You may have read my continuing quest to get the '97 C4 cabrio which I bought last april to feel and handle right. My last thread was here:
http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=59769&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
The (relatively) condensed history is as follows.
Bought the car after getting a mate to go see 4 or 5 cars for me. I was working in Germany and couldnt come back each time. His brother used to own a 94 cab c2 and he'd driven it extensively, so he knew how they should be. He's a mechanic and owns a taxi firm, so he knows immediately how to spot a straight car or a dodgy one.
Overall the car I bought was by far the best. 3 owners, silver, black hood, black leather (difficult to find perfect colour combo's these days), full history, 63k miles, accident free, no rust around the screen, blemish free interior, sound packet (induction & chrome pipes). Ray Northway had put me onto the owner (he'd sold it to him a year earlier for £25k and said it was the best he'd seen). My mate said it was great but that it didn't drive quite as nice as the best. I decided to go for it as its always possible to correct mechanicals so long as the basic car is straight. Paid £24k after HPI came back clear.
Sure enough the car was safe enough but felt a bit jiggly and not perfectly planted. However it sailed through an MOT 2 hours after I picked it up. Took it back to Germany and found a renowned specialist south of Cologne in Bruehl. They changed the shocks and steering dampers and did a setup. Absolute rubbish. No change. Told me the rack was weeping a bit. Said the wishbone bushes were fine.
Came back to UK in July and got a 12k service done at OPC Hatfield. They told me the front driveshaft oil seals were leaking, quoting £550 for the job...no thanks. Only cost £230 for the service with me supplying the Mobil 1...not bad I thought.
Reading round the subject I of course ended up with CG. Booked the car in after a long chat with Jayne and Chris. He checked the car over and said it was not bad but the front top mounts were delaminating. He agreed the rack was weeping and had a bit of play also. He uses a reputable reconditioner who does OEM work for Land Rover. Only £250 exchange instead of £1700 new from Porsche! He also did the diff oil seals and a full setup after rebuilding the struts. Bill came to £1700 which was very reasonable considering what was done.
Chris took photos along the way showing what he'd done and gave them to me on a CD.
On the test drive after the car felt much improved, with lighter steering, less tramlining and more stability over bumps, but over the next few weeks I could still detect something not right. Garaged it during the snow and then after new year decided to tackle it again. (cue my thread above). Spoke to 911 Virgin and they suggested Steve at Jaz, Wembley. Took it to him and when he drove it he coulnt really feel what I was talking about. To me the shimmying over bumps had returned and the back end seemed to nudge sideways over undulations or when coming on and off the power. A subtle effect but when you know the car well you feel it. Chris W (Excel Wheels) had popped by and taken it for a run and could feel what I was on about, so I knew I wasn't going mad. Anyway, Steve got it up on the lift and after pushing and pulling spotted that the rear toe control arms had quite a lot of play. He quoted £650 all in including a suspension setup. Booked the car in.
In the meantime I emailed Jayne at CG to let them know what had happened. Half an hour later she called me back. She'd spoken to Chris and he was gutted that he'd missed something. They had a cancellation slot the following Friday and said they would come down Thursday night to pick the car up and do the work for free if I paid for the parts. Cant say fairer! I cancelled Jaz (with apologies and asked them to bill me for their time, which they did....£37.50 + VAT – very reasonable of them). I called Jayne back and said that I would bring the car to them as I'm not working at the moment and didn't want them to do 2 round trips of at least 3 hours each. I have a friend in Kenilworth, so combined it with dinner and beers the night before ïŠ.
Friday at CG Chris was again full of apologies. I know how proud he is of his work and his practices are meticulous. He took the car for a run on his usual route and agreed that something felt not right. Pre-work measurement showed toe out instead of toe in on the front and things had moved on the back. With the car up he confirmed that the rear arms were bad. On checking ride heights he found the front had dropped 5mm due to the top mounts settling in, which explained the toe change.
Chris then changed the rear arms with me poking around underneath enthusiastically. The underside of the car is just awesome! Totally flat with the covers on for good airflow. Also, my engine looked almost spotless....NO oil leaks ANYwhere!!! Chris said that the car is indeed a good find and in great condition (& accident free).
At this stage I'd just like to say how amazing Chris is with his work. For starters his workshop is SO clean and tidy you could imagine Ron Dennis has been managing it! NO clutter....and a floor you could eat breakfast off. He cleans all the bolts he removes and lubes them with a silver version of Copperease (you could see where he'd done this from before). He marks the wheel relative to the hub, checks tyre wear and pressure. He looks at the tyre shoulders for clues as to the way the car has been behaving. He really works on customer cars as if they're his own.
After all the work was done we went for a run. Now the car felt better. No little shimmy's from the back end. The front now rides bumps without the steering wheel being upset. I can actually enjoy driving this car finally. Before it was like having a fidgeting child on your lap...you just couldn't relax....constant input was needed. Sure, its never going to have the manners of my Impreza (daily drive) but that's not why you buy a 993. I still find myself looking for a bit more front end grip, but as Chris said, putting more camber on to achieve this would compromise the manners, which I don't want. He suggested a stiffer rear adjustable anti-roll bar would allow me to tune it to my liking. I've seen that Whiteline do one for about £250. Also a front strut brace would tighten up turn-in. I may also consider doing the engine mounts myself when the weather improves although Chris said they don't seem bad.
The probable reason he slipped up was he had the car for a couple of weeks to do all the other work and was having to fit it in around other jobs. Normally it would all be done in a day. I think you'll agree that Chris really showed his dedication to getting things right. He even refused my offer to pay for the labour to fit the control arms (about an hour). It's a pain to have to travel, but you can be sure, CG wont rip you off, they charge very reasonable rates and will bend over backwards to put things right on the very rare occasions they do miss something. If you can get your car there its the best place by far.
JP
http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=59769&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
The (relatively) condensed history is as follows.
Bought the car after getting a mate to go see 4 or 5 cars for me. I was working in Germany and couldnt come back each time. His brother used to own a 94 cab c2 and he'd driven it extensively, so he knew how they should be. He's a mechanic and owns a taxi firm, so he knows immediately how to spot a straight car or a dodgy one.
Overall the car I bought was by far the best. 3 owners, silver, black hood, black leather (difficult to find perfect colour combo's these days), full history, 63k miles, accident free, no rust around the screen, blemish free interior, sound packet (induction & chrome pipes). Ray Northway had put me onto the owner (he'd sold it to him a year earlier for £25k and said it was the best he'd seen). My mate said it was great but that it didn't drive quite as nice as the best. I decided to go for it as its always possible to correct mechanicals so long as the basic car is straight. Paid £24k after HPI came back clear.
Sure enough the car was safe enough but felt a bit jiggly and not perfectly planted. However it sailed through an MOT 2 hours after I picked it up. Took it back to Germany and found a renowned specialist south of Cologne in Bruehl. They changed the shocks and steering dampers and did a setup. Absolute rubbish. No change. Told me the rack was weeping a bit. Said the wishbone bushes were fine.
Came back to UK in July and got a 12k service done at OPC Hatfield. They told me the front driveshaft oil seals were leaking, quoting £550 for the job...no thanks. Only cost £230 for the service with me supplying the Mobil 1...not bad I thought.
Reading round the subject I of course ended up with CG. Booked the car in after a long chat with Jayne and Chris. He checked the car over and said it was not bad but the front top mounts were delaminating. He agreed the rack was weeping and had a bit of play also. He uses a reputable reconditioner who does OEM work for Land Rover. Only £250 exchange instead of £1700 new from Porsche! He also did the diff oil seals and a full setup after rebuilding the struts. Bill came to £1700 which was very reasonable considering what was done.
Chris took photos along the way showing what he'd done and gave them to me on a CD.
On the test drive after the car felt much improved, with lighter steering, less tramlining and more stability over bumps, but over the next few weeks I could still detect something not right. Garaged it during the snow and then after new year decided to tackle it again. (cue my thread above). Spoke to 911 Virgin and they suggested Steve at Jaz, Wembley. Took it to him and when he drove it he coulnt really feel what I was talking about. To me the shimmying over bumps had returned and the back end seemed to nudge sideways over undulations or when coming on and off the power. A subtle effect but when you know the car well you feel it. Chris W (Excel Wheels) had popped by and taken it for a run and could feel what I was on about, so I knew I wasn't going mad. Anyway, Steve got it up on the lift and after pushing and pulling spotted that the rear toe control arms had quite a lot of play. He quoted £650 all in including a suspension setup. Booked the car in.
In the meantime I emailed Jayne at CG to let them know what had happened. Half an hour later she called me back. She'd spoken to Chris and he was gutted that he'd missed something. They had a cancellation slot the following Friday and said they would come down Thursday night to pick the car up and do the work for free if I paid for the parts. Cant say fairer! I cancelled Jaz (with apologies and asked them to bill me for their time, which they did....£37.50 + VAT – very reasonable of them). I called Jayne back and said that I would bring the car to them as I'm not working at the moment and didn't want them to do 2 round trips of at least 3 hours each. I have a friend in Kenilworth, so combined it with dinner and beers the night before ïŠ.
Friday at CG Chris was again full of apologies. I know how proud he is of his work and his practices are meticulous. He took the car for a run on his usual route and agreed that something felt not right. Pre-work measurement showed toe out instead of toe in on the front and things had moved on the back. With the car up he confirmed that the rear arms were bad. On checking ride heights he found the front had dropped 5mm due to the top mounts settling in, which explained the toe change.
Chris then changed the rear arms with me poking around underneath enthusiastically. The underside of the car is just awesome! Totally flat with the covers on for good airflow. Also, my engine looked almost spotless....NO oil leaks ANYwhere!!! Chris said that the car is indeed a good find and in great condition (& accident free).
At this stage I'd just like to say how amazing Chris is with his work. For starters his workshop is SO clean and tidy you could imagine Ron Dennis has been managing it! NO clutter....and a floor you could eat breakfast off. He cleans all the bolts he removes and lubes them with a silver version of Copperease (you could see where he'd done this from before). He marks the wheel relative to the hub, checks tyre wear and pressure. He looks at the tyre shoulders for clues as to the way the car has been behaving. He really works on customer cars as if they're his own.
After all the work was done we went for a run. Now the car felt better. No little shimmy's from the back end. The front now rides bumps without the steering wheel being upset. I can actually enjoy driving this car finally. Before it was like having a fidgeting child on your lap...you just couldn't relax....constant input was needed. Sure, its never going to have the manners of my Impreza (daily drive) but that's not why you buy a 993. I still find myself looking for a bit more front end grip, but as Chris said, putting more camber on to achieve this would compromise the manners, which I don't want. He suggested a stiffer rear adjustable anti-roll bar would allow me to tune it to my liking. I've seen that Whiteline do one for about £250. Also a front strut brace would tighten up turn-in. I may also consider doing the engine mounts myself when the weather improves although Chris said they don't seem bad.
The probable reason he slipped up was he had the car for a couple of weeks to do all the other work and was having to fit it in around other jobs. Normally it would all be done in a day. I think you'll agree that Chris really showed his dedication to getting things right. He even refused my offer to pay for the labour to fit the control arms (about an hour). It's a pain to have to travel, but you can be sure, CG wont rip you off, they charge very reasonable rates and will bend over backwards to put things right on the very rare occasions they do miss something. If you can get your car there its the best place by far.
JP
. I've really got no excuse as I only live about 30 minutes away.
