Red 3.4 Carrera
Discussion
With recent first time inputs on this forum by 2 of my mates (e34 M5 LE and the Red NSX), and reading some other cool threads over the past few days, I decided to give it a go myself.
Before I get to the title, I thought I should start with a slice of my car story that led up to today.
In 2017 I sold my fast road spec, fuel injected, ITB'd BMW 2002 roundie to a friend that had pestered me to buy it for the entire 3 years I owned it. It was starting to pull a lot of oil past the rings and was really due a rebuild. I couldn't afford a rebuild and I really didn't like the idea of owning a car that would sit in the garage for a couple of years, whilst I drip fed funds into it. So, it was time for it to go.
When looking around for a replacement, I noticed that 996's were selling for a similar price to the cash I had burning a hole in my pocket. The early 3.4's were known to be fairly reliable and with a 6 speed manual, rear wheel drive and 300hp, it was all too tempting. The only problem was, the cars in my budget (£10k) were tip-tronic, 4wd or cab's.
After a bit of lurking on the 996 FB groups, my ideal car came up...
A 1998, C2 manual coupe with 89k miles and brand new everything. All new suspension (springs, shocks, anti-roll bars, coffin arms, tuning forks etc), New clutch and flywheel, upgraded IMS, new brakes, fresh paint and freshly powder coated wheels. The catch was - category D.
I went and viewed the car and fell in love with it. It was exactly what I wanted, and the work that had been done suited my immediately tight budget, so I did the deal, drove home and stuck it in the garage, a very happy man.
I did a couple modifications to this car, such as H&R lowering springs and the black aesthetic on the spoiler, and used it as my daily driver.
It even worked great as a new family bus!
After 18 months of thoroughly enjoyable, and utterly reliable ownership, I decided that if I were to stay in a 911, that it should be accident free. The reason for this, is that I had almost come to terms with the fact that these cars can demand an engine rebuild at any moment, and I didn't want to sink that type of cash into a category car...
So, I sold it and looked for a replacement. The rules were:
NOT silver
3.4 (pre facelift)
under 100k miles
Good provenance
Aero kit
After several months of searching, I lost my way and bought this crock of s
te below
143k miles, a terrible previous owner who was dishonest and didn't look after his car properly - other than stick some expensive oil in it and add a couple of nice engine parts...
So, why the hell did I buy it?
Well, I took a one-way ticket on a train, on Sunday 23rd December 2018, 3 hours away from my home. I viewed the car, thought it was terrible and that the owner was a complete cretin and decided to walk away from the deal. I walked back to the train station and the guy, obviously desperate to sell his car, did me a deal I couldn't refuse (I really low balled him when I realised I didn't want it) and I took it home with me.
Anyway, I sold that after 6 months.
So the search began again, with the same previous criteria, but this time I got lucky...
Word of mouth (thanks to Nick from the Paint Shack - Cornwall) led me to a car that was imminently due to be sold via consignment by a well know Porsche specialist - Williams Crawford.
I spoke to the retired gentleman over the phone, and he sent me a few pictures really showing this car in its best possible light
Obviously, after seeing these high quality images I knew I needed to stand in front of the car. So I left a deposit and took a flight to Newquay, Cornwall to view it.
The car is a January 1998 Guards Red Carrera with dealer fit Aero kit and 62,000 miles.
The deal was done, and here is the first picture I took once it was mine!
Then the 6 hour journey home, in monsoon weather began... I needed 2 hands on the wheel at all times because the roads were swimming. 2 out of 3 lanes closed on the motorway due to flooding gives you an idea and having no traction control in the most expensive car I have ever bought, meant that my coffee needed securing in the cabin using a handy portable cup holder.
Next update tomorrow.
Before I get to the title, I thought I should start with a slice of my car story that led up to today.
In 2017 I sold my fast road spec, fuel injected, ITB'd BMW 2002 roundie to a friend that had pestered me to buy it for the entire 3 years I owned it. It was starting to pull a lot of oil past the rings and was really due a rebuild. I couldn't afford a rebuild and I really didn't like the idea of owning a car that would sit in the garage for a couple of years, whilst I drip fed funds into it. So, it was time for it to go.
When looking around for a replacement, I noticed that 996's were selling for a similar price to the cash I had burning a hole in my pocket. The early 3.4's were known to be fairly reliable and with a 6 speed manual, rear wheel drive and 300hp, it was all too tempting. The only problem was, the cars in my budget (£10k) were tip-tronic, 4wd or cab's.
After a bit of lurking on the 996 FB groups, my ideal car came up...
A 1998, C2 manual coupe with 89k miles and brand new everything. All new suspension (springs, shocks, anti-roll bars, coffin arms, tuning forks etc), New clutch and flywheel, upgraded IMS, new brakes, fresh paint and freshly powder coated wheels. The catch was - category D.
I went and viewed the car and fell in love with it. It was exactly what I wanted, and the work that had been done suited my immediately tight budget, so I did the deal, drove home and stuck it in the garage, a very happy man.
I did a couple modifications to this car, such as H&R lowering springs and the black aesthetic on the spoiler, and used it as my daily driver.
It even worked great as a new family bus!
After 18 months of thoroughly enjoyable, and utterly reliable ownership, I decided that if I were to stay in a 911, that it should be accident free. The reason for this, is that I had almost come to terms with the fact that these cars can demand an engine rebuild at any moment, and I didn't want to sink that type of cash into a category car...
So, I sold it and looked for a replacement. The rules were:
NOT silver
3.4 (pre facelift)
under 100k miles
Good provenance
Aero kit
After several months of searching, I lost my way and bought this crock of s
te below143k miles, a terrible previous owner who was dishonest and didn't look after his car properly - other than stick some expensive oil in it and add a couple of nice engine parts...
So, why the hell did I buy it?
Well, I took a one-way ticket on a train, on Sunday 23rd December 2018, 3 hours away from my home. I viewed the car, thought it was terrible and that the owner was a complete cretin and decided to walk away from the deal. I walked back to the train station and the guy, obviously desperate to sell his car, did me a deal I couldn't refuse (I really low balled him when I realised I didn't want it) and I took it home with me.
Anyway, I sold that after 6 months.
So the search began again, with the same previous criteria, but this time I got lucky...
Word of mouth (thanks to Nick from the Paint Shack - Cornwall) led me to a car that was imminently due to be sold via consignment by a well know Porsche specialist - Williams Crawford.
I spoke to the retired gentleman over the phone, and he sent me a few pictures really showing this car in its best possible light
Obviously, after seeing these high quality images I knew I needed to stand in front of the car. So I left a deposit and took a flight to Newquay, Cornwall to view it.
The car is a January 1998 Guards Red Carrera with dealer fit Aero kit and 62,000 miles.
The deal was done, and here is the first picture I took once it was mine!
Then the 6 hour journey home, in monsoon weather began... I needed 2 hands on the wheel at all times because the roads were swimming. 2 out of 3 lanes closed on the motorway due to flooding gives you an idea and having no traction control in the most expensive car I have ever bought, meant that my coffee needed securing in the cabin using a handy portable cup holder.
Next update tomorrow.
Edited by Alfred Pina on Friday 12th February 13:58
I really like a 2002, a friend built an Alpina replica that went through Collecting Cars recently.. was an awesome looking wee thing.
I've never been a fan of the pre-facelift 996.1 front end but I think it must be colour sensitive because I actually think it looks great in red; might be the nice photos, or the aero kit/wheel combination that makes some of the difference here too but I think it's a lot to do with the colour. Regardless of colour/spec, without fail, every time a 996 thread comes up I end up heading into the classifieds and that isn't about to change today...
I've never been a fan of the pre-facelift 996.1 front end but I think it must be colour sensitive because I actually think it looks great in red; might be the nice photos, or the aero kit/wheel combination that makes some of the difference here too but I think it's a lot to do with the colour. Regardless of colour/spec, without fail, every time a 996 thread comes up I end up heading into the classifieds and that isn't about to change today...
So, first things first. Interior needs attention...
My first 996 had the centre console delete. I loved it so much, that I kept hold of it when I sold that car on - knowing I was buying another 996. It gives the interior the classic 'floating dash' look and provides more leg room. This was most apparent when I did a track day in the 996.2 and came home with bruising on my left leg where the 996.1 was spot on.
Whilst doing this job, I also replaced the stereo with an old black HU I had in the shed, and painted the horseshoe in black to stop it hurting my eyes.
Much better.
So, I bought this car in November 2019 and my intentions were to use it on track, just like the previous 2 cars.
With this car only having 62k miles on the clock, it was still running with its original cooling system components, suspension and clutch.
Therefore, I decided to book a track day in January - 3 hours away from my home, at Snetterton.
I wanted to meet a friend who was testing out his freshly turboed 635csi and also shakedown my car with a few fairly gentle laps to see what issues I find...
Issue found. After 2 sighting laps and 4 open pit laps, one of the front rads sprung a leak.
That was the end of my track day.
I stuck some radweld into the system which sealed it up lovely, and got me home without issue.
With the cooling system obviously tired, I set to replacing the following:
2x Front Radiators
1x Fan Resistor (this was a £10 resistor replacing the £130ish?? OEM resistor)
OEM water pump
Low Temp Thermostat
Vacuum extraction and coolant replacement with OEM Porsche spec fluid (22l iirc)
The AC condenser sandwiches old leaves and crud between it and the radiator on both sides and causes the rads to rot out.
You can see how it has swollen here
I can't find the pictures, but the Pierburg water pump sold by autodoc is the OEM part and comes with the 996 part number stamped on it for 1/2 the price.
To protect all of my hard work, I ordered some wire mesh from eBay an made some custom bumper grills.
Sorry, but no after pictures of this, but it's super neat from the outside and catches everything. I was also monitoring coolant temperature whilst spanking it, and there have been no issues with higher running temps due to decreased airflow. Winner.
My first 996 had the centre console delete. I loved it so much, that I kept hold of it when I sold that car on - knowing I was buying another 996. It gives the interior the classic 'floating dash' look and provides more leg room. This was most apparent when I did a track day in the 996.2 and came home with bruising on my left leg where the 996.1 was spot on.
Whilst doing this job, I also replaced the stereo with an old black HU I had in the shed, and painted the horseshoe in black to stop it hurting my eyes.
Much better.
So, I bought this car in November 2019 and my intentions were to use it on track, just like the previous 2 cars.
With this car only having 62k miles on the clock, it was still running with its original cooling system components, suspension and clutch.
Therefore, I decided to book a track day in January - 3 hours away from my home, at Snetterton.
I wanted to meet a friend who was testing out his freshly turboed 635csi and also shakedown my car with a few fairly gentle laps to see what issues I find...
Issue found. After 2 sighting laps and 4 open pit laps, one of the front rads sprung a leak.
That was the end of my track day.
I stuck some radweld into the system which sealed it up lovely, and got me home without issue.
With the cooling system obviously tired, I set to replacing the following:
2x Front Radiators
1x Fan Resistor (this was a £10 resistor replacing the £130ish?? OEM resistor)
OEM water pump
Low Temp Thermostat
Vacuum extraction and coolant replacement with OEM Porsche spec fluid (22l iirc)
The AC condenser sandwiches old leaves and crud between it and the radiator on both sides and causes the rads to rot out.
You can see how it has swollen here
I can't find the pictures, but the Pierburg water pump sold by autodoc is the OEM part and comes with the 996 part number stamped on it for 1/2 the price.
To protect all of my hard work, I ordered some wire mesh from eBay an made some custom bumper grills.
Sorry, but no after pictures of this, but it's super neat from the outside and catches everything. I was also monitoring coolant temperature whilst spanking it, and there have been no issues with higher running temps due to decreased airflow. Winner.
Edited by Dave Moore on Tuesday 15th December 21:18
RS Grant said:
I really like a 2002, a friend built an Alpina replica that went through Collecting Cars recently.. was an awesome looking wee thing.
I've never been a fan of the pre-facelift 996.1 front end but I think it must be colour sensitive because I actually think it looks great in red; might be the nice photos, or the aero kit/wheel combination that makes some of the difference here too but I think it's a lot to do with the colour. Regardless of colour/spec, without fail, every time a 996 thread comes up I end up heading into the classifieds and that isn't about to change today...
The 996.1 design has grown to be my favourite now. Having had both cars, I always thought I preferred the facelift, but I think the original design looks more sympathetic to the rest of the cars design.I've never been a fan of the pre-facelift 996.1 front end but I think it must be colour sensitive because I actually think it looks great in red; might be the nice photos, or the aero kit/wheel combination that makes some of the difference here too but I think it's a lot to do with the colour. Regardless of colour/spec, without fail, every time a 996 thread comes up I end up heading into the classifieds and that isn't about to change today...
I also really love a standard plain 996 that is lowered. therealsamdailly has the prime example of this - beautiful.
I am very happy with my aero car though, specifically because its in guards red
Dave Moore said:
Court_S said:
I quite like the red bits inside 
The first car looked cracking for £10k. Looking forward to hearing more on the new one which looks lovely in red.
The first car was a real gem for the money. I wish I had been able to keep it, as it would make the perfect daily driver!The first car looked cracking for £10k. Looking forward to hearing more on the new one which looks lovely in red.
What went wrong with the second car out if interest?
Paracetamol said:
That looks like a great car to eventually rebuild the engine on. I can see these cars eventually becoming sought after as the more traditional choices (964 , 993) become totally out of reach
In terms of driving pleasure, it has to be right up there in the 911 world. It's just so simple and raw.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff