964 C2 - Rolling Resto

[rhd racer]

Only because I had another one on my radar in an equally bright colour. Although not at the absolutely bargain price that this orange had been reduced to.

Enjoying the story.


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Thanks Jon. How did that turn out?

[DustyM]

Well in the end, although in a similar vain to yours in that the car disappeared from the classifieds before I was in a position to move on it but I had printed the advert so chanced contacting the seller who it turned out still had the car but had removed the advert due to timewasters.


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[rhd racer]

Well in the end, although in a similar vain to yours in that the car disappeared from the classifieds before I was in a position to move on it but I had printed the advert so chanced contacting the seller who it turned out still had the car but had removed the advert due to timewasters.


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I never had the fore-thought to print the ad, so I hope that works out for you. I did think about calling the garage that had looked after it, to see if they would put me in touch with the seller, but as we know now, I didn't need to....

So, mid-afternoon my phone rang and it was the new owner. He was a really nice, straight guy, told me how much he had paid for it unprompted, and his appraisal of what the car needed to put right. He had owned three 964s in the recent past, has a 996 GT3 and lots of Porsche history, so knew his way around them. He conceded that even though he had effectively stolen it, having had it inspected and costed up it might mean he would have to sell the GT3 to finish it, and he was unwilling to make that commitment. Knowing that I could do much of what needed doing myself (or at least spanner on some of it that was beyond me to control costs) that I could make it work. He had already had two offers that day, one of which was only £500 below what he paid. He advised that he did not need to make a loss on the car, so had turned it down.

I was totally honest about my situation; about to go on holiday within 2 days (and he was unavailable on those days anyway) and was not completing on my car for 2.5 weeks, and therefore would not have the ability to complete a sale before then. I also wanted to get he car looked at because I couldn't myself, and he agreed to take it to Angus at AMS the following Tuesday for an inspection.

He liked my ideas for the car, and we had quite a lot in common (ages / kids etc), so this just made everything chug along quite well.

[rhd racer]

So that evening I spoke to Angus and discussed what he had paid, what I thought he wanted for it and how bad it would need to be for it to not stack up. Essentially we ruled out anything mechanical, and only a bad prior repair, poor chassis / corrosion or panel gaps would really make it a no-no. We knew it needed an engine rebuild, as it was both leaking heavily but also running a bit lumpy. Given that he was offered within £500 of break-even, I was a bit concerned that someone would turn up with the money before Tuesday and have it away.

So I called the vendor and said that I wanted the car and didn't really want to wait until Tuesday to agree a deal. I offered him a number that was below what it was advertised for but more than he paid, so there was something in it for him - all subject to it being as described.

He agreed, and I sent him Angus details and offered that he could leave the car there if we agreed a deal subject to him being happy with the set up. The ad was taken down immediately, I sent him a token deposit and breathed a sigh of relief....

[rhd racer]

Tuesday came and I was in Cornwall with the family and the seller called. It turns out he had been to the workshop before to buy some bits, and they had some shared friends, and he was happy to leave the car there which he duly did.

On Weds, Angus did the inspection and sent me a load of photos, and a full report. In the evening, out came the ipad and a cheeky bottle of red to see what was what....

[964RS]

Spooky there was another Cat C 964 C2 on ebay this week I had thought about....

I do like a bit of orange too though so will watch this one with interest.....

[rhd racer]

So the engine first - what we expected, leaking top, middle, bottom, left and right. Possibly loose head studs as not happy on idle and probably dropping a cylinder.

Improvised oil lines...



Lots of oil...



The largest culprit; a section of the case has cracked and come away, and some JB Weld shoved in there. Angus is fairly relaxed on this element, and says it can just be built up with weld at the machine shop, ground back, and drilled and tapped..




And the exhaust is completely knackered (boy these are EXPENSIVE). Heat exchangers wrecked and in any event, you would probably never get all the oil out of them!



Orange fan a nice touch though even if the engine is self-servicing!!

[rhd racer]

Spooky there was another Cat C 964 C2 on ebay this week I had thought about....

I do like a bit of orange too though so will watch this one with interest.....

Come by and have a brew when I get it back here Jason. You might even see your old Boxster go past

[rhd racer]

So the body is actually alright. A bit of micro-blistering here and there, and the engine bay is satin black instead of orange or the original colour. The front compartment revealed the true colour;





The rest just needs a bit of attention, as some cheap fixes will improve no end. Sunroof seal poorly fitted;



Wing beading not fitted at all....



Rear reflector cracked - but have just bought one of these to replace it as I got a good deal on a new one.



I don't have any pics of the seats, which are the light grey leather and in good condition but dirty and need a good refurb or cover. They don't at all go with the orange, but if I revert to the original colour might work. If I stick with the orange, then a black leather, grey alcantra and orange stitching combo might look the nuts.....

What I do know is that everything is wet. It apparently smells like a dog inside and mists up at any opportunity. We have not established if a window has been left open or it has a poor door seal etc.

[rhd racer]

Gauges need a refurb. Presume a job for Reap?







Will address in the winter anyway so I can enjoy this summer...

Tyres are 10 years old and the wheels snotty. Genuine cup 1s though...



Suspension is all in need of a refresh. No damper leaks, but questionable whether there is any oil left! All brake rubber lines are getting tired so need replacing, backing plates have turned to dust, ball joint rubbers cracked, same with the track roads, wheel bearings on their way too (a horrible job by all accounts. Just needs everything going through, and I was aiming to lower it anyway because I think the stock ride hide is a little uphill for me, but I wasn't expecting quite so much...





Front and rear undertrays missing...



Plus a few electrical gremlins, but no fault codes.

[964RS]

Spooky there was another Cat C 964 C2 on ebay this week I had thought about....

I do like a bit of orange too though so will watch this one with interest.....

Come by and have a brew when I get it back here Jason. You might even see your old Boxster go past

Sounds like a plan

[rhd racer]

So, the final part of the story for now takes us to ownership.

So the car was what I expected from an engine perspective, but tired everywhere and worse than I was hoping. So, with that in mind the seller and I had a further discussion and I asked if he would throw in a set of coilovers that he had already bought for it to offset the additional work. He agreed, and these became mine included in the originally agreed price....



They are Silvers v2, similar to a KW v2, so fast road and hopefully not to hard with almost infinite adjustment and adjustable from the base as well as the spring perch, so should be able to dial in an RS-ish ride hide easily....

So, there we are. I haven't seen the car yet (as it turns out the third Porsche I have bought without even seeing after the two Boxsters I bought to combine to the race car) so we will see if it turns out to be wise or foolish.

For the money, I think I have done very well. It is straight and corrosion free, so everything else bolts on and can be fixed.

I have a weekend booked in to drop the engine and strip down in a few weeks, so we will see exactly what we have. I know it will need head studs etc, but don't yet know if the heads are fresh enough to re-use or need doing again. Obviously the case needs work, but really the cost of all this will dictate what happens next;

1. Run it as it is for the summer, and enjoy it
2. Get it back with a fresh engine, and then do brakes, steering, suspension, brakes etc all in one go and enjoy

I have insured it for business use and 5k miles pa, so when I am going to those posh offices or dropping the girls somewhere I can use it - and fully intend to buy more petrol than diesel this summer!

The medium term plan, and I mean by next year, is to have it completed in a whatever final guise I decide to take;

1. Keep the GT3 orange, retrim the interior to complement
2. Go back to Midnight Blue - if I decide this based on what I think when I see it, I may get the engine bay sprayed and the engine fan etc whilst the engine is out in a few weeks, to save a full strip later
3. Do a complete colour change and recreate the cars that first got me interested - Rubystone, Maritime etc. A nice problem to have

Either way, it will be an RS tribute in a very loose sense. Make it look like an RS in passing, ride height, possible brake cooling vents, rear bumper, exhaust etc but maintain driveability so my wife can still drive it and we can all go out in it - meaning 4 seats, belts, no cage. It will never be convincing at all, just somewhere between a C2 and an RS with totally rebuilt mechanicals.

Oh, and thanks for the supportive PMs and advice, much appreciated.

Next update in a few weeks when we drop the motor and split the case!!

Cheers
Wayne

[Ian Gunney]

Look forward to hearing more on this Wayne - I'd have to go Mint Green if it was mine...

[hot66]

looks a good basis to have some fun with. Love the idea behind it .. similar to my attitude to my 964 ... comfort touring spec but sharpened up

If it was me I'd be really temped with a full colour change .. agree mint green looks amazing, but I also think signal green can look superb.

Boydyrs on ddk has done a full colour change on his 964 to rubystone

signal / viper



how about ferrari yellow



mint




I could go on for ages

[DustyM]

Making Green Great Again...


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