vandersmith

I've been lurking here for sometime, figured it was finally time for my own little thread party.

Porsche. 911.
I've always wanted one. I've had a number of performance cars (E36/46 M3s, 300zx TT/350z, CTS-V, XKR, and more) but none scratched the itch longer than a year or two. I just sold my E60 M5 about a year ago to free up more time/funds for building the track car for last season only to have suspension/cage delays hold me up. We made a lot of progress over the winter and now that the season is upon us again I got the itch again. It was a lot easier than I thought convincing myself and half of my wife the truck was still needed for obvious reasons but couldn't be my DD.

Even after a few weeks of research, I didn't even think a decent 911 was obtainable in my price range. I'm really picky and ran a lot of nationwide price alerts, I probably emailed/called a few of you here as I was ready to book a flight and drive back to Seattle with the best one I could find for the money...And then it showed up just a few days ago not even 5 minutes from my house. The 911 that checked most of my performance, options, price, and value boxes was no more than 10 blocks away.

2003 Porsche Carrera 4S
Lapis Blue Metallic
105k miles
6MT
All stock except for an expensive CF shifter and wheels: 19x9/19x12 Champion RS97s with PS2s







PPI came through relatively clean:
IMS/RMS/Clutch all done. All fluids recently replaced.
Bose radio sucks but interior is pristine.
Bushings/Mounts here and there need to be replaced.
Brake pads/flush - Was doing this anyway for track season
Alignment - Pulls slightly, also doing anyway
Exhaust Hanger - Rattles slightly until warmed up. Was doing anyway.
Idler pulley/Belt - Slight, intermittent whine. Was going to do this anyway.

Next Steps:
1. Maintenance

• Engine - Oil/AOS/Cooling/Belts/Ignition/etc.
• Brakes - Pads/Rotors/Fluid/Lines
• Suspension - Coilovers/Bars/Arms/Bushings
• Safety - Buy a helmet. Put on your helmet.

2. Go

• Brakes/Suspension
• Exhaust/Intake
• Track Wheels
• Internets chats with you fine folk
• PCA/BMWCCA Autocross and HPDE Events
• Pro3 season starts in May!

Parts Ordered:

• Engine: Belts/Pulleys/Plugs/Coils/Mounts/Alternator/AOS/WaterPump/Thermostat
• Performance: Intake installed/Headers/XPipe/Mufflers
• Suspension: PSS9/Eibach FR Sway Bars/GT3 Arms
• Brakes: Zim Rotors/EBC & Hawk Pads/SS Lines/Motul 600 Fluid/Ducts
• Other: Window Regs/New CDR23/Dension/V1 and some cool floormats.

Also took the RS97s off and added some HRE 540s:


Anyway, I'll keep this thread updated with progress. All of the parts arrive in the next two weeks and I'd like to have them installed by mid-March.

HolmaN

Looking great mate, and free stuff to the car is always nice.
Front and back is expensive as **** if you'd like to buy them of the market.
Aluminium rings around the gauge/cluster = 100 usd.
Plates on the pedals = another 100 usd.
Front lip = another 200 usd (?)
Sideskirts = another 500-1000 usd (?)

dporto

^Sweet^ ! Good luck with 'er

Dennis C

Congrats!

RRTEC

Very nice! Love the new wheels!

Atrox

Looks great, congrats!

911-140.6

Congrats from a fellow C4S owner ! Great color too . Glad you did the wheel swap as those 19's looked heavy , other than the tips looking a bit low to the arches ... great buy , especially with all the big $$ maintenance already done.

Cheers !

Mike

dporto

^ time for some new motor mounts perhaps...^

mharrison

Congratulations! It looks like you've got a nice car there!

AndrewMT996

Congrats! Enjoy the car. They're a lot of fun and such a great value.

vandersmith

Thanks for the welcome!

You might be surprised about the Champions. They are extremely light and come in the right offsets. I may even get these cleaned up and through track tires on them:

Champion Motorsport RS97
Forged Aluminum Monolites

Front:
19" x 9"
ET53
20 lbs each

Rear:
19" x 12"
ET44
22 lbs each

vandersmith

Ordered!

Have ya'll seen the Function First deal??

vandersmith

I had to use Stuttcars.com to find the build codes for my car as the original markings were removed. Pretty informative for $20.

032 Touring suspension (higher suspension for USA)
058 Impact absorbers front and rear
130 Control and indications in English lettering
197 Stronger battery
218 Licence plate holder USA
219 Differential
242 nternal production code
270 Driver side mirror flat
273 Door mirrors electrically adjustable and heatable
274 Vanity mirror illuminated
288 Headlamp washer
335 Rear seat belts
339 All-wheel drive
415 18" 996 solid wheels (not hollow-spoke) 8+11"
424 CD compartment
425 Rear window wiper
434 Work instructions for cars for overseas
436 3-spoke steering wheel
437 8-way electrical seat, left
438 8-way electrical seat, right
441 Radio preparation
446 Concave wheel centers with full-colour Porsche Crest
454 Automatic speed control
465 Rear foglamp, left
476 PSM Porsche Stability Management
480 6-speed manual transmission
484 USA symbols and lettering for switches and instruments
535 Anti-theft lock 315 MHz
537 Seat memory, left
553 Version for USA, Canada
562 Front airbags
563 Side airbags
566 Front fog lights, white
567 Windscreen upper part darker coloured
571 Activated charcoal filter
573 Air conditioner
581 Front center console
601 Litronic xenon headlights
602 Raised stop lamp
620 Electronic accelerator
650 Sun-moon-roof
651 Electric window opener
657 Power assisted steering
659 On-board computer
660 OBD 2 On-Board Diagnostics
661 Stricter emission-control concept
664 ORVR Onboard Refueling Vapor Recovery
680 Sound system Bose analog
685 Rear seats
692 CD autochanger
697 CD-radio Becker Porsche CDR-23
912 Without European ID plate
939 Draped leather rear seats
981 Leather dashboard and door panels
982 Draped leather front seats
985 Internal production code

Ryan...

Beautiful car!

Q: Is there a reason you chose a C4 rather than a C2 if you plan on doing track days?

FRUNKenstein

I'm going to guess that he wants the AWD because he lives in Seattle.