I've just bought some poverty Pork…

[olv]

edc said:

olv said:

I'm interested in a 2.7 987 and looking at the most recent MOT history it's due a suspension refresh, misting dampers, play in the steering rack, worn suspension arms and a wheel bearing being the main things. How much should I factor in to renew everything and is it a good opportunity to do aftermarket springs and dampers?

Will you do the work yourself? You will save a lot of labour payment. Will you do everything in one hit? Again you will save some labour.

The most I’ve ever tackled myself is rear brake callipers on an S2000 so suspension stuff is probably beyond me even with a lot of enthusiasm on my side. So would probably have a someone like RGA do it as they’re close to me.

Is £2k arms, springs, dampers, steering rack ends? Is it worth budgeting for top mounts?

[ATM]

There are various arms and then there are bushes on the anti roll bar and yes I'd do the top mounts while you're at it. You could keep springs but they're cheap anyway. You could also consider changing the rack itself as well.

[edc]

Good quality spring/damper kit plus top mounts circa £900.
Not kept up with the price of the arms but Euros has an easy look up retail price.
4 X coffins arms
2 X rear diagonal
2 X rear toe link
2 X front track rod
2 X front control arm
That's at least 12 arms. They are not as cheap as they used to be so that will be £500+.
Other nuts and bolts, drop links, extra labour to remove drop links or eccentric bolts so labour will be somewhere in the £500-£1000.

[olv]

Thanks both. That’s helpful.

[2Btoo]

It's quite a few miles north of Aberdeen, which won't be helping the price.

I paid slightly more than that for my 2.7 987 Cayman this summer. It had more miles but a much MUCH cleaner MOT history and some nice options as well. (And it wasn't black outside and black inside, but some people like that). That price doesn't look ridiculously cheap for that car.

[jakesmith]

dai1983 said:

ATM said:

That cayman looks cheap but they're £500 tax right?

The 3.4 and six speed 2.7 are but the 5 speed 2.7 isn’t.

They were up to March 2006
My 2.7 was April and the £500 tax was v annoying as it was only 1g/km over or something

[jakesmith]

edc said:

Good quality spring/damper kit plus top mounts circa £900.
Not kept up with the price of the arms but Euros has an easy look up retail price.
4 X coffins arms
2 X rear diagonal
2 X rear toe link
2 X front track rod
2 X front control arm
That's at least 12 arms. They are not as cheap as they used to be so that will be £500+.
Other nuts and bolts, drop links, extra labour to remove drop links or eccentric bolts so labour will be somewhere in the £500-£1000.

Buying a shagged one for bottom dollar has its benefits, once all that is swapped car will drive like new
Much better proposition than one with 30,000 miles and a full book of stamps for double the price that needs all the same work doing anyway

[Andyoz]

jakesmith said:

They were up to March 2006
My 2.7 was April and the £500 tax was v annoying as it was only 1g/km over or something

There is a little window of Cayman S between when they were released (sept 2005?) and March 2006 where road tax was only £325 tax.

Also the late 2005 ones onward had the stronger IMS bearing.

[ATM]

jakesmith said:

edc said:

Good quality spring/damper kit plus top mounts circa £900.
Not kept up with the price of the arms but Euros has an easy look up retail price.
4 X coffins arms
2 X rear diagonal
2 X rear toe link
2 X front track rod
2 X front control arm
That's at least 12 arms. They are not as cheap as they used to be so that will be £500+.
Other nuts and bolts, drop links, extra labour to remove drop links or eccentric bolts so labour will be somewhere in the £500-£1000.

Buying a shagged one for bottom dollar has its benefits, once all that is swapped car will drive like new
Much better proposition than one with 30,000 miles and a full book of stamps for double the price that needs all the same work doing anyway

Well no it wont drive like new, the suspension will feel like new because it is new. There are plenty of other items which can need attention and get tired - most of these have been done recently on my car.

I drove a tired Boxster once with really spongy brakes. This is another area which can need a refresh. The brake pedal should be rock hard on a 986.

Next is the clutch which should be nice and smooth and not hard or heavy. The bite should be high up - ish - not too low down. As they tire they can get heavier and the only to fix for this is to replace the clutch and sometimes the flywheel too. In some instances the slave cylinder and the pipe going to this from the master cylinder can be tired too. And even the master cylinder itself.

Then we have the gear shift. This uses cable to transmit the movement from the lever to the box. These age and get stiff making the gear change clunky, stiff and cumbersome. New cables fixes this.

Then we have rads and condensers.

Then we have various pipes for the power steering and coolant and the expansion tank.

Then we have exhaust brackets, manifold studs and heat shields.

Then we have window regulators, window seals, door membranes, starter, alternator and dont forget the folding roof itself.

The list goes on.

[jakesmith]

ATM said:

Well no it wont drive like new, the suspension will feel like new because it is new.

Sorry about that, I should have said 'all other things being equal' to avoid any confusion.
I didn't want anyone to get the impression, and know myself, that a suspension refresh doesn't fix a broken window regulator or door membrane for example.
Thanks

[edc]

If you wanted everything to feel brand new well buy a brand new car. Of the important things that make a drivers car feel good and new the suspension is a major component of course.

[ATM]

jakesmith said:

ATM said:

Well no it wont drive like new, the suspension will feel like new because it is new.

Sorry about that, I should have said 'all other things being equal' to avoid any confusion.
I didn't want anyone to get the impression, and know myself, that a suspension refresh doesn't fix a broken window regulator or door membrane for example.
Thanks

I didn't want to come across as a muppet. Once I started writing the list I got carried away. Brakes and Clutch are biggies and will definitely affect the way the car feels or the way it drives. Gear change is probably next on the list. The rest are just maintenance risks or gambles. What I wanted to say was a cheap car may need all of these items. A better car will hopefully need less. You can easily spend 5 or 6 grand on that list without really trying.

[jakesmith]

ATM said:

jakesmith said:

ATM said:

Well no it wont drive like new, the suspension will feel like new because it is new.

Sorry about that, I should have said 'all other things being equal' to avoid any confusion.
I didn't want anyone to get the impression, and know myself, that a suspension refresh doesn't fix a broken window regulator or door membrane for example.
Thanks

I didn't want to come across as a muppet. Once I started writing the list I got carried away. Brakes and Clutch are biggies and will definitely affect the way the car feels or the way it drives. Gear change is probably next on the list. The rest are just maintenance risks or gambles. What I wanted to say was a cheap car may need all of these items. A better car will hopefully need less. You can easily spend 5 or 6 grand on that list without really trying.

Haha no worries, you didn't & you're not wrong, I just didn't mean my post as literally as it read I guess

[Andyoz]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Ok, I wondered about that but could never find confirmation.

[pete.g]

I'm very happy with mine - I did about 150 miles at the weekend, about half with the top down, bobble hat and snood on. I realise many who saw this will have thought I was an idiot, but frankly I don't care. The missus had a drive and was well impressed, so all good there.

The mileage is now just over 18200 and it all feels pretty tight. Gearchange is really good, with a firm 'snick' into each position.

It's so good cosmetically that i don't mind spending on a prudent programme of preventative maintenance, though hopefully it won't need anything big for a while.

I may not have much in terms of high spec, but as my other German 'classics' have had wind up windows, key to lock and in one case 6 volt electrics, I'm more than happy.

[Andyoz]

pete.g said:

It's so good cosmetically that i don't mind spending on a prudent programme of preventative maintenance, though hopefully it won't need anything big for a while.

I'd agree with that. I wouldn't want to be putting alot of money into the mechanicals of a car with a rough interior/exterior.

There's plenty of good examples out there that don't cost much more than the 'tired' ones. It's a great time to be Porsche hunting.

[edc]

Andyoz said:

pete.g said:

It's so good cosmetically that i don't mind spending on a prudent programme of preventative maintenance, though hopefully it won't need anything big for a while.

I'd agree with that. I wouldn't want to be putting alot of money into the mechanicals of a car with a rough interior/exterior.

There's plenty of good examples out there that don't cost much more than the 'tired' ones. It's a great time to be Porsche hunting.

A bumper and bonnet respray is much less than a full suspension rebuild.

[ATM]

edc said:

Andyoz said:

pete.g said:

It's so good cosmetically that i don't mind spending on a prudent programme of preventative maintenance, though hopefully it won't need anything big for a while.

I'd agree with that. I wouldn't want to be putting alot of money into the mechanicals of a car with a rough interior/exterior.

There's plenty of good examples out there that don't cost much more than the 'tired' ones. It's a great time to be Porsche hunting.

A bumper and bonnet respray is much less than a full suspension rebuild.

Exactly

I'd rather buy a car which was tip top mechanically with tired paint than the other way round. Mine is tired looking but as it lives outside I prefer it that way then I cant get too previous about it.

[Andyoz]

ATM said:

edc said:

Andyoz said:

pete.g said:

It's so good cosmetically that i don't mind spending on a prudent programme of preventative maintenance, though hopefully it won't need anything big for a while.

I'd agree with that. I wouldn't want to be putting alot of money into the mechanicals of a car with a rough interior/exterior.

There's plenty of good examples out there that don't cost much more than the 'tired' ones. It's a great time to be Porsche hunting.

A bumper and bonnet respray is much less than a full suspension rebuild.

Exactly

I'd rather buy a car which was tip top mechanically with tired paint than the other way round. Mine is tired looking but as it lives outside I prefer it that way then I cant get too previous about it.

In the current market, you don't necessary have to. The 'good' and 'average' are getting closer price wise. A tired interior takes a bit of work (if those things matter). I find some people are just rough on cars and some aern't. Little middie ground.

[ATM]

Andyoz said:

ATM said:

edc said:

Andyoz said:

pete.g said:

It's so good cosmetically that i don't mind spending on a prudent programme of preventative maintenance, though hopefully it won't need anything big for a while.

I'd agree with that. I wouldn't want to be putting alot of money into the mechanicals of a car with a rough interior/exterior.

There's plenty of good examples out there that don't cost much more than the 'tired' ones. It's a great time to be Porsche hunting.

A bumper and bonnet respray is much less than a full suspension rebuild.

Exactly

I'd rather buy a car which was tip top mechanically with tired paint than the other way round. Mine is tired looking but as it lives outside I prefer it that way then I cant get too previous about it.

In the current market, you don't necessary have to. The 'good' and 'average' are getting closer price wise. A tired interior takes a bit of work (if those things matter). I find some people are just rough on cars and some aern't. Little middie ground.

Yeah a low mileage car could of done lots of small slower trips. That means someone getting in and out lots. Or it may of been thrashed on a fun drive out say once a month which would mean less interior wear maybe. A powerfully built director will do more damage hopping in and out a lot than a marathon runner who only drives it fast once a month.