Guards Red 996
Discussion
Not much of an update for the 911 since the last posts, I've only just gotten round to removing that old GB sticker from the ring trip. However I got a chance to give it a deep clean this weekend, and I'm getting ready for the yearly MOT! I still need to fit some new ARB bushes, which were duly purchased months ago - lazy boy. Other than that, the only thing that could hold me back is the exhaust being a crusty bugger! If it gets through with no dramas, I next need to whip the door cards off and see if I can do something to help the electric windows - not sure if anyone else has had the same, but they're slow and squeeky to rise (ooer).
(The Astons not mine - its owned by a friend, I wish...)
Also, my trusty 335D is gone. I took it from somewhere around 130k, to 197k in 3 years - and it was brilliant to be honest. However, in the last few months it rapidly started feeling its age - in a short period of time the timing chain started rattling, and the DPF finally reached its 'end of life' ash levels. Faced with a few grand in repairs and still having a lot of original worn parts, or replacing - I chose to replace it. I do really miss it still, but its gone to a mechanic who will fix it and do what I never did - the hybrid turbos/remap silly route. Good lord it was annoying to sell though, I think I got every single type of time waster going on eBay. I was pulling my hair out.
The replacement is a nice wafty E350 Cdi coupe, not as sharp as the BMW but more comfortable which is a nice trade off. I've liked these for a while and didn't realise they had dangled down into my cheaper price bracket! I do a tonne of mileage with work, so since purchasing this at the start of December I've already chucked just shy of 5000 miles on it. The black alloys are a bit 'rude boy' for my liking so may get changed, and there is a silly side of me that wants to remap it & lower it a bit...BUT, those limited funds should go on the 911 really. I like it though!
(The Astons not mine - its owned by a friend, I wish...)
Also, my trusty 335D is gone. I took it from somewhere around 130k, to 197k in 3 years - and it was brilliant to be honest. However, in the last few months it rapidly started feeling its age - in a short period of time the timing chain started rattling, and the DPF finally reached its 'end of life' ash levels. Faced with a few grand in repairs and still having a lot of original worn parts, or replacing - I chose to replace it. I do really miss it still, but its gone to a mechanic who will fix it and do what I never did - the hybrid turbos/remap silly route. Good lord it was annoying to sell though, I think I got every single type of time waster going on eBay. I was pulling my hair out.
The replacement is a nice wafty E350 Cdi coupe, not as sharp as the BMW but more comfortable which is a nice trade off. I've liked these for a while and didn't realise they had dangled down into my cheaper price bracket! I do a tonne of mileage with work, so since purchasing this at the start of December I've already chucked just shy of 5000 miles on it. The black alloys are a bit 'rude boy' for my liking so may get changed, and there is a silly side of me that wants to remap it & lower it a bit...BUT, those limited funds should go on the 911 really. I like it though!
shalmaneser said:
What led you to think your arb bushes needed changing? My suspension is squeaky which I believe is the coffin arms but could easily be the arbs squeaking in the bushes....
It's a bit knocky, but only when one side is going over a bump - I've not got any squeaks, however I've heard that's a thing with dry coffin arm bushes. Also it was picked up when the brake lines were done! The bushes were very reasonable, I got the pair from design 911 for about £40 I think.Yes, have to agree it is a great spec.
I've always been on the fence with the aerokit. I don't think the car needs it, and it's a bit 'wannabe' (I see you have now de-badged it to further muddy the waters, too), but there's no denying it looks great, especially with the colour coded interior. I'm still torn!
Credit for doing little jobs yourself; it does seem like a lot of work to keep this things tip-top though, or have I just read the thread too quickly?
How does Guards Red hold up as well? My Clio Trophy needs keeping on top of to stay properly red.
I've always been on the fence with the aerokit. I don't think the car needs it, and it's a bit 'wannabe' (I see you have now de-badged it to further muddy the waters, too), but there's no denying it looks great, especially with the colour coded interior. I'm still torn!
Credit for doing little jobs yourself; it does seem like a lot of work to keep this things tip-top though, or have I just read the thread too quickly?
How does Guards Red hold up as well? My Clio Trophy needs keeping on top of to stay properly red.
thelostboy said:
Yes, have to agree it is a great spec.
I've always been on the fence with the aerokit. I don't think the car needs it, and it's a bit 'wannabe' (I see you have now de-badged it to further muddy the waters, too), but there's no denying it looks great, especially with the colour coded interior. I'm still torn!
Credit for doing little jobs yourself; it does seem like a lot of work to keep this things tip-top though, or have I just read the thread too quickly?
How does Guards Red hold up as well? My Clio Trophy needs keeping on top of to stay properly red.
Ah see I've always loved the look of the aerokit, I prefer the chunkiness myself - I do thoroughly disagree with people then plonking a GT3 badge on the back though, that's ridiculous. For what its worth, my badge was snapped in two by the edge of it getting caught on a microfibre. I do still love the uncluttered/sleek look of a non-aerokit model too, and I've currently got a big hankering for a 986 Boxster too for some reason. I've always been on the fence with the aerokit. I don't think the car needs it, and it's a bit 'wannabe' (I see you have now de-badged it to further muddy the waters, too), but there's no denying it looks great, especially with the colour coded interior. I'm still torn!
Credit for doing little jobs yourself; it does seem like a lot of work to keep this things tip-top though, or have I just read the thread too quickly?
How does Guards Red hold up as well? My Clio Trophy needs keeping on top of to stay properly red.
It definitely needs some TLC to keep it looking red, unfortunately it lives outside in all conditions at the moment. There's no issue during the winter, but in the summer when the sun is stronger certain panels begin to fade if left. In particular the roof, bonnet and bootlid suffer - I manage it with polish and wax as best I can!
CornedBeef said:
Ah see I've always loved the look of the aerokit, I prefer the chunkiness myself
I dont...CornedBeef said:
I do thoroughly disagree with people then plonking a GT3 badge on the back though, that's ridiculous.
I agree....CornedBeef said:
I do still love the uncluttered/sleek look of a non-aerokit model
Nail Head......CornedBeef said:
I've currently got a big hankering for a 986 Boxster too
Brilliant carGet ONE
In light of your aero kit ramblings I will say I prefer the glass screen'd hood which is the facelift car and this also gets you a glovebox which is proper luxury for us with door bin only 996 cars. But I prefer the less fussy bumpers of the pre facelift.
Drive is almost the same as the 996 but with different weight distribution so you can feel the car rotating around the middle. But you get to do it all with the roof down which makes everything better.
If you are over 6 foot or have your seat all the way back in the 996 then you will struggle to fit. The seat cant go as far back as it can in the 996 because it hits the bulkhead.
thelostboy said:
I've always been on the fence with the aerokit. I don't think the car needs it, and it's a bit 'wannabe'
Appreciate where you're coming from, but an interesting pub fact is that the 996 aerokit preceded the release of the GT3.Love a nice early 996. Even more in an interesting colour with aerokit! "Delays" should consider this, if you ever sell, CornedBeef.
Have a lairy coloured 986 and do occasionally flirt with the idea of an elfer, but don't have an itch per se, and am not sure I could part with the Boxster. Surely having both a 986 and a 99x, cannot be considered greedy?
Think I just need to save up more...
Rosewood Red said:
Appreciate where you're coming from, but an interesting pub fact is that the 996 aerokit preceded the release of the GT3.
Love a nice early 996. Even more in an interesting colour with aerokit! "Delays" should consider this, if you ever sell, CornedBeef.
Have a lairy coloured 986 and do occasionally flirt with the idea of an elfer, but don't have an itch per se, and am not sure I could part with the Boxster. Surely having both a 986 and a 99x, cannot be considered greedy?
Think I just need to save up more...
I've mentioned adding a 986 and the words 'greedy', 'where would it be parked' and 'that costs money' have all been mentioned by the other half Love a nice early 996. Even more in an interesting colour with aerokit! "Delays" should consider this, if you ever sell, CornedBeef.
Have a lairy coloured 986 and do occasionally flirt with the idea of an elfer, but don't have an itch per se, and am not sure I could part with the Boxster. Surely having both a 986 and a 99x, cannot be considered greedy?
Think I just need to save up more...
I think its off the cards for the time being. If anyone has one in Hampshire and fancies letting me have a go I wouldn't say no - they're welcome a go in my 996!Minor good news update, yearly MOT passed with just one advisory for the front disks having rust on their inner surface. Must use it more - 3362 miles travelled since the last MOT and the Germany trip must have been at least 1000 of those miles. In terms of costs over that time, I've not totted up the expenditure but its had -
New Master Cylinder
Sump Re-sealed
6 Coil packs
Full Service
4 Tyres
New engine mounts
New front to back brake lines
New front ARB mounts (still actually need to fit them).
...And I lost part of my undertray, which has cost 0p because I've still not replaced it. It also decided to flood its interior when the scuttle panel got blocked with leaves/detritus, which I've since sorted and drained - I think ATM is currently living through the same joy with his 996!
So not a low maintenance car, but not disastrous.
Edited by CornedBeef on Monday 20th January 14:52
Reunion drive with the Nurburgring guys this Saturday, lots of silliness and muddy/wet roads. I like it looking a bit dirty and used, but I must admit I was straight out with the pressure washer Sunday morning! Cars going well though, it's its usual noisy/vibrating/smelly self. The E Class has actually been the needy child out of the two, needing a new thermostat and an injector o-ring of recent.
Now the days are getting warmer, I'll probably do a spring clean and get the wheels & front bumper off too - potentially also the side skirts if I can get the rusty bolts out.
Now the days are getting warmer, I'll probably do a spring clean and get the wheels & front bumper off too - potentially also the side skirts if I can get the rusty bolts out.
The boredom of the lock down has meant some tarting up work/chores have been done on the car - I'm sure everyone's going through the same at the moment! Its a good excuse to be outside in the sun though, working on the car.
So two jobs ticked off the list, lubricating/cleaning the sliders for the drivers side window and clearing out the front radiators and having a bit of a tidy there too. The first job was because my drivers side window has gotten quite slow, and very squeal-y as of late - so off came the door card first. I then thoroughly cleaned all of the door rubbers and treated them with Gummi Pfledge. The electric window runners I cleaned as best I could, and used some lithium grease. The movement of the window is now quicker and quieter - still not perfect though, but the motors probably original. One thing that is annoying is the state of the door membrane, someones stuck it back on with black sealant
so I might replace that.
Partially disassembled -
And all buttoned back up -
The other thing thats doing my head in is there silver interior plastics, they're very tatty on my side of the car in particular. So I've ordered and now received everything I need to sand and repaint them - thats the next job! State of this -
The other job was removing the front bumper and clearing out all the leaves/detritus. I've not done this for two years and there was a lot of crap in there. While I was at it, I sprayed each bolt that was removed after clearing off the surface rust on some of them. I also found that the radiator support brackets were pretty crusty, so I cleaned them up and used underseal on them. Not perfect, but it'll keep it all structurally sound! I reckon I might also try and cut & polish the headlights soon too.
Terrible after picture of the tidied up radiator supports...
And a vanity shot after some cleaning!
So two jobs ticked off the list, lubricating/cleaning the sliders for the drivers side window and clearing out the front radiators and having a bit of a tidy there too. The first job was because my drivers side window has gotten quite slow, and very squeal-y as of late - so off came the door card first. I then thoroughly cleaned all of the door rubbers and treated them with Gummi Pfledge. The electric window runners I cleaned as best I could, and used some lithium grease. The movement of the window is now quicker and quieter - still not perfect though, but the motors probably original. One thing that is annoying is the state of the door membrane, someones stuck it back on with black sealant
so I might replace that.Partially disassembled -
And all buttoned back up -
The other thing thats doing my head in is there silver interior plastics, they're very tatty on my side of the car in particular. So I've ordered and now received everything I need to sand and repaint them - thats the next job! State of this -
The other job was removing the front bumper and clearing out all the leaves/detritus. I've not done this for two years and there was a lot of crap in there. While I was at it, I sprayed each bolt that was removed after clearing off the surface rust on some of them. I also found that the radiator support brackets were pretty crusty, so I cleaned them up and used underseal on them. Not perfect, but it'll keep it all structurally sound! I reckon I might also try and cut & polish the headlights soon too.
Terrible after picture of the tidied up radiator supports...
And a vanity shot after some cleaning!
More playing around over the last weekend or two, I disassembled the door cards, gearknob and handbrake handle and refurbished all of the scuffed silver trim. The handbrake handle I also redyed with some black leather dye, just to tidy it up! I actually really enjoyed this little project, even if I'm not the best sprayer on the planet. The silver isn't anywhere near the OEM colour, but I'm happy and it all matches anyway (good enough is my philosophy).
Finished results all reinstalled:
Finished results all reinstalled:
1602Mark said:
Lovely car and kudos for doing bits yourself. I still regret not grabbing a C2 I looked at last year but it's early stuff that really floats my boat so I need the lotto win to come first.
Thank you! I'm quite glad it's got a few tatty bits like this, it gives me something to focus on during the weekends. I'm the same, I'd need a lotto win too - 930 Turbo for me if I could choose, in guards red with the big stupid whale tail.Basically this - https://images.app.goo.gl/8YW5tf1b4GWjXx517
Of course, if I won the lottery the 996 would stay too and probably get a nice Hartech 3.7 or something.
CornedBeef said:
1602Mark said:
Lovely car and kudos for doing bits yourself. I still regret not grabbing a C2 I looked at last year but it's early stuff that really floats my boat so I need the lotto win to come first.
Thank you! I'm quite glad it's got a few tatty bits like this, it gives me something to focus on during the weekends. I'm the same, I'd need a lotto win too - 930 Turbo for me if I could choose, in guards red with the big stupid whale tail.Basically this - https://images.app.goo.gl/8YW5tf1b4GWjXx517
Of course, if I won the lottery the 996 would stay too and probably get a nice Hartech 3.7 or something.
ATM said:
CornedBeef said:
1602Mark said:
Lovely car and kudos for doing bits yourself. I still regret not grabbing a C2 I looked at last year but it's early stuff that really floats my boat so I need the lotto win to come first.
Thank you! I'm quite glad it's got a few tatty bits like this, it gives me something to focus on during the weekends. I'm the same, I'd need a lotto win too - 930 Turbo for me if I could choose, in guards red with the big stupid whale tail.Basically this - https://images.app.goo.gl/8YW5tf1b4GWjXx517
Of course, if I won the lottery the 996 would stay too and probably get a nice Hartech 3.7 or something.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shCwF0ri6ds
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