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'02 996 Carrera Refresh Project - Orient Red
I'm starting a new thread to share my experience as the new owner of a manual transmission Orent Red Metallic 2002 Carrera 2, which I plan to refresh over the next few months. It’s an extremely well cared for example of a 996, but I plan to meticulously go through the car. I’ll detail each step of the process along the way in case it’s helpful (or entertaining) to others. I really enjoy going through these cars and bringing them back to new condition and I’m excited to see and drive the end result. Just a little background about me to for context; I used to own a 2004 996 GT3 which I had for nearly 10 years and 60k miles. I eventually passed it own to a fellow RennLister once I purchased my 991 GT3RS. I’m very familiar with the 996 platform as I performed almost all the maintenance and mods myself, but I’m aware that the Carrera 2 will have some differences.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...2ef18cc745.jpg Orient Red Metallic https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...36d5b5214e.jpg All stock I plan to first go through the car to gauge the condition of the exterior (paint, glass, wheels, etc), interior (leather, center console, door cards, etc), drivetrain, suspension and brakes. Then I’ll go through refreshing these areas step by step with the goal of brining the car back to new condition. At first glance the exterior is in fairly good condition with a few rock chips in the front bumper and hood. The garage has always been garage and it shows based on the condition of the paint and the clarity of headlights and taillights. Some of the rims have light scratches which I plan to address later. The engine and drivetrain run well, but there is some old oil build up the bottom corner of the engine which I need to look into. The suspension is all original and the front control arms are due to be replaced. I plan to replace all of the suspension components front and back. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...c2b5c3f44a.jpg This was a well optioned car and comes with the factory nav, which still works perfectly, Bose, heated seats, Xenon lights, etc. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...7992330e5a.jpg The headlights are in great condition and show very little pitting and no fading. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...d0d9279e0a.jpg The interior is pretty clean, but the driver's seat, steering wheel and door handles could use a good deep cleaning and conditioning. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...727ea92470.jpg I haven't owned a car with a spare tire since our 2011 Cayenne S. This is sort of cool. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...c01016d449.jpg The car came complete with all of the original tools, jack, books, etc. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...ece292728a.jpg The PO had just installed new Conti tires and while they're not the MPS 4s I would prefer, these are still really good tires and more than enough for this platform and what I intend to use the car for. Also, this is a California car with 79K miles. It was originally sold through Rusnak Porsche in Pasadena and first registered exactly 20 years ago last week. All original paint and stock with the exception of the front European side markers. I love how well some Porsche enthusiasts care for their cars and I'm very similar. |
Looks like a great starting point. Subbed!
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Welcome back! Beautiful example of a 996.
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Looks like a very nice starting point! Love the color too! You don't see many Arena or Orient Red cars.
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Are there any stats on how many 996s are produced by color?
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This was only the first week I’ve owned the car, but since it’s 20 years old I first needed to clean up the engine bay and engine underside to see what I’m really dealing with in terms of the condition of various drivetrain parts and leaks. The PO said he never touches the engine bay when he washes the car and based on the subtle dirt build up I believe him and I appreciate seeing an untouched engine to gauge the condition of the car. In addition, the car has a strong service history with routine service, some at the dealer and some at a local indy in Ventura. The IMS bearing service was done around 20k miles ago, along with a new clutch. It also received a new alternator at the dealer. More about the service history later. For now, here’s a look at some of the initial clean up of the engine bay;
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...612cbcaca9.jpg To degrease the engine, I used a combination of Meguiar’s all-purpose cleaner, a spray bottle to better control what area gets wet, a variety of brushes and a can of brake cleaner for the really hard to reach areas (I didn’t have engine degreaser in the garage). I first removed the air box and then worked from the top of the engine down, spraying cleaner in one small area at a time, using the soft brush to remove any dirt or grease and then rinsing and repeating as needed. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...39ba9849bf.jpg Before: 20 years of dirt and soot build up around throttle body. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...3e00537468.jpg After: much better! https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...03f22bb19b.jpg Before https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...543bb6df66.jpg After The throttle body was surprisingly clean inside and showed no signs of oil blow-by. I treated it with throttle body cleaner and I purposely didn’t touch the MAF as the engine is idling and running very well and I really don’t want to mess with any sensors unless I have to. While the airbox was out of the way, I also checked the condition of the drive belt and tensioner, both of which looked great. The air filter was also in great condition and appeared to have been recently replaced. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...41d27a4051.jpg After cleaning the engine bay I added a thin coat of Meguiar’s water based dressing to bring back some of the shine. This really made a difference for the airbox and some of the black wires and various lines in the engine bay. I’m happy with the first pass and I’ll check the engine bay again the next time I perform a service, so as to see if there any coolant or oil leaks. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...5d9de2d171.jpg Cleaned up engine bay before applying dressing https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...d4a8d44250.jpg Airbox getting cleaned up with all purpose cleaner and a brush. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...4c02ddc841.jpg Meguiar's Water Based Dressing is a great way to bring some shine back into the engine bay without using any harsh chemicals or making anything greasy. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...1345bd65f5.jpg Airbox after water based dressing https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...f10f18df18.jpg The final product. Not bad for 20 years old. |
Originally Posted by SoCalDan
(Post 18229711)
Are there any stats on how many 996s are produced by color?
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Originally Posted by SoCalDan
(Post 18229711)
Are there any stats on how many 996s are produced by color?
Nice job with the engine bay too. |
We have an Orient Red '02, live in Southern California, and my name is Dan.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...8cfe348c71.jpg |
The website rennbow.org classifies colors as to rarity, in their estimation. The list both Arena and Orient red as 3 paint cans. One paint can = common color like black, 5 paint cans = unicorn color.
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Originally Posted by Type65
(Post 18230142)
I don't think there is unfortunately, but anecdotally I feel like most of the Arena Red cars were 993s and most of the Orient Red cars were Boxsters. Regardless they are both among the rarer colors. I am lumping them together, because they are very similar. Orient Red just replaced Arena Red.
Nice job with the engine bay too. |
Hello Dan, Orient Red not being a common color I thought they would be similarly optioned. I was wrong.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...7c090ae469.jpg Our cars are almost opposites; coupe v. cabriolet, manual v. Tiptronic, black interior v. Sarhara Beige, we've got wood interior, you've got PSM and Nav etc. Ours is a great 124k miles daily driver and we do most repairs to it, time permitting. |
According to the following site there were 104,312 996 coupes made, 6,249 in 2002 when my car was made: https://www.stuttcars.com/porsche-91...its%20produced.
Orient Red Metallic is color codes 8A3 and 8A4 which was an option for the 996 Carrera coupe for 2001 through 2003 (PCA website lists 2004 as well, but per the Porsche factory color summary I downloaded from Stuttcars, for non-Turbo coupes Orient Red was not available in 2004: https://www.stuttcars.com/porsche-91...rior-interior/ ) These are the coupe product number for '01 through '03: 2001: 6,543 2002: 6,249 2003: 4,987 Total (996 Coupes): 17,779 That's where the trail goes cold. Anecdotally if we guessed 5% of cars were produced in these years in Orient Red Metallic, that would yield 889 cars. Obviously this is just a guess based on PCA rating the color as 3 out of 5 buckets for rarity. I wouldn't be surprised if the number was even less given how rarely I see this color on 996s. If anyone has any other information on product by color, please share. |
Dan (996.2), your car looks amazing!
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Congratulations on your Orient Red Metallic 996.2
There has been a lot of good information given so far. I was never sure why my Option sticker under the frunk states L8A3, but my Porsche COA states L1. Rennbow does list, 8A3, 8A4 & L1 as option codes for Carrera C2 They consider the Red to be similar to a 1980s color called Velvet Red It was an $825.00 option on a 11/21/2002 build. Ironically the Paint to Match Console was $730. I was even able to get a showroom print of color option with help from the servicing Porsche Dealership of Previous Owner At PCA or other concours events, it has been mistaken for the Arena Red more than once, but when parked next to each other, you can see the difference. When my car was added to Rennbow as an example of Orient Red Metallic, it registered as L1 Here is link https://rennbow.org/porsche-colors/OrientRedMetallic About seven or eight years ago, there was a thread / survey on optional colors, it might have been on PCA or on 6Speed.com, from what I recall, there were about 600 people who responded. Based on those who responded Orient Red Metallic on Carrera C2 Coupe was <1%. It was about the same for Turbo Coupe, but Boxster was more. But that was a pretty small sample size. I tried to find it in my saved history on my desktop, but couldn't locate it. I like the change of side markers, the side markers were one of the first things I changed, a discussion thread on forum a while back. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...e59f2aead3.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...1fca54c3d3.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...0dd3569185.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...6685480f23.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...34e329b835.jpg |
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