Arctic silver '99 Carrera 4 a labor of love

[higgy_996]

Introduction and the purchase

Hello everyone.

After decades of want I recently purchased a 911 and I am very happy to say it hasn't been a disappointment!

I quite like fiddling with cars and it was always my intention to maintain and improve whatever I ended up buying. For my own entertainment and hopefully in the spirit of helping others I have decided to document the experience here.

Please bear in mind I am no expert and would describe myself as a 'have a go hero"!

I have wanted a 911 for as long as I can remember but like most people ended up with kids and mortgage before a beautiful export of Stuttgart! I missed the boat on my dream 964 as I hesitated when they were still affordable for me and I decided I didn't want that to happen again so set out to find myself a clean example 996 before I was priced out the market.

I made myself a list of 'wants" and started the search. I tried my best to be patient but it was going on and on with nothing coming up that ticked all the boxes. Some things I felt were negotiable. For example I put the MO30 suspension on my wish list but the truth was the car would inevitably end up on coil-overs so did it really matter? Some things were not negotiable. I'm not sure why but I decided I really wanted a Gen 1 manual... Anyway the searching went on for months and I missed a couple of potentials due to procrastinating. I think I had wanted one for so long the actual act of buying was quite nerve wracking for me!

Late one afternoon I did my usual round of checking the obvious websites and noticed an '99 Arctic Silver Carrera 4 had just been listed and it was reasonably local to me. It didn't have much of my wish list but it did have good history and looked clean. I was going to dismiss it due to the sparse options but my wife pointed out it wasn't far away and it might be good to just go and see it for future comparisons. I'm not one for ignoring the wife as she is usually right so off we went.

When we arrived the car was actually better than the advert which in my experience is rare. Considering it's age it was in very good cosmetic condition externally and the interior had worn the miles exceptionally well. To be honest I was kind of already sold as it looked so good but I didn't want to buy the first one I had seen and like I said it was sparse on options.

I took my time to look over the car and a few of the common areas of concern were present. The tyres were pretty low and the bump stops were knackered but on the plus side the discs, pads, and air con pipes all looked pretty new.

Reading through the massive history file I was pleased to see a lot of the big ticket items had been done relatively recently including the chain seals, IMS, clutch and RMS. It was also up to date on it's servicing. A previous owner had gone to the trouble of having the front wings and doors resprayed and there were lot's of photos documenting the work which was nice to see.

By this point I had pretty much decided I was keen to buy. There were a few niggles (a small patch of paint blister on the bonnet for example) but nothing I considered a problem and I was weighing it up against the price, which I thought was fair.

Obviously I took it out for a drive. I have driven 996's before but they were not really comparable. My brother has a 680 bhp turbo which although an impressive bit of kit is no fun on everyday public roads and is a bit of a chore to drive (sorry Sam!). This 996 was different. Everything felt tight and together. It was responsive and engaging but without being flighty or skittish. It wasn't super fast but fast enough. It sounded good. Coming from a long line of Audis that felt numb in comparison I loved it almost instantly!

I was going to say to cut a long story short but I haven't really... Despite all the positives I was still reluctant to pull the trigger (just my own indecisiveness) and I initially left without buying but halfway home changed my mind and called straight away to pay a deposit.

It wasn't exactly what I set out to buy and it was also the first one I had looked at in the metal but the overall condition along with the impressive documented history couldn't be overlooked. I also considered it to be very fairly priced so didn't really see any reason not to take the plunge.

That is the story of how I ended up with a 1999 Arctic silver, Carrera 4 manual.

I became and owner a few months ago now and I still get the same excited anticipation every time I get the keys to go out in it as the day I drove it home. It has lived up to my expectations and has not disappointed me in the slightest.

For me this car is a keeper so my intention is to repair, replace and maintain as required but also add in a few modifications and upgrades to suit my tastes, needs and budget!

I have already made a start and will add posts covering what I've done in the next few weeks.

Have a sweet, sweet day!

 

[T8]

:welcome: to 911uk and to 911 ownership. :thumb:

Thanks for the excellent introductory post but, before anyone else says it, ..............

:useless:

 

[higgy_996]

LOL. I should have known better! I was being lazy as couldn't be bothered to try and work it out. I think this will work?!

 

[DonkUK]

Welcome and good introduction!

 

[Robertb]

Welcome, hope the car continues to bring much joy. Something very 'right' about a 996.1 in Silver.

Surprised that the previous owner has done the chains though... this normally requires the engine to come out and strip down I think. Was there any other rebuild work done? Or was it just the guides?

 

[higgy_996]

Welcome, hope the car continues to bring much joy. Something very 'right' about a 996.1 in Silver.

Surprised that the previous owner has done the chains though... this normally requires the engine to come out and strip down I think. Was there any other rebuild work done? Or was it just the guides?

You're right! I missed out the word "seals"! I'll go back and correct that.

I'm hoping I don't ever have to do the chains and guides. I had them done on a 3.2 TT once and it was expensive, although I admit it ran lovely afterwards!

 

[tob_today]

Welcome to the group and nice intro story to your 996. Looking forward to hearing how this progresses during your ownership. These cars tend to get under your skin & honestly I use my 996 more than my others, and I learn more about it each time. Base 996 cars are often overlooked, however they have easily accessible hidden depths. And they are great platforms for making them whatever you want. Enjoy :thumbs:

 

[Teffers]

Good work OP!

 

[higgy_996]

Welcome to the group and nice intro story to your 996. Looking forward to hearing how this progresses during your ownership. These cars tend to get under your skin & honestly I use my 996 more than my others, and I learn more about it each time. Base 996 cars are often overlooked, however they have easily accessible hidden depths. And they are great platforms for making them whatever you want. Enjoy :thumbs:

Thank you buddy!

I've had my fair share of cars from various makers and none of them have given me as much joy as this.

My son summed it up nicely from the passenger seat when I picked it up. He said "It's wicked. It's like you can tell everything the car is doing."

 

[higgy_996]

OBC activation and retro-fit control stalk

Did anyone else spend nearly as much time in a petrol station as they did driving the car when they first got it?

As I said in my introduction, my car is very limited when it comes to options which included not having the on board computer under the rev counter. I was missing the control stalk on the steering wheel column and all the display showed was the digital MPH.

A quick Google revealed on the very early 996's the OBC was an option and obviously the original purchaser of my car decided against ticking the box. Thankfully Google also let me know all cars have the OBC functionality, it just needs to be coded or 'switched on" using a plug in diagnostic tool with the ability to perform adaptions.

The OBC has a few stat read outs like outside temp, miles to empty, average MPG, average speed and you can also set a warning for reaching a certain speed. I was really only interested in the miles to empty and average MPG but I also felt the car was really missing something not having the OBC so decided to retro-fit it as it did seem like a simple process.

Before I spent any money on parts I wanted to be certain it was possible to turn on the OBC using a diagnostic tool. I had done similar in the past with Audis but didn't have an appropriate bit of software for the 996. Having had a brief look into it I realised to get anything worth having was going to be quite expensive so decided to just pay a Porsche specialist to do the coding.

I called around a few locally and was surprised at how many of them had no idea what I was talking about and some even said it couldn't be done. Google had told me otherwise though so I persisted and in the end went to see Precision Porsche in Uckfield.

"‹"‹https://www.precisionporsche.co.uk/

They were very helpful and professional. For £25 they turned on the OBC and also disabled the auto door lock function for me while they were there. It was annoying having to either press the unlock button or double pull the door handle when you wanted to get out the car. I've never been a fan of auto lock anyway... If you need an independent I am pretty confident Precision Porsche will look after you and I will probably be using them again in the future.

Now I had the outside temperature displayed on my dash but no way of cycling through to display the other information. I had to retro-fit the control stalk to enable me to do this. Spending some more time on the Google I learned that you can buy the stalk on it's own for either a 996 or 986 and it can simply be bolted onto your original column. This appealed to me because where possible I like to do non-destructive modifications that are completely reversible if the need ever arises.
Apparently all I needed was a stalk and 4 wires to connect it to the cars loom. In the spirit of non-destructive modifications I continued to research as I didn't want to cut my cars loom and I came across a perfect solution thanks to eBay. A pre-made cable with the correct connectors to add it into the existing conector in the car.

The seller is Mdbdiagnostics and the item was listed as 'Porsche Boxster 986 996 on board computer OBC retrofit cable". It was about £20.

Item link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174903073497?ViewItem=&item=174903073497

I then waited for a single control stalk to become available. There were quite a few that came with the indicators and or the cruise control stalk but not many that came on their own so I had to be patient and wait. I could have just got a three set but another one of my silly things is not getting rid of original bits unless I have to and I wanted to keep the cars original indicator and wiper stalks. I also had to make sure the finish on the stalk was shiny and not matt to match in with the other stalks. Anyway, I obviously got one in the end!

Fitting was surprisingly easy and straightforward despite what you might imagine. I would say if you can change your pants you can do this! Many of the 'how to" examples I found on-line recommended taking off the steering wheel but I thought that seemed a bit excessive and decided to see how far I could get without doing that. I also knew I didn't have a big enough socket to take off the steering wheel so really hoping I could get away with it!

First of all I disconnected the battery (I didn't really but it bit me in the ass and triggered my airbag light so you definitely should disconnect your battery!).

I didn't know I would end up documenting all this so didn't make a note of all the tools I used, I will try harder in future but I think I got out on a couple of small philips screw drivers, a couple of the smaller torx drivers and a pair of tweezers.

This is not going to be any use as a 'how to" so in quick summary I removed the steering wheel cowling, the clock surround and the clocks themselves. There was plenty of space to do all of this with the steering wheel still in situ. The most difficult bit was getting the hazard light switch out the surround so hopefully that gives you an idea of the competency level required!

The cable I bought came with very clear instructions what to do with the different wires and once I had them secured in the cars connector I plugged the clocks back in before reassembly to check it had worked. Thankfully everything was functioning as expected and I felt that little rush of satisfaction! I used a couple of small zip ties to make sure the additional cabling was neat and tidy and wouldn't get pinched anywhere. Then it was just a case of putting it all back together, taking the opportunity to give all the bits a good clean as I went.

All in all retro-fitting OBC functionality to my car took about an hour and cost me about £125.

I wonder how much the original option was?!

Have a good one.

 

[Robertb]

Nice job! Good that you've found Precision Porsche... very well respected on these pages as being one of the best indies around.

Another useful option to retrofit is rain sensor activation for the wipers.

 

[higgy_996]

Nice job! Good that you've found Precision Porsche... very well respected on these pages as being one of the best indies around.

Another useful option to retrofit is rain sensor activation for the wipers.

Ow thats good to know. I was just really impressed with everything from their attitude on the phone to the customer service when I got there, to the way they treated the car even though it was only there for 30 minutes. They just seemed decent!

I'm not that worried about auto wipers but I have to admit I would really like some heated seats!

I have seen options to add after market pads but I would rather buy second hand heated seats and retro fit them. I haven't done any research to find out how difficult that would be yet though...

I expect someone has alreay done it so perhaps a "have a go hero" project for the future?! :lol:

 

[Hugh_]

As an alternative to retrofitting the heated seats, I will have a set of comfort, electrically adjustable, heated seats in graphite grey available at some point (as soon as I've found a 997 sports passenger seat in grey).

We're can't be too far from each other if you're using Precision, I'm near Tonbridge.

 

[tob_today]

+1 for Jonny, Andy & team at Precision. They've been looking after my 996 for over 11 years now. Originally with previous owner and now with me. They put up with all my very specific requests & they are always happy to entertain my creative asks

My 993 has also made an appearance there, and they fixed a few things other several indies couldn't, and found / fixed a few things I didn't even know about.

Thanks for the OBC tip - I'll add this to the future work list for them :thumb:

 

[MisterCorn]

Welcome to the forum and the fun of playing with the 996. Get plenty of photos in as well.

MC