Autofarm Trackday build/ rebuild on my 996 Carrera 3.4

[dom9]

Can't believe it has been over 6 months since I updated this thread. In that time Lou and I have moved to Singapore and the car is safely tucked up at the Autofarm storage facility... Where it will be sleeping until we get home (which could be quite a while).

Before it was put away, it had a full major service, Milltek rear boxes (nice sound, not too loud, much lighter than standard and reasonably priced) and a GT3, alcantara steering wheel with the red stitching to match the gear stick.



Here is a photo from my 911 and Porsche World article in the November '09 issue:



And here is a picture from Bedford when Lou and I did the London Meet trackday, which was excellent, though it got a bit wet for the R888's later on and we headed home early-ish.



I really miss it! We have a gold, automatic Toyota Corolla, 5 door over here! Cars are mega money though and my company provides it, so I am somewhat grateful! However, I have now developed a list of 46 separate parts, upgrades and bits I would like to be done to the car to make it perfect, including a full strip down and seam weld. Whether it will ever happen, who knows as we could end up being here for many years, but it is my project.

Thanks to Robin and Mikey at Autofarm, as always, for doing the various bits and bobs and taking such good care of it. There is now 82k on the clock and it was running as sweet as ever when I left, though 2nd gear had popped out a couple of times in the last few hundred miles, so the 2nd gear detent will probably go on there to sort that.

Else, maybe I will take a week or two off next year, tax it and MOT it and take it round Europe, take in the 'Ring and maybe Stelvio before heading back here for work?

[dom9]

Thanks Steve, just noticed some of the pics weren't working, so I have sorted that out!

It is a grear car that I love dearly but as some of the TT and you yourself must know, a project is rarely ever finished, so we will see what happens over the next few years as I think it is probably a keeper as a project!

Will buy something 'standard' to go with it and maybe go a little more hardcore with this car... We shall see!

[dom9]

98C4S said:

Really inspirational thread - nice one Dom

Cheers mate, how is air cooled life treating you?

Pity I will be missing the London Meet, despite being back in the UK!

[dom9]

98C4S said:

It is a shame, it looks like it's going to be a big turn out too.

Car is awesome - Will take you out in it, you'll want one!

I won't - LOL!

I feel the need to turn to the dark side, like Pierre

It does look awesome though! If I am not too battered after my mates wedding on the Saturday and if we have come back into town to sleep, I may PM a couple of you and see if there is a pax available for the meet as I don't feel like missing out!

[dom9]

Thanks Cal, very kind!

If we come back into town on the Saturday night, then I suspect we have got a train, which means it won't be that late... Will get in touch on the other thread!

[dom9]

Hi Hoopsuk - Thanks for the comments

I moved to Singapore and then moved from Singapore to Houston, where I still am!

I decided to sell the car a few months ago as it had been sitting in storage for almost 3 years...

It deserved more than that and although it was 'looked after' and run-up by Autofarm, I didn't want to pay storage bills indefinitely either.

So, the car is being shipped to Hong Kong to be with another forum member

I was sorry to see it go, especially since there were new parts on there I'd never even used (e.g. the GT3 steering wheel etc) but needs must and all that!

Slightly poetic that it ended up going to Asia just after I left but I am sure it is going to a great home and hopefully the new owner will update us, here!

I never did make it to the dyno or get started on the other 20+ point list of things I'd like to do but maybe I'll start another project when I move home.

Having said that, despite some relationship troubles, I'm enjoying Houston and may stay a while... I have enquired about a 962 replica, here, so watch this space

[dom9]

Hoopsuk said:

Good show,

You must be in the Oil and Gas industry? I lived in H-town (sugarland and then Cypress) for 2 years before moving to Perth. Cars, parts and expertise over there are so cheap (relatively) it would be rude not to get stuck into some sort of project. Texas has to be one of the best Bang for buck locations in the world, not the most inspiring place but i would move back there. I too have a storage problem in the UK but am fortunate enough to have very little capital in there (i.e. they're all shtters) and a large unused, parental supplied storage unit.

All the best, get another 911 derivative, something different for TX.

Yeah, I am an engineer for a (primarily) Subsea FEED consultancy. I live on the West side, near the office and Westchase, kind of Beltway and Richmond.

I used to live ('05) downtown but I am older and quieter these days. I am not a big fan of Texas but my (soon to be ex) missus is a Yank, hence why we moved from Singapore to here. With that all falling apart, I may be back in London in the not too distant future but we shall see as life, in general, isn' too bad and the income does allow some nice toys with a high standard of living!

Good luck with this project. I used to go back and forth to Perth quite a bit but I could have never lived there, no offence. George's Terrace after 5pm was always like a ghost town and being so remote, I thought I would struggle, somewhat!

[dom9]

Hoopsuk said:

Absolutely agree with everything you just said. But then a dead St. Georges after 5pm is very reminiscent of a dead main St, Memorial or montrose in the early evening. Most modern (new world) cities are the same in my experience. Although it has picked up a little in recent years it will never be like a euro or asian city. The population of Perth city itself is less than 10,000. The other 1.5 ish million live across quite a large area 70km from north to south so are really rather sparse, hence the consistent 'dead' feel to foreigners here. Perth is like marmite. If you want to find the people then you need to go down the beach at 5-6 am. Its where all the bikini clad sportsters and early to bed lifestylers are and it can make the downtown seem a little dead. Perthites, have the sun, beaches, bush and the wildlife on the doorstep, for all of its flaws I think it is hard to beat the quality and proximity of the outdoor life when comparing to other cities.
I'll be off when the boom is over but it has grown on me over the years, I left the US after the drilling ban imposed post MC-252, the consultancy salaries down here have to be seen on a payslip to be believed, although this is changing rapidly with the plummeting Aussie Dollar. Basically, if you don't like the outdoors particularly much and the salaries don't draw you then yeah, Perth isn't the place to be.

I don't know, man - Memorial and Montrose are pretty lively these days... Or maybe I am just getting older?

The salaries in Perth were lower than Singapore and the tax was higher (I paid none) so it was a non-starter for me and although I have some great friends there, it's just too far from my friends and family (some who are getting on now) and especially my (A LOT) younger siblings (5 and 10). I'd just rather be home now but I have a lot of personal stuff to wade through, so might as well stay here for a while and enjoy the sunshine and cheap(ish) performance cars