kiznarsh

June 3, 2014: my first real experience with a 911 on my own. No salesman, no original owner, no distractions. Just me, a flat 6, and some of the best and most scenic roads in the land.


I rented that 997.2 C4 and tapped the Rockies and Pike's Peak. I knew I'd have one eventually, just didn't know when.

In 2016 I found the perfect 981 Cayman S ("Silhouette") and flew from LA to New Jersey to buy it, then shipped it home. Sapphire Blue is such a great color.




After selling it here on Rennlist to help fund a townhouse purchase, I went about 6 months before having a Porsche again. Another Cayman, except this time it was a base 987.2 in Meteor Grey ("Skylark"). I put in a lot of work over 27 months and had the car dialed in with suspension, exhaust, and various aesthetic mods.




Then to fund the remodeling of said townhouse, that car was also sold, but I still had the ND Miata:





And then about--you guessed it--6 months later, found myself searching again until I luckily stumbled upon this exceptionally clean example that was just an hour away. I responded to the ad within an hour of it being posted, test drove and placed a deposit the same day, much to the dismay of everyone else that was ready to snag it.


2005, Base, manual, 40k miles, 2 meticulous owners, and no noteworthy options other than the rear wiper. Photos from the weekend when I drove down to pick it up with my brother.





Comparing it to the Caymans has been interesting. It definitely feels much more like the GT car that it is compared to the 987, yet still more analog and mechanical than the 981. The Alcantara headliner, the leather on the A-pillars, and the overall feel is definitely more upscale than the 987. But it's also incredibly familiar in the best way.




I'm not in a rush to start making drastic changes but let's just say Pelican and Fister have already received orders.

I'll likely go with the DCT Motorsports for a steering wheel upgrade, similar to what I did with the 987.



I installed the X73 suspension on the Cayman for a 20mm drop, and I think a similar mod will be done here. Or perhaps install a nice set of coil overs. No plans on tracking it, but I do a fair bit of canyon carving and road trips in search of twisty roads. This won't be a daily.



These are 991 wheels (originally came with lobster claws) and currently sporting 245/30R19 and 305/30R19 PS4S tires.




The car's been in SoCal all its life. Not sure how much the rear wiper's been used but I definitely plan on giving it some exercise.


There was an engine rebuild at 16k miles (not confirmed but I think you know why) and during that time, the sump extension with X51 baffles were installed by the original owner.


Engine is 100% stock with semi-solid mounts and Function First transmission mounts. Shifts pretty well, though at the very least I'll likely swap out the plastic bushing for an aluminum one in the shifter. I had the Numeric cables on my 987 and really loved the rifle bolt action, though it did increase NVH and I'd prefer not to have that now.


I'll be documenting all my work and upgrades in this thread, and hoping to have some epic road trips to share as well.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some hood struts to replace.

anewman

Great story and a big welcome to the 997 family

yvesvidal

Fantastic story and beautiful pictures.

Yves

Hootsama

Thank you for sharing! You've had some lovelies, for sure. Congrats on the new find, and hoping it's all smiles from here... (And no more impulsive sales to renovate stuff!! )

Busta Rib

Congrats and welcome to the madness. Enjoy in good health.

kiznarsh

You can live in your car but can't drive your house, am I right?

southbay

Congrats! I know those last photos spots so maybe I’ll see you around

Kuro Neko

Awesome stuff, and lovely pics as usual.
I love travelogue threads... (ahem).

fourthirteen

Great story and, wow, those are beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing.

wardrive

Great story. I too have a 981 cayman and a 997. Great cars both. Enjoy the 997 and can’t wait to see it transform.

kiznarsh

Thanks! No shortage of Porsches in our area, lol. I'll be making subtle mods to help mine stand out.

Travelogue threads are the best, though there wasn't much traveling for this one.

Looking forward to some film pics with the 997. Thinking of shooting with Cinestill 800T to change things up.

Appreciate it!

911grizzly

Love that rear wiper.

Kuro Neko

That's dedicated, and I look forward to seeing the x-pro like results!
Some lovely colors there (I had to look it up).

Yeah!
Nothing says 'I get used' more than a rear wiper, I wish my Cayman had one!

panvsmachine

Lovely story and example, congrats!

I also moved from a 987.1 into a ‘05 997 C2. Agree that they are two different animals.

Fister/Gundo will make your canyons runs a more visceral experience. I also enjoy the additional induction noise from my Flat 6 intake.

Lots of discussion here about lowered suspension. My shocks were starting to leak so I opted for BC coilovers instead of Eibach springs. If I were to track the car, I would have considered Ohlins.

I noticed more understeer in the 997 vs 987. Installing a rear sway bar helps dial it in quite a bit.

kiznarsh

Let the games mods begin!

Clear side markers.



New hood and decklid struts.





Decklid one has tighter access so used a pick.



20% 3M Color Stable tint all around. Gotta protect that interior and keep it cool, doncha know.



Interior LED upgrade. The 44mm ones for the frunk and engine compartment are actually a little too long. You can make them fit but then you can't easily clip the fixtures back in. Fortunately I had some 42mm ones that fit nicer.



The 44mm was fine for the main dome light though.



Noticed the contact for the engine bay light had some pitting so cleaned that up a bit.





Brighter license plate lights really modernize the car.



Now, I like to think I'm pretty advanced and Porsche is also a marque that tends to look towards the future. However, 2033 this is not.



Read up on this issue and most people are already aware of the cause:

Pulled out the DVD/navigation unit by pressing in the 2 clips on each side...



...and disconnected the fiber optic cable from the back. I only pulled out the unit a couple inches to gain access.



Then I was able to manually set the date:



You'll note doing this for the first time requires 20 minutes. Also RIP to Chris Cornell and Bradley Nowell.

Next up was installation of a Sprint Booster for that enhanced throttle response.



Remove the screw, pull the pedal assembly up then out, and hack into the mainframe.





I did this on the Cayman and fortunately documented the settings for my future self. Sport mode, number 7. Good thinkin', me.

Then it was time to program the Homelink. Followed the instructions and attempted it several times until I discovered my garage door opener isn't compatible with it. The joys of having an older car, even though I hesitate to call it "old." Then again, the Jaaag has the same problem.

So I got one of these repeaters and had it programmed within 2 minutes.