Finding "The One"... my 996 Journey

Hi everyone! Chris here from SoCal. here's a bit of background before the cars(or skip to the cars? haha) I work part time for the public works depart of a local city where I repair and maintain medium and heavy duty trucks(and a few light duty trucks) my whole idea for this search is to find the one car that does it all. race it, drive it home, take on a sunday cruise, grab some ice cream and be fun in every scenario general life scenario I daily drive a 2012 vw golf. 2.5l 5banger. autotragic. it works great for traffic around los angeles(maybe not so much anymore since there's no traffic right now haha) I've tracked the golf a handful of times(big willow, autoclub, grange(lol)) It's served me well and i still own it, but September of 2016, my brother got married and moved out, and an extra parking space opened up. Told my parents it's either a dog or a project car 2 months later, i picked up a 1982 corolla(Crystal the corolla) This was my first manual, first rwd car, first "project" car I learned a lot on this car in the past year. It was bone stock and i basically refreshed everything i possibly could with my college student budget. " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> after nearly a year of ownership it turned from a 40whp ****box to a maybe 50whp ugly duckling. the only shop to ever touch this car was the smog guy to help it "pass" anyone that has experience with carburetors knows what im talking about lol i was very proud of this car " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> unfortunately i dont have any good pictures with the sparco sprint and fender mirrors if anyone wants a detailed thread about this corolla i can post it up. the current owner of the car did what i planned. Beams swap with 20v ITB's. he did it the proper way as well. not a single expense spares. the gauges in the car are worth more than the car itself lol. i got a chance to drive it with the beams swap and i nearly sold my m3 to buy it back... back to the story december of 2017, the day before my first planned track/drift day with the corolla, i traded it for a manual lexus IS300. straight trade. no money involved. car for car. similar miles(170k), clean title on both cars. i regret getting rid of that corolla, but for a college kid on a college budget, it was the smarter move to get something that doesn't require lots of money and custom work. ill save that stuff for what im older and have more time on my hands. I will own another te72 corolla again.. it's by far the most exciting car i've ever driven so this lexus is300. i ended up taking it to the track day instead. gave it a shot at drifting. it's fun. i can see the appeal. it just wasnt for me though. i prefer to use the grip i have.. not the lack of grip i can create; make sense? anyways, i putted around in the is300 until the title came in. i actually posted it up for trade a few days after the track day. " target="_blank"> come the first week of 2018. I traded it for a 2000 S2000. i loved this car. it had the raw-ness of my corolla, but had power. it was enjoyable and satisfying to drive. vtec is a whole next level experience.. if you get a chance to drive any honda from the 90s or 00s that has vtec.. do it. itll make you laugh like a little 10 year old boy who got into a tickle fight with his older brother. i completely understand the love for vtec after owner an s2000. it was bone stock other than a cut rear bumper and a berk headerback. I threw some period correct wheels, some koni shocks and H&R springs and did some reliability mods and genuinely enjoyed the roadster life. drove this thing EVERYWHERE. I want another one. " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> The s2000 the car i shouldn't have gotten rid of.. but corollas are cursed. theyre the devil. everything about owning one is hell. it's like that one ex you have that just keeps coming into your life whether you like it or not, and you have no choice but to let her into life again. its dumb and stupid so come midway into 2018... i traded the s2000 for another corolla. dont ask why. i cant give you a reasonable explanation for this. if youve ever owned an old corolla youll know exactly what im talking about. 1986 ae86 sr5 hatch this car was more so a show car more than anything else. i did like it.. but i didnt love it. it caught A LOT of attention everywhere. i made a lot of genuinely good friends through this car. it was heavily modded other than the engine.. bone stock 4AC. slow af. that's fine. this car is fun no matter how fast youre going. i wanted to keep this car, F20c swap it, get it BAR'd.. til i found one inch thick bondo along the passenger side rocker panel. that's when i completely gave up, did a few shows with the car, then sold it for $8k. " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> come now February 2019 sold the corolla.. looking for a kouki s14 or an ae86 GTS i randomly came across an e36 m3 that i checked out. drove it and it was cool i guess. i kept seeing more and more e36's everyone.. in person, online... i grew up watching the e36 race in BTCC and JTCC. ive always wanted one since my brother's first car was a B5 a4 that he styled after the BTCC a4. started looking into them and eventually found this m3 the car came along with a bunch of drama the previous owner(s) did not have a good reputation in the e36 world. I found out the car was essentially a “parts bin” build and was all pieced together with spare parts. It needed some work, but generally speaking was a good car. December of 2019 i did my first track day with this car. it was more of a shakedown. the car needed work... and a lot of it. suspension is well.. its fine if you wanna slam/stance the car or do some sort of slammed drift build, but from a track perspective, the struts/shocks and improperly valved for the spring rates, and the springs feel like they could be a tad bit stiffer. Anyways… here’s some pics of the progress of when I first owned it to the day I traded it. " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> now comes the reason im a part of this forum… my 996 The 996 was a dream car… it always has been. I have pictures of my cousin and I at every Los Angeles Auto Show from 1999 to 2004 in front of the 996. We literally watched this car grow throughout the years and we were always excited to see it. I found a local who had posted this 996 up for sale/trade. On a whim I offered my M3.. we met up.. and a few hours later I was driving home in one of my dream cars. here she is: " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> 2001 Porsche Carrera 2 6 Speed Manual 173k miles no maintenance history traded a 240k mile m3 for it with no money on my end.. what can go wrong? I guess ill find out soon enough… ive heard the saying “the cheapest Porsche is the most expensive one” or something along those lines.. let’s put that to the test. I will use the next post to officially start the “build” process for this car if anyone wants a more detailed description/build info on any of my previous cars let me know! i have tons of photos and documentation of everything and like always, feel free to ask me anything! suggestions, comments, criticism etc is all welcome. im open to everything.

Lets start this build thread shall we? Suspension is completely shot� I found some oem factory GT2 Coilovers with ridiculously low miles. They were missing the rear top hat hardware but that�s not a big deal.. the front top hats are what I wanted.. the rears are easy and fairly inexpensive to get. " target="_blank"> The tires are old and cracking� replace them? Why not get new wheels while im at it? OZ Allegerrita in cayman s fitment. 18x8.5 +56 235/40 18x10 +40 265/40 The rear tires are a bit large.. I can deal with this later� at least the tires are new. " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> She needs to be lowered� asap haha. I placed the order for the missing suspension hardware and a bunch of other stuff to replace while im down there. While waiting for all that to arrive, I sourced a Works Bell short hub.. I made a DIY post about the Works Bell hub.. to make a long story short, if you want to use a quick release or quick tilt and want to keep the horn and clockspring all intact, it�s worth every penny. here�s the thread: https://rennlist.com/forums/diy-subm...g-hub-diy.html Sourced a near mint condition, period correct OZ Racing x Italvolanti Steering wheel and a black center console as well " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> A few days later, a low mileage 997 turbo shifter along with a good condition black shift **** showed up " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> and a few days after that, a leather black cluster shroud out of a 996 turbo was installed.. I also started to assembly the GT2 coilovers and set them up to achieve GT2 factory height on my C2. This requires the spring collars to be adjusted roughly 1� lower than the factory GT2 settings " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> While installing the front coilovers, I replaced the swaybar linkages from Mevotech and upgraded the brake ducts to GT3 ducts " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> For the rear coilovers, all the top hat hardware was ordered from Sunset Porsche to ensure proper fitment of everything. The rear swaybar linkages for the GT2/3 are unusually expensive� I found an alternative to be rear swaybar linkages from a Mazda Proteg� with Sport Suspension. They are about 0.2� longer than GT2/3 linkages, but that�s not an issue since the swaybar bracket on the coilovers are adjustable. " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> So with suspension installed, I ran into a few issues. Front wheels touch the coilovers� barely, but they do. Rear wheel fitment is somewhat aggressive.. not an issue since I planned to roll the fenders " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> Due to the large issue of generally terrible cup holder solutions out there, I decides to take my own approach and design and print my own. I decided to use an area of the vehicle that is typically unused.. the ash tray. I reverse engineered the ash tray into solidworks and created a base above it as a cupholder. The center section can be removed to fit a 40oz Thermal Flask(I take one to work daily) I�m still testing it and plan to improve it a bit before printing it with a more durable material(likely ABS). " target="_blank"> Things changed on me very quickly� I sold the black OZ racing wheels and got a set of the same wheels again in 996 gt3 fitment. 18x8.5+40 18x11 +63 fedex decided to only deliver 3 of the 4 wheels and ive literally been waiting for one wheel to put the car back on the ground i took that time to order new motor mounts, roll my fenders and hunt for tires. purchased Wevo poly motor mounts. While doing the motor mounts, i tried to adjust one of the exhaust tips only to find out the clamp holding the tip was seized and rusted out. Order two new clamps, though i only changed one side since the other was fine. " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> You can clearly see how worn the original motor mounts were I rolled the front and rear fenders as well. Nothing other than a minor roll since I planned to run meaty tires for track use " target="_blank"> Im a large fan of Falken Azenis.. and their new RT660 is not out in larger fitment yet. I went with Nankang AR1�s for now and plan to swap over to the RT660 once these wear out. 245/40 front 315/30 rear " target="_blank"> and finally� the moment everyone has probably been waiting� what the car currently looks like in it�s current state: " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> At this point.. I feel the vehicle is in a state where it is safe for road use� but now comes the real issue. 173k IMS changed once around 105-110k with an LN retrofit unit Clutch engagement very high Rattling noise at nearly all RPMS(more prominent at lower RPMS) Temps not where I like them remember that saying�. Yea�. the next post will explain my predicament Like always.. im open to criticism, comments, advice, etc..

So�. I had something genuinely life changing occur. The 996 needs a lot of work� and we all know motor work is not cheap. I planned to basically park the vehicle, save up, and do everything all at once� then Covid hit.. new obstacle in life. Now as im trying to figure out what to do� I won a car through an instagram raffle. I won a 1997 Integra Type R� " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> " target="_blank"> This car is not a dream car� though it is a bucketlist car� I can cross that off the list.. but man does it make me miss how affordable and mostly stress-free Hondas and Toyotas are. No need to worry about blowing a motor and being out 15-20k on a rebuild� though they do have other major issues(theft� safety.. overall comfort) This changes things� once the title for this car arrives ill be selling it and using the funds toward getting all the work on the Porsche done. Planning to do the following: LNE IMS Solution Clutch Flywheel Waterpump Timing Chain Tensioners AOS All of the work will be performed at a reputable shop that is a certified LNE installer. I do trust myself to do all the work myself, but times are tough and I�d rather be at work making money to get through these odd times. On top of that, I�d prefer if a shop looked the vehicle over and pointed me in the right direction to track down that rattling noise. I want to assume it is waterpump or clutch related, though my timing chain guides are likely all worn after all these miles.. that�s another relatively large job and expensive job if im not mistaken. This is all assuming the vehicle passed the borescope test that is required for the LNE Solution. If it fails then I have much larger problems. I wont lie� the Type R has really had me scratching my head if putting money into this 996 is worth it.. I�m also afraid I wont find a clean, unmolested example for a 996 that I feel comfortable modifying and tracking. I don�t want to get some mint example and ruin it� the purist in me just cant do that�. This example was stock.. unmolested.. clean.. but it wasn�t mint. That�s the catch with this car.. it has the miles and it shows. Thoughts? Anyone been in a similar situation? I love this 996 and it�s genuinely one of the best car ive ever driven. The only faults I�ve found so far is the lack of proper cup holders and how expensive suspension components still are after nearly 20 years haha. There�s genuinely nothing I see wrong with the 996 platform.. unlike other platforms which have their own quirks and issues that dock down points.

This probably won't be a popular opinion but this has got to be one of the best threads I've ever read on this forum. Keep it up. BTW - I'm local, let's meet up for a beer!

Nice progression of cars and a good read, thanks . What you will find (or discover) with the 996 is that it's really good in original shape. The suspension is built to work optimally at a certain ride high. By lowering (more than M030 hight) your basically making it worse if your not planning to swap everything to adapt to a lower ride high. I've dug deep in the IMS thing, read from post #492 and some 10-20 posts forward: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-first-35.html The most reliable and proven IMS bearing is the original, and it's way cheaper at around 20 USD from your bearing dealer. Read the thread how I figured that out. Flywheel, stay with original as it's meant to dampen resonance in the crank shaft. Don't think it's that bad on the M96 but on the GT3 engines you void your warranty by putting a light weight fly wheel on...and it may break your crank. Something you really should look in to is the cooling system. It is weak in it's original form(an original centre radiator is available) and on top of that debris easily gets stuck between the A/C and cooling radiator. It needs regular cleaning. Just behind the cooling fans sits the low speed fan resistor (looks like a metal tube with three wires in one end). They tend to fail so that fans only run high speed causing the engine to run hotter on average. When you turn on the A/C you should hear/feel both fans kick in at low speed. On your list you should also add: -Check coils for cracks (bad spark especially in wet/rain) -Spark plugs -New injectors -Do a vacuum system test and seal all leaks -Use OEM (Mahle or MANN) air/oil/fuel filters, they protect the engine. Engine modifications on the intake/breathing is rather useless on this engine. Exhaust side is better but generally you should do a custom ECU tune to not loose drivability. Personally I keep all engine stuff stock and gain performance from lowering the weight, more reliable that way.

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First of all, very nice thread! Really enjoyed your passion. Let's cut to the chase... Did you have an engine inspection? Diagnostic with a Porsche PIWIS or Durametric to check for camshaft deviations, fuel trim, rough running index, etc.? Have you checked the health of the cylinders with a bore scope? Dropped the sump to examine debris? How about UOA? Any reports? All these report will give you a more objective picture of what needs to be done. Here's the obvious on a 20 year old M9X engine... 1. Your car is overdue for a bearing change. Change with clutch service. 2. Of course... Change out the clutch kit and flywheel. 3. Change out the RMS with clutch service 4. Change out the AOS at the same time. 5. Change out the water pump, especially if it's the original. 6. Check the quality of the coolant. Flush if needed. You may need to change out your expansion tank if it's turning yellow. 7. Would be good to change out the plugs and coil packs. 8. Serpentine belt needs to be checked and changed out. 9. Check belt pulleys once the belt is off. 10. the chain guides and actuator wear pads will need to be swapped out. 11. Hydraulic tensioners should be checked and replaced if needed. 12. Do an alternator check. 13. Fuel injectors 14. Vacuum/smoke test. On and on it goes.

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Thank you! Lets do it! Thank you! I plan on replacing all the suspension components to work properly at the height I am currently at. This would include roll center adjusters and new/adjustable arms where necessary. Flywheel will be kept as a factory unit. Local shop(Callas Rennsport) has already walked me through some basics while we discussed what to change while I'm in there for the IMS. I am going with the LNE Solution for peace of mind. The vehicle will see a combination of street and track use. The IMS issue is blown out of proportion, but is something i have to consider with the mileage of the engine and what I plan to do with the car Third center radiator is in the plans along with upgrading the two side mounted radiators with CSF units. I may also look into higher volume/flow water pumps in the future since I will be throwing this car on track. Coils look good and the plugs are new. I will have to look into injectors.. that's one thing i havent really done any research on. The engine will be staying stock for the most part. I want the car to be street legal. Only planned modification in terms of intake/exhaust are high flow cats and free-er flowing mufflers. I dont feel the car needs more, and my driver skill definitely does not require more power. Thanks! No engine inspection yet. I initially planned to do one around April of this year.. then the world decided to change up on us haha. There will be a mini PPI(Focused more on the engine/trans) and a bore scope done before any work is performed. If the results come back negative, plans will have ti seriously change, as ill be needing a rebuild at that point. If results come back positive and healthy, I will likely proceed to get a bunch of work done. Sump was not dropped, but oil was changed with no excess debris/metal shown. I forgot to mention that the RMS will be changed with the IMS+clutch job, along with the AOS, water pump, and timing chain tensioners. I may have Callas Rennsport do the timing chain guides while it's already there. Coolant is good, expansion tank looks like it was changed recently. Plugs were changed, but the coil packs were not. I may order a set and swap them out. Serpentine belt looks good and the belt pulley's show no signs of excess play. Though my knowledge was extremely limited at the time, I went through the engine myself before actually going through with the trade to ensure things looked to be in order.

I approve you wheel/tire specs and fitment. Well played.

Thanks for sharing all that process!! Keep it going (I liked more the black wheels than the red ones )

Great work on trading up and sweet cars! Enjoyed the write up and reading it - well done! Having owned a couple of AE86s, S14, S2K and 97 ITR (#421) I can relate to this! Congrats on the ITR! They are dead reliable and such fun cars! B18C FTW! What # is the ITR ?

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thank you! im typically a fan of pushing the limits of the stock body fitment(ran 17x9.5 +15 with a 255/40 on the e36m which is very aggressive for stock body). Unfortunately i dont think the body lines of the 996 work will with aggressive fitments like that. The conversation fitments have been much more appealing lately. Thanks! I plan to update as often as i can! Im still up the air about the red, but its something different for sure! Thank you! the ITR is ridiculously fun and addicting(vtec makes me laugh and smile like a little kid in a candy shop haha). The ITR is #186

Awesome thread. My first car was a corolla gts coupe and I have really fond memories of that car as well. We need to know more about the itr. How did you win it? It looks like it’s in decent shape... itrs are practically collectable now if they’re not too beat up. Maybe it’s worth keeping... unless you need a rebuild of course.

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nice! glad to see a lot of people here were into corollas in the past haha I won the ITR from one of those Instagram raffles that everyone is doing nowadays. 97 ITR 75k miles Salvage title due to theft(twice) and vandalism(once) JDM front end JDM B18C w/ matching cluster(75k KMs) OBD1 conversion running on a chipped p06 ecu Radio + AC Delete If the car had a clean title and still had emissions equipment installed and functioning, i would have likely held onto it. The way it is, i cant daily drive it, and i dont have another garage spot for it. Honestly it would make a perfect candidate for a track car.

Great thread! You are in a tough spot with regards to the rabbit hole. With track usage you are looking at some serious potential repairs in the fairly short term, so consider flipping this ride and buying one ready to roll. Always cheaper to buy than build unless you are ready to tackle the engine and clutch work yourself IMO. The 996 C2 platform is not one I would recommend for the hobbyist looking for a dual duty car unless you had a bucket of reserves waiting to put out flames as they pop up. The e36 m3 (or maybe your new car?) was perfect for that use case. Good luck regardless and keep updating the thread!

Great read so far, you have had a nice collection of cars.

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Thanks! with any vehicle there will be serious repairs/work that needs to be done for track use. I was looking at some options today, and for what id be paying to "fix" this compared to what "more maintained" 996's are selling for is not much different. You always end up in the negative side of things when you build a dual duty car. The cost of 996's have gone up since the last time i checked. The c2 is as close to a gt3 as you can get, which is why i went with a c2. i do agree the e36 m3 is perfect for what i wanted, but it lacked the refined feeling the 996 offers. The Type R not so much.. as there is a large worry about it get stolen at any moment. Hondas get stolen in California left and right. Itll be stripped down to a shell and abandoned within 2-3 hours if it being stolen. It's a very large issue unfortunately. thank you! I appreciate it!

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I say welcome to everyone but to you, sir, I say please don't go away. Rock on. Ok so the last time someone gave me a free Integra Type R here is how I played it out... ARE YOU CRAZY!? YOU LUCKY SOB.

keep it up! Really enjoying this thread. Hoping to start 996 shopping early 2021 The IMS discussion thread was very interesting as well.

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haha thanks man! I dont have plans to leave! Thanks! Good luck with the hunt! I hope you can find what youre looking for

a small update to the build process... I sold the Type R yesterday. I got my asking price and I couldn't be any happier. I made an appointment with Callas Rennsport to get the engine borescoped and inspected for the LN Engineering IMS Solution. If all goes well, there will be a bunch of work getting done at the same time. I am hoping they will let me stop by and document some of the work being done. As much as i would like to help, I dont think they would allow me to do so on a fairly large job like this and a random picture to keep things interesting " target="_blank">

"I've dug deep in the IMS thing, read from post #492 and some 10-20 posts forward: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-first-35.html The most reliable and proven IMS bearing is the original, and it's way cheaper at around 20 USD from your bearing dealer. Read the thread how I figured that out." If you haven't figured it out yet, Nick L is a legend in his own mind... I would suggest you take his recommendation on the $20 bearing with a heaping tablespoon of salt... As far as everything else is concerned, yeah - it looks like you've already addressed many of the "go to" issues with the car, unfortunately very few were actually "required" (the tires clearly were ). The engine and it's several weak points are the most important things to address (as you seem to know). If I were you, I'd drive the type R while you're doing all the engine work. Once you're done and the engine is working properly and broken in, sell the type R. Good Luck

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Type R sold two days ago, so that whole plan is out of question now haha. ill try not to turn this into an IMSB thread... but here's my take as far as IMSB goes... There's lot of proof showing the original bearing/design works. There's also lots of proof of failures using the original bearing design. From what ive seen myself and my own research, i feel like a solid 70% of IMSB failures are due to user "error", and i wanna say a solid 90-95% of failures are vehicles that were used strictly on public roads in areas with lots of traffic and not in vehicles that saw track use or any form of hard driving. Statistically, 01's had the highest failure rate(I believe most 01's were single row?) That all being said, using my minimal engineering knowledge and research, any engine that is designed with performance in mind will only survive with minimal to no issues when driven hard. This includes stuff like the BMW s14, s52, s54, s62, s65 engines. Honda's F20c/22c, Mercedes line of AMG motors, and well.. the lineup of porsche motors. These engines were designed with performance in mind and being driven hard. If you look into all the issues these engines have, its on cars that are more than likely street driven and babied. My general theory as of right now is that the IMSB fails when guys are not driving the vehicle hard. They are not going through the rev range, drive with a light foot and generally treat it like your commuter toyota corolla. The original bearing might work perfectly fine when you are driving the car like it's made to be driven, but toss in hours of stop-n-go traffic, and boom bearings failed. Oil feed conversions tend to band aid the issue by forcefully lubricating the bearing at all times. LNE's design redesigns the entire thing and removes the core of the issue(or so in theory it does, again.. im no certified engineering, just a hobbyist). I live in SoCal.. we have TONS of traffic that is generally unavoidable. I don't like keeping the engine idling or driving at lower rpms, but most of the time i dont have a choice. I have no way to prove my theory other than personal experience(my m3 had 240k miles and was generally healthier than most lower mileage m3's out there. My s2000 had around 170k miles and had healthier cylinder walls than my friend's 50k mile s2000). If my theory is correct, then an IMSB failure is inevitable. I know many will disagree with me and stick to replacing the IMSB with a normal bearing, and that's fine with me. I perfectly understand that. Im not here to argue whats better or worse. My knowledge is no where near some of these guys who have researched and tested for years. We all have our own take on things. I've had three shops locally tell me they recommend going with a generic bearing. I've also had four shops tell me that the LNE Solution is the way to go. Out of those four shops, only one is a certified LNE installer, so I know at least three of them were personal opinions and not a shop trying to up-sell something for their own profit. Im open to hearing others thoughts, ideas and advice, but i will be getting the LNE Solution either way.

I'm new to this forum and this is a great first thread to read. That Integra was my high school dream car, it looked in great shape so no surprise it sold.

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You Tube

small update: I made an appoint with Callas Rennsport a little over a week ago and I dropped off my car this morning for an IMS Solution Qualification test. My experience there from my arrival to the moment i left was great. I was greeted right away and reassured multiple times of what they would be doing, how long it would take and when i can expect to hear back. It's not every day someone like me goes to a shop of this caliber for work. I figured one of my genuine dream cars only deserves the best, and after some quick research I knew i had to be Callas Rennsport that works on my car. If it passes, ill be doing a bunch of maintenance work on the car. If it does not pass.. well.. i have to figure a new approach to the car. I didn't snap any pictures of my car or many of the crazy cars there(i was distracted by a few gems there), but I did take these:

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Yes you can say that again! Tony is a legend. I mean, Callas Rennsport. You come for the quality service but you stay for the casual 959 run-ins, amirite???

T Callas is a great guy. I�m happy to have met him a little over a year ago. He will do you an honest job. I love your plan for the car. Keep us all informed.

Great read. many moons I ago I was big into the AE86 scene before they got overpriced as hell because of drifting and Initial D. Once paid $100 for a stock GTS Coupe and drove it back from CT to MA. Long gone are those days, even a beat SR5 around here is 6k that needs 6k worth of work. i also owned a 70s corolla with a 3TC In fact if you Google image search 1977 Corolla and scroll down, the orange one on weld drag wheels with the hood open in front of a garage with a basketball hoop is my old car. And that picture is over 12 years old !

Holy s*** that 959...

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I was genuinely surprised to see two 595's there. I know Tony has one.. but to see a second with the motor pulled was an honor Thank you! I hope to meet him during one of my visits to his shop! Nice! The rwd corolla scene is pretty wild right now. I've said it before but corollas are all cursed. Once you own one, you cant just walk away without thinking about owning another. Theyre highly addictive haha. I said the same thing haha!

Enjoying reading about this journey of yours. I�m not exactly feeling the black bits in the beige interior...but that being said did your car originally have the 3-spoke wheel and would you consider selling it to me? Mine:

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its definitely not everyone's taste... but the interior will be all black soon enough haha. i have that same 4 spoke wheel unfortunately. its in far worse condition than yours too

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I feel the same way about e30's! i have had mine for 15 years and i cant believe what they are going for now...

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e30 prices are definitely shooting up like crazy. i cant even find any 325is in my area for under 12k

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95% of these cars were never driven hard, the typical buyer just drove it like a Toyota Corolla in stop and go traffic. The speed limit on most local roads is 20 to 40MPH and the highway is 65MPH. Where at any point can anybody drive the vehicle "hard" ? Most car owners do not track their car. If your theory was right then 95% of these cars would have had an IMS failure. They clearly don't.

I love this interior color combo. In fact it was pretty popular or rather found in ferrari v12s ( 550, 456) some years back. Looks awesome

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you dont have to drive fast to drive the vehicle hard You can go through your rev range within the speed limit. you can drop to 2nd and 3rd and floor it onto highway onramps. "If your theory was right then 95% of these cars would have had an IMS failure" - 50-60% of 996s on the road likely had their IMSB changed as a "precaution" to the problem.. would they have failed? no one can tell you at this point. again.. its a theory, it might not be 100% true, but more "babied" cars and lower mileage vehicles that sat in a garage have seen failures vs cars that saw track time and/or lots of driving time. this applies to other vehicles as well. Most garage queens will have more problems and issues vs a car that was driven and maintained properly.

Nice topic! looking forward in seeing new updates on your car.

i hate that i have to post this with a heavy heart... i officially sold the 996 My car did pass the IMS solution inspection. A family emergency came up which forced me to sell the car for financial reasons. I didnt do any work with callas unfortunately. This thread does not end there though. I did have a stash of money saved up for this car to get a bunch of work done. I had to dip into that money a bit as well, and figured family has to come first and i wanted to move my focus away from building a car. I will be putting what's left towards purchasing a new 996. The build process will unfortunately slow down quite a bit, but it will continue once a new car has been found. Thanks to everyone who has been patient and gave me lots of good advice and info. Ill update here once i purchase a new car

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Dude, I completely understand your predicament. I also had to sell my last 996 because of family priorities. It wasn't my daily driver and therefore, it had to go. I miss it especially considering the amount of money I put into it. Are you retaining all the mods or did you just sell everything with the car? Anyway, all the best in life. Keep your head up... think about it this way.. you probably hold the record here on Rennlist for the shortest time of 996 ownership.

Good luck in your search for another 996. I am a new 996 owner as of a few weeks ago. Hopefully you�ll be back in one soon. I�m in Playa del Rey, so it would be fun to get together with other 996 owners and go for a drive.

Quotes source posts: 16982136, 16982356

thank you! I�m not sure that�s a record I want to hold hahahah. I did keep my steering wheel hub along with the whole setup. Otherwise everything else went with the car. Thanks! A 996 meet n greet in SoCal would be fun! There�s a bunch of 996�s popping up near me