993 c2s // kds keltec.. Amazing!
Discussion
(meant 'amazing' in the title)
After a few years of hesitation, A LOT of various models seen. After having sold my beautifull 996tt.. I have finally decided to take the plunge and buy a 993 c2s.. manual of course..
The car I bought was effectively very healthy and inspected by the relevent people for peace of mind. It also benefited from having brand new suspension fitted.
Still, it needed some additional tlc. I spent a small fortune, buying at porsche all the small missing parts such as: new badges, original mats, spoiler curtain, pedal rubbers, and a whole lot of other small things.
Then I had the exhaust modified by hayward and scott in essex with bypass to get the proper aircooled soundtrack. This is one cool and rather cost effective mod as one keep their existing rear boxes and get 'bypass valves' welded onto them. The sound is a nice deep burble, although far from being too intrusive or boy racer.
Finally, the car underwent a thorough paint correction and interior detailing with KDS keltec in Kent. The car was full of swirrles before.
The wheels needed refurb (did this at the same time with lepsons). This is where I went offside, as I had the wheels redone in a slightly brighter and mettalic silver rather than the dull original grey finish. I thought for a moment of getting the same 'chrome' paint as on a 993 turbo 's', but decided otherwise as it would have been too 'flash'.
The work done by Lepsons on the alloys is purely and simply first class. This guys are operating like a factory and the turnover is phenomenal. They can walk you through all sorts of different finishes before you even make your final colour decision.
The car does not have a single swirrle left on it, although at one point I thought it needed full respray. The depth of the paint is unbelievable now. A ray of sunshine makes the car come to life. The dullness is totally gone.
All the inside was cleaned / steam cleaned and very specific products were used. Leather and plastics were treated and sealed. I thought it needed reconnolysing but it did not. The engine bay was cleaned by hand.
The final result is mind blowing in the metal (not sure it shows really well in the pics). It was not cheap, but it is like having a different car. Almost a new car actually. The depth of the paint is shockingly beautifull. The pictures may not show the full extent of the work (I only have the 'after' pics), but it trully is the work of a magician. Kelly at KDS may not have the most advanced social skills, but hell he is one brilliant, fussy, hard working, perfectionist. Hats off to him adn his team.
I rarely post such threads, but I am so over the moon and positively surprised by the results that I thought of sharing it.
Btw, the car is no spring chicken as it has close to 80k miles on the clock. It now looks more like a 20k miles car.
After a few years of hesitation, A LOT of various models seen. After having sold my beautifull 996tt.. I have finally decided to take the plunge and buy a 993 c2s.. manual of course..
The car I bought was effectively very healthy and inspected by the relevent people for peace of mind. It also benefited from having brand new suspension fitted.
Still, it needed some additional tlc. I spent a small fortune, buying at porsche all the small missing parts such as: new badges, original mats, spoiler curtain, pedal rubbers, and a whole lot of other small things.
Then I had the exhaust modified by hayward and scott in essex with bypass to get the proper aircooled soundtrack. This is one cool and rather cost effective mod as one keep their existing rear boxes and get 'bypass valves' welded onto them. The sound is a nice deep burble, although far from being too intrusive or boy racer.
Finally, the car underwent a thorough paint correction and interior detailing with KDS keltec in Kent. The car was full of swirrles before.
The wheels needed refurb (did this at the same time with lepsons). This is where I went offside, as I had the wheels redone in a slightly brighter and mettalic silver rather than the dull original grey finish. I thought for a moment of getting the same 'chrome' paint as on a 993 turbo 's', but decided otherwise as it would have been too 'flash'.
The work done by Lepsons on the alloys is purely and simply first class. This guys are operating like a factory and the turnover is phenomenal. They can walk you through all sorts of different finishes before you even make your final colour decision.
The car does not have a single swirrle left on it, although at one point I thought it needed full respray. The depth of the paint is unbelievable now. A ray of sunshine makes the car come to life. The dullness is totally gone.
All the inside was cleaned / steam cleaned and very specific products were used. Leather and plastics were treated and sealed. I thought it needed reconnolysing but it did not. The engine bay was cleaned by hand.
The final result is mind blowing in the metal (not sure it shows really well in the pics). It was not cheap, but it is like having a different car. Almost a new car actually. The depth of the paint is shockingly beautifull. The pictures may not show the full extent of the work (I only have the 'after' pics), but it trully is the work of a magician. Kelly at KDS may not have the most advanced social skills, but hell he is one brilliant, fussy, hard working, perfectionist. Hats off to him adn his team.
I rarely post such threads, but I am so over the moon and positively surprised by the results that I thought of sharing it.
Btw, the car is no spring chicken as it has close to 80k miles on the clock. It now looks more like a 20k miles car.
Edited by erics on Monday 30th May 00:44
Edited by erics on Monday 30th May 00:49
Edited by erics on Monday 30th May 01:00
thanks for the kind comments.
The 996 turbo was an epic car. Particularly with a remap.
The 993 is a car with soul. Simple. In its latest aircooled itteration, it is one -well sorry for the lack of a better word- very 'cool' car.
With a decent exhaust on, you just want to cruise around, enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the soundtrack and think that life is beautiful.
I actually feel that a manual 993 WITH a 996 turbo are probably not far off from being the ideal porsche-nut garage. A bit of 'old' and 'new' testament.
I was also after a mint low miles 993. And I saw quite a few of them. But you know what, some of them were not very good at all. Most had re-issued service books.
I saw dozens of them. When I saw this onr, I knew it was for me. All it needed was a bit of tlc.
And I do agree, these pictures don't do Kelly's work any justice, but i am no pro photographer and my camera is a panasonic tz-65.. Don't expect miracles..
The 996 turbo was an epic car. Particularly with a remap.
The 993 is a car with soul. Simple. In its latest aircooled itteration, it is one -well sorry for the lack of a better word- very 'cool' car.
With a decent exhaust on, you just want to cruise around, enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the soundtrack and think that life is beautiful.
I actually feel that a manual 993 WITH a 996 turbo are probably not far off from being the ideal porsche-nut garage. A bit of 'old' and 'new' testament.
I was also after a mint low miles 993. And I saw quite a few of them. But you know what, some of them were not very good at all. Most had re-issued service books.
I saw dozens of them. When I saw this onr, I knew it was for me. All it needed was a bit of tlc.
And I do agree, these pictures don't do Kelly's work any justice, but i am no pro photographer and my camera is a panasonic tz-65.. Don't expect miracles..
carcrazypop said:
Looks great but also needs some coloured centre crests for the wheels IMHO
I'm also thinking of changing my 996t for a mint 993 if I can find one; do you regret your change or would you recommend it
I'm also thinking of changing my 996t for a mint 993 if I can find one; do you regret your change or would you recommend it
oh, and I agree on the reg plates. They were on the to do list from the off, but I have yet to get my head around doing this.
I also strongly recommand to anyone with a vanilla 993 (without the sound upgrade) to get themselves one of these new alpine amplified headunits. They are astonishing. The original sony unit was barely audible. This one gives a sound that is not far off the bose system in my 996 turbo. Really amazing. And it does not look flashy at all either.
I also strongly recommand to anyone with a vanilla 993 (without the sound upgrade) to get themselves one of these new alpine amplified headunits. They are astonishing. The original sony unit was barely audible. This one gives a sound that is not far off the bose system in my 996 turbo. Really amazing. And it does not look flashy at all either.
I know what you are saying and you are correct, he is extremely passionate about his job but he seems to be extraordinarily busy working very very hard. So, my comment needs a little clarification: when I first contacted Kelly via email, he almost turned me off suggesting I may be a time waster, suggesting I was asking too many questions and unlikely to commit to have business done..
Then, and persevering through the slightly first cold approach, I drove from London to kds, he went: 'look, I don't really need business now, I have too much, so you could as well take your car elsewhere'.. I was a bit taken aback..
I thought 'blimey', I don't really feel welcome in here.
During the two weeks my car was there, things changed: the lady working there -Tracy- always returned all my calls and followed up every couple of days. She was a true gem and assisting along the way. She focussed on the car interior as well and went out of her ways to have some additional details fixed.
The delivery date was pushed away by a week.
When I came to pick up my car, Kelly was working on an Aston and barely said hi. I think it is because he is so focussed on his job that he does not even bother doing a bit of PR.
But you know what? All this is fine by me: there are still people on this planet with amazing work ethics. The chap is a bit rough, but in the end I totally understand where he is coming from. I highly respect this. He probably prefers to be judged by the results rather than playing the internet / marketing trick.
When I finally left, I said: 'hey Kelly, amazing job on the car, really very impressive'. He replied: 'yup, as usual!' and went straight back head down into his job... Regardless of the slightly immodest response, it seems that he and his team accomplish an absolute miracle on every car that passes through their hands.
So my initial comment was a little tongue in cheek but not a negative at all. More of the opposite in fact..
Then, and persevering through the slightly first cold approach, I drove from London to kds, he went: 'look, I don't really need business now, I have too much, so you could as well take your car elsewhere'.. I was a bit taken aback..
I thought 'blimey', I don't really feel welcome in here.
During the two weeks my car was there, things changed: the lady working there -Tracy- always returned all my calls and followed up every couple of days. She was a true gem and assisting along the way. She focussed on the car interior as well and went out of her ways to have some additional details fixed.
The delivery date was pushed away by a week.
When I came to pick up my car, Kelly was working on an Aston and barely said hi. I think it is because he is so focussed on his job that he does not even bother doing a bit of PR.
But you know what? All this is fine by me: there are still people on this planet with amazing work ethics. The chap is a bit rough, but in the end I totally understand where he is coming from. I highly respect this. He probably prefers to be judged by the results rather than playing the internet / marketing trick.
When I finally left, I said: 'hey Kelly, amazing job on the car, really very impressive'. He replied: 'yup, as usual!' and went straight back head down into his job... Regardless of the slightly immodest response, it seems that he and his team accomplish an absolute miracle on every car that passes through their hands.
So my initial comment was a little tongue in cheek but not a negative at all. More of the opposite in fact..
puntograle said:
Sorry eric, I just needed to repond to the above minor point in your write up. Not sure what experience you had here...
I had my GT3 detailed by Kelly last year, and the guy is a total enthusiast of the work he does and if he meets a fellow enthusiast can spend an entire evening exchanging thoughts and ideas about your car, other cars, cars in his garage, etc... So there is absolutely no problem with this social skills! more advanced that the average Petrol/Piston head!
...the car looks great though
I had my GT3 detailed by Kelly last year, and the guy is a total enthusiast of the work he does and if he meets a fellow enthusiast can spend an entire evening exchanging thoughts and ideas about your car, other cars, cars in his garage, etc... So there is absolutely no problem with this social skills! more advanced that the average Petrol/Piston head!
...the car looks great though
Edited by erics on Monday 30th May 15:10
You should not be deterred by my post. Here is why:
Last year, I had a 1989 black mercedes 300sl type r107 paint corrected by people who were nicer and cheaper than KDS (I did not know of them at the time).
Still, after having seen the results on my 993, I wish I had used KDS for the mercedes as well.
Seeing the result of my 993 leads me to the following conclusion: it would be VERY difficult to get a better job.
Despite my brief initial grief, I can wholeheartedly recommend KDS. Forget the slight roughness (which may actually be down to a lot of people messing him around), and just judge by the quality of the job done.
Prepare yourself to be impressed.
NOW, the next step will be to get the car serviced... Another lump of cash about to come out... Have to find the right place there as well...
On another different front, I have to report something else in my recent 993 adventure: I had the car inspected (prior to purchase) by a well respected specialist in Essex (near where the seller was). I was not there when they did it, but someone I know was there. They spent 4 hours on the car checking everything and giving me a full run down over the phone. I know they looked in all the 'right' places.
Yet, it took them 3 weeks (!) to get the written inspection back to me (I had to ask 3 times and felt like I was ennoying them).
There, I ended up being pretty pi$$ed off and certainly won't use these people for servicing despite the good feedback they get.
So the search is on for the right specialist not too far away from me (East-ish London).
Last year, I had a 1989 black mercedes 300sl type r107 paint corrected by people who were nicer and cheaper than KDS (I did not know of them at the time).
Still, after having seen the results on my 993, I wish I had used KDS for the mercedes as well.
Seeing the result of my 993 leads me to the following conclusion: it would be VERY difficult to get a better job.
Despite my brief initial grief, I can wholeheartedly recommend KDS. Forget the slight roughness (which may actually be down to a lot of people messing him around), and just judge by the quality of the job done.
Prepare yourself to be impressed.
NOW, the next step will be to get the car serviced... Another lump of cash about to come out... Have to find the right place there as well...
On another different front, I have to report something else in my recent 993 adventure: I had the car inspected (prior to purchase) by a well respected specialist in Essex (near where the seller was). I was not there when they did it, but someone I know was there. They spent 4 hours on the car checking everything and giving me a full run down over the phone. I know they looked in all the 'right' places.
Yet, it took them 3 weeks (!) to get the written inspection back to me (I had to ask 3 times and felt like I was ennoying them).
There, I ended up being pretty pi$$ed off and certainly won't use these people for servicing despite the good feedback they get.
So the search is on for the right specialist not too far away from me (East-ish London).
Caymanator said:
I commend your tolerance and patience. That would have been it for me. I will be having my car detailed at some stage and won't be using this chap. I'm positive that there are equally proficient detailers out there who can muster a modicum of good manners towards me when I procure their not inexpensive services.
Still, as he said, he seems busy enough so there are obviously enough people out their who will tolerate such rudeness and pay for the pleasure.
I am glad you are pleased with the results though and I hope you enjoy your fantastic car.
Still, as he said, he seems busy enough so there are obviously enough people out their who will tolerate such rudeness and pay for the pleasure.
I am glad you are pleased with the results though and I hope you enjoy your fantastic car.
Ocean blue
blueyonder said:
Looks fantastic....all of the things you've had done are on my wish list albeit I may need a front end respray due to the severity of the stone chipping! Had my C4 detailed after I bought it including paint correction and I can vouch for the massive difference and how it brightens up the paintwork!
Is yours Iris blue?
Enjoy the fruits of your labour!
Is yours Iris blue?
Enjoy the fruits of your labour!
So this should probably tell a better story than my lengthy digression....
Enjoy...
BEFORE:
http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll168/kdskeltec...
AFTER:
http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll168/kdskeltec...
Enjoy...
BEFORE:
http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll168/kdskeltec...
AFTER:
http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll168/kdskeltec...
Posting what you have posted, you clearly have no idea of what these people do and have never been anywhere near this outfit. I won't blame you. I had the same attitude 3 weeks ago.
You should really go and have a look for yourself.
I am the greatest sceptic you can find. Trust me, I think twice before handing out my cash to people I don't know.
Kelly pushes the enveloppe of his job. He will go the extra mile.
He won't let a car go that's not up to his very high standards, regardless of how much more time is needed to complete the job.
He will charge only what he said he would charge from the off.
Value For Money is amazing.
A decent respray on such car would be what? 5-6k?
Here for less than £1k, you get dings out, paint correction, wheels, interior.
Your 15 year old car comes back better than new.
For what cost? less than 3% of its value??
Just go and try for yourself.
Over the years, I have been in a lot of different outfits with different cars from main dealers to specialists, from ferraris to porsches via lotuses. There is only one conclusion: this place is something else.
You should really go and have a look for yourself.
I am the greatest sceptic you can find. Trust me, I think twice before handing out my cash to people I don't know.
Kelly pushes the enveloppe of his job. He will go the extra mile.
He won't let a car go that's not up to his very high standards, regardless of how much more time is needed to complete the job.
He will charge only what he said he would charge from the off.
Value For Money is amazing.
A decent respray on such car would be what? 5-6k?
Here for less than £1k, you get dings out, paint correction, wheels, interior.
Your 15 year old car comes back better than new.
For what cost? less than 3% of its value??
Just go and try for yourself.
Over the years, I have been in a lot of different outfits with different cars from main dealers to specialists, from ferraris to porsches via lotuses. There is only one conclusion: this place is something else.
Mermaid said:
He is very good at paint correction, but is it because he thinks he is an artist that the problem arises...;)
Perhaps his time management/delegation could be better?
Perhaps his time management/delegation could be better?
surface enhancement only. Although a very advanced one.
I had paint correction silver for medium car.
Then add the wheels 280 + vat.
Then engine detail.
Then dings removed.
I mentioned earlier in the thread the approximate coast.
His website gives an idea of the menus available.
If you are serious about enhancing your car, go there, trust the guy and come back 2 weeks later. You will be a happy man.
I had paint correction silver for medium car.
Then add the wheels 280 + vat.
Then engine detail.
Then dings removed.
I mentioned earlier in the thread the approximate coast.
His website gives an idea of the menus available.
If you are serious about enhancing your car, go there, trust the guy and come back 2 weeks later. You will be a happy man.
Gary11 said:
If you dont mind me asking please dont be specific but what sort of money does it come to for a full interior and exterior detail? And how long do they need your car?
When you say paint correction is this just for surface enhancement or actual paint repairs?
Cheers
G
When you say paint correction is this just for surface enhancement or actual paint repairs?
Cheers
G
I think we should settle this slight misunderstanding once and for all:
1/ I thought the initial contact was a little rough, but what came after made up for it x1000 times.
2/ The guy is amazing and we even exchanged a few more personnal emails afterwards.
All in all, one of my happiest car experience ever.
On a side note, I did not know Kelly serviced Porsches.
1/ I thought the initial contact was a little rough, but what came after made up for it x1000 times.
2/ The guy is amazing and we even exchanged a few more personnal emails afterwards.
All in all, one of my happiest car experience ever.
On a side note, I did not know Kelly serviced Porsches.
Jason2002 said:
Hi Erics, I have known Kelly for about 15 years, he has always looked after mine and my families cars (servicing, modifying and detailing). All I can say is you must of caught him at a bad time (was it nearly home time lol), he has always been very helpful (and chatty). I have never had any problems when I have been to KDS, I book my car(s) in with Tracy and drop it off that morning and wait for the call to say it’s ready.
I will say, he is a VERY busy guy, if he’s not detailing he will be either servicing, modifying, restoring a car or being the boss man and managing his staff or doing paperwork etc (basically running his company). It is not in Kelly’s nature to be rude to a customer.
May I ask Erics, did you drop your car off late for your booking?
I did see your car when I booked mine in for a service, it did look amazing and it certainly doesn’t look its age.
PS, you should have got Kelly to service your car whilst it was there.
I will say, he is a VERY busy guy, if he’s not detailing he will be either servicing, modifying, restoring a car or being the boss man and managing his staff or doing paperwork etc (basically running his company). It is not in Kelly’s nature to be rude to a customer.
May I ask Erics, did you drop your car off late for your booking?
I did see your car when I booked mine in for a service, it did look amazing and it certainly doesn’t look its age.
PS, you should have got Kelly to service your car whilst it was there.
Your assumption is correct and I won't deny it.
I did ask a lot of questions and was my usual PITA self..
When it comes to cars in general and my cars in particular, I want to know everything about everything.
I am very enthusiastic and a bit intense about it (I am pretty sure I would not be the only one in these vicinities).
Difference between me and some others though is that I only allow myself this kind of attitude when I am confident I want to commit and get business done.
I certainly appreciate that lots of people call, ask stuff and end up doing nothing. I would personally quickly get very pi$$ed off if I was in his place.
Fortunatly, it all worked out great for everyone.
Anyway, bottom line is: if you want you car to look its best, there are few places (if any) that will achieve such results.
The only purpose of this thread was to say how happy I was with the results, show the pictures and (maybe) inspire some people to go through a similar pleasant experience.
People seem to focus on the negatives, they should only look at the extremely positive outcome of this story.
I did ask a lot of questions and was my usual PITA self..
When it comes to cars in general and my cars in particular, I want to know everything about everything.
I am very enthusiastic and a bit intense about it (I am pretty sure I would not be the only one in these vicinities).
Difference between me and some others though is that I only allow myself this kind of attitude when I am confident I want to commit and get business done.
I certainly appreciate that lots of people call, ask stuff and end up doing nothing. I would personally quickly get very pi$$ed off if I was in his place.
Fortunatly, it all worked out great for everyone.
Anyway, bottom line is: if you want you car to look its best, there are few places (if any) that will achieve such results.
The only purpose of this thread was to say how happy I was with the results, show the pictures and (maybe) inspire some people to go through a similar pleasant experience.
People seem to focus on the negatives, they should only look at the extremely positive outcome of this story.
jackal said:
No, with respect to erics, it sounds to me like he asked a lot of questions and there was a bit of pontificating/hesitataion on his behalf, maybe some other crossed words, and this irritated the detailer and I know exactly how he felt and totally agree with his response that these people usually don't commit. Now naturally, erics hasn't expanded upon his questions and even if he did it would probably be in minimised fashion and we wouldn't hear how it was experienced on the side of the detailer but suffice to say that there are 2 sides to every story in life and each protagonist experiences a given story in a completely different way. These internet forum reports, you have to look through them and see way beyond into what might have happened. Human interaction is very very complex.
Hi Paul, I did see your car almost finished and seen the step by step pictures of the whole process.
The first time I saw it, i thought it looked pretty much like a new car.
Initially, I thought: 'hum a timewrap in which someone has only driven 10k miles since new'...
Then I saw the 'before' pics. I did not know such renovation was possible... I guess your budget was somewhat larger than mine.
Looking forward to read your post and see the pictures again.
The first time I saw it, i thought it looked pretty much like a new car.
Initially, I thought: 'hum a timewrap in which someone has only driven 10k miles since new'...
Then I saw the 'before' pics. I did not know such renovation was possible... I guess your budget was somewhat larger than mine.
Looking forward to read your post and see the pictures again.
pac man said:
Hi Erics,
Interesting post and made for a good read.
I saw your car before and after, and agree the trasformation was awesome and nothing less than usual for Kelly.
You may or may not have seen, but i had a dark blue 930 turbo that Kelly has worked on for the last 3 months, sitting in the back.
Given Kelly's engineering background (and the fact he looks after all my cars) I gave him my (impulse purchase) rather sorry 930 to restore. With bodywork/interior/wheels/brakes/aircon/underneath/suspension and pretty much anything else you can think of being restored or replaced it looks like a different car. As we speak there is a fabspeed perfomance package being fitted by kelly at the moment. A small gearbox leak for kelly to fix and its back home.
I digress, but the point im making is that his skill base goes far beyond that of detailing. Kelly will service and take care of all aspects of my 930.
He found a fault on my murcie in less than 1 hour that the dealer coudnt find in a week! And fixed it for less than they charged to look!
Yes he is busy, and i know receives a huge amount of emails and phone calls, with far too many people trying to get his help and knowledge for free.
IMO is he is the best in the country, YES!! Is he trustworthy, YES. Does he always have time to talk, no, but his results speak for themsleves.
This may sound quite defensive of Kelly, but as a loyal customer and fan of his work, i give him my cars and pay whats asked at the end (im past agreeing a price with him beforehand as ive need been overcharged!). He know my level of OCD and always leaves me feeling like a school kid.
As said his valet, is others detail.
As sson as he does a write up for me of my 930 i'll get it posted.
Best
Paul
Interesting post and made for a good read.
I saw your car before and after, and agree the trasformation was awesome and nothing less than usual for Kelly.
You may or may not have seen, but i had a dark blue 930 turbo that Kelly has worked on for the last 3 months, sitting in the back.
Given Kelly's engineering background (and the fact he looks after all my cars) I gave him my (impulse purchase) rather sorry 930 to restore. With bodywork/interior/wheels/brakes/aircon/underneath/suspension and pretty much anything else you can think of being restored or replaced it looks like a different car. As we speak there is a fabspeed perfomance package being fitted by kelly at the moment. A small gearbox leak for kelly to fix and its back home.
I digress, but the point im making is that his skill base goes far beyond that of detailing. Kelly will service and take care of all aspects of my 930.
He found a fault on my murcie in less than 1 hour that the dealer coudnt find in a week! And fixed it for less than they charged to look!
Yes he is busy, and i know receives a huge amount of emails and phone calls, with far too many people trying to get his help and knowledge for free.
IMO is he is the best in the country, YES!! Is he trustworthy, YES. Does he always have time to talk, no, but his results speak for themsleves.
This may sound quite defensive of Kelly, but as a loyal customer and fan of his work, i give him my cars and pay whats asked at the end (im past agreeing a price with him beforehand as ive need been overcharged!). He know my level of OCD and always leaves me feeling like a school kid.
As said his valet, is others detail.
As sson as he does a write up for me of my 930 i'll get it posted.
Best
Paul
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