Pre-midlife crisis. My first Porsche.
 

It was the late 90s when I finally got a job that allowed me to eat more than a bagel and cheese for supper. This is also when I first had a good look at a 964 in a luxury used car dealership. It was still way out of my price range, but I saw it as the perfect car in every way. If I would ever have the means, this would be the car to have and take care of for the rest of my life.

Early this summer I had the urge to start looking for an air cooled 911. I thought that if I didn't buy one this year, I may never be able to afford one.

The first one I looked at was listed for $22k. A 1990 C4, black on black. It had rust coming out from underneath the windshield and back window, one of the bumper braces was rusted through completely. It stalled easily and was a little low on power. Service records showed that the shop believed at least one of the head studs was broken. The owner didn't even vacuum the car before showing it. It was a mess. Not what I was looking for at all.

There wasn't a whole lot showing up after that. I expanded my search and hit upon a very promising '89 C4 that was way out in the middle of nowhere. About 8 hours north of Toronto, about a 9 hour drive for me. I called immediately and spoke to the owner for about 20 minutes. That weekend I took a long drive up north to go see the car.

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The owner had imported it to Canada about 8 years prior. In the first year of ownership, his neighbor hit the side of it. He was disheartened at the sight of it, so he put it into storage. He kept himself busy with the Turbo Cabrio he also owned.

This spring he pulled the car out of storage and was ready to do all the body work and paint on it. All the parts were pulled from the car and it was sent off to the body shop. Bad luck struck again, the body shop closed its doors while they were working on it. Again, disheartened, he made the decision to put it up for sale in a partially finished, disassembled state for a heavy discount. I was lucky to get there first.

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Apart from the few dents and the worn out seats, I was pretty excited about the condition of the car. The carpets were in great shape, all the seams were clean, no rust to be found ANYWHERE on the car. This is a concern in any province that spreads salt on the road. It even had a period correct Blaupunkt CD player with the cartridge that you have to load with a single CD.

Once it arrived, I enlisted the help of a few friends to help put it together. Before I send it off to the body shop in the spring, I wanted to make sure I had all the parts. It was pretty much complete. Only a few clips and screws were required to finish it. The PO also gave me some extra parts he had accumulated over the years, as well as a bunch of new seals that were meant for the car after the paint work.

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Tucked away in a multi purpose garage.

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Now 99% assembled. Looks pretty good on this side! :)

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Thus begins my adventure into Porsche ownership. :cool:

Awesome story! welcome to 964 ownership...looking forward to what you will do with the car

Great story and initiation by having to first re-assemble your first Porsche!

Welcome to the madness~

Longtime desire meets a car that needs some love. Perfect start.
Crank the heater, I think you'll be spending a lot of time in the garage working on the car and just enjoying looking at it. You finally have a 911! Prost.

Welcome...
 

And look forward to more story as you get it done!

Great adventure so far! Glad to see that it's in good hands :thumbup:

Dreamstate, awesome. I live in Kitchener as well. we should hook up sometime. Great Ontario presence.

Where are you going to get it painted?

Jeff

Great color combo, plus you got sports seats AND full leather dash! No rust is great too. Mine is a bit like yours but its a white interior. I like black better.

Good find!!

Jeff, nice post count!

https://i.imgur.com/yXuPQ1h.jpg

The body shop hasn't been chosen yet. I'll figure that out in the next few months.
I would really like to meet some Porsche owners, I'm coming into the community very green! :)

Welcome and looks like you are off to a good start. :thumbup:

congrats!

No point in talking to JEFF as he ain't gonna be posting for a while, not with that post count :cool:

You know we all wonder what's underneath the skin when we buy our 911 .... I guess you had it all figured out.

There are a bunch of 964 owners in the tri city area and many in the Toronto area with some sweet rides.

The 964 forum is your best friend and will help you through almost any dilemma or upgrades.

I have a bunch of experience doing suspension, brakes etc.

I am running a custom protomotive turbo on my 964. :-) , lowered suspension and 19's

Ps Mondrian...ahahahahahahhahaah

Jeff

Good to hear. I just have to keep my eyes open for any meetups that are happening locally.

First order of business after body work is a nice set of coilovers. Hoping to find a deal on a used set, but the early 964s coils are harder to find.

Dreamstate,

I have a set of H&R greens with bilstiens on my car. I believe My 91 is the old setup... I will check when I get my car back next week.

They may have 1500km on them, they are basically brand new. This setup was awesome on my 89 C4. It was setup perfectly with no finger gaps.

These do not get my cabriolet low enough (not sure why other than it being a cabriolet). I am thinking of getting PSS9 or the KVW3 variant to get even lower.

There is a huge Porsche run this weekend on the 19th, should be around 75 Porsche attending. Its a great way for the family to get out for the day, awesome lunch and cruise. All generations of Porsches. Do to the amount of PO, this run is Porsche only.

Jeff