W. MITTY

First, in anticipation of the inevitable questions, some of you may be aware that I had decided to sell my wonderful CGT. I mentioned this only here on Rennlist, and had immediate interest in the car. In fact, I was quite surprised by the response. However, it turned out that both I and my family were significantly more attached to the car than I had anticipated, and I withdrew the car from sale. I regret disappointing my potential buyer and its not something I did lightly. It's truly remarkable, however, how happy I have been since I decided to keep it, and I'm afraid the 918 is just going to have to wait. Enough of that, on with my point.

I bought my CGT with about 1800 miles on it, and the car had obviously been very will tended from birth. For instance, the belly pans were without blemish, as was the tiny air dam at the nose, indicating that car had never been bottomed or even scraped. The seats were virtually unmarked, the paint pristine and untouched. Every body panel on the car was just as it was when it left the motherland. All the luggage was there, etc. I put nearly 2000 miles on the car in the six weeks after I bought it, meaning most of the miles were under my care. Because I knew the seller of the car quite well, and because the car presented as such a pristine example, I didn't pay much attention to a PPI when I bought it. I did this knowingly, accepting that the car might require some expensive mechanical love under my ownership. I will admit that I felt somewhat uneasy about this as my ownership of the car continued; I just wondered whether all those things that were not visible to the eye were in proper order. The car ran flawlessly, but somehow it just didn't feel like it was truly mine when I knew so little about its true mechanical health.

While the car was briefly for sale, I took it down to Scottsdale Porsche for a complete inspection. Tom, a highly trained CGT Tech whom I had met before, seemed like the perfect guy to perform the work. Here is what he found:

The ECU had recorded occasional misfires; this was traced to the aging coil packs, which we opted to replace. Not cheap, and there are ten of 'em.

The engine had recorded a couple of minor over revs, which Tom tells me are almost universal with the CGT, simply because the car revs so fast. A simple early disengagement of the clutch near the redline can cause the engine to momentarily zing past the rev limiter. He stated the the robust CGT engine was built to withstand much more abuse that a brief over rev, and that he did not consider this to be anything more than a normal characteristic of the car. The engine was pristine. Whew

They recommended that standard maintenance, oil change, etc.

Then came the humdinger; the clutch measured at 27.8. I was shocked to hear this, as I religiously use auto start in first gear. (I have owned a bunch of manual transmission cars, and I have NEVER, EVER had to replace or service a clutch on a car that I have owned. I state this in an attempt to convince the good reader that this isn't a case of a ham fisted newbie). When I mentioned this to Tom, he said the clutch could easily have been damaged by one driver in one incident, like loading the car on a transporter. He noted that the clutch showed evidence of having once become very hot, as if the clutch had been ridden or slipped excessively. (One of the components of the clutch had turned purple from the heat. Sorry, I don't know the name of the Tilton clutch components, but it's the metal carrier structure that separates the carbon clutch disks).

Well, having learned that the clutch was on the verge of death, I decided that I had no choice but bite the bullet. While I probably could have gone awhile longer with the clutch at 27.8, worrying about it all the time would have spoiled the experience for me. Thus, I decided to sell a kidney and gave them the go ahead on the clutch project. This meant the engine had to come out of the car, for those of you who were not aware. (By the way, the new clutch measured at 37, much more than I would have thought, I was expecting 31. It may get thinned down a bit by break in, however)

While the engine was out, we also decided to replace the ten year old drive belts, simply because it would never be easier and the cost benefit equation made sense.

My car had an raspy, nasty straight pipe AWE exhaust on it which sounded mean at idle, but lousy at higher revs, so while the engine was out, we decided to reinstall the HEAVY factory exhaust which the previous owner had, thankfully, saved. I had been wanting to do this all along, and this provided the perfect opportunity. Anyone wanna buy an AWE exhaust, cheap?

The message from this story is quite simple; the CGT, no matter how low the mileage may be, often requires expensive maintenance. If the clutch has been abused, its about a $16,000 operation to put it right. By the time I'm done, the whole operation will be well over $20k. However, for me, the good news is that I will finally feel like the car is mine. I will know all of its mechanical credentials. When the car comes back, it will have 3800 miles on it, but for all intents an purposes, it will be a brand new car. Now the internals will be as pristine and that unmarked belly pan.

extanker

you drove the car for 2 thousand miles and then it needed 20 grand in repairs ? i hope you got some enjoyment out of those miles...like set the speed record in your state or scored with many beauty queens

Jamie140

I'm glad you decided to keep it. That new clutch should last the rest of your life.

I love reading all your notes on the various forums.

On each of my CGT purchases, I've really been interested only in clutch measurement and confirmation of no paintwork.

W. MITTY

Perhaps my post was not clear. The maintenance of the car was not related to driving it 2000 miles, it was a combination of age (coil packs and belts) and the prior abuse of the clutch. My post was to provide information to the CGT community, not to complain about the CGT. It is a fantastic car, and I am very confident that the clutch will, as stated above, serve me for the rest of the life of the car.

Maintenance history is certainly something to consider when making a decision to buy one of these awesome cars...

nuvolari612

GLWS

Z356

Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel

.

pmo75

Interesting read! I agree that overseeing work on a car helpd to make it feel yours. Expensive but worth it.

CGT000

Mitty. There is a car very similar to yours for sale by Lamborghini of Newport Beach.

Ernst

I am new to this forum but totally agree - my car in for second big service. All three radiators found to be leaking and need replacing at a cost of around GBP 5000. No damage just part failure.

The car is 10 years old but if the next radiators last another 10 years then I suppose that is acceptable.

TJF

Yes, the CGT is a cash Cow. Nothing on the car is easy to get into, and parts high tech.

Randy V

Must have prevented you from becoming a Member of rennlist.

DanielJ

Remember when Mitty first brought the CGT home. A great write-up. Was already wanting to get going with a search, but delayed.... Should not have. Might have to settle on keeping the FGT.

The ask is 499,880 and believe this is the car owned by the OP.

CGT000

Who is OP?

dasams

thread starter i.e. original poster.

CGT000

Thank you for clarification.