Porsche 911 996.2 3.6 C2

[scottos]

Slippydiff said:

They (the bells, discs and spacers) are a completely custom set up manufactured to my own design. The disc to bell fasteners are AP Racing items.

They’ll be available to buy along with the smaller 340mm x 28mm fronts and 325mm x 24mm rear option.

Sounds interesting, keep us up to date on that!

[scottos]

TV8 said:

A great thread. Love a 996 and yours looks a cracker!

Thanks TV8, appreciate it!

Mark-insert old BMW said:

Those shims make the rear spoiler look way better. Nicely done!

Cheers Mark, i think so too. It's a subtle change but it looks a lot more purposeful now!

[scottos]

I found myself with a free afternoon/ evening last Saturday, my other half had gone away for a week with her mum and my little lad was staying at his Grandads for the night! A VERY rare occurrence where i found myself, by myself, with nothing to do and as if by magic the weather was great as well!

So obviously i went out in the 996, originally for a short jaunt out and i was going to collect a nice woodfired pizza and eat it on top of a hill out in the middle of nowhere. Once i'd had my fun i went to order said pizza and they werent taking any more orders as they were too busy, so i just carried on driving and driving. I ended up getting home at around 11pm and had a great time.

20240629_210151 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240629_211419 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240629_213243 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

The roads were pretty quiet and i managed some really good runs along the exciting sections of road. I was really buzzing when i got home and was eager for more, i got up early the next morning and decided to go the long way to the Pistonheads Sunday Service at The Motorist venue. Typically the drive down here is just 90 minutes down the A1, awful! I cut across East (normally i head West for a drive out) and picked up the Blakey Ridge road over the Yorkshire Moors and down country to The Motorist.

I'm a big fan of the Blakey Ridge road albeit 'cruising speed' on it is quite high and i always felt like i was over stressing the 2002 on it, although it was excellent on the slower sections and the yumps with it being so light and well damped! This wasnt the case with the 996 regarding the higher cruising speed, it took it in its stride, not feeling stressed at all! I did make sure i took some speed off for the yumps, however!

I wasnt at the meet long, it was rammed and the coffee queue was some 30 minutes. It was nice to have a catch up with Pistonheads Ben. L and Cam before making tracks. I decided to head back home a similar way but stopping off at Yorkshires NY500 venue for a sarnie/ flat white before doing Blakey Ridge the opposite way.

The only pictures i took at the Pistonheads event were of the cool as tits Alpine e36 Touring and e30 m3. Perhaps BMW are still running through my veins!

20240630_105810 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240630_105746 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240630_105825 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240630_105841 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Lunch at NY500:

20240630_123602 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Funnily enough they had a 996 inside! For sale at 12k, whatever its story, 12k is a steal these days!

20240630_122712 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Ready to depart:

20240630_131543 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

You can tell i was having fun on the good bits of roads as i couldnt bring myself to stop to take any photos!

I'm enjoying driving and learning about this car, Im finding it needs a (relatively) slow in, fast out sort of approach to most bends that require proper input. I've had a couple of instances where i've tried to drive it more like the GR Yaris, where you just barrel into a bend and you do get some understeer in the 996 but simply letting off a bit seems to transfer enough weight forward that it digs in and turns. It's the first car i've had that i can really notice and feel what its doing and what results my inputs have. The 2002 i had was so over-gripped it never did slide and you could just drive it fairly well flat out and it flattered my mediocre skills. The 996 is just a joyous thing to drive briskly, you just get so much from it, im really happy i bought it.

With mention of the GR Yaris, it was in for its 1st MOT last week and whilst it was being done at my friends garage he told me to take his old 911SC out thats hes fully restored in house. I've been in aircooled stuff before but cant recall being let loose, so it was really quite exciting. It really did feel similar in some ways to the 996, just everything was slower, engine, steering, changing gear.

20240628_093132 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

The newer 911's i've driven almost dont feel like 911's at all in this respect, despite being a 'better' car and it made me think about how awesome 996's actually are and that they are arguably one of the best 911's... (i'll get my coat)

Until next time!

Scott

[scottos]

poppopbangbang said:

I agree!

Im glad others share the same thoughts, i did think it may be rose tinted glasses at first but the more i think about it, the more i realise it isnt (for me and select others at least!)

blueovercream said:

I've been enjoying this thread - it's fuelling my slow burn of want for a 996. I'm thinking more and more that one of these would be a credible replacement for my Elise at some point.

I can relate to your urge to just keep driving. Great stuff.

Funnily enough i've always wanted an Elise. I always find myself lusting after more lighweight things these days, that offer lots of feedback and feeling in the way they handle, power almost doesnt seem to come into it. When it came to buying a car this time round i'd promised myself more than 4 cylinders and i'd always wanted a 911, so it made sense (my last car was a lightweight 4 cylinder). I'd still like an Elise at some point though.

I think a 996 would be a good replacement, if youve been considering one!

loudlashadjuster said:

Agree on the angle of the spoiler, completely stops it looking like an ironing board

That £12k one seems a steal, even if it needs a bit of tidying. PPBB's thread and this one makes things like this mighty tempting!

It really does look like an ironing board as standard, doesnt it it always bugged me, im happy there was a solution. At one point i was going to get a ducktail.

Slippydiff said:

They are undoubtedly finally being appreciated for what they are, that being the sweet spot between the aircooled cars, and the later water-cooled cars (which Porsche have evolved to the point the 911’ness has pretty much been engineered out of them)

And though it’s considered heresy to say as much on PH, a sensibly fettled manual C2 coupe is more fun to drive, more of the time, than any of the 996 GT2’s and GT3’s I’ve owned over the past 20 years.

Great to hear this sentiment from you, with your back catalog, especially!

Chunkychucky said:

Good work for keeping this thread updated Scott, you've got a nice style of writing that makes for an entertaining read, even if 911s don't float my boat Envious of your run along Blakey - I headed up at sparrow's fart around the start of June, just before getting to The Lion going Northbound a 5 mile long fog bank leapt out of nowhere and you couldn't see a thing! Bit of a shame but oh well...

Interesting also to read you comparing the 996 driving style vs the Yaris and '02 - from driving my old man's 993 C2 I can definitely appreciate what you're getting at. Despite the nice styling and lovely engine sound it never engendered me to the car enough to take the plunge, always opting for the keys to his E36 instead, but I can understand the appeal - it's not the purchase and parts prices that's for sure!

Thanks matey, i enjoy doing the threads and dont half feel like i ramble on sometimes, so im glad it appeals to some.

I think everytime i've done blakey i've hit it lucky. Arguably its been most fun in the 2002! I had a memorable drive chasing a friend in an e92 m3 and had an engine swapped mr2 behind me, he said the 2002 was a good foot in the air over the 3-4 yumps something that doesnt happen so often with these heavier cars!

I get the BMW thing, they always felt like they were designed around driving and i've always enjoyed driving them. The 996 has taken more getting used to and in all honesty, im still getting to grips with it now, it's a very weird thing to drive after 17 years of 'normal configuration' cars!

Mallone said:

Car continues to look great, glad you're enjoying it.

That USB charger in the car is making my teeth itch though!

I grabbed one of these:

https://amzn.eu/d/04xe55WL

It sits pretty much flush with the dash and doesn't look out of place when just left there. Recommended!

You'll hate what i've got plugged into it now then

20240630_192121 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I did have a 'proper' headunit on the list but i find i dont have music on so much and that transmitter works well enough for when i do. I think i'd rather put the £500 into something else.

Edited by scottos on Friday 2nd August 09:41

[scottos]

Nothing more to note with the car really, i've just been driving it!

I did go to Goodwood a few weeks ago, which was awesome. We were there for the whole weekend, despite only having tickets for the Friday and Sunday. I had intended to take the Yaris or 996 down but a friend was getting back off holiday and landing in Gatwick, to head straight there in a loan car, he asked if i wanted to take one of his cars down. Ever appreciative of the offers to drive cars i'd not manage to get anywhere near otherwise, i said yes!

20240711_155056 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

992 GT3 Touring, Manthey Racing suspension/ set up, Manthey wheels and a full Akrapovic exhaust. If you could have only 1 do it all daily/ sports car and a decent budget, then i get it completely. Awesome thing.

When we got down we found the loan car was a GTS from Porsche. Driving the two back to back was very interesting. The GTS arguably made a better daily driver and was just as 'fast' but christ was it dull, even more so after the GT3. It reminded me of a golf r i used to have, fast and comfortable but dull to drive!

20240711_193434 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

For the journey home i ended up in an Aston Martin GT12, i do have to pinch myself sometimes! These are fantastic things, right up my street. The grin factor, for me, was higher in this car than the GT3T, the noises it makes are hilarious. They sound odd low down the revs but when they climb and come back down with the downshifts, they sound incredible. It's very nimble as well but tells you quickly if you're pushing your luck!

It was nice to get home and get back out in the 996, its funny that i didnt feel short changed getting out of such cars and into the 996. This was as much a relief as anything else more excellent evening drives out ensued:

20240719_204615 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240719_210545 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I've also been a little more sociable and went to a new cars and coffee pop up. I met up with a couple of friends on the way up, one in his freshly finished 'hot rod' 911. This has a 964 engine, fancy cams, AT Power ITB's and a silly exhaust, its around 750-800kg's with 310hp and all on 185 width rear tyres. It's a proper thing! That is the sort of thing i'd like to do, money no object!

20240728_100735 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240728_120738 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Also more evening drives but with friends:

20240730_211959 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240730_195843 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I also bumped into 'Ol' one evening, after speaking with him on here and Instagram over the years. Nice to meet in person and to see that his Nomad had returned from its engine work. He was heading home when we were heading out but he insisted on a short passenger ride in the Nomad, i think my smile says it all!

IMG-20240730-WA0071 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I think i'd have loved a standard one, N/A or supercharged but the below is what set's Ollies apart!

20240730_195309 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Crazy.

I've been using the 996 for commuting to the office too, which has been a nice treat whilst the schools have been off and there's little traffic. I did look out the window on one of the days and someone had decided to out-Porsche me crazy size difference!

20240729_102755 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Current status of the front end of the 996 after all these drives out, a sign of a good time!

20240730_223612 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Edited by scottos on Friday 2nd August 10:25

[scottos]

ol said:

Awesome thread. Was great to meet you the other night, and glad you enjoyed the ride!

Great spec on the 911, and some really tasteful mods - also, your Scotland trip looked mega. We haven't spent much time over that side, so might have to tap you up for a route at some point.

Cheers Ol and likewise, it was awesome. I knew i'd always like the Nomads but i wasnt prepared for what it was like, the ride and handling shocked me and then obviously yours goes like stink as well

Of course, always happy to chat driving roads! Hopefully see you out sometime again, too!

[scottos]

I've been deliberating for awhile on whether to self service or not. I noted in my opening post that the car has a service gap of approximately 4 years 2014-2019 (the car had 0 history when the previous owner won the car at auction but he got lucky getting it off a previous owner, prior to the gap). He then over serviced the car ever since, which im personally fine with and class this as service history with the receipts etc. (i would disclose this on sale of the car, either way)

The conundrum now is to carry on over servicing it myself (these cars seem really easy to do anyway and i enjoy doing the work) or to build up stamps again with a local indy (i've got a very good one i trust completely). Because its essentially missing stamps, despite being over serviced, im minded to continue along this path of self servicing and if/ when i come to sell ill at least have the receipts/ history for the work. I suppose it'll just fend off the anoraks asking for a sump plug receipt from 2012 etc too

[scottos]

adean22 said:

I own a 997.1 and have done all my own servicing for the last 3 years (30k miles). Iv done everything from exhuasts, engine mounts, suspensions arms and servcing.
I keep every receipt and document everything I do with pictures with full details wrote down. In my view this says a lot more than an invoice from a garage. It may put a lot of people off but I personally id rather buy a car with full pictures documenting all the work done as oppose to just a stamp in a service book with no receipts of parts or pictures.

My main reason for doing it myself has been that iv loved doing all the work myself, iv learnt so much and had many fun weekends learning how everything on the car works and goes together. Then iv spent the money iv saved in labour on modifications for the car so I essentially view the mods as free (man maths can work in wonderful ways) .

Thats a great way of running the car in my eyes, i did the very same with my old car but realised the anorak levels of documentation dropped off the last couple of years as i just found i didnt seem to have the time, i'd finish the job and then rush off to do something else and just forget. I think the fact im not modifying this car as such (well just a little bit haha) i will have the time to organise and document servicing properly over the winter.

shalmaneser said:

I always tell myself I'll do the incidental maintance myself but take it to the garage for 'big services' but just do it all myself. the savings on garage bills will more than make up for the difference in price when I come to sell - but my 996 has a spotty history before, whereas yours is a bit more of a minter... tough call.

I think the car itself could be more towards classified as a minter but its history would not, having had a 4/5ish year gap between 2014-2019 and then being self serviced by the previous owner up until my ownership. So its essentially got 10 years without a specialist stamp. It didnt bother me as over the last 5 years its had an oil/ filter every 1000 miles or so and the car itself was clearly a very good one when i viewed.

My friend runs a specialist that does a lot of Porsches so it would be him doing the work, he's done all the suspension work so far and geo set-up. In the interim i've bought all the engine/ gearbox oils, oil filter plus new housing and the tool (i mustve been feeling flush!) and new magnetic drain plugs/ new fill plug.

I daresay i'll find myself with a spare hour or two one evening and just do it myself if that time doesnt come then i'll just pay my friend the labour to do it.

I've also decided to actively seek out some 997 seats, so if anyone has any black, heated ones kicking around then give me a shout!

[scottos]

Its sharp feeling like the nice weather and sunny evenings are coming to an end, without meaning to sound depressing!

I've been managing to continue the odd evening drive out, when time permits!

The last couple of drives out i had i was starting to become aware when the sun went down and things got a little cooler and the air damp, that i was on 9 year old Cup 2 tyres. It might've just been in my head but id always written those tyres off and hadnt intended to do any road miles on them really but instead i've probably done 1500 or so! They had been great in all honestly but it was always on my mind, so i decided to get some more sensible tyres fitted so i could wring out the summer, going into autumn with a bit more confidence.

20240823_111401 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240823_111355 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240823_103816 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I decided to go for the Michelin Pilot Sport 5, after reading lots of reviews. I've had 4S's before on my other car and replaced them with Good Year Eagle F1 Supersports, which i liked better. I was going to go for these initially but the Yorkshire in me went for whatever was cheapest at the time of ordering and Michelins had 15% off, with free mobile fitting!

I also sold the Cup 2's for £150 so those Alleggerita wheels really did end out being a bargain! Until they got collected, they also made a great child cage to keep my son at bay whilst in the garage

20240823_154410 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I did nearly have a bad time with the mobile tyre fitting, when the fitter came to realise that the wheels were already off the car, that they weren't standard wheels, that i'd ordered differing sizes to what were fitted (+10mm width all round) etc. He'd spent awhile ringing head office to make sure they would let him do the job and to do so, he had to take a lot of photos of the wheels to ensure i couldnt claim any damage and then i had to sign something.

To be fair the guy was great and did an excellent job but it seems the modern way with these bigger companies, where the man doing his job cant just do his job! He did say they have some nightmare customers that try and claim new wheels for a stonechip and if they dont take 'before' pictures to prove otherwise then it can get messy.

The car is great on PS5's, they are quieter and more comfortable than the Cup 2's and seem to perform equally as well on the road. The sidewall is fantastic on them as well and the +10mm width has the car sitting a tiny bit better:

20240824_110515 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Its worth shouting out my friend Andy, 'bomb' on here i believe! I think he got sick of me not washing the car and offered to do it for me, with refusal of any sort of payment (food, beer, money etc!) and he did a fantastic job. Sadly i didnt get any pictures but did take it to a wedding the next day, especially proud of how clean it looked. Sadly again, i didnt get any pictures there either as we were in such a rush and then when we got there we just got drunk straight away The groom works for Porsche and there were plenty of Porsche employees in attendance, the 996 got quite a few compliments, which was nice when they get to see the latest and greatest all the time.

With us having our son minded whilst we were at the wedding, we ended up spending the next day having some 'us' time too, which turned into me looking at eBay whilst we were having a coffee in the sun, making plans for that evening. Those plans quickly turned into driving an hour home and then a 3 hour round trip for some 997 seats my poor missus, i do feel for her sometimes.

These were really good condition and a great price, black, electric backrests and also heated. This is exactly what i was after!

20240831_203150 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Id read into the conversion quite a bit and found a rough guide on how to get the heated seats working as well. It turns out on the 996 there is a relay under the seat which controls the high or low and on the 997 they dont have this relay and instead the controls just pulse the seat on/off depending on which setting you choose.

The relay loom comes away from the 996 seat fairly easily and once you swap the belt receptacle over and a few wires, they essentially become plug and play. It's all quite simple when you have the seats in front of you. I'd bought some Tesa tape to try and make the job look decent, even though you cant see under the seat!

20240908_192758 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

You can see the relay that i've cable tied to the top left.

I've only managed to get the drivers one in for now but the early signs seem good! I've not had chance to drive it but just sitting in it the changes are subtle but welcome. It does feel lower, i'd maybe guess around 20mm or so but youre sat into the 997 seat. The bolsters dont look big but first impressions are that i felt more supported. The change isnt as big as i'd thought initially and i was a little disappointed but i got back out and sat on the seat i'd just taken out and it felt really odd! Maybe the change is bigger than i thought!

20240908_210453 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Drivers fitted:

20240908_193852 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240908_193902 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

and the heated seat! It was definitely warming up albeit very slowly. I didnt have the car running though so will test it properly next time i go out. I might get a spare hour or two one evening this week and get the other side in as well. Im looking forward to it.

20240908_193921 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

To finish until that time, a few pictures from recent drives out:

20240828_201633 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

That is the exact spot Top Gear did the recent Singer Turbo video!

Same spot again, different evening:

20240820_202232 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240820_190954 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240820_191109 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

and the spot Pistonheads filmed my 2002:

20240820_201313 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

You may notice the centre caps in some of the pictures, i got these cheap for around £12, we'll see how they last. I can buy at least 10 sets for the price of genuine so there's nothing spoiling if they dont last too long haha

Cheers,

Scott

Edited by scottos on Monday 9th September 17:29

[scottos]

Northbrook said:

On the mobile fitting front, I had something similar recently....except my wheels were never-refurbished jobs off a 17-year-old Skoda. No issue fitting a higher profile (just one profile higher), but photos & depth measurements of all the wheels & tyres before changing.

Car looks lovely. I'd love a 996!

Maybe just matter of course but it added around 45 minutes to the process overall and you'd think time is money on a job that doesnt take longer than that on its own! and thank you!

[scottos]

Well i ended up having that spare hour or two, i mention above, to fit the other seat and...... I went out for a drive instead!

It was nice to test the 997 seat, the 2 stage heating works on the 996 switchgear, as if it was the 996 seat, so i'm very happy about that! The seat itself feels firmer but its more supportive for sure and it feels comfier too. You're definitely sat lower down although i dont think there's as much in it as people make out, possibly 20mm or so if you're lucky. I dont think the true realisation of the change would be apparent unless you were to swap back quickly whilst out on a drive!

20240910_184450 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240910_184443 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240910_184421 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240910_184135 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

And the obligatory petrol station shot:

20240910_192209 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

These type of evenings will qucikly be a distant memory it feels, the nights are drawing in!

Edited by scottos on Tuesday 5th November 10:59

[scottos]

bomb said:

i'm here mate, i'm here !! just taken me a while to catch up.

TV8 said:

Hi @scottos, congratulations on getting the 997 seats heating in the 9x6.
It is a very rare thing and not sure I have found anyone else who has simply achieved this. Your car had all of the wiring and I wondered if you had any more pictures of the wiring bits you have fitted to the 997 seat in this pic please? - https://www.flickr.com/photos/181965116@N04/539832...

The nearest I can find is this part https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154824453610 and if the right part, I will go looking for a pair of them on this side of the Atlantic!

I need to do that as I have a running thread on Pistonheads - 986 Boxster with ambers! and have put the 9x7 seats in but have not a clue how to get the heaters working, so any advice appreciated. Thank you.

Also, on your seats in the 996 there is a stop which restricts how far back the seats go. I did that on my 996.1 C2 Aero for more leg room and you would like more leg room, I will sort a link to the picture in my running thread on 911uk. Obviously, that can not be done on the Boxster as there is an engine firewall in the way and the 9x7 seats make a big difference.

Thank You but it is very easy and im sure many more have done it but just not mentioned it. Although i found its only easy when you have the parts in front of you haha

If your current 986 seats are heated then that loom you have linked to ebay will be on the underside of your 986 seats. The eBay link is missing the power to the electric seat backs out of the main connector but if you pull yours out of the 986 seats you'll have that as well, you'll just have to cut them (leave plenty on both ends if you ever want to reverse this process easily)

Then you simply connect the powered backs up on the 997 seat, red to red, brown to brown. On that ebay link you need to loop the red/ white wires together however you see fit (996 has two heater element connections in the seat, 997 only has one) and then connect the brown/ red/white connector to the 997 heated seat connector one, brown to brown, red/white to red (either cut the connector off the 996 seat and 997 seat and swap over or make a loom that goes between the two) Then cable tie the relay and associated wiring to the base of the 997 seat and plug it into the 986 car loom and it'll all work, assuming your car already has the heated seat switches etc.!

The seat belt receptacle and wiring for the drivers seat in the UK also slots into the main connector on the drivers side, you can take the receptacle and wiring out of the 996 seat and transfer to the 997 one, there are metal clips and cable holders to route the wire neatly. There's a little clip on the side of the connector that pops out and this slide out sideways/ back in once transfered over. Unsure if this is the same for you!

[scottos]

TV8, hopefully this might help:

Untitled by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

[scottos]

I did notice those brackets that have the protruding dowel that locate the rails in the car. Thankfully there's not much need for me needing extra leg room, i am only 5'10" but i do like to be sat really low!

More seat surgery, this is the passenger 996 seat also removed and the 997 seat on the right in the final stages of wiring modifications. This really didnt take very long at all, the swap could now be done, including wiring, in an hour or two i reckon!

20240913_193617 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Both in:

20240913_194908 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I really like the look with them both in, they dont look too modern or out of place at all, yet lift the interior.

I got lucky the next afternoon/ evening and got myself out for a good drive, it was pretty quiet on the whole and the good sections of road out in the middle of nowhere were pretty much done without interruption.

I did have one awkward interaction with about 60 Harley rider types doing 35-40mph, where i ended up getting a little impatient and passed a bunch of them, only to end up in a queue with them round the next few corners where they all reached their meet destination and were blocking the road

My missus later said she was at a roundabout about 30 minutes West of where this happened and some bikers blocked all the exits to let themselves across in one unit, sounded like the same bunch!

Once i got past the block and received my intense stares from some old blokes who obviously thought they looked well 'ard, i continued on my way and had a great drive!

20240914_162349 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

The PS5 tyres are great, i really am a fan of them. I was cornering pretty hard and they were well within their grip limits and there was the odd damp patch as well and i was confident enough in the tyres to keep pace up over them as well. This wouldnt have been the case with my 9 year old Cup 2's, whether it was just in my head or not.

The seats held me better and were just more comfortable. I'd be much better supported in a Recaro or something but these are a nice compromise for keeping the car a 4 seater and not spending a fortune.

I ended up bumping into a bunch of Westfield owners, one of which i know of as a fellow GR Yaris owner and had a blast on Hartside Pass with them, great fun!

The highlight had to be seeing this Jaguar D-type on the pass, it caught me off guard both times so the pictures are shocking the first one is on 32x zoom and the second on about 10:

20240914_155908 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240914_161238 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Final pictures before home, as you can tell im properly enjoying this car now, it really is great fun and a great all rounder!

20240914_183709 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240914_183727 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240914_183807 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

[scottos]

I've had watches set up for both since I got the car and the cheapest I've seen were £1300 and a 12 hour round trip, sadly haha most seem to be up for 1600-1800, so you did very well! My friend has them in his Cayman and they are very nice but I couldnt spend triple the price on a pair.

[scottos]

Nothing much to report, i've just been out enjoying the car as much as i can really, before the impending Winter. I've decided to keep it taxed for now on a monthly basis, as even if i get 1 crisp, dry, December day then its worth the £30 quid a month in tax to me.

There have been some phenomenal sunsets in the last month or so and i've tried to be up in the hills on these evenings when i can. The summit of this road and down is just incredible, you can see for miles and the orange glow just puts a mesmerising tint across the sky and land, a phone camera and my lack of talent will never pick this up!

20240917_194558 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240917_192459 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240917_192425 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240917_193019 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

On the flip side there's also been plenty of fog when you get up to height

20240921_173937 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241013_163935 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I've had a nice mix of billy no mates drives (im one of those people that doesnt mind being a loner, thankfully!) and some small group drives out, there's always plenty of diversity on these!

20241026_162228 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241026_162300 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241026_162350 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241026_183204 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

After one such drive i was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram as you do and came across the below, to my surprise:

Screenshot_20241026_232118_Instagram by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Screenshot_20241026_232132_Instagram by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

It looks like Evo had been up there with their Alfa Guilia QF, as seen in the below picture:

20241026_153431 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

A shame we hadnt realised whilst there as it would've been good to have a bit of a chinwag!

A few more pictures from drives out:

20241013_163105 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20240921_174743 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I really like this picture below, i was looking at a friends new car and the 996 just kept catching my eye in the back ground, i'd parked it in a hurry and it just looked like it was sat so well!

20241005_174843 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I've been lucky enough to drive friends said new car and these modern supercars are just mind boggling but also just a little too good at everything, perhaps? It was as much a shock to me as anyone that getting back into the 996 afterwards, i didnt feel shortchanged at all, if anything i appreciated the car even more and I finally understood where journos are coming from when they mention steering feel and the weighting etc. I think every journo-house should have a hydraulic steering 911/ Cayman/ Boxster as a line in the sand when testing latest sports/ super/ hypercar

I've not serviced the car yet, i had some top up oil left to use up, so used that as the excuse (These cars do use a bit of oil if driven properly it seems, bimbling around it doesnt seem to use it but it does when you're on it as youd expect) I'll service it myself over winter, i've decided, all the bits are there to do it. It's still going to be under a year and 5k miles by the time its done so it's all good.

I'll also borrow some corner weight scales so i can see what it weighs whilst its up in the air, just as a curiosity thing. I should've weighed it when i first got it really so i could now compare before and after weights.

My only other plans are to revisit the factory short shifter i took off for the 997 rs item and remove the bumpers, clean any leaves etc out, clean/ refit.

The throw is longer on the 997rs shifter but there's zero play, ideally i'd have a mix of the two! I'll see what i can come up with and hopefully resurect the short shifter and free up more 996 pennies by moving the 997rs shifter on.

Cheers,

Scott

[scottos]

It's been a little while! Instead of just talking about it, i've finally got around to doing the engine/ gearbox service, hurrah!

It all went fine, other than making a bit of a mess with the transmission oil, i always seem to make a mess when it comes to gearbox oil and of course its the most awful smell!

The hoard of parts shown below, for the engine oil/ filter change:

20241222_143811 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

This included 10L of some fancy Millers oil that most seem to be recommending for these engines now, a magnetic sump plug, new oil filter, new oil filter housing and the genuine oil filter housing tool.

I took it out for a bit of a drive to get it hot then emptied it all out:

20241222_143343 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

New plug on the left with the magnet, old on the right:

20241222_143558 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241222_145819 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

New filter in, housing torqued up to 25nm:

20241222_150604 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Old filter cut open:

20241222_144758 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I was pleased to see the filter was generally as above, there was maybe a few tiny fragments if i was really looking but really nothing of concern. Some of the pictures i've seen when people cut these open on these cars are terrifying!

New oil in and oil level checked/ topped up after a drive out:

20241222_153327 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

In a similar fashion to the above but with the gearbox:

20241223_104445 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

3L of recommended Motul gearbox oil (the gearbox oil does the gearbox and also the diff in these cars), new updated Porsche fill/ drain plugs and a 500ml oil transfer pump.

The new fill/ drain plugs are aluminium and mine still had the steel ones fitted so i did think the gearbox oil may've been 20+ years old. The gearbox oil was pretty clean, however so i think it was most likely done when the clutch/ flywheel was done approx 8k miles ago, just the plugs were re-used.

20241223_105312 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241223_111330 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

'whilst i was in there' i fitted a Powerflex gearbox mount insert. I was hoping this would help sharpen up the gearshift further and hopefully produce a little bit of NVH to the car, that i had hoped the RS engine mounts would do but didnt!

20241222_162245 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

A nice simple job and cheap at £28!

I've since had a quick drive out and the car feels awesome, the shift feels really mechanical at lower speeds/ revs but on full bore upshifts/ downshifts its so smooth and precise. It sends through the right amount of NVH to feed the wanabe race car for the road feel too!

Another thing to note, i was browsing instragram one evening and a friend had posted up saying he was refitting his aerokit to his gen 1, he had a ducktail fitted to it and was taking it off. I messaged him to see if he was keeping it or looking to sell, he wanted to keep it but offered a lend, far too good an opportunity to pass!

20241221_190113 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241222_132439 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241222_132446 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I had to swap my fan over but it mustve taken less than 5 minutes to swap over, i can see why he wanted to keep it!

20241222_135938 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241222_135854 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241222_135904 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Obviously its the wrong colour but i liked the look much more than i thought i would, pleasantly surprised! It is probably a few KG's lighter than the GT3 aerokit decklid too, which is already pretty light! On reflection and after re-fitting the aero deck lid, this will be staying. Im normally a 'less is more' type, or i think i am but maybe not! If a ducktail comes up relatively cheap on the second hand market then i think i might treat myself so i can swap it over the off time but otherwise it's not happening.

Last on the list for now was to sort out some sort of reliable bluetooth system, as always this ended up snowballing!

The more i looked at the PCM 2.0 system, the more i disliked it, it was big, heavy and clunky looking and served no purpose other than to play radio, which i dont really listen to, or CD's, which i really didnt want to cart around with me like the 00's!

I then looked at double din android auto units, which i couldnt decide on, then a black friday deal on the Rennline GT3 lower console delete sealed the PCM 2.0's fate!

The GT3 lower console deletes used to be relatively cheap but their popularity has made them increase by some 5-6x. The carbon Rennline one is actually cheaper these days and i thought this would match my carbon center console/ interior perfectly.

It actually ended up being a proper chew on i had to order a separate mounting cage for in the dash, that would allow me to relocate the HVAC unit to the top and also fit a single DIN headunit, i also had to order a new facia to match and then a HVAC surround panel as it was a different shape to where it was located. When things arrived it turned out i needed to order some adapters for the HVAC unit for it to sit/ bolt in to the upper dash too!

20241212_091224 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241128_124149 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

With all the parts on order to allow me to do this i then had to find a suitable headunit, i wanted something really simple that was just bluetooth/ radio, with no CD functionality. Blaupunkt did some nice simple units that looked relatively in keeping so i went with a Madrid 200BT, it's really small and only 600g (not why i bought it but an added bonus!). I thought this was a steal at £100 but then when i got into it, my cars speaker system runs off fibre optics and the loom i needed, that had a fibre optic converter in it, was £250! I wasnt a fan of rewiring everything direct so just stumped up the money, im glad to say it all worked great!

The final thing for me to do was to relocate the heated seat switches from the lower console to the upper, this was almost possible with no modification but the two switches shared a ground wire which caused them not to be long enough. I simply lengthened that wire and then i could fit them in the upper console. I had one blank switch spare on one side and then on the other side i removed the rear wiper switch (i removed the wiper ages ago!)

20241212_103320 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241212_103314 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Before:

20240630_192121 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

After (Hvac surround still hasnt arrived!):

20241212_142458 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I'm really happy with the outcome, albeit its been pretty expensive! Still some £800 cheaper than the genuine Porsche android auto retrofit, however!

20241212_142557 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241212_142541 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241214_164311 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

It's a much nicer place to be now, more leg room and more airiness to it like 911's of yesteryear. I'm really happy with the interior now and all the touch points etc.

I've a couple more plans for the winter but thats the majority done now!

Cheers,

Scott

Edited by scottos on Tuesday 24th December 11:29

[scottos]

Jhonno said:

Love a ducktail..

Out of interest where did you buy the new drain plugs from? Why did you fit a new filter housing?

I lazily bought them via Design911 whilst i was ordering other bits but daresay they are cheaper from a dealership.

I just wasnt sure what state the one that was fitted was in and for the £20 or so it seemed prudent to just buy a new one, thankfully the old one looks like new but i had visions of it cracking on removal or something daft along those lines

[scottos]

Jhonno said:

Ah.. Fair enough. Thought I'd done something wrong not replacing mine on it's oil change

I might get a small list to go to the local dealer with.

Definitely not, it was just me being precautionary!

Mark-insert old BMW said:

Looks beautiful Scott. I'd have liked mine to have looked much the same had I been able to keep it. I simply wanted to experience one whilst I had an opportunity. I'd wanted a 911 since I was old enough to know what one was. If I had the money a LHD G body 3.0SC in silver please! I really do thing they're the ultimate.

Happy Christmas Scott.

Hey Mark, good to hear from you! I initially wanted an SC but they are just too much money for me these days and it would just end up being a big project like the 2002, which i wouldnt be able to afford at Porsche prices! Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year!

Porsche Santa got the HVAC facia plate made over the Christmas period, so thats the center console side of things buttoned up now:

20241227_121750 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241227_125743 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241227_125717 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241227_125628 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

[scottos]

I shouldnt be allowed time off, i spend far too much time reading into things on forums, watching videos etc. the same as a lot of us i'd imagine!

Along with getting the handling sorted and touch points on the car right, another big thing for me is the noise! When i visited my friend to borrow the ducktail, he was part way through fitting a carbon roof on his 996 and we got chatting about 996's in general. He played me a flyby video of his car and 3 other 996's and his sounded distinctly different, more zingy and high pitched, the others sounded more old skool 911, a bit lethargic, almost!

I stuck my head under the rear of his 996 and there was the answer, an X pipe! As standard these flat 6's essentially operate as 2No 3 cylinders, in terms of the exhaust. Each bank essentially has its own exhaust, crossing over to the other side of the bumper. My friends car had these two banks linked, as they cross over. I mentioned an X pipe at the beginning of the thread and how it was my intention to get one but i've since been told it sounds fantastic by quite a few people, so i've agonised over whether i wanted to link the banks or not, i knew i wanted sports cats either way! I've watched countless videos that claim to pick up the sound differences but none of them have ever helped me or been noticeable but these videos Peter showed me spelled it out night and day!

In hand with my time off over Christmas, there was of course some good Christmas deals on, too! After a few beers one night i ended up ordering the below:

20241231_150924 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

This is a 200cel sports cat x pipe and the 4No lambda sensors required (Gen 2 cars run pre and post cat, gen 1's only run pre)

The below depicts my explanation above i.e. cat pipes crossing over but never merging and then the X pipe:

20241231_141504 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Getting the original cats off was going to be a chew and i knew this. The standard cat sections have studs in from factory and then nuts on the manifold side. I knew mine had all been off before due to the engine rebuild that Autofarm carried out and during this time they put nuts and bolts in instead. These were all rather corroded and didnt resemble a nut or a bolt!

20241227_154207 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241227_154217 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241227_154228 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Some time later, we had sucess! This involved a mix of dremelling the ends off and hammering the remaining bolt through or snapping the ends off on purpose (if i could get a socket on!) and hammering through.

20241227_164740 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241227_164734 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241227_175341 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20241227_172829 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I hadnt realised but i'd been sent the 'wrong' x pipe. This one is the larger bore version, that comes with reducers for the backboxes, this is hand made in the UK and quite a bit more expensive than the standard bore one, which i believe is made abroad and shipped in. A mistake or a generous Christmas bonus, you decide!

This meant the standard clamps couldnt be used and the kit came with 4No U bolts, these were not going anywhere near the car. It also came with mild steel hardware and after the ordeal i'd just been through removing the old ones, these also werent going anywhere near my car!

I ordered up the parts, mikalor clamps, stainless bolts and copper nuts, much better:

20250103_133729 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

On with fitting:

20250103_140149 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20250103_140158 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20250103_142345 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I used this stuff, where needed. Future me or future owner owes me a beer!

20241231_150849 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

One of the heatshields had a damaged bracket i.e. it wasnt there. I made a new one and zinc sprayed it:

20241231_150210 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

The one still 'present' on the other side:

20241231_150218 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I found some better c nuts and fasteners in a random draw (spill over from the bmw 2002 days), used these on both sides:

20241231_150401 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

20250103_145122 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Crash bar and heat shields back on:

20250103_145135 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

I didnt take any more pictures after that as it was sunny outside and i knew i'd be able to get out for a quick blast and the weather was drawing in later that night!

The noise is incredible now, its a fair amount louder but no drone with the flaps open or closed. Even low revs and low throttle input, it sounds exactly as i'd always wanted it to. The top end sounds fabulous on it as well, this car has more aggressive cams etc. as part of its rare X51 pack and it really does just all come together. The exhaust noise now slightly drowns out the intake, so i've got something in the pipeline to look at options for this as well, im generally okay with it making as much noise as possible, without it making just 'noise'.

I've not had chance to get out in it since that short drive but im excited for the next time!

I also got the results back from my old engine oil, which were wholly positive. This is a bargain service in my eyes and allows you to track engine condition every oil change:

Screenshot_20250114_095707_Microsoft 365 (Office) by Scott Osborne, on Flickr

Next things in line are more intake noise and potentially a lightweight flywheel/ clutch set up. The current dual mass/ clutch are only 8k miles old but the release bearing has been noisey since i got the car home. I cant get to the stage of replacing that and not fitting a fancy flywheel/ clutch! Lets see how things pan out!

Cheers for reading,

Scott