96 C4S gamble has worked out well...
 

I had a detailed story typed out about this but felt like it may be a bit boring. Short version is, had a 993, then a 997, liked the 993 better so I watch what becomes available. Had a good feeling about a car based only on a few photos so made a deal on it with no PPI or even getting any details on it at all.

Drove out to pick it up with a friend today and it looked great. "You can test drive it" -Thanks, but I'm on a mission to get this thing home and a test drive isn't going to change that either way so I'll pass.

Sign documents, stop for lunch, hit the highway.

Once I again become acclimated to a floor pivoted clutch and brake I start to pick up the pace.....and the car reveals itself as very well capable with no problems at all. A pleasure to drive, even at higher speeds...

Arriving at home I gave it a quick wash/vacuum and looked over the binder of paperwork.

Within the last 5k miles it had a new starter, plugs, wires, fluids, flywheel, clutch. Most recent invoice from early 2020 was reseal chain housing covers, chain tensioner covers(I can't picture the difference), oil fill hose(?), install PSS10 coil overs and align.

I notice it has wheel studs and I recall my last 993 having wheel bolts.

Also has a Porsche classic radio with new speakers. If the Fikse wheels weren't recently powdercoated black, it seems like they were as there are no defects.

Otherwise I know the turbo spoiler is of course not original but I do not mind it at this point. Miles upon arriving home from the 220 mile drive back is now 65558 and would have to say the interior seems to reflect that as it is very very nice.

Couldn't be happier right now. Such an enjoyable car to drive and really happy that so far it has worked out great :)

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Congrats
 

I have done that before twice as well and worked out fine and came back from a water pumper too. In fact my son still talks about the adventures with the 1-way airplane rides. Looks like a great example. If you want to finish your console CF appearance right, see this link.
https://rennlist.com/forums/market/1211050
Welcome back.
Zed.

Depending on one's approach to car purchasing and ownership, the PPI and whatnot is kind of overrated IMHO. I've come to believe it's more important just to know the owner, decide what level of risk you're willing to take on and then buy or not buy.

Congrats on the purchase and being back in a 993. It's pretty hard to beat these cars,

Will never sell my 993 3.8L and keeping my 997.1. Nothing feels more real on the road than my 993!

Happy you scored a good car.
My hunch says folks who would go the distance to put Porsche Classic Radio on their p-car tend not to neglect other maintenance needs. Then w/ practically zero wear on the driver seat booster (could've been a re-upholster and if so reinforces my previous point) given 60k+ on odo, and then minor things like color matched bumper plugs...
Yours look every bit a sorted speciment.
Congrats!

I do not agree. A properly done PPI will technically reveal everything one needs to know to make a quality decision from there.

I do not agree with this either with the favorite saying on this forum being - 'buy the sell, buy the seller'...

What if the seller is completely unknown, an exceptional used car salesman, and, a nefarious one at that? Only a proper inspection/PPI will rescue you from him.

Agree 100% with this.

OP, with all that said, I'm glad it worked out for you - beautiful car!

Looks like you found yourself a very nice example. I love the black wheels with the red car. The seats look to be in great condition. Often even with low mile examples you will see a good amount of wear and cracking on the driver's seat. Good luck and enjoy it in good health. Any mods planned in the near future?

Yeah. I see that if one doesn't buy/sell a lot of cars. In that case you probably don't have a network of established sources. I tend to buy from within my circle of trusted folks/brokers. But if you buy infrequently I suppose you have to take on the risk of unknown sellers and car sales people.

Beautiful 993 and cool story.

I believe in having PPIs done on our cars prior to buying. That said, when I had a PPI done on my current 993 the well respected Indie that completed it missed several major defects. I was embarrassed for him and out a chunk of money to put it right. In the end, I have a 993 I am as happy with as you are with yours. Enjoy.

Great looking car - congratulations!

Would you be willing to share your thoughts on the 997 and why you preferred the 993?

OP, I had a similar experience (on a GR as well) and my gamble worked out as well. Your 993 looks great!

Edwin

Thanks guys, much appreciated! There is minor wear on the drivers seat bolster but hard to see in pics. If you look close the dye is thinning on the outer edge.

I don't have much planned for mods. Maybe a different steering wheel. Definitely need to do something with the exhaust. I think it is stock and the car is rather quiet.

993 and 997

My previous 993 was a 95 C2 with 110k miles and it was a great car. After selling I missed it so started searching for another. Didn't have much luck at the time. I drove a 98 C2S and really liked it but it was in multiple accidents (and not the best repairs) but they priced it the same as a clean one so I passed.

Same day I drove and bought a 997.2 base Carrera. It was noticeably faster than the 993 but I never felt as confident with it as far as handling goes. Probably because my previous 993 was on Bilsteins as well and the 997 was stock (but on better tires). The low speed smoothness with direct injection was just not perfect as well. Did not feel buttery smooth and often times had a low rpm dip in power that to me felt like fueling. Annoyed me that advances in technology resulted in a car that didn't drive as nice.

Overall it just didn't have the same feeling of quality and of course just does not have the same feel, smell and sound altogether. Not bad but just not as good, IMO. Leaving the car in a parking spot and turning around to look at it made me miss the 993 even more. It just wasn't doing it for me.

Excellent counterpoint.
:cheers:

So YOU were the one that got it !!! Congrats !! I'm glad it at least went to someone on here.
I made an offer with Tony at the dealership, but my offer included shipping to Florida.
He said he would check on the shipping rates and confirm the deal with me that day.
After thinking about it a bit, I said to myself .... don't be an idiot and lose the car over
$1K shipping. So I called him back to give a deposit to secure the deal.
(this is all the first morning the car hit the market). Left a message. No call back.
Called back again a couple hours later. Left another message.
I woke up the next morning to see their website showing "Deal Pending".
It was like a punch in the gut, as it was my perfect spec, with the turbo tail, good mileage
and great price. Just needed some Turbo twists and it was my perfect 993. Oh well .....

Again, very happy it went to someone on here. You got a great car, at a sweet price.
Congrats !! Many happy miles ................

Is that your Charger as well? Big block? {hence the Dana}

Islandboy, thanks! I thought it was sold on me as well as it took quite a few phone calls to get through again. Being within a reasonable driving distance was a help as I was able to look over the car before handing over a check.


Khloesdad, yes the Charger is mine. It was originally a 440 RT/SE. I have the original engine set aside but the car had a 426 hemi in it when I bought it as a non running project.

I have the 426 back out of it now. Building it for more power and converting it to EFI.

This is a great shot - the stance/presence of the car is perfect!

Bold move but great result. Congrats....very nice looking car with some nice touches.

Nice car - other than color and wheels, very similar to mine (also 96 C4S with turbo tail and I even have the Porsche classic navigation radio too). I did get my car PPI'ed before I bought it but in retrospect I really didn’t need to as the seller (Nurburger here) is a detail oriented, honest super nice guy. I was still pretty new at Rennlist back then though...

I also like your F355!

beautiful car. congrats and welcome back to 993s.

now it's time to pick your favorite picture and update your avatar photo from an f-car to the new p-car! :)

whatever works for you.
I trust my own instincts and ability to perform a personal PPI

Much appreciated guys. And good point on the avatar :)

Rudy, nice choice of cars you have as well! At least you have some color variance. I don't mind red on either of mine but the plan never was to even have one red car much less two.

That color would look excellent with a set of RUF wheels.

Congrats. Nice looking car, cool CF touches and the wheels look great!

This too has been my experience with PPIs. Even with due diligence things can be missed. That being said, with a 25 year old Porsche, PPI or not, a new owner should expect to pay some money to get it right.

Agree that the RUF wheels are awesome but........the fitment on these is so good I'll probably hang on to them.

The paint is in nice shape for it's age but I still wanted to do some paint correction and freshen things up a bit. Along with this decided to do headlight lenses as one of mine was broke on close inspection and both had yellowed plastic inside.

Thought this was going to be the quickest thing I ever did but once apart tried to hit the chrome/silvered part with quick detail and as it turns out chemical bros quick detail takes that off instantly. (though lacquer thinner doesn't touch it).

So, left with partially removed chrome on the reflectors I thought I might try something a bit different since the rest of the car is black on red (wheels, trim, tinted windows). Sooo, removed the reflectors and painted them black.

Probably would look better with turbo S vents and bumperette delete. Also not sure how much I've hurt light output but the low beams seem to have the reflector/lens built in as a unit so probably high beam output mostly reduced....

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Congrats on your purchase! You were the reason why the IN Lotus place never returned my calls!

What a good deal you got!

Thanks! They didn't return my calls either, I was rather persistent. I think 68k was a good price for it.

68k?! Someone call the cops bc you stole that thing! Btw the smoked lights look awesome. I thought about doing that too... glad I can see what it looks like now 👍

Edwin

Wow, you even got a price reduction despite their full VM box?! Yep, you stole it!

Next time I'm going to tell them that I am offering above listing price!

I told him- I like what I see and I'm ready to make an offer with an immediate deposit. Most people will ask if they can have the car inspected, I'm not even going to ask you anything about the car, simply, will you accept this amount and take a deposit.

I've had good luck in the past just by making it easy for someone to sell to me. (of course there is risk involved with that)

Great looking 993, you got a great deal!

Very nice

Thanks!

I've been disassembling the car to do a paint correction which turned into new front bumper seals, then decided to have the front bumper painted with bumperette and license plate holes plastic welded/filled. New fender to cowl seals, windshield rubber trim, and door handle gaskets. Oh, and headlight washers since I broke them and quarter panel clear rock guards because they had flaws.

Have to say I found gluing/stapling the bumper seals while keeping them looking smooth was rather difficult. Everything is coming out nice but I have a TON of time into this.

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Nice work!

Welcome back. Beautiful car.

Thanks guys, much appreciated

I'm nearing the finish line on my mini cosmetic restoration. This consisted of-

Disassembly and masking.

Front bumper respray, bumperette delete, euro turn signals, turbo s fogs, new bumper to fender gaskets.

Car had some dings on almost every panel so had paintless dent repair done to straighten it out. Even had the poor guy come out 3 times as I kept finding little things.

Removed stone guards for replacement.

Filled any chips on the entire car and filed down.

Wet sand entire car with 2000 grit. Polished with Griots D/A polisher and meguiars pads/compound/polish.

Other new parts-

Headlights, taillights, rear reflector, door handle and mirror gaskets, fender to cowl gaskets, windshield rubber trim, Carrera 4s emblems, stone guards, headlight washers.

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Looks incredible! 👏

Edwin

Awesome!

Thanks guys! :)

These little guys were more challenging than I expected.

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This is the type of buyer I admire. Someone who recognizes the solid foundation, well priced example and doesn’t get discouraged by deferred maintenance. Love the approach to paint correction as well. Congratulations!

Much appreciated. I enjoy doing this work. It's taking me a long time but just glad it's turning out well.

Do you have any closeups of how you filled the paint chips and sanded them?

No I don't have photos of that. What I do is clean the area with glass cleaner, and fill chip, let cure.

You don't want to sand next, you need to knock down the filled area with a file like this-
I like curved ones but seems they are hard to find.

This levels the filled chip to the surrounding area.

If you just try to sand down the touch-up you can introduce waves in the surrounding finish.

Once filed level, I take a foam block and 1500 then 2000 before compounding.

I'll get some photos outside but for now, completely finished! Ceramic coated the entire car today and finished assembling. Tomorrow will be the first time I've driven the car since the day I picked it up. :)

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One year anniversary.... finishing up some more maintenance and detailing.

Just replaced the plugs/wires/caps/rotors/distributor belt, as well as A/C, alternator, and fan belt. Also changed the oil.

Rented a dry ice blaster and put 400lbs of dry ice through it cleaning the car. (was not fun) Now going around with wash mitt/degreaser/brushes/rags for final cleaning before winter storage.

I'm very happy with the car. Looks pretty much the same in photos/at first glance but in person all the details really stand out :)

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Amazing! Great work!!!!

Thank you :)

Love the work you’ve done! Keep it up

Wow. This is an amazing thread. Thank you so much for sharing this journey in detail with great pics @INTMD8 .

Of course! Thank you.

Moved on to some shifter work. I had a 98-02 F-body steering shaft and one side of the u-joint is aluminum, the other steel so was pretty easy to cut out the original coupler and weld it in.

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That looks pretty sweet! Not much different than the RS unit on my car. Well done sir!

After installing the modified shift rod, I noticed the forward shift rod had play in it. Sooo, replaced that, and changed the transaxle/front diff fluid. Cleaned up all the plastics with xylene, and re-assembled. Done for now, ready for spring. :)

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Unreal. This thread gets better every time I click on it.

Xylene, huh? Is that all you did on the undertrays and fender liners?

Thanks! Yes on the undertrays and liners the Xylene removed all debris and cosmoline. I used 303 protectant on them as well.

Xylene works great but it is pretty toxic - people need to wear a good respirator and gloves when using it in a well ventilated area.

Odorless mineral spirits works well with cleaning too - just avoid getting it on seals and rubber hoses

Normally not a fan of black wheels, but man does that look good.

Beautiful car.

Tell us more about what appears to be a 69 Charger sitting on the lift?
Please.
Dana = 4 speed = HEMI?

Craig

Hi Craig. It was originally a 440 RT/SE. I have the original 440 but bought it as a non running project with a 426 Hemi. It has a TKO600 5 speed manual. Dana 60. I put a 4.10 in it.

The hemi was pretty weak. Only made 400rwhp on a dynojet and would valve float at 5900 rpm.

I recently rebuilt it. Kept it stock stroke but .060 over for 438ci. 12.4-1 compression. Holley EFI. Coil on plug. (coils from Ford Coyote engine) Flex fuel (so usually E85). I ported the heads. Using a relatively mild solid roller cam.

It now makes right around 600rwhp. I spun it to 7600 on the dyno but wasn't falling off so probably has a few hundred more rpm in it. I'm making some changes to get it in the 615rwhp range.

It's actually at the body shop now getting repaired. Got rear ended on the way home from tuning it on the dyno.

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Very nice.
I'm glad that you were able to sort out the engine issues.
12.4:1! E85 must be very tolerant.
I like the coil on plug solution.
I'll reach out on PM to chat a bit more.
I've moved on from MOPARs but at one point they were a very important part of my life.

Be well.

Craig

Thanks! Yes E85 is great. Probably could have ran another point of compression with it but would likely not be possible to get it home on 93 octane if I couldn't find E85.

Will gladly assist if I can :)

-Jim

Very impressive
 

Very impressive work, I’ve been following you all along. And especially the dry ice undercarriage cleaning. Now that the aluminum is somewhat ‘raw’ and unprotected did you consider sealing it with something like a long lasting clear ceramic coating?
I asked the folks at Adams’s Polishes about this and they said there ceramic-graphene liquid treatment would last up to 3 years.

Thanks!

I didn't consider any type of ceramic coating on the aluminum. I just sprayed/wiped it down with 303 protectant.

Thx
 

I do concours so chasing surface metal oxidation is a pain and looking to eliminate that chore. Cosmoline is just plain fugly for my game. I will let you know how it goes.

First time i've seen a 1/2 aluminum 1/2 steel u joint. I like yours given you welded on the original Porsche end. Was the 98-02 F body splined on the steel end?

Thanks. Yes it was splined on the steel end, I drilled the ID to shaft size but I don't recall what that was.

beautiful work!