996 Black Cabriolet Restoration: Champion RG5 Wheels, PSS10, Lightweight Flywheel...

This black 996 Cabriolet came in to our shop completely stock. The owner had purchased the car several years ago and was looking for a complete overhaul. He even considered selling the car at a big loss to buy a newer model, but in the end decided to keep his beloved cab. The first order of business was in the "fun" department. The Evolution Motorsports V-Flow cold-air intake system was installed to free up intake restrictions and give the car a more sporty sound from its larger tubing and cone filter: An IPD Plenum was installed between the intake and throttle body. The ECU was removed and updated with EVOMSit software for more aggressive throttle mapping (e-gas) and further tuning. Next, Cargraphic's 996 Sport Exhaust was installed. The owner loved the way a demo car sounded and decided this was the right level of volume and pitch for his 6-speed cab. The owner wanted better handling out of his 996 with a more aggressive ride height. We recommended the Bilstein PSS10s: Out with the old: The Bilsteins getting warmed up for installation: In goes the new: The owner wanted to reduce weight and make the car stand out from other Carreras, so 18-inch Champion RG5 wheels are fitted and the suspension is dialed in for proper ride height and shock rebound/dampening. The car was also due for a new clutch, so the owner decided to ditch the OEM 28-pound flywheel (which was also needing replacement) and switch to the single-mass lightweight 14-pound variant (similar to the GT3RS flywheel, compared to the GT3 standard). This is one of our favorite upgrades on the NA 996 and 997s. Out comes the transmission for the first time in the car's life: The factory dual-mass flywheel has seen better days... New clutch: New flywheel: The transmission is raised back into place: The owner disliked the sloppy feel of the OEM shift mechanism, so the B&M short shifter was installed, along with EVO sport pedals . At this point, the car was noticeably faster, more pleasurable to drive, sounded great, handled well and even looked better. But the car had many years of wear and needed a proper makeover. With a black on black car, it's easy to forget how great it can look with a little work and the owner had all but lost faith in the car's appearance. For this task, we brought in our detailer, Bob. He's the best there is and if anyone can make a car look new again, it's him. Here's his write-up on the task including pictures of the major restoration: Initial condition of the finish.... Passenger side door 50/50 pic of the same door after wool pad correction The hood 50/50 pic after compounding Here is the start of the job, the top was very dirty so I scrubbed with a paint safe citrus cleaner Every crevice was cleaned with a 3" boarshair brush After the car was washed and clayed (3 hours total required) due to dealer applied sealant... (not good) I brought the car into the shop and put it on the lift as this would be a wheels off correction. Note the hazy appearance of the passenger door caused by a re-spray so there was shrinkage to contend with Door was taped off and a game plan of correction procedures was carried out, I would end up with two compounding stages and three polishing stages Next is pics of the hood being corrected, this pic shows what a PAPER TOWEL can do to the finish!!

Hood taped off for 50/50 pics The rear decklid "Carrera" badge was removed and replaced due to the marring in that area, also the badge was oldness and crusty and would have ruined the tightness of the soon to be corrected paint Here is a before of the rear left quarter panel After compounding Again before... After A cluster of deep RIDS that required sanding with 2500 and 4000 grit paper After levelling and correction Lower left rear quarter before After compounding Drivers side door before Making some headway Door fully compounded Front bumper not looking so good Better after compounding The passenger door was not looking as clear as I wanted, so I sanded the entire door and re-corrected and the finish finally matched the texture of the adjacent panels Polishing tight area of the front quarter panel Correcting the finish in the door jambs(not fun) Broke out the steamer to remove embedded gunk in the keyhole "A little steaming action" Keyhole corrected, it was dried off and shot with some graphite

Next I moved to the wheel wells which were really dirty, here is the driver rear wheel well Agitated with Premier's TTS clear film cleaner which also works great for these type of jobs Wheel well cleaned before dressing application Driver font wheel well before After=supercleaness Of course the wheels were cleaned, but they were new Champion's so not much correction but I sealed the inner barrels with Jet Seal 109 Interior before Dirt in the perforation holes A low tech solution Storage compartment before After clean up Interior tightned up Rear decklid corrected and ready for the new badge to be affixed Lining up badge, this can be tricky as you get ONE shot at this New badge affixed Spreading on the one of four coats of Blackfire Wet Diamond Here is the last coat of sealant left overnight to cure Time for the finished product to be seen in direct sunlight Prior to pickup: As you can guess, the owner was very excited to see the car (he actually hugged us!). After a short test drive he called us screaming about how much he loved it again. Mission accomplished!

Your detailer does a fantastic fixing up a car thats gone down hill. I hope you take good care of him finance wise.

That was fun. Thanks!

Amazing job in and out! Curious as to what the final bill was (for the mechanical stuff particularly). Cheers.

Is the owner selling the MY02 wheels? They'd look great on my 993...

Unbelievable job! Could you also state the bill for the paint work?

Awesome job! The owner should be......

WOWWWWWWW!!!! I'm sure the owner hugged you, I want to hug you and it's not even my car!! Of course you realize everyone is going to have the same question...how much does it cost for something like this? I mean show me a guy who wouldn't want to have this done to his ride! Lets face it we all get to the point where a revitalization like this is inevitable, sort of like trying to dodge the proverbial urologist (only totally different ). May you be blessed by automotive Gods ! Best Sid.

perfect 996. to all the 996 haters. pls. sharkwerks, i wish there were more shops like yours. you give customers peace of mind in exchange for dough. well done and thx.

All that and the car is still rockin orange corners?!!

Stellar!

Great job, Dan! Your love of these cars and your attention to detail is obvious. Time to get motivated and clean up my dirty P-car this spring.

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He's usually cleaning up pretty new cars (mostly Porsches, Ferraris and Lambos) that have much less wear, but I imagine it feels nice for him to go back and restore one like this from time to time. The transformation "back to new" was very thorough. We looked at the car a few times during the process and were really enjoying watching the progress. Cheers Bruce, glad you enjoyed it. Thanks Mitch, If you have specific questions about its cost please PM me and I can send you a rough idea. Sorry, he's sold them already. Hi NJS, thanks and that's Bob's territory not mine. I know he charges an hourly rate and I believe the total time invested to this car was over 45 hours(!!!)

Looks like a cab version of my car.....

Great job, WOW!!! When you installed the Bilsteins, were the shock mounts or sway bars replaced? Thanks

Dan, great job! I have almost identical mods on my car. I can imagine how happy the owner was with the transformation. It must sound great with the top down. Thanks for sharing.