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Stuart7's 993 refurb

Looks like a very nice job done . What was the budget overall if you don't mind me asking? Any suspension work refresh or just paint and engine?
Chassis legs didn't look bad at all but you can clearly see how the lack of surface protection in that one spot allows metal to be eaten away slowly.
The rest of the body looked solid as a rock, was any rot found under the scuttle or screens ?
 
That's fantastic!!, what a treat for the car, good for another 20 years, that must have come in at a pretty penny circa £20k I'm thinking.....

Colour looks good, ocean blue?, my car was originally ocean blue and I needed a full repaint, decided on a colour change in the end after much deliberation and sleepless nights ha ha. Fresh ocean does look nice.

So engine work wise, did you just go straight refresh here?, or did you end up tweaking some parts?.

That chassis leg didn't look too bad, perhaps the pic but was surprised to see they needed to cut a section out?.

All in, lovely work my friend you must be made up.

Trev
 
Hi Stuart

Wow, what a fantastic job and quite an investment.

I think we exchanged messages when you first bought that car because I recognised it as a previous owner.

I'm intrigued to know why you decided on an engine rebuild as the car had always been low mileage. It only had 43K miles on it when I sold it and I think you said it still only had 78K miles on it when you bought it last year. Which seems very low mileage for an engine stripped down and rebuilt. Had it suffered some kind of major failure or signs of significant wear?

Also, the car must be feeling a sense of déjà  vu. As you know I also live near Cambridge and I actually had bodywork done on the car at the same garage - Barr Tech - shortly after I bought it. Spookily, it also included some remedial work in the corner of the windscreen so I had the windscreen replaced at the same time too!

I have to say I thought they were good guys to work with and their bodywork and paint was top-notch but sadly they let me down on the windscreen replacement. I made a big thing about how difficult it is to replace windscreens in these cars and they told me not to worry because they had their own windscreen expert who was very familiar with 911s. I never met the guy who did the work for them, but frankly he completely messed it up in my view. The new windscreen he fitted squeaked worse than the old one that came out and you could see huge blobs of filler down the back of the dashboard where he'd struggled to align it properly. So I'm pleased to see you had THE acknowledged 993 expert fitting the windscreen for you this time round.

Fantastic to see somebody investing so much to get a 993 in top condition and I'll certainly be keeping an eye out around Cambridge in the hope of spotting my old car and will give you a wave if I do.
 
I'll be following this too as I'm not too far from Cambridge and always like to know of places I can use that others have good experiences of.

Likewise to other comments on here I'm intrigued to understand the reasons for the rebuild, and the chassis legs looked pretty good, not too dissimilar to mine when we opened them up, so surprised a new patch was needed.
 
Looks like an absolutely epic job - congratulations (and commiserations to your wallet)...totally worth it though as it looks a million bucks!

Is it midnight blue or ocean?
 
pierrebear said:
Looks like an absolutely epic job - congratulations (and commiserations to your wallet)...totally worth it though as it looks a million bucks!
:thumbs: ^ all of that!! Also interested to learn what prompted such open heart surgery...
 
Wow, thanks for all the comments. I wasn't expecting that, it's much appreciated. Hope I can answer everything...

stichill99 said:
Beautiful :worship: Absolutely better than getting a brand new car! What would I rather have, a new 992 or this?
Exactly.
This thinking pretty much sums up why I spent roughly £30k on work that didn't strictly need doing, and adds little value. I just did it because I wanted it (and can afford it).

cableguy said:
Weekend warrior or balls out daily?
I recently retired so I'm hoping to use the 993 as much as possble for leisure trips. I also have a Caterham R400 tor track and "warrior" fun.

tyinsky said:
This is superb!!! What led you to get the full engine rebuild?
Thanks tyinsky, that means a lot coming from you. I've much enjoyed reading your exploits and seeing your photos on here and other forums.
The engine at 80k miles was weeping oil in all the usual places, including through-bolts. It ran fine and I could have left it as-is, but I thought what the heck.

Opening up the engine revealed badly worn valve guides (now all replaced) and badly pitted cams (camshaft an £800 item!). The rebuild itemised parts list runs to 7 pages. Should be strong for another 20 years.

ChrisT70 said:
Looks like a very nice job done. What was the budget overall if you don't mind me asking? Any suspension work refresh or just paint and engine?
Chassis legs didn't look bad at all but you can clearly see how the lack of surface protection in that one spot allows metal to be eaten away slowly.
The rest of the body looked solid as a rock, was any rot found under the scuttle or screens ?
Thanks Chris. £30k split roughly 50:50 on engine and body/paint. Suspension was sorted a few years ago by a previous owner, so I left that alone.

Yes, chassis legs were not bad, as was the rest of the body. All wheel arches were rusting, scuttle was OKish, lots of tiny dings and paint blemishes that I could have easily lived with but my wife thought unnaceptable.

Cameltoe & Heel said:
...Colour looks good, ocean blue?...
So engine work wise, did you just go straight refresh here?, or did you end up tweaking some parts?.
All in, lovely work my friend you must be made up.
Thanks Trev. It's Midnight blue. I didn't change the colour. Engine is back to factory fresh with no tweaks.

A993LAD said:
...the car must be feeling a sense of déjà  vu. As you know I also live near Cambridge and I actually had bodywork done on the car at the same garage - Barr Tech - shortly after I bought it. Spookily, it also included some remedial work in the corner of the windscreen so I had the windscreen replaced at the same time too!

I have to say I thought they were good guys to work with and their bodywork and paint was top-notch but sadly they let me down on the windscreen replacement. I made a big thing about how difficult it is to replace windscreens in these cars and they told me not to worry because they had their own windscreen expert who was very familiar with 911s. I never met the guy who did the work for them, but frankly he completely messed it up in my view. The new windscreen he fitted squeaked worse than the old one that came out and you could see huge blobs of filler down the back of the dashboard where he'd struggled to align it properly. So I'm pleased to see you had THE acknowledged 993 expert fitting the windscreen for you this time round.

Fantastic to see somebody investing so much to get a 993 in top condition and I'll certainly be keeping an eye out around Cambridge in the hope of spotting my old car and will give you a wave if I do.

Barr Tech didn't mention they had worked on this car before, they probably didn't realise.
The winsdcreen that came out was a shocking fit. It's only through this forum that I discovered Glasstec Paul, so thanks everyone for that.
A993LAD, we should meet up! I might pop over to the TIPEC Anglia meeting 28th August (I'm not a member and have never been to a meet).
 
Must be a stunning car now with a proper repaint and a strong, leak free engine. Hopefully it will deliver lots of great road trips in the years to come. Also undergoing a rebuild where the leaks pushed me towards doing the whole lot. Great thread. :thumbs:
 
Congratulations on the work it looks superb!
My rebuild also revealed pitted cams, I am now very conscious of using oil or an additive to address the low levels of zddp in modern oils.
I would suggest checking the operation of your oil cooler fan to make sure the low speed is operating correctly. Even with a new balast resistor mine wouldn't work (CCU problem) so I wired in a manual override. Works a treat, and no more red hot engine and worn valve guides!
 
Stuart7 said:
This thinking pretty much sums up why I spent roughly £30k on work that didn't strictly need doing, and adds little value. I just did it because I wanted it (and can afford it).

If its your baby and you can afford it.. fair play! Looks like a brand new one!
 
Very nice job! Good to get a feel for bodywork and engine rebuild costs as these will be on my list at some point in the future.

Have fun with the car now its as you want it. I've done 2500 miles in mine since I collected it on 18th July!
 
Stuart7 said:
A993LAD, we should meet up! I might pop over to the TIPEC Anglia meeting 28th August (I'm not a member and have never been to a meet).

Excellent plan, although I see it is midweek and out near Bury St Edmunds, so it all depends whether I can get away from work and escape from London early. It would certainly be good to see the old car again. Although I might not recognise it with that shiny new facelift!
 
Hey Stuart

Nice to see you are using the car. Just spotted you this morning on the A428 heading towards Caxton .

We were going the opposite direction in my wife's Lagonda en route to Prescott hill climb. Car looks like this......

Although you might not have spotted us in the bright sunshine reflecting off your highly polished new paintwork. Car looked fantastic mate
 

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Hi A993LAD,
Yes I did spot you last Saturday. What a fantastic machine, your wife clearly has superb style and taste!
 

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