!

Totally agree that waxing and buffing every panel really gets to know the car.

For the zunsport DIY, it will look better behind the grill slats IMO. I reckon a lot of crud comes from the centre aperture, so bend the mesh into angled pieces for each rad, secure them by drilling pairs of holes into the rear wall of front PU and looping a cable tie. Secure to the grill slats as below:
https://youtu.be/f-kfNmM0wqI

It's been on my 'to-do' list for ages.

Part 1 of the clip is here for ref:
https://youtu.be/ipOYjf7920w
 
The grills will only stop large stuff getting in as I have found on my 996. General crud will accumulate in the bottom corner and keeps that area damp for longer, leading to eventual degradation of the condenser and radiator.
In my opinion an annual bumper removal is necessary to allow separation of the radiator/condenser and proper cleaning.
Not such a big job and worthwhile!
 
Lovely. Looks fantastic. These cars are ageing so well imho.
Congrats!
 
Thank you for all the replies :thumbs:

Here's an interesting thing I picked up when I viewed the car, it had a replacement (short?) engine in 2013 at OPC Leicester, with the previous owner spending quite a bit of time and effort to make sure it was the updated version with lightened pistons (?) but it seems that they supplied an engine with no number whatsoever...

Has anybody else ever seen this? I am going to try and track this down via Porsche GB (who paid for the warranty work) and although it doesn't bother me, it doesn't seem quite right to have no number whatsoever... :nooo:

Cheers!
 

Attachments

  • engin_no_593.jpeg
    engin_no_593.jpeg
    1.1 MB · Views: 21,883
Pick up my 2005 black/lobster c2s tomorrow, hope it looks as good as this! Might need to up my wax game... (which is shocking to be fair... Never got the love of washing cars others do...)

Any mods planned?
 
Hertsdriver said:
Thank you for all the replies :thumbs:

Here's an interesting thing I picked up when I viewed the car, it had a replacement (short?) engine in 2013 at OPC Leicester, with the previous owner spending quite a bit of time and effort to make sure it was the updated version with lightened pistons (?) but it seems that they supplied an engine with no number whatsoever...

Has anybody else ever seen this? I am going to try and track this down via Porsche GB (who paid for the warranty work) and although it doesn't bother me, it doesn't seem quite right to have no number whatsoever... :nooo:

Cheers!

That's very strange and I can't think of a logical reason for it. The only times I've heard about engines with the number ground off it hasn't been good news!

Like you say OPC Leicester should be able to explain why.
 
Yeah it is a bit weird...
Unfortunately OPC Leiciester were unhelpful as they have changed ownership, so I need to contact Porsche GB. The number hasn't been ground off (it might look like it has as I used a drill wire brush attachment to clean the area up), there's just never been a number... Some people have said this is normal on a replacement crank case, but not on a short engine.
 
Looks a nice car, got to laugh at your comment about Loughborough being "up north".

Regards the engine I had one on my 996 in 2010 and it came with new number etc.

Also what I did with the rad shrouds was drill some hole at the rear corner so when powerwashing it gets rid of the sand/silt and sludge leaving only fair big stones that should not get past in any case by the mesh.
 

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
124,235
Messages
1,438,501
Members
48,619
Latest member
smiggles772
Back
Top