dragon43's 996 Carrera Build Journal

Hello and welcome Rennlisters, I want to introduce my 996 C2 and document the journey by starting a build journal. I’m a big fan of these sorts of threads and had a lot of fun doing one for my old BMW M2. I have always been fascinated with the Porsche 911. Watching Top Gear as a kid, the idea that a sports car with 6 cylinders, all of which beyond the rear axle, would give V12 Lambos and Ferraris a run for the money was mind-boggling. My grandpa had an affinity for them all of his life and finally bought a 997 Carrera 4 around 2010, and so the obsession began. To date, my family has owned 11 Porsches. I recently graduated from college, and my dad and I are taking on this project together with the purpose of it being a family heirloom. This car will represent our collective effort to create the best 911 we can, and really, that’s all that matters. Sure, it’s always a thrill to spec out the dream 1-of-1 PTS/CXX GT3 RS, but that car simply would not have the emotional significance of a car that captures 3 generations of passion quite like this. So, here’s the backstory for the car: it’s an Arctic Silver on Black 2000 Carrera coupe manual we got with 19,901 miles. It spent its entire life in the Northeast, between NJ, NY, and CT. The 2nd owner bought it in 2004 and later began to build it into a track car. From what I have been told, it has seen very little track use, but that didn’t matter much once I learned the car has been sitting since around 2008…yeah, it’s seen less than 1000 miles in about 18 years! I don’t know the storage conditions for this duration, but I’m fairly confident it sat under a tree, as the car has a lot of sap etching in the paint and a branch fell on it…more on that later. Fast forward to 2020, a father and son bought the car to fix it up during the COVID lockdowns, but they didn’t make much progress. A shop owner/tech from CT then purchased it last summer and got it up and running. He took on the project with the intention of selling it, as he is more interested in the air-cooled stuff, so we jumped at the opportunity and bought it! Now for its current state, the car is rough—with a capital R. The previous owner is a talented mechanic, but does not strive to own show cars, by his own admission. Thankfully, we’re a perfect fit as buyers, underequipped and not technically trained to handle something like an engine rebuild, but with a penchant for all cosmetic enhancements (short of a full respray, lol). Plus, restoring such a low-mile car with so much potential feels like our duty in a sense. The first few entries in this journal will be retrospective, so I will elaborate on more initial thoughts and build plans in future posts. Therefore, I put a photo of a 996.1 GT3 Clubsport below that I have been using as a vision for the final form of our car. Thank you for reading, much more to come, now let’s get to work! – dragon43

Few things match the excitement and anticipation of delivery day. It was quite the mess coordinating this delivery, but the car finally arrived. The driver pulled behind a Walmart not too far from our house to begin offloading. When we pulled up, the car was already out, along with this brand new Cadillac CT5 V Blackwing, pretty cool. The seller told us he had to test his Tetris skills to fit all of the parts in the car. I took a giant tub of parts out before taking this pic, haha. The interior is such a disaster, it’s giving me a rash. My dad drove it the short trip home, he remarked that it feels lively. 996s are a visceral driving experience as-is, but as a noisy track car, the rawness is amplified. The first thing I always do with a new car is give it a wash. You notice a lot of the imperfections in that time, and it’s therapeutic to rinse that trailer grime off. Time to put it away for the night. We spent a lot of time working on the paint, cleaning the jambs, and organizing the bins of parts. Not bad for day 1!

Looks like to perfect car to " make it your own " ..Congrats !!!

Looks good� at least in the pics the paint doesn�t look horrific. Since you are going for a GT3 look maybe you could do a racing type color scheme with plasti dip. Do you know how it was lowered/suspension setup?

Welcome to the group! Every car needs a story. And your starting point is quite a story already. Congratulations. I'm looking forward to see what you find!

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The paint is indeed less awesome than it seems...but I knew that going in haha. It has H&R coilovers, I haven't looked too closely yet, but I'd imagine they're the RSS over the Street version

Awesome! Looking forward to following the "build." Agree with the color change idea introduced by @GulfCoast911 Perhaps Speed Yellow.

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We're trying to avoid that for now... But if we weren't, we'd love to do a fun PTS color like Gulf Blue or Ice Green

Love seeing another buld journal! Congrats and will be following along.

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The Ice Green Metallic color, sort of a light diffused green was my favorite color for a looooong time. It came out in the late '70s. + '80s. I have only seen it on one 996, a C4S that was absolutely gorgeous. Natch, I lusted for it, but color + low miles+ "auction-last-bid-frenzy" put it out of my reach at somewhere in the $60k+ realm IIRC. And in a different light--- YMMV

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It is such a nice color, I saw it on a 930 with Cork interior, amazing!

Despite the ratty appearance, the car came with some nice goodies and a lot of service items complete. Here is the full list, to the best of my knowledge: Modifications: Aerokit/GT3 rear wing Aerokit/GT3 sideskirts BBS RE776/RE777 wheels H&R RSS coilovers Safety Devices roll cage GT Racing rear window Fidanza short shift kit Corbeau FX1 Pro seats Pagid track brake pads Side muffler delete pipes Unbranded K&N-style intake Service Items: LN Engineering IMS Solution Rear main seal replaced New clutch, flywheel, throwout bearing Air-oil separator replaced New ignition coils & spark plugs New fuel pump Fuel injectors flushed A/C system charged New OEM windshield New Bridgestone Potenza tires The ABS and airbag lights are on due to a bad sensor, and removed airbags in the door panels. Now, the fun stuff, here is the tentative build plan/upgrades to make: OEM Slicktop conversion Aerokit/GT3 front bumper OEM replacement carpet OEM airbox (for now…) Fister/Gundo side mufflers FVD Brombacher x-pipe Replica GT3 bucket seats Euro clear front reflectors Porsche crest center caps LOTS of misc. interior pieces A lot of the work, early on at least, will go towards cleaning/fixing parts already on the car. Cleaning, fixing, painting, and searching for obscure pieces that are needed. It sounds stupid, but I really look forward to this stage. No photos today, so here’s another from the GT3 gallery I used earlier…beginning to see the vision!

Nice game plan! Kudos on going back to OEM airbox. The K&N ones produce nice sound but not so much power. The resonator mod on the OEM airbox helps with that though. If the AOS gives you trouble at any point in the future, consider the UAOS Track version plus a deeper sump and you should be set.

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Yeah the intake is really sketchy, it doesn't have any shroud to capture cold air. Instead, the cone filter faces away from it and is banging into the frame rail, it has to be down 20+ hp lol. I got an OEM airbox, will do a resonator mod and get a higher-flowing filter. I want to pursue a cooler (no pun intended) intake once all of the necessary work is complete. I'm hoping the AOS stays reliable as it's new, but yeah the Ultimate setup is legit

Unfortunately, the first unexpected issue has presented itself pretty early�the 2nd day of ownership� The car popped a flashing engine light at idle, then stayed on constantly while driving. Usually, this indicates a misfire, and sure enough, a quick OBD scan reveals codes P0300, P0304, P0305, and P0306. Since the plugs and coils were replaced recently, and with multiple cylinder misfires, I don�t think it�s a cracked coilpack. I will investigate this further once I get the car apart� Also, this seems to be unrelated, as it�s on the driver�s side and the affected cylinders are all on bank 2 (passenger side), but the car has a slight oil leak. It starts somewhere above but drips down onto the crankcase/lower end of the block, and onto the suspension crossmember, before accumulating and dripping onto the ground. I asked the seller about these issues, he believes the cam solenoid/actuator seal piece, and it is dirty like it may seep when running. As for the misfires, he replaced most of the ignition parts and fueling system, so I�ll check for a bad connector or ground wire, then maybe start swapping around coilpacks. My hope is this isn�t too serious�next step is to start the teardown.

Great car. Agree with Pete, get the UAOS with track drain. Looks like the car was possibly set up for the track. The question is did it actually see track time without a proper AOS and without a deep sump? Many guys like to look like they have a race car But dont track it. I would test your oil before you change it. Track guys create heat, G forces create starvation, both create problems with the rod bearings. A deep sump and proper AOS supply more oil which helps to mitigate heat and starvation issues. Oil test will help to identify what you have going on inside the engine. Dropping your sump, cutting open your oil filter and scoping your bores will also help to judge the condition of the engine. The 996 M96 is so easy to keep running strong. But its always good to check.

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If it was a true track car, it didn't see a lot of track time, and it would've been 15-20 years ago. I will consider an oil analysis, who is the recommended lab to use? I used to have an E92 M3 and I know Blackstone does a ton of oil sample tests. I also have never seen an overrev report for the car, which could give me cause to inspect things more closely. I will chisel away at the misfiring problems and oil leak, and when I inevitably am in a rut, I'll consult the vast wealth of knowledge that is Rennlist, haha

This is probably where the project officially begins. After formulating a tentative game plan, we set out to strip it down. The goal was to take off as much of the interior and rear of the car as possible, simple enough instructions, lol. I begin with the rear of the car, with the intake, taillights, then the bumper and heat shields. This is doubly beneficial as it has the stupid-sounding and poorly fitting side muffler delete pipes. For now, I�m glad they�re on the car as it gives easy access to the coilpacks and cam actuator seals, without having to remove those bulky mufflers. Also, because everything will already be off the car once we buy/mod a set of mufflers. We knew going in that it had some corrosion around a previous repair site on the passenger rear quarter panel. Once the light was out, we could see the repair job. It looks hideous, so we�ll see what our body shop can do with it. I�m not convinced we won�t be buying a section of a fender�hopefully I�m pleasantly surprised. Next was the interior. Since we have no intention of tracking the car, we couldn�t get the roll cage out fast enough. Well, I should say the front half. The plan is to build this car like a GT3 Clubsport, meaning Lightweight Buckets and the Tequipment roll bar. So, we�ll be leaving the back half of the Safety Devices roll cage�it seems super high quality and is already an appealing satin black. Also worked on the doors, took off the panels to reinstall the speakers that came in one of the parts bins. The driver looked different from the factory HK unit; turns out it has Focal drop-in speakers, cool! The airbags were removed during its preparation for track duties, not sure if we want to put them back in yet. Also, popped off the shift **** and boot to give it a thorough cleaning, will share progress next post. A destructive day of progress.

Interesting project! I just recently bought mine but in far better shape with regard to the body, engine and interior. I'm not planning any body mods though. I'm concentrating on restoring the mechanical side. Bought mine for $10.5k, put an additional $20k to date in the 2 months I've been driving it updating it on incidentals The only mod to date has been the Fisker mufflers. Next mod and rebuild is the engine conversion to 4.0L and the Tip to handle the additional stress of the increased displacement. That will run another $60k. I've no expectations of getting my money back. Instead my son will get it sometime in the next 10 years or so when it's time to hang up my keys (I'm 68) for $1. In the meantime I'm going to drive the daylights out of it while I can and enjoy every single minute of it.

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I have read and been told that a Tip trans is capable of up ~1000 Hp. Just change fluid with new filter and diff oil for a refresh. Should be OK, even with a 4. or 4.1 engine. Others may chime in with more specific info. YMMV

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Good to hear.

Transmissions deal with torque and the 722.6 tip handles way more torque than you will ever get out of an M96 with ease.

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Good to hear also. Due to the lack of documentation I got, it's more a 'better safe than sorry' thing. The majority of the cost to rebuild one is having to drop the engine and reinstall it. So I want to do that the same time the engine is out for the rebuild. Not to mention parts are only going to rise over time. I don't want to dump a future fix on my son. I'd prefer he spends the money on the kids college fund. I want to restore the car to a condition he'll never have to do more than regular maintenance. The smile on his face driving it this weekend while on leave was priceless.

If you decide to rebuild the tip I would suggest using only genuine Mercedes parts. The 722.6 rebuild kits for $200 on ebay are not going to last. Also you need to measure the thickness of all the steels and get the correct thickness and quantity of steels and frictions to match what you took out. My tip lasted almost 200k miles on a heavily tracked 996 Turbo. I would leave it alone; it's probably good for 500k on a street driven M96 car.

Having spent more time with the car, I�ve noticed some pretty sweet details. First off, here�s the option list sticker. I haven�t decoded all of them, but I know anything beginning with an X (exclusive/custom option) is usually interesting. The option XSC means it came with the Porsche crests on the headrests, at least while it had the original seats. The interior includes all of the aluminum Porsche Tequipment trim; the shifter, e-brake, gauge faces, and airbag buttons are all finished in premium metallic silver. I also really appreciate how it was thoughtfully specced, it does not have the dated integrated telephone or navigation system that would have moved the climate controls to the lower console. Furthermore, it has the modest CDR radio, but it was ordered with the CD player/changer rather than the tape deck with cassette holder. A very timeless interior configuration. Now, much of the car's intrigue was due to its GT3/Aerokit appearance. With how cheap the car was, I never would have imagined that the side skirts and rear �taco� wing would be OEM. I was shocked to see that Turnwald/Made In France tag, so cool! Also, my dad and I are staunchly opposed to the ghastly black plastic rear bumperettes on USDM 996s. I knew this car didn�t have them, but I thought maybe they were removed, and there would be big holes in the bumper. But the absolute best-case scenario is the reality�the car has a factory Euro-spec rear bumper. It�s a nice touch, especially since we dislike the rear spats/airvane on factory Aerokit cars, and in the effort to make it like a .1 GT3, all of them have this very RoW bumper.

The teardown is in full swing, our garage and house are jam-packed with obscure Porsche parts. As my last entry hinted at, I removed the side skirts as they had a few broken mounts, and the tape holding the top half onto the body was failing. They were full of asphalt and road junk, just as the bumper and rear heat shields were. Like the side skirts, I was pumped to find out we got a real Taco wing. However, it�s exhibiting some of the age-related maladies they face. I know they are prone to bubbling and/or cracking in the paint, and sure enough, ours has the latter on the bottom side. It�s not a big deal, as half of the car needs to be painted, and the whole lid will be coming off at the body shop. Also, I couldn�t really get a pic of it, but inside the air inlets, the thin paint layer on the carbon weave is flaking. Lastly, as I mentioned in the introductory post to this thread, a large tree branch fell on top of the car. The previous owner put an OE Sekurit windshield on to make it street worthy, and in the motorsport spirit, put on a GT Racing polycarbonate rear window. I think this is kinda cool since many of the RS and lightweight 911s have something similar. Unfortunately, whoever installed it didn�t care to make it look very good�there is black sealant slopped all over the border of the window. Hopefully this will come off once the window is out in order to remove the sunroof panel and install the slicktop.