Enter the 996.2

Hi Guys Took delivery of this rather nice Tiptronic 996.2 111k miles, today on behalf of my brother. I was looking for a spares or repair/crashed 986 when he sent me the following car and said he liked the look of it. This is quite unusual as he has rejected my suggestions of a 911 a few times over the years even though the quite likes my 993. In the affordable range its usually Nissan 300ZX's or Jag XK/R's. So I was quite surprised. So I went to see the car on his behalf. It was advertised as spares or repairs because it was missing its spark plugs and coils from Bank 2 and needed an "engine rebuild of some sort". It also had the exhaust tips removed along with the door cards and a few other bits and bobs. And 12 owners, although it has been passed around a bit recently. Its a nicely specced car with the Porsche GT3 wheels, black 8 way memory seats, PSM, black leather doors, dash and alcantara headlining, sunroof and some dipping mirror options. It also has the screen sat nav thing and the three spoke steering wheel. There is not a dent on it, and the underneath seems remarkably corrosion free. It also has 4 matching pirelli rosso tyres. And also for some reason the car had no ECU fitted. It did have one in the box of bits that came with the car but it was from a 2.5 Boxster! Also the passenger seat was loose and under it was the innards of the alarm plugged in. The floor was a bit damp. The battery was shagged and with a jumper on it the dashboard seemed unhappy. Also strangely the Tip selector just stayed at the number "4" position regardless of lever movement. Both exhaust pipes were heavily sooted (in my opinion) but not oily. The removed sparkplugs looked just like the ones from deMorts thread on such things. I.E heavily coked up ranging from very to reasonably. So obviously I bought the car. So she got delivered this morning 8am sharp. First thing was to see if the engine would turn over by hand and get the borescope camera up the three spark plug holes. Thankfully it did turn over and was not seized. Sigh of relief. Pictures below, but we found heavy carbon build up and evidence of bore scoring as expected. The carbon is so heavy that I thought I might be looking at a melted piston or a dropped valve but the cut outs are ok, so probably not. So its coming out, will be stripped and off to Hartech for some machining and whetever else is required. Probably 6 bores plus pistons as a minimum I would think, but who knows. As for the missing ECU and shagged alarm, I happily had a spare alarm, ecu and keyset from my 2003 986 Tip boxster 2.7 handy which carries the same part numbers (I replaced it all with a manual set 2 days ago) and with those fitted the engine would turn over on the starter. So happily no electrical problems in that regard. I would have hated problem solving a nasty issue with the alarm or ECU. Also with the ECU fitted the tiptronic display started to behave as expected and the electrics seemed a lot happier as were my brother and I. I will be referencing those who have gone before us for advice with this project, so thank you in advance! Does anyone know the car LR02 MOV and R22 JGS? All the best Berni

Hi Apologies here are the borescope pictures. Those of a weak disposition please look away now. Thanks Berni

I hope that wasn't the price you paid. Good Luck!

Hi Alex Actually we paid 6.5k delivered. My spider sense is telling me you think that was too much. Both myself and the Bro are adults, and have posted this to solicit genuine opinion and help. So your candid views would be appreciated. Especially since you are experienced in such things. I sent the pictures to Hartech already and spoke to someone there and they seemed totally unfazed. We had a 4k budget in mind for the engine and will do all the work apart from machining ourselves. No fun otherwise right. In the past we have done a 993 engine together, so are not total virgins. I did the IMS on my Boxster a couple of months ago. All the best Berni

By the sounds of things its pretty f*****. Minus the cost of engine rebuild you could still be racking up another few grand on things like ecu, gearbox ecu, exhaust parts, etc, etc. I reckon you could be well in to £8k+ and all your time invested in it. Good project to get your teeth into I suppose.

Hi Alex Any 996, that we would have bought at the price points we were looking at would have been an engine out and IMS bearing at a minimum. We wanted to do an engine so the bore scoring is a non issue. So many 996's, especially Tip's have some (and we only wanted a Tip) that you are often looking at remedial work in any case. As for the DME, I can buy a 3.6 set for £500 tomorrow, or £300 if I wait a couple of weeks. The Tip ECU is present and correct as far as I can tell. The car is unexpectedly clean all round. Some money has clearly been spent on it at some point. It seems to have new power steering pipes for instance although I need to double check that. Suspension also looks very good, but time will tell. If the engine is actually fekked over and above The Hartech cylinder piston and shells (and other bits) then it will be more money yes. The exhaust looks good, the cats may be shagged. The labour we are doing for fun. I am happy it needs to come out and apart. Thats what we were looking for. As for the car itself I really like it, and more importantly so does the Bro. Even if we broke it up I cannot see us loosing much if at all. Anyways thats our thinking. We could be deluded of course. All the best Berni

Like I said - good project. Will be interesting watching the commissioning project if you do one.

If you can get the motor in and out yourself then I reckon ~11k for a smart looking 996.2 isn't too shabby really. If your brother is happy with a tip then it sounds ideal. Even if you need some suspension and brake bits then 2k should sort you out - again assuming you're doing the work yourself and you'll end up with a very clean car!

Hi We can get the motor in and out ourselves for sure. The only thing we cannot do is the machining. We will document what we find with the engine as we go. That sort of thing is always interesting and is a shared experience amongst the community. We also thought if we ended up between 11-12k for a sorted car and had some fun on the way then it would be OK at worst. Also you do bond with a car once you have a certain amount of energy invested in it. At least it's like that for us. I know that high res close up's from borescope's can magnify everything to terrifying proportions, but has anyone seen carbon buildups like that before? Looks pretty extreme to me. We cannot be the only ones surely. Thanks again Berni

You went into this with your eyes open .. you wanted a project and expected there to be engine issues . You have what you wanted and from my perspective a good chance to bring back from the dead a 996 .. it will only cost you parts as i know you are more than capable of a rebuild .. You will have plenty of help from people here should you need it . The car and i'm guessing is one bank only that's scored .. the dme/ alarm have probably been robbed for another car .. you may have crank shells or possibly crankshaft issues but i base that only on what Hartech have said here . You don't have to do every liner .. you don't have to use Hartech .. plenty of firms offer alternatives but to be honest .. i would lean towards hartech to do the engineering work . I'm hoping the suspension and brakes are all ok .. tip box is fine on this car ... that was just the wrong dme . You should be able to scrap into the ballpark of what it's worth up and running .. but that's not really the issue i suspect .. it's fun and you get a good car at the end of it which you can come close to getting your money back after a few years of driving .. Sounds good to me and my hat off to you sir ... I expect we will be chatting about this for a while to come EDIT .. Possible maf sensor fault but oil usage over time will create carbon build up on the pistons .

Hi deMort Yes! Spot on. Actually when I spoke to Hartech and mentioned having all 6 cylinders done they said the same thing. It may not be necessary. Get it apart and then decide. For sure we will be swapping some messages and with the community in general. I look forwards to it. I am moving back into my house next week, so as soon as I have finished with the fun and games from that it will be engine out and apart time. Although the wife will have plenty for me to do also. Thanks again Berni

Nice project and a nice car when sorted! These are only going one way price wise now, especially at that price point. My 98 C2 cable throttle, ambers, manual cab stands me for around £7500 so far, but I have plans for the gearbox and a few bits which will push it up nearer £10K. The silencers, suspension and brakes are in good order and it's had recent tyres, battery, water pump, dmf, clutch, dampers and IMS bearing. As a Cat C, with 121k on the clocks it'll never fetch top money, so i'll probably keep it unless I get the urge to save up and upgrade to a Turbo or 997. Working on them can be a satisfying part of ownership as well as driving them for me.

Hi Berni Best wishes on the project. I am sure that once the work is done, you will have a car that you will know top to bottom and should be good for a few years to come and who knows, if the 996 values do rise, and I am sure they will, then it will be a further bonus. I look forward to following the progress on the Forum and I am sure the community here will be more than happy to help you sort out any problems along the way. :thumbs:

Nice one! I was close to buying that car! Great spec and will be class when finished! Good luck with it & at that price it's cheap!

Hi Thank you all for the kind comments and encouragement! All the best Berni