My 996 C4S Project

Hi everyone! I am brand new to Porsche ownership, having bought a bit of a 'project'. I'd been posting a few photos here and there on Facebook and Instagram, but a couple of people had asked if there was a more detailed record of what I'm doing with the car, so here it is. Unlike a lot of people here, although I'd always been into cars, I'd never really lusted after a Porsche in my youth. I knew they were supposed to be good – I'd read enough Chris Harris in Evo magazine to appreciate that. But I'd never really 'got' them. That is, until my wife bought one. She'd been wanting a Boxster for years and after Covid hit, decided to stop waiting and bought herself a 2.7 986 for not a huge amount of money. Suddenly, after driving that Boxster, I 'got' it. It was superb to drive, even at 20 years old. And also really good to work on – the online resources and DIY guides were superb. I enjoy working on cars and this was a big draw for me. I was hooked – I knew I needed one of my own and found myself looking at the 911. I told myself that a 911 would make a decent family car. You can get a child seat in the back! We can carry our son around! So I started trawling Autotrader and Facebook for 996s. Initially this was for cost reasons – the 996 was by far the cheapest route into 911 ownership, but the more I read and the more I looked, it seemed that they were genuinely good 911s. The C4S drew my eye, with its turbo wide body and purely by luck, a good looking one in Arctic Silver cropped up for sale 10 miles from our house. It was lovely – well looked after and completely sorted with 80,000 miles on it. It was also more money than I'd ever spent on a car. The test drive was amazing, the car handled like a dream. I told the seller I'd need to arrange an inspection, but within 24 hours he told me it had gone to a buyer who bought it there and then at asking price. I was extremely disappointed, but this was, in hindsight a good thing. What was I going to do with a 'good' car? As my wife said – I'd be bored with a car where nothing needed doing. A car that needed a bit of work was really what I was after. Then, a week later another C4S turned up in Oxford. This was most decidedly, NOT a 'good' one. It was however, cheap. VERY cheap. It was the cheapest C4S on Autotrader at the time that wasn't a write off. The seller looked honest, in that he included a fairly detailed list of issues in the advert. And had apparently just been serviced at Autofarm. It was worth a look! This time, I arranged an inspection there and then and took Nick Giles (of Nick Giles Porsche inspections) with me. He'd looked over my wife's Boxster before she bought it and she'd been pleased with the service. Apparently, I was quite unusual in being present for the inspection and Nick produced a series of ever more dubious noises as he looked over this dubious car. On the test drive though, the engine seemed strong! I consider myself an alright amateur mechanic, able to handle suspension and starter motors, but an engine rebuild is out of my league. I told Nick as much, and we decided to work out how much it would cost to fix the issues on the car and see if we could get the not insignificant money off the asking price. To my surprise, we did! The seller seemed genuinely keen for the car to go to someone that would care for it and I think, liked the idea of me taking it on as a project. A week later, I picked it up and drove it home! Even in the state it's in, it's still a really special drive. It knocks over speed bumps. There's a grinding noise when you steer. I daren't push it too hard round corners as you can feel the 'float' in the suspension. But it was still amazing and it was mine. I was under no illusions though. It would be a lot of work. My plan is to keep it mostly as stock, so no extreme modifications – this is going to be a road car, not a track car. I'll detail in future posts what needs doing and post progress updates. Here it is – it looks good when you can't see the underneath!

Looks lovely :thumbs: I bought mine similarly and have been "correcting" things over my two years of ownership. Over the two years I have done over 15k miles and spent some £13000 (all of the usual suspects) which is a lot I know but I also love the knowledge of all of the bits which are brand new or better than new. Hope you have as much fun as I'm having with mine.

Hi it does look nice from the photo, what colour is it. Look forward to seeing the rest, the way the nuts & bolts rust is really bad. I'm sure you will have fun doing jobs yourself. Good luck 🤞

Excellent. I like a project thread, and it's good to see some more love for the 996.

Thanks all! Yes, hopefully it'll be good fun fixing it up. Hi Berni, it's Seal Grey. Part of me would have liked a brighter colour, but can't deny it looks good.

So, I've put together a list of jobs! The car was serviced by Autofarm 16 days before I picked it up. Combining their health check report with the Nick Giles inspection gives me the following list of jobs to do. Well, that'll keep me busy! I'll do a few of the smaller jobs first and then take some time off work to get the suspension done. Several of the jobs look like they can be grouped together, like the front suspension, brake lines and diff leak. Brake pedal has excessive travel All wiper blades torn/damaged Rear wiper not working A/C noisy Headlamps need polishing Sim card cover missing from stereo Front bonnet pistons weak Rear engine lid pistons weak All wheel arches rusted Wheels wells rusted Rust under side skirts Rust on jacking points Front brake lines heavily corroded Front PAS pipes corroded Front shocks corroded Front springs corroded Front suspension top mounts and bearings worn out Front lower suspension bushes worn Front ARB corroded Rear lower suspension bushes worn Front left wheel arch liner damaged Front lower air scoop missing Front undertray missing Rear OS brake line hand made Pink stain on rear aluminium coolant pipes Oil leak from RMS area Timing chain tensioner seals corroded Front diff leaking oil Front right drive shaft, outboard gaiter leaking grease Hand brake weak Hand brake cable tubes cracked/corroded Clutch Slave cylinder pipes corroded AC pipes weeping at rear joint Sun roof wind deflector not working Sun roof rattle Driver's door wiring loom mount loose Rusty Door jambs Number plates damaged Starter motor noisy, overrunning Polybelt idlers rusty Driver's seat motor 'pausing' Fault codes 'Hall Sensor driver's seat' Fault codes 'Recirculated air motor' Passenger door handle sticking Juddering spoiler ram

Here're some photos of the underside

Here's the leaking front diff:

I think I might need new bump stops!

Shocks and brake lines in a terrible state.

Coffin arm /tuning fork /wishbone assembly is clearly shot. I think I'll just replace all the front suspension at the same time!

More rusted parts. I'm going have to replace the brakes hoses as well as the lines - I can't see this coming apart without destroying it.

Lovely looking car, colour really suits it. I am considering my first 911 the not too distant future but I don't think I'm brave enough to take on that level of work! I hope you got it super cheap

Good luck and enjoy the journey. So what's your wife going to do with all her free time over the next 12 months?!

Looking good. Mine needed a similar amount of works and still does! How are you getting on with the front diff leak and RMS leak? I have the same issues, any idea on what you're budgeting for these? Good luck in your restoration...