Project Jelly Bean (AKA Kinda Green ’99 996 911)

A couple of months back I purchased a 1999 Jade Ocean Porsche 911 after making a phone call offer while waiting for the wife at a shop (lesson to wife, don’t leave me + phone + gumtree alone) for what was probably the cheapest price ever for a running drivable 911. To prove it was a bargain I flew from Perth to Brisbane and then drive it to Melbourne in 2 days. It was rock solid the whole way. Before being that stupid the car did have a PPI which showed up it needed some work on the sunroof (did I mention it was a kinda green 996.1 cab auto 911… lucky I am not looking to part with it anytime soon), brakes were worn, CV boots shot, indicator stalk issues, some missing rubbers in the engine bay, noisy solenoid on the fuel cap and a few other minor things. Got a quote to fix and nearly fell over but an awesome bargaining tool as I knew I could just about rebuild the car from ground up (just don’t like cracking open engines…). The drive home showed it was mechanically rock solid as noted in the PPI, it had a replacement engine (now a none matching car, resale value huh?) but that was a bonus as it had an upgraded IMS bearing (maybe increased value on that one…). My wife is not a fan of the colour but I have grown to like it, so for now it gets to stay unwrapped. But when my pelican part order came in with Jelly Beans my wife looked at the car and those and said “you have purchased a Jelly Belly!”… so the car is now called Jelly Bean. This thread aims to document what happens when someone who was boxster shopping buys a 911 for the same price instead! I am very DIY happy having designed and built a Lotus 7 replica a few years back and armed with a pretty good garage but even better a friend with a workshop. First job: Rear disks and pads all around, following the 101 projects guide all pretty easy once you find the anti-theft socket thing. Some air filters and the rubber things that were missing: Indicator stalk didn’t set off the airbag or the warning light so win! No photos… woops! Didn’t do the 4 stalk upgrade as picked up a 986 one for a good price. Installed an android double din head unit so I had blue tooth, sat nav, and can add cameras later (the reverse camera is actually in the dash as I don’t feel like running the wires the length of the car!). Someone had already played with the wiring so some fun was had but enough trial and error with wiring diagrams got it sorted and rocking the usb and Bluetooth tunes! CV boot replacement… the instructions are wrong on pelican parts. Auto = fat box = undo suspension to get clearance you need = totally crap job. Softop issues, not got around to solving these yet as I leave the hardtop on anyway. The PPI said it was stiff to move. Something happened between the PPI and me trying it out as it didn’t work at all. Manually opening it turned up that the issue is the clam not moving, everything else works fine. Clam wise the motor runs but it won’t move and the LHS hinge is broken. Since I can manually drive the clam with the allen key tool I am hopeful the drive screws are fine and its just striped the connection shaft. Hinge wise tossing up trying to weld it and see what happens as worst case it breaks again best it fixes it for cheap. Don’t think I will find one at the wreckers for cheap. Also found someone butchered the rear plastic parts over the pop up roll bars… that will need to be replaced. Some photos of it getting torn down, the top up (really good condition it turns out) and broken things: Future projects: · Baby seat… why not buy a 911 when a baby is due in a few months? Cab +baby seat = passengers face on the windscreen J . · Solenoid for fuel cap · Oil and filter change · Gearbox oil and filter change · Reverse camera and a forward facing dash cam · Exhaust mod (expected more noise from the flat 6) · DIY Hardtop hoist in the garage

Well done! Love that you bought an unusual colour 911 and you are not scared to work on it yourself! I have sometimes thought of a 996 with a hardtop as an inexpensive way into a 911. Here, here on the baby seat, Porsches are great cars for kids!

Gotta luv a 996 Cab.

Great write up so far you’ve got to love the way 996’s drive

Excellent effort and write up so far!!!  Good job.

Thanks for the kind words, i am finding it a lot more fun  vs when you have to make everything from scratch each time you want to change something. Was on my way back into melbourne around the ring road Sat night and passed a black cayman 987, wife said she liked it and how much? When i said it was more then i paid for the 911 there was a pause and a suggestion maybe one of those next? That is permission right? haha. Might leave that for a year or so post baby as i dont feel like having to sleep in the garage with them. 911 in for roady friday so lets hope no more surprises.

Your twin!! https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Porsche-911-Carrera-1998/SSE-AD-5371595/?Cr=12

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Haha, it almost is just need to replace the black leather. Don't mind the wheels actually.

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Cars must have been delivered very close together going by the number plates!! Yep, your interior is the nicer colour!

Took the car through its roady today, got it back with a list but some funny items: 1. Could not find the engine number, proceeded to show me a bunch of print outs about GT3's and other cars and asked if i am sure its a 911. As he said it appears to be a 996... Looking under the car i could see punch marks were the engine number is. Could not read it laying on the floor next to the car but how they missed it i dont know. 2. High beam inner globes don't work, didnt know they had inner high beam globes. Think they mean the fog lights and they just could not make them work as every light works when i tested it when i got home. 3. Could not inspect the disc/pads due to missing lock nut... which is in the tool pouch with the car. Muppets. Apart from that 1. Handbrake needs adjustment, should have done it when i did the rear discs 2. "ABS" wiring needs grommets replaced on 3 corners as its not held in place 3. Front bump stops worn/cracked 4. Gearbox mount is broken... i know its sagged from the PPI and i have a replacement but after reading how it needs to be done hopped i could skip through without it. 5. Rear mud flaps... they mean the inner linings for the wheel guards. Will just get a set off a wrecked car. Really only item that is a PITA is 4. While doing that might look at installing the engine mount stiffeners. Guess you will get some more pictures  of a 996 in pieces on a hoist Ahh the joys, at least i can buy off the shelf parts and not making everything from scratch like its garage mate. Though the road worthy guy looked at when i put in club plates and pretty much just handed the paperwork saying he was not driving that in the wet and you have to put in the hoist and not leave the workshop while it is here...

Item 2 has given me a little curve ball, not had a chance to check yet but from what i was told i need to replace the rubber parts, but i cannot find a part number for them. Can get an entire wiring kit ( 996-612-952-00) from pelican but its a bit silly spending $300 to replace some rubber grommets.

Measure the holes and look on ebay for some grommets

The simple answers and generally the best... will hopefully get the car up on the hoist tomorrow and measure some things and take a look at how bad is this transmission mount and also the bump stops. And knock over item 1.

Well i had some time this arvo to jack up the car and take a look at the what the road worthy guys was on about. Muppet items: 1. Engine number, AT clearly showing its a replacement engine.... 2. All the lights working, nothing changed. 3. Took the wheel off using the missing lock nut tool. Fixes 1. Yep, hand brake needs adjustment 2. The grommets are knackered, dimensions and some photos: 3. RHS front bump stops issues, not sure i agree they are in bad shape... 4. The gearbox mount is more broken then i thought it would be.  Still no plan on how to do the swap.  Pelican says removal of the box is simple... if i do pull it will also do a fluid/filter replacement.  Unless someone wants to come to my help with a transmission tool? Have a video using a scope camera, not very good as was doing this laying on the floor and need to work out how i will post... 5. Rear mud plans, did the 996 come with these as i do not see how they fit... So can someone with a 996 take a look behind there rear wheels?

Subscribed! Looking good so far, assuming you've looked in the PET already for those ABS grommets?

I kinda like the look of the cab with the soft top up (without the hard top).

It was the first 911 designed from the start to have a soft top version, so it's much better integrated than all prior efforts.

+966 on just the soft top looking great and more sleek Although nothing beats a coupe for me

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I had not heard of PET, until just googled it. Thanks! It however didnt give me any more details, on page 531 it mentions the harness i note above.

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PET is your best friend! Also autoatlanta is brilliant. I'd just search for rubber grommet on autoatlanta then put in an order with PCM parts. Usually for small bits going to the dealership is the best.

@Taffy Autohaus Hamilton in Sydney are good for parts and @JustJames will look after you, a lot of parts i have ordered are comparable on price with what you would buy overseas.

Nice pick up Taffy, love 996's in whacky colours... like a 90's version of Viper green. Great to see you're getting stuck in with the tools and finding the 996 is very DIY-able. Looks like your bumpstops are like mine were, don't look to bad but give em a poke and they turn to powder. Fortunately relatively easy to replace.

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+996 for autohaus have bought a few things from them over the years too.

Thanks for the suggestion will check out autohaus (annoyingly i am here right now with work, o'well next time). A couple of days ago placed another order for parts from Pelican and realised i forgot the repair kit for the soft top motor. Annoying as i remembered i had something to add to the order but just could not place it. Anyway will have the bump stops, hinge repair kit for the center console, replacement covers on the hard top removal bolts, sparks plugs (didnt add to postage), some gaskets (Same on postage again), a bump for the transmission fluid, brake pad sensors (the front were showing signs of aging) and a set of axle bolts for post removing the transmission. Still have a fuel filter, fuel cap solenoid and oil filter jobs to do. Will see i get some time this weekend to knock over some more jobs. Got some grommets that look the right size but not exactly the same shape from Clark Rubber, will see if they fit while i work how if i can get the Porsche ones later.

How many kms has it got? I remember seeing coupe in that colour with an aerokit cup, owner had it transported down from WA, looked great

My sneaky wife caught me looking at this car when it  was advertised on GT and liked it!! I kinda figured that it would need work - but we were planning a long holiday - so i wasnt allowed to look into it. Glad that the the stuff you got to fix isnt too bad and that you will be able to enjoy the Jelly Bean while being a new dad. (Congratulations). Anyway fix it good as I might be coming to see you if you are allowed to get a Cayman AND my wife still likes the colour. Peter in the US & Caribbean PS: my mate is building a LowCost, it that what yours is?

@dan_189 It had ~ 135K on it when i purchased it and i have put another 5K on it since. @Zelrik911 Thanks for the congrats, going to be a fun time. Might be sleeping in the car some nights! I was looking at it, the guy took a few days to get back to me and i had purchased another car. Before finally coming back to buy it. The Cayman idea would be that it would replace the lowcost, though not sure how i can swing it as the lowcost costs ~$70 a month including fuel to keep around and there hard to sell. So yes the car in the background is a Lowcost (Haynes roadster width and then my own mods to adjust seating etc), It has a BMW 318IS drive train under it. Built it over about 3 years and did it all including welding, fiberglass, painting, seats, etc. Not sure how i found the time looking back! Little but fat though as its around 700kg, but it will keep up with Honda powered Elises so its still pretty damn quick. Wife hates it!

On Sunday hit the big job of replacing the gearbox mount... that really lacked in fun. Did it on the car as opposed to pulling the box. DIY a puller tool, but it turned out the threaded bar was not up to the task so ended up shearing or dethreading ~8 bolts or threaded bar before using joining nuts to give my enough bite to pull it the last the of way in. Phone went flat before i finished so no photos of the last part of the pressing. The old mount: So the way i did it to give me clearance was to use a silent man and then raise the car slightly so i could get clear access to the mount. The puller, i did add a piece of tube on the thick plate side to give space for the center section to fit into. Also replaced the wheel speed grommets with the ones from Clark Rubber Next is handbrake and later in the week suspension bump stops.

Nice work! You're powering through it

Loving the thread! Keep it up!

Hey Guys, Some more progress, got another pile of parts from Pelican, added in some bolts and spark plugs just because i could without upping the postage. Task 1 - replace the bump stops These are the 3 nuts to remove the shock, dont use a rattle gun on them... see next pic for what happens when do that and you dont check which way you had the gun set... Instead do this... What it looks like in pieces, the new stop is sitting on the shock while i waited for a new top plate While at it replaced the wear sensors on the front which i didnt do when i did the pads recently. Getting the top off needs the use of a vice and a spring compressor but the springs are so small you struggle to get the compressor on both sides. So just had to go with single side... Coming back together A jack makes it much easier to bolt up. And all back in together . Gotta love that you can fit all of the parts and tools in the front! Also adjusted the handbrake, says to back off 9 turns but while better i think its not tight enough so still need to redo it. Non self adjusting handbrake... really? So now to book it back in for the roady. Going to give it a decent run through high country early next week so will report back on how many more things i find it needs. Then we will have: Engine oil + filter Gearbox oil + filter (Got the pump) Fuel Filter Fix the center console hinge LHS hinge and softtop motor Fuel cap motorised thingo that makes way too much noise cheers, Taffy

You're going really well Taffy, kudos to you mate .... just couldn't resist putting this great photo of the jellybean with this! Once you're done with the maintenance, just gotta buy the Coxster on Gumtree and put the new int in ... oh and do a R to L conversion as well.....

The high country drive was pretty good, 2 days hit: Black Spur Jamieson-Elidon Rd Mt Buller Falls Creek (Both sides) Omeo Hwy Mt Hotham (Both sides) 0 police discussions, all traffic got out of the way up and the cars didnt miss a beat. The Sat Nav install was a good move, lets you see the road 3-4 turns ahead at a glance. A heads up display on the windscreen would be pretty good... but that is not high on my to do list. Also got the past through the roady without issue 2nd time round as i gave them instructions on how the car works and photos of everything down to brake disc thickness. The car is now on Vic plates, success!

Great work, looking forward to seeing it next weekend then!

Good on you Taffy you’ve done a great job

The car has had a noisy fuel cap solenoid for a while and i ordered one from pelican a few months back. Decided to take a crack at replacing it, didnt go to plan. The solenoid is on the windscreen side of the fuel cap, easy enough just go in through the wheel arch right? FYI porsche picked 3 ways of holding the lining on... why not? You get the guard off and you faced with this... not looking good now. You see those 2 bolts at the top of this pic... that is what you need to get undone. Turns out its a guard off job as you cannot actually get to them due the structure of the car. At this point i gave up and will need to come back to it when i feel like pulling the car to pieces totally... Project 2, fix the broken hinge on the centre console Getting the it apart is pretty easy just undo all of the torx bolts on the bottom of the arm rest/lid. Inside you will see something like this, apart from you will have the strap around the piece of metal. The issue is that the hinges snap, you can see the plastic broken in the background. The fix is to install a metal hinge in its place This is how it fits on the cover A this is help in place with a couple of rivets you need to put these little U shaped pieces of metal in openings at the back of the plastic which you drill into and pull the rivet up against Using the metal hinge as a guide drill the holes, put a rivet in the first before you drill the second so it does not move. Pop the rivets Put the pin back in through the new hinge and put the spring back in place as well, leaving off the metal spring/strap holder Feed the strap through and secure with the metal bracket, then replace the torx to hold the armrest on Ordered parts for the soft top motor, due early next month. Also will soon replace all the fluids and filters (engine, fuel and gearbox) which looks pretty straight forward.

Nice work. Where did you get the metal hinge?

I thought the guy who detailed this plastic hinge would be retired by now. Same issue as on the 944.

I super glued mine. Lasted until one of the billy lids was rough with it. I was going to try welding the plastic. I've had a lot of success welding plastic. Optimal temp is the secret. Metal replacement is the go.

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Hey firestone, I got mine from Pelican parts, part number 996-552-960-01 ($38 USD) But i have seen them all over the net since while looking for other parts, so might be cheaper options. Cheers, Taffy

Nice to see you here taffy! this is a total coincidence but here is a pic of my previous 911 wheels photoshopped in this pic but they are the wheels i ended up with. it was an awesome car and I should have never sold it as they have doubled in price in the condition/combo great minds think alike! the color really grew on me. I have now bought a cayman S and its also a great car. i will keep track of your build and thanks for sharing!

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Haha had a few lotus/7 owner join the Porsche ownership recently. Pretty much don’t drive the clubby these days but it’s cheap keep around. Cayman are great cars, had a base 2.7 in Hawaii and was the best car I had ever driven. Congrats! You had a very nice looking 911 there, looks like you had the car I wanted but as you say prices rose a lot.

Next job was trying to get the softop running, this seemed to be linked to the clam not running. To fix i purchased the repair kit. Since the arrival last week of the new family addition i am doing this all in the my own garage, no hoists. Top into maintenance position Normally dont need to remove this cover over the roll bars but i am, mine is pretty stuffed after a previous owner hacked at it... Remove the carpet ... lack of space means the 7 gets to store all the removed parts! This is what we are after, the motor is the silver bit behind the black long plastic box To replace the shaft with the repair kit one we need to get this one out, to do that you need to unscrew the bolt on the end which is reverse threaded. To get mine out i need to hold onto the shaft with pliers Then push it through to get the circlip, its spring loaded so a PITA to get at The two shafts, the new one was longer so i ended up using springs on both sides which seemed to work pretty well You dont need to undo the small screws... but assembled again At this point i had the clam running again but the top would run cycle properly... Video of issue Youtube video of the issue So referencing this site: https://www.porscherepair.us/porsche-996-diagnosis/diagnosistroubleshooting-convertible-top.html I took a look at the microswitches in the softtop itself... after along time testing and playing with the switches not a lot of success and infact it got worse as the top now wont latch without manual intervention to pull it into place on the windscreen. In this pic you can see the 3 microswitches at the bottom Testing there function Checking the control board for cracks And now i am stuck... any ideas?

My googling has turned a little more info: And all of the top micro switch locations Switch 3, working ok Switch 4 x 3 seem to be working... Switch 5... not sure Switch 9... not sure Switch 8 is noted above and may be out of sync Switch 6 all good Switch 7 not sure, but did read another set of posts that these were an issue.

Well after doing a little more work on the top it will move further to just short of closed and then just stops. Thinking it may be a calibration issue now. Ordered a syringe to refill the hydraulics and looking at (got outbid on one today :() getting a foxwell N510/520 to help understand what is going on. Moved onto the task of spark plug replacements but a major $$%#$% moment has come up. Left bank, tip remove the muffler else its a PITA to get at everything. Just removing the cover plate does not give you much room. But remove the muffler and it gives you some space, but the muffler mount remains a PITA for 1 cylinder. Noted it seemed to have a miss, assume its a loose plug. Forgot to come back to it when i did the right side to confirm. Right side, same thing remove the muffler and the mount is still a PITA. The %^$$%% issue... on the final rear plug tube it looks like this: Had a panic that i had a cracked head and a quick google told me its just the spark plug tubes, so all good... needed to put the car back in the garage and noted it still had the slight miss but seemed ok. Sitting at dinner it dawned on me that those tubes sit through the cam covers... if i had knocked out those parts they could be floating around jamming things... $%%$%$ Does not look like i will be able to pull out the tubes in 1 piece anyway so looks like it will need to be a cam off job, but my reading shows mixed messages in if i need a special look to stop the cams moving.  The photo below shows a pretty simple tool being used to hold one end. Anyone here pulled the cam cover off a 996 / 986 and can confirm? This being a $10K engine i am a little nervous here, i dont even think twice on a BMW M44 pulling it apart but the damage is at worst $1K. So thinking i might look at getting an indie to do this and also re calibrate the top. Any suggestions in Melbourne?

Doing some more reading they note that they dont pull these pieces out due to the bigger issue being the seals for the CAM and that being plastic it will just smash up and come out the other end. Still not sure but given i ran it already i guess i am already down that path... Renn Tech thread This thread says: " He said they always replace the tubes because they crack or bits of plastic fall off when removing the tubes. He said not to worry if bits of plastic fall into the cam cover as it will not harm anything." And also backed up here: Pelican parts forum " Which pieces? Plastic in general is not something to be too terribly concerned about in the engine (as opposed to metal pieces). It will eventually make it's way to the sump probably after it's chopped up by the metal moving parts of the engine. I might not remove the cover to go looking for it because the cover may end up leaking afterwards, and it's in general a pretty difficult task to do with the engine in the car." " If you look at a photo of what is under the spark plug tubes, you have the cams and the lifters. I suppose in the worst case scenario, the piece of plastic can clog one of the oil passages, but the odds of that are probably not too high. I think it will work itself into the sump eventually. Removal of the cover in order to go find it is of course be the "correct" thing to do. But, that is not a terribly easy procedure, and then you will have to reseal the cam cover under the car. There's no gasket so you will have to clean out the entire seam and then reseal it. If you don't get it 100%, then the cam cover will leak oil. So you have to pick your poison..."

I have never had a 996, but from my limited reading a 'miss' is usually a dodgy COP coil on those. Unless your old plugs were totally swimming in oil, I wouldn't be too concerned about the tube. You dont want a leaky oil engine - after all you dont have an air cooled engine where its nearly compulsory.

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haha, very true. Given it was fine before i started and only playing up after hopefully its just that i didnt seat it or plug in properly. *Ordered 6 tubes and seals + a Foxwell NT520, will write up how well it works.

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Two recommendations: The BEST sealer I have ever used is  THREEBOND 1104, essential for aircooled 911s. If you have to buy expensive (Beru) sparkplugs - I would go for NGK Iridium.

Thanks for the suggestion, put in Bosch spark plugs from Pelican but it had Beru. When I get the tubes will probably swap out again for a higher spec one. In good news the miss which had me panicked was a missed connection on a plug. But it did mean the car ran well until oil flooded the other plug and now it feels down on power but idle is smooth so will leave it until the tubes arrive.

Quick update on Jelly Bean: Replaced the spark plug tubes, its pretty easy to get these out using a bolt with a washer on it and a flat head. Replaced the hinge on the rear clam, still does not work properly. Ended up getting these from the US as seem to struggle to find wrecking 996 Cabs in Aus. Engine oil changed, not that exciting Filter looks good, no metal! Gearbox oil and filter changed, a little more exciting The filler plug was tightened to an insane level!!! Filling is done by pumping into the transmission until it runs out... Picked up a scanner, does somethings but not all, rate it way above a cheap bluetooth module though. So will need to get a friendly porsche mechanic to try and re calibrate the top so that it can open and close fully. Not able to find anything else that does not function.

Love how you've dived straight into this 996! FYI Hytech in Sydney have two convertible 996s they are wrecking both MK1 and MK2. Also I have a PIWISII (factory Porsche computer) if you'd like to have a go at calibrating it yourself - PM me

I battled with an issue with the convertible top similar to yours for a couple of weeks until I bit the bullet and went to my independent Porsche mechanic who re-calibrated it. Took all of ten minutes (most of that was waiting for the PIWIS to boot). This fixed it and my soft top has been perfect ever since. I suspect yours just needs calibration too.

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Thanks for the offer Dan, if dont mind would be worth a shot to check if it can be done or if anything else busted which i cannot find. Will send you a PM. Thanks for the confirmation Oggie, it didnt cycle before and the clam didnt work. After stuffing around with it in manual mode i am hoping that is the only issue. I actually like the hard top on it but if i get the soft top running might look at getting a wind deflector and try driving with the top down now and then.

Sure, I'm in essendon - hit me up when you're free. Cheers!

Progress has not been great. Daniel helped me by letting me plug into his PIWIS (thanks again!) and it just kept spitting out the error about timeout not reached end position. But nothing to indicate what that was in reference too. We played around with some settings but didnt work. So back to resetting the POT and trying various things. To aid that i picked up a 2nd hand Durametric with the idea of being able to at least see what is going on even if it wont calibrate. Ran into an issue that it wont connect to anything on K2 of the OBD. K1 has the engine/gearbox while K2 is airbag, aircon, instruments, convertible top, etc. Talking Durametric i an told the issue is the airbag but confused as no live errors on the airbag off PIWIS. Will do the airbag delete resistor move and see it that helps. My other thought is that it is a switch in the top hook module as it stops just as the hook retracts. For reference durametric screens and the light on the plug each screen. If the plug stays green but it falls over then its the airbag, if it goes Red its the cable - slight issue when you are colour blind FYI... Can they make it 2 LEDs please. Starting up application with the plug in both the computer and car Application loaded and selecting car Reading ECU Reading gearbox And selecting airbag it looses sync In positive news i got the other car running in the garage, needs some work on the alignment as its all over the shop vs the 911. The wheel sticking up is an old kids 911 that i am going to fix up for my 5 month old to drive in the future. Parts appear to be rather hard to come by so it might be 'hot rod' 911 as opposed to stock.

Anytime Taffy, keep me posted when you need to plug in again. There is a fair bit on rennlist re the K2 line but I think it's still unresolved on durametrics end.

Need some help from someone with a Durametric Pro in Melbourne, need to test if it’s my car or the cable as the us company is not sure the issue and before for a new one I would like to confirm. Need 10 min to plug in your cable to my car, test a k2 line item or airbag. Then test roof connection. Don’t need to do any trouble shooting. Reason for pro is so that I don’t use a vin on one of the enthusiast version. please let me know if you can help me out? thanks Taffy

Been a while since i updated this but key knocking jobs over on the car, but as with everything things change and the car will be for sale in a couple of weeks once i track down 2 more parts and get the roof calibrated. I have been offered a role in the UK for a couple of years, so plan to pick up a car over there (thinking 996 turbo, 997.1 S or a 997.2 PDK) shipping it back. On the car itself: Replaced fuel flap solenoid, this is the 2nd go at it as give up first time unsure how to get the unit out. You can remove the carbon canister with a little force and you need to be creative to undo the screws holding it in. Fun... Installed USB ports in the centre console, i was going to replace the ciggy lighter but instead decided a better course is to have them hidden away. Seems to work well with either usb key or running a iphone/android cable out as needed. Getting the USB plugged into the head unit Found cup holders and an unmbrella for the car. Installed heated seats, these are not porsche but after market. Took a little time but actually not that bad. Power comes off #6 which is the correct fuse but i had to jump it as i didnt have the piece of put the 2nd connector side into the fuse box. Not that it matters as each seat has its own fuse. Works pretty well for those cold mornings into work. This was cut into the seats.. someone was having a happy day Had an annoying thing with the roof not going into the channels above the windows, turns out a connection running between each side was busted. Pulled out the sewing skills and fixed that up. Not pretty sewing but it seems to be working better. Arranged to get calibration a crack so can actually run the roof its full cycle... You can see the loose piece hanging down in this pic All fixed Busted the flap which covers the lock on the rear clam in my playing around trying to get the roof working, replaced that. This happened... the spare didnt make out of the car park. Possibly age meant it just feel apart. Before selling the car will track down a boxster or 996 replacement. So 2 new rear tyres put on. So before selling: 1. Roof calibration 2. Replace spare tyre 3. Replace piece above the roll bars, last owner had hacked it up badly... Was going to try and fix but decided to see about a replacement. 4. New front rotors (believe going to need these for RWC) Someone enjoying themselves in the car, he enjoys the rides which is a win! Jelly Bean found a friend while i was at a training course in Richmond If your interested in a car which makes a smashing daily driver, not afraid of shopping runs or the own road then Jelly Bean might be the car for you, watching the market lately the prices on 996's has shifted up which is a win for anyone buying this car. Engine replacement car at ~30K, 151K, last round of servicing i did as per this thread but porsche before that. Looking for $35K which looking at gumtree/carsales makes it just about the cheapest in Aus. Will put up a full for sale ad once i get the roof running, but happy for anyone interested to get in contact (taffy.flynn(at)gmail.com or 0409 48O 6O9) Will put some porsche parts i have left over as well over the coming days. Cheers, Taffy

@Taffy check the import rule review post (listed today) before deciding on the import option in 2 years as this may have an impact on your decision

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Thanks, will check it out, didnt think they were going to impact personal imports.

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Crikey that car is still for sale! 18 months!

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Yeah, when it was listed it was up against cars in the low 30's and price has not moved. Not sure how motivated the seller is if he has not lowered the $ or improved the sales ad. In good news for them the prices of 996s seem to be coming up to meet his price.

Spent some time this morning running the calibration on the roof, turns out the durametric pro will work the roof but the enthusiast would not. We could get it to fully cycle (win for nothing major broken), but the rear clam would not play ball and close at the end of calibration but will close when the roof is going into the closed position. Looking at things it may be that the shaft i replaced was not the correct one, i have now found there are actually 2: 996.561.01.OEM https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/99656167301OEM.htm?pn=996-561-673-01-OEM&bt=Y&fs=0&SVSVSI= 996.561.00.OEM (says it is on other sides 03 onwards) https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/99656167301.htm?pn=996-561-673-01-OEM Plan is to swap back in the old one which does work and see what happens.

My roof fun continues, this has to be one of the most annoying things ever made for a car. So little detail on how it actually works at what step, so you are shooting at the dark if you are fixing the issue or just wasting your time. Now have a Durametric which i can run the calibration with, the issue is that it wont calibrate yet. Of note is that a Durametric wont give you actual values for the sensors in the top like a PIWIS. The good news is that i can get every part to actually work in full movement range... just not all at the same time... Its different to the last time i tried to calibrate after stuffing around again with the clam shaft. Playing around this arvo got to this stage, a combo of running calibration and the switch. Seems we are stuck on the last check before it closes. The clam is now playing up on opening so need undo what ever it was i last did... Edit: This odd thing was happening with the clam motor shaft, after installing the motor runs to try and shift the clam more open and causes the shaft to pop up and jam so you cannot press it down. Not jammed Jammed Anyone seen this? This was the weekend point, better then before. You can see the year cover on the bench in the background i repair it following no luck trying to buy one. Test fit of the rear shelf piece that i have it all aligned. Replaced the front rotors, pretty easy job Found i was getting a P0740 code on the tiptronic, so refilled the AT fluid in so doing while getting the filler plug to open i had to give it a solid yank and my head meet the LHS rear suspension... Not bad enough to stop but i still have a nice lump. Cleared the fault but not really driven the car much since, but given i am not getting crazy issues that some threads describe. Not too worried about it and wont spend more time on it for now as some have been told by Porsche to just keep an eye on it and not worry. Time is ticking, so going to have to throw some effort in getting this roof running and the car sold.

Playing around a little today i managed to get the roof to fully close and the clam to drop on it. To do that i disconnected the pot on the clam motor and set it at 6.2 K ohms. It just wont work in that state as a convertible... but good to get it functioning and narrow it down. I also tested all the microswitches in the top part of the roof as 1 issue may have been the 'fully retracted hook' microswitch. Also replaced the cover on the hook to the front of the roof, it really is a poor piece of design as even the replacement does not work that well.

Well the major update is that i narrowed the issue down to the LHS flap motor being slow and not moving full up or down to make microswitches work fast enough. Replaced that and bingo the roof works! Minor issue in that the hook is trying to close before it hits the windscreen, but a quick pull forward by hand and its fine so will see what the issue might be.