Got mine now!

[Steve Brookes]

My Porsche ownership experience started with getting a boxster 18 months ago and I am now well and truly hooked. Previously I've always been a chop and changer where cars are concerned so I was about due to move onto to another. However this time I thought, why lose a load of dosh on my well sorted 986 and pass the benefit on to someone else? Instead, keep the boxster as a daily drive and get something more classic, with a bit more grunt for weekend hooning and trackdays. The 964 was both a special looking car and would fit my budget.

Surprisingly, my search only took a couple of months. I looked at Dozen's of ads and contacted likely candidates to get more information. The first car I saw was pretty rusty and had obvious signs of accident damage repaired (the current owner didn't seem to be aware of this). The second was very 'oil leaky' and did not have much history to go with it. The third was the one I've bought!

It's a late 1990 MY Carrera C2 in Grand Prix white with full burgundy leather interior and Cup 1 alloys. It's high mileage (150,000) but has stacks of service history including a top end rebuild just over 25,000 miles ago and new front discs and pads the week before I viewed it. It's had a G-pipe fitted, a sports steering wheel and it's been lowered with Eibach reds.

It's a totally different driving experience to the boxster. While the box is light, zippy and tactile . The 964 is feels heavy, fast and a little twitchy. While the boxster engine and exhaust note is pleasing on the ear the noise of the 964 is to die for [] . They compliment each other perfectly!

Of course there's lots of little jobs to do on the car like headlight rims, front boot lifters, etc but I'm looking forward to doing those as much as the cosmetic and performance upgrades that I've got planned.

Talking of fixes, I even had to fix the car before I handed over the cash to buy it! The engine cover release cable snapped when I viewed it the previous week. The owner couldn't get it fixed for me so I fitted the cable for him on the morning I bought it!

Thanks to everyone on here (and on 964 Yahoo) for the advice they've given me and I hope I'll be able to actively contribute to this forum and meet up with some fellow 964 owners soon![]

Here's a few pics of my P&J:

 

[Guest]

Good work Steve,

If you've chosen carefully (and I it looks like you have) then you've made a great call.
964's are undervalued at present (in my biased eyes anyway) and deliver a wonderful 911 driving experience.
I bought mine 18 month ago and am still delighted with it.
They are great on track with a few sensible mods:

1. Brakes - the usual braided hoses all round with upgraded pads and fluid.
As ever there is huge debate over which pads are best but I went with the pricey Pagid blues and have been pretty pleased. The standard discs should be up to a lot of punishment so you may want to keep these for the moment.
I used the standard pads, fluid & discs on a day at Bedford and drove home with horrible shudder from pad deposits on the discs. The pads at least are definitely worth upgrading.

2. Suspension - again, obvious stuff. you have some lowered springs which help as long as your dampers and bushes are in good nick

3. Lightening - Replacing the front seats with some buckets saves a lot of weight.
I would guess at a good 50kg. Seriously the front seats weigh a ton!You can also remove the rear seat backs which is a doddle and only takes 5 mins. This saves another 5kg at least.

4. A smaller, sports steering wheel is worthwhile on track too as the original is a bit bus like. Makes the car feel a little nimbler too.

5. Strutbrace - a lot written about these. All I can say is mine seemed to help achieve a sharper turn-in on track. Not that expensive either.

6. Tyres - if you can stretch to a second set of rims with some dedicated track tyres e.g. Toyo 888's, then you'll find that very few cars pass you on most circuits.

7. Drilled airbox and performance panel filter. Probably a negligable benefit but I couldn't resist. I went for a K&N panel filter and drilled a number of holes on the side of the standard plastic air box. Makes a meatier induction noise too.

I have avoided messing with the engine or doing anything which cannot be reversed easily but if you don't mind about originality then there's a lot more you can do.

It's funny, I have always enjoyed owning and driving slightly older cars so much more than spanking new ones. I guess it's just that I'm not so worried about stone chips, putting miles on the clock, making modifications or giving it a good thrashing. I'll bet that your 964 will be your firm favourite after a few weeks.

Keep us informed of any changes/upgrades over the coming months.

Love the colour too

 

[38F3E1]

Very nice <:thumbsup:>

Ian.

 

[Steve Brookes]

Thanks for all the suggestions Kdean.

The car had new rear dampers at the same time as the springs and it came with a sports steering wheel (Imola RS stamped on it?). Not as nice to look at as the Porsche RS wheel but it has a nice feel to it.

The strut brace will be early on my list of upgrades ( I read a great old thread about that on here).

The air box is not so much as drilled, it's more like it's been masacared (big hole in the side)[8D]

Like yourself I'm going to concentrate on the handling improvement stuff and leave the engine power alone (plenty for me at the moment). I'm planning its first track outing at Donnington in August. That should give me enough time to get to know it, fix stuff that needs fixing and look at the exhaust options (I think the G-pipe might get it banned even though the primary silencer and cat are standard).

Thanks Ian. I had a feeling you would approve of White [].

 

[38F3E1]

You'll find it suprisingly easy to keep clean. Use mine everyday and by the end of the week it's looking rather dirty around the haunches. Quick wash and it comes up sparkly every time. Also white's a very hard paint so it doesn't really show scratches either.

Ian.

 

[Porker993]

Nice one Steve - congratulations ! Nice looking car.

Enjoy.

 

[Fred Hindle]

Welcome to the fold.
Car looks stunning.
Cheers,

 

[Guest]

Nice one Steve...

Look forward to seeing it in March.

 

[Helen Goff]

now that is fantastic.

enjoy

 

[Steve Brookes]

Thank you Ladies and Gents []

I've just been going through the service history, trying to put it all in some kind of order and get it filed nicely. The bare facts are that its had:

24 x services (service book has run out of space)
1 x distributor vent kit
1 x flywheel
2 x clutches
1 x top-end rebuild
and numerous oil pipes replaced

Once I've got it all filed away I might have to tally up the total spend of all the invoices just for fun[8D]

 

[Steve Brookes]

Now I've got it, how do I put the car's details on the 964 register? Is there a form on the main PCGB website or do I just e-mail Alexander?

 

[Guest]

Steve,

do you mind if I ask you a question, i am picking my 964 up in 5 weeks (trading in 98 Boxster) after some very choice and tasteful mods are being done, one of them is lowered suspension, is it okay over speed bumps?

Thanks,

Jerome

 

[Steve Brookes]

ORIGINAL: tiptronix

do you mind if I ask you a question, i am picking my 964 up in 5 weeks (trading in 98 Boxster) after some very choice and tasteful mods are being done, one of them is lowered suspension, is it okay over speed bumps?

Jerome, mine also had big wheel spacers which meant that the rear wheels would ground on the arches over speed bumps []. However since removing these I've had no such problems. Side by side on my drive the boxster and lowered 964 look to have almost identical clearance. So I don't think you will find them any more of an issue than you did with the boxster.

We're now all looking forward to seeing your car and those tasteful mods[]

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

ORIGINAL: brksy16

Now I've got it, how do I put the car's details on the 964 register? Is there a form on the main PCGB website or do I just e-mail Alexander?

Steven,

In the absence of any other alternative, click on the following link, fill in the form on line and then e-mail it to Alex at the address on the form.

http://www.computamedic.co.uk/Porsche/Images/964%20REGISTRATION%20FORM.pdf

If any other 964-owning members have not yet done so, please do the same. The reward is a pair (??) of sparkling new Register stickers for your car.

Regards

Dave

 

[Guest]

Thanks Steve, I am reassured!

Looking forward to posting pics as soon as I take delivery!

 

[Steve Brookes]

Thanks Dave. I'll get on to it. I'll see if I can get anothe PCGB shield sticker for the window while I'm at it[]

 

[Steve Brookes]

Just thought I'd give an update after 2 weeks of ownership.

Well, I've already spent the best part of a grand on it[8D]. This started with Conti sport contact 2 N2s for the rears (£315), Adrian Streather's book (£45) and £350 at the local parts counter - spare DME relay and V-belts (just in case), new wiper blades (they don't squeek now), new headlight rim (needs spraying up), GP white touch up pen (colour match is the best of seen for these pens), a rear bumper support bar (original has completely rusted away) and a new indicator stalk assembly. The latter was needed because the stalk would not stay up when turning right. It was a fairly easy job to fit it and I took the opportunity to buy one with an OBC stalk so that I can activate to the computer (according to Rennlist I need to pull out the tacho and plug in the correct connection at the harness).

That grand spend should be neared next week because I need to put on new rear discs and pads (I estimate £150 to £200 in parts for these). There are sooo many things I'm itching to do to it but think I'll have to start pacing myself once the essentials are done. So that I can spend a bit more time driving it[].

To those of you out there thinking of doing the 964 thing.....go on....you know it makes sense and you don't HAVE to get carried away with spending on it like me[].

P.s. With PCGB discount the OPC parts counter is not way out of line with other specialist 911 parts suppliers e.g. the DME relay was £17 and I've not seen a better price anywhere else.