Grahams 996 with Aero kit running thread

A bit over-due given I have had the car a few months but recovering from an operation and have a bit of time on my hands this week! I didn't plan on getting a 911 and actually swapped it for my last car one impulsive Sunday afternoon! In fact, that could be a good thing as I have previous with snap decisions! A quick bit of car history: For reasons unknown, I had always wanted a TR6 and in the early 2000s, started a search for a car, not really knowing what I wanted but soon learnt that the better cars sell quickly and that you soon get creep on how much you are prepared to spend. I found an beautiful Blue TR6 but it was a lot of money, so I had it inspected by a neighbour who restored cars as a hobby. He talked me out of the car and then a week or two later, delivered the keys for a bright orange/red Stag parked on his drive saying that the owner was interested in selling if I was interested in buying. That was the start of 8 very happy years with that car and I wish that I had the space to keep it. Lots of fun and I even helped out with the owners club, with my own magazine column for a year or two! One day someone posted up looking to buy as Stag in my year/colour and two days later it was gone. To be fair, it was not getting used as much as I had another toy blocking it in the garage and I had discovered the joys of a TVR. The TR6 itch was scratched and that was a bit of disaster. I owned the car for 3 weeks and had it on a low-loader 4 times! This picture was on the way home from collecting it. Mrs B was not impressed.. The 1st TVR was a cracking car. One of the very early Chimaera 400s with every BHP and Torque TVR said it should have and a custom order blue (the same colour as they used on the classic Ferraris) Full decat and Cherry bomb exhaust system made track days awkward but could set-off car alarms in multi-story car parks. The TVR lot on Pistonheads are a great bunch as well. They used to organise something call Thunder in The Tunnels and several happy Sunday mornings with 50-100+ cars playing fast and furious in central London were enjoyed. The lust for more power and the decision to buy or modify resulted in me getting a 5.3 Chimaera and running it alongside the 400 for a few months. It was tough to decide which one to keep and with the benefit of hindsight, I should have sold the 5.3! It turned out the previous owner had not completed the modifications to get the maximum out of the engine but there was no way of knowing that as the owner had passed away and I bought the car from the estate. Lots of new and enlarged parts and a remap of the existing fuel injection created an extremely rapid and fast revving car. With over 300lb of Torque everywhere in a car that weigh 1040KG demands respect and the car could bite very hard if you got it wrong. When it gripped it was amazing and one of the highlights in the car was a day at the Milbrook proving ground and the mile straight had lots of grip and an extremely scared wife in the passenger seat! Mrs B also hated this car and although we did a few European trips together in the car, it was not that much fun - extra power equals more noise and more heat. It is fair to say that I experienced some of the hottest and wettest days driving in that car but like the blue one, it never let me down once. On a trip to the F1 at Spa, I got my 1st thoughts about getting a Porsche Boxster after someone in the group had one. On the way down I melted in the sun in traffic and left him behind on the straights. In the bends he soon caught up and was a cool as anything with the air con blowing over. So much room as well. With the tent and stuff in the TVR boot, it was an un-pack job when the rain came he just slowed down to put the rood up and he had room for a case of wine. I ended up buying a Boxster and using it as my daily car. Mrs B loved it - both driving and going away in it! Like the TVR blocking the Stag in, the Boxster had to be moved to get the TVR out and basically, it didn't happen. Last year, despite booking it into Spa, I still left the TVR at home and took the Boxster The TVR had been up for sale for sometime and the only person who seemed interested had a 911 he needed to sell so wouldn't commit on mine. I was also looking at a new Boxster and one Saturday morning messaged someone who asked me to let them know if I ever wanted rid of the Boxster and they took it straight away. When that had gone, I sent the cheeky message about swapping the 911 for the TVR. I could see that the person who had viewed my car had dropped his price and I had recently offered him the TVR at a significantly reduced price to see if would commit, so we were in the ball park as I wanted the car gone. A couple more messages and the deal was agreed. I wasn't sure about the boot spoiler and didn't really want another silver car but I now have a 911! Let the journey begin!

I get that people are selling a car but I am not a fan of people not telling the truth. I didn't do a lot of checking on the car but did ask the owner about the condition and age of the tyres. He assured me they were all good and I date checked two of them and they were a couple of years old. Driving home, I was surprised at the tramline of the car and coming from a Boxster, I knew that it shouldn't be like that... The next weekend and checked the tyres and the front tyres were both 10+ years old and not even the same make. 1st job new tyres! Note to self, do not book a fitting at Costco on Black Friday! I went for PS2s all around and pleased with them.

I also asked about spare keys and although there are two keys, one didn't work so I used keyfobrepair.co.uk. Really fast turnaround of the key and my LED now blinks away when I push the button on the key fob although the central locking still doesn't work it seems that my 996 key now works as a key! Time to change the front mats as it lifts the car interior and they look better colour match in the flesh than in the pics! I also gave the car a good wash and very pleased how it came up The standard head unit had been replaced with an old Alpine unit and that was intermittent so I had a look at the wiring and it was a mess! Taking it all out, I was not sure what was going to be there or left from the original wiring. Very pleased to find this I was tempted to put a double din unit in but ended up with this Continential Bluetooth device. It looks great in my opinion and still undecided if delete the centre console or not. Most likely, I will replace the CD holders with another cubby hole. The brackets to hold the aircon control were rattling around loose inside and I have fitted these properly now, with the added benefit that the surround fits properly as well.

Looking good! Did someone paint the brake hubs red?

Not sure about that but I would assume so as I don't think people would supply them with the red?

Great story OP and lovely looking 996 you have :thumbs:

Yep, nice story Graham. Lovely car. 8) New head unit looks much better. :thumb: I couldn't help laughing at the rear spoiler on the Griffith in your 5th picture. Definitely function over form. :grin:

Thank you!

Thanks Mark much appreciated! I do like the head unit and seems designed for the car! Re the spoiler, agreed, though the car was seriously modified and louder than a loud thing. They didn't allow it on track at Castle Combe and even the bolt-ons in the 4th pic, which brought my car down from 114db to 105 at Snetterton didn't help!

I usually don't like silver cars, but yours looks great! Do you think you'll miss not having a convertible? I wanted to get a coupe to go alongside the Chimaera, but the wife made me compromise!

I am not sure what is going to happen when the sun comes out. I am booking the car in to have the air-conditioning sorted in the next couple of weeks as I might be able to get by with the windows open for a year or two if its blowing good and cold inside To be honest, I briefly thought about getting another Boxster when there was a cracking anniversary 986 for sale on Boxa.net before Christmas, but must resist...

Welcome :thumb: Cracking 1st post and cracking looking 996.1 aero! Another 996.1 newb, I keep saying it but there seems to be one everyday at the mo. These cars are getting a serous following now :grin: I see you're only in Bromley. Know it well - grew up on Biggin Hill. Now live on east grinstead but still not that far away. Maybe I'll see you a meet at some point .. We seriously need to start a 911uk 996.1 aero appreciation thread :thumbs:

Cool story 8) Thanks for sharing :thumb:

Thanks Adam. I hadn't heard of the aero thing before this car and yes since discovering a few have popped up I am actually in Hayes so not far from Biggin Hill and drive past the Spitfire and Hurricane quite often. The car came from Near East Grinstead and I am a regular to Goodwood during the summer. Although I don't think I qualify for any of the Breakfast clubs now that I have lost the V8 and soft top options! There seems to be a monthly meet up at Westerham Brewery on a Saturday lunch time that I expect to get along to soon. Any others I should be aware of?

Thanks for reading!