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).