Off we go to Birmingham..
Discussion
to buy my mate his first 911.
He's been lurking on here for a good while and has always liked my 911s. He had a tight budget and wanted a 996 with aerokit.
Luckily stumbled across this one by a chance chat with the owner on here. The power of Pistonheads again.
Full Hartech rebuild, bespoke interior, KWV3s, etc, etc.
Previous owner runs Cobra seats, hence the interior and the car was a running feature in Total 911 mag a few years ago due to the rebuild etc. It's a bit ott for some at the minute but we'll be losing the wrapped bits and swapping the wheels or at least refurbing them silver again.
Main thing is it's a mint, utterly pampered car which the present owner Chris has kept up and it's a credit to him and the owner before.
Anyway, 8.40 train to Derby then a change. Here we go. Needless to say my mate is a bit excited. No doubt he'll pop in here properly once he's fully Porsche'd up.
PS. Yep it's a MK1 with some MK2 bits but these can be changed if required.
He's been lurking on here for a good while and has always liked my 911s. He had a tight budget and wanted a 996 with aerokit.
Luckily stumbled across this one by a chance chat with the owner on here. The power of Pistonheads again.
Full Hartech rebuild, bespoke interior, KWV3s, etc, etc.
Previous owner runs Cobra seats, hence the interior and the car was a running feature in Total 911 mag a few years ago due to the rebuild etc. It's a bit ott for some at the minute but we'll be losing the wrapped bits and swapping the wheels or at least refurbing them silver again.
Main thing is it's a mint, utterly pampered car which the present owner Chris has kept up and it's a credit to him and the owner before.
Anyway, 8.40 train to Derby then a change. Here we go. Needless to say my mate is a bit excited. No doubt he'll pop in here properly once he's fully Porsche'd up.
PS. Yep it's a MK1 with some MK2 bits but these can be changed if required.
The OP is talking about my 'former' little car (as of 1 hour ago). l am pleased the car is going to be well looked after & my wife & neighbours are relieved the noise of a 996 with fabspeed muffler bypass pipes is now resigned to history, especially early weekend runs out to see the likes of Zyp for breakfast meets.
If anyone wants details of the interior work PM me
If anyone wants details of the interior work PM me
Hi lads,
I'm still posting as Craig doesn't really do the forum thing although he'll be popping on to say hi at some point.
Straightforward day yesterday, trains on time and quite an easy way to travel. I wouldn't want to do it all the time though and the football w
kers that got on for the last few stops before our change over, were exactly what I picture when I think of football. Nevermind, still a hassle-free journey.
Anyway, Chris kindly picked us up from the train station and took us to his place. Lovely place indeed.
Pretty easy inspection process given the history of the car and the Hartech rebuild. The service history files with this car are quite frankly unbelievable!
A very cut-down story of this car is the first or second owner had a service carried out by their opc, who forgot to refill the engine with oil after the service. Oh yes. Another technician hopped in to do the test drive and promptly seized the motor in a big way. A legal battle ensued which took 18 months to resolve, by which time said owner was fed up so the car was sold with the engine which had been loosely boxed up for the 18 months.
This is where Mark stepped in. He owns Cobra seats so in conjunction with Total 911 magazine he decided to sort the car in every way and report on its progress every month.
First thing was the engine went to Baz at Hartech. The email from him to Mark makes for interesting, if grim reading. Due to the way the engine had failed along with the fact it was delivered in boxes half full of water! There was nothing salvageable, hence a completely re-sleeved, rebuilt hartech engine was supplied and fitted.
The car was then fitted with various genuine GT3 goodies and underwent wuite a make-over, becoming the Cobra RS. Bit cheesey for some maybe that is what the car has become known as now so it's part of its history.
The interior was retrimmed in Leather and alcantara. Two Cobra reclining buckets were installed and everything retrimmed to match. Quilted pattern on the seats, red stitching, etc.
The retrim included, alcantara headlining, dash top, door cards, gear lever gaitor. It's honestly a work of art, so again while it's not for everyone it does improve the car immensely. It's very Lambo-esque almost. Top notch in quality and appearance.
Anyway, every part of the car was renewed or enhanced from the gearbox, clutch, GT3 cup spec LSD, KWV3's setup by Chris at Centre Gravity and again not long ago. Brakes alround, including caliper refurb, sports boxes included but at the minute it's running bypass pipes. LOUD!
Far too much to list but absolutely everything, has been sorted, even down to the fitting of the little gaskets behind the door catch striker plates.
the car was then used as Cobras demo car and features in their catalogues and on their stand at shows such as the Autosport show etc. Chris bought the car off his mate Mark and has kept on top of things in exactly the same fashion.
So to summarize we've found an absolute peach of a 996. Honestly we are blown away to have stumbled on it, so although there are some prickly, whingey buggers on here sometimes, the vast majority of lads are great and it's from a chance chat on here with Chris that we've ended up with my mates dream first Porsche.
Needless to say I have first refusal on it in a couple of years time. It drives amazingly similar to my GT3 in terms of steering feedback and agility, due to the KWV3s and its setup.
I'd just like to thank Mark who built it for creating one of the best 996s in the country and Chris for looking after in the same manner. Also big thanks to Chris for being totally staright up about the car throughout the whole deal. It's true what they say "You can weigh up a car by speaking to its owner properly".
True gent and exactly the type of person I like to buy cars from.
Good luck for the future Chris and with finding a replacement. You'll need something like a Lambo or Zonda to top that interior though.
Now the pics at various points -
Interior -
One of the mag covers it was featured in -
Some from yesterday -
Craig realising the "E" is lifting slightly on his caliper.
Back upto Craigs unit in Newcastle -
Home sweet home. Well in my garage actually for last night -
I'm still posting as Craig doesn't really do the forum thing although he'll be popping on to say hi at some point.
Straightforward day yesterday, trains on time and quite an easy way to travel. I wouldn't want to do it all the time though and the football w
kers that got on for the last few stops before our change over, were exactly what I picture when I think of football. Nevermind, still a hassle-free journey.Anyway, Chris kindly picked us up from the train station and took us to his place. Lovely place indeed.
Pretty easy inspection process given the history of the car and the Hartech rebuild. The service history files with this car are quite frankly unbelievable!
A very cut-down story of this car is the first or second owner had a service carried out by their opc, who forgot to refill the engine with oil after the service. Oh yes. Another technician hopped in to do the test drive and promptly seized the motor in a big way. A legal battle ensued which took 18 months to resolve, by which time said owner was fed up so the car was sold with the engine which had been loosely boxed up for the 18 months.
This is where Mark stepped in. He owns Cobra seats so in conjunction with Total 911 magazine he decided to sort the car in every way and report on its progress every month.
First thing was the engine went to Baz at Hartech. The email from him to Mark makes for interesting, if grim reading. Due to the way the engine had failed along with the fact it was delivered in boxes half full of water! There was nothing salvageable, hence a completely re-sleeved, rebuilt hartech engine was supplied and fitted.
The car was then fitted with various genuine GT3 goodies and underwent wuite a make-over, becoming the Cobra RS. Bit cheesey for some maybe that is what the car has become known as now so it's part of its history.
The interior was retrimmed in Leather and alcantara. Two Cobra reclining buckets were installed and everything retrimmed to match. Quilted pattern on the seats, red stitching, etc.
The retrim included, alcantara headlining, dash top, door cards, gear lever gaitor. It's honestly a work of art, so again while it's not for everyone it does improve the car immensely. It's very Lambo-esque almost. Top notch in quality and appearance.
Anyway, every part of the car was renewed or enhanced from the gearbox, clutch, GT3 cup spec LSD, KWV3's setup by Chris at Centre Gravity and again not long ago. Brakes alround, including caliper refurb, sports boxes included but at the minute it's running bypass pipes. LOUD!
Far too much to list but absolutely everything, has been sorted, even down to the fitting of the little gaskets behind the door catch striker plates.
the car was then used as Cobras demo car and features in their catalogues and on their stand at shows such as the Autosport show etc. Chris bought the car off his mate Mark and has kept on top of things in exactly the same fashion.
So to summarize we've found an absolute peach of a 996. Honestly we are blown away to have stumbled on it, so although there are some prickly, whingey buggers on here sometimes, the vast majority of lads are great and it's from a chance chat on here with Chris that we've ended up with my mates dream first Porsche.
Needless to say I have first refusal on it in a couple of years time. It drives amazingly similar to my GT3 in terms of steering feedback and agility, due to the KWV3s and its setup.
I'd just like to thank Mark who built it for creating one of the best 996s in the country and Chris for looking after in the same manner. Also big thanks to Chris for being totally staright up about the car throughout the whole deal. It's true what they say "You can weigh up a car by speaking to its owner properly".
True gent and exactly the type of person I like to buy cars from.
Good luck for the future Chris and with finding a replacement. You'll need something like a Lambo or Zonda to top that interior though.
Now the pics at various points -
Interior -
One of the mag covers it was featured in -
Some from yesterday -
Craig realising the "E" is lifting slightly on his caliper.
Back upto Craigs unit in Newcastle -
Home sweet home. Well in my garage actually for last night -
Edited by marky911 on Sunday 10th February 12:41
I shall really miss my regular outings with Chris in this awesome car. He will in the short term have to make do with co piloting me on trips out, but lots planned for 2013 including Le Mans 24 hrs.
Looks like the car has found a really good home..enjoy it..the drive & noise are just brilliant! Enjoy!
Looks like the car has found a really good home..enjoy it..the drive & noise are just brilliant! Enjoy!
marky911 said:
The car has a certain identity now but I think we'll remove the wrap from the bonnet and roof and re-do the wheels silver.
I`d certainly remove the wraps and return the wheels to how they appear in the above pictures. The interior, as has been said, is very nice.marky911 said:
A very cut-down story of this car is the first or second owner had a service carried out by their opc, who forgot to refill the engine with oil after the service. Oh yes. Another technician hopped in to do the test drive and promptly seized the motor in a big way. A legal battle ensued which took 18 months to resolve, by which time said owner was fed up so the car was sold with the engine which had been loosely boxed up for the 18 months.
I`d be interested in how the above resulted in a legal battle, it appears to be the responsibility of the OPC or am I missing something?B16DSS - Hi there, Chris mentioned your Targa quite a bit and is buzzing for the Lemans trip. I love it over there although we haven't done it since '08 or '09. Have fun!
Hi Deerfoot, yep Craigs plan is to turn the car back to how it looked on that mag cover above with silver wheels, black sidewinder decals but remove the black bonnet and roof.
As to the legal battle, I can't remember exactly what went on and it should have been a simple case of Porsche being responsible but they didn't see it like that for a while. Well quite a long while obviously given that the car and engine parts sat for 18 months! They paid up in the end.
Hi Plastic toad, yep it's still a 3.4 just better than when it left the factory now. Yep the black wheels are actually growing on us but we like our cars to be immaculate road cars, whereas at the moment the black wheels look a bit track-use. They do look much nicer in the metal though and highlight the red calipers really nicely.
Hi Jimmy, yeah I'm sure Craig will post up somemore pics as the car develops. I'm at the top of the queue to be the next owner but obviously can't say what I'll be commited to at the time when Craig decides he wants out of it, so you never know it could be up for sale again in 2 or 3 years.
Here are a few more pics from today. Craigs car went to his and I dug my GT3 out of hibernation and took it home. Not exactly a scenic location -
Hi Deerfoot, yep Craigs plan is to turn the car back to how it looked on that mag cover above with silver wheels, black sidewinder decals but remove the black bonnet and roof.
As to the legal battle, I can't remember exactly what went on and it should have been a simple case of Porsche being responsible but they didn't see it like that for a while. Well quite a long while obviously given that the car and engine parts sat for 18 months! They paid up in the end.
Hi Plastic toad, yep it's still a 3.4 just better than when it left the factory now.
Yep the black wheels are actually growing on us but we like our cars to be immaculate road cars, whereas at the moment the black wheels look a bit track-use. They do look much nicer in the metal though and highlight the red calipers really nicely.Hi Jimmy, yeah I'm sure Craig will post up somemore pics as the car develops. I'm at the top of the queue to be the next owner but obviously can't say what I'll be commited to at the time when Craig decides he wants out of it, so you never know it could be up for sale again in 2 or 3 years.
Here are a few more pics from today. Craigs car went to his and I dug my GT3 out of hibernation and took it home. Not exactly a scenic location -
Edited by marky911 on Sunday 10th February 19:51
Hi there, to introduce myself, i'm Craig the new owner of the silver 996 in posted pictures by my friend Mark. Made the move UP to a Porsche after 4 years of TVR ownership, always wanted a Cerbera, got one, enjoyed it (when it was working anyway) no regrets but will never have another, i just needed something more reliable and better put together, a Porsche was the only way forward for me after being in every one of Marks... Hopefully this is the car.... and so far, after 24 hrs of ownership... it is..... 
Thanks to everyone who has posted about the car, to Chris the previous owner for selling it to me... Genuine guy, genuine sale... and to Mark for finding it through this very Porsche forum...
I'm sure during Porsche ownership i'll be on here for help from time to time so thanks in advance for this....
Take it easy
Craig
Thanks to everyone who has posted about the car, to Chris the previous owner for selling it to me... Genuine guy, genuine sale... and to Mark for finding it through this very Porsche forum...
I'm sure during Porsche ownership i'll be on here for help from time to time so thanks in advance for this....
Take it easy
Craig
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