So Long, Farewell, auf Wiedersehen, Adieu…

[Flavor 987S]

Did you do leakdown? If so, what were your numbers?

You let Champion do a PPI on an air-cooled car? They know very little about these machines. An indy shop would have been much more knowledgeable.

A leakdown would add about 4 hours to the PPI process. Have the plugs changed too "while you are in there".

You are going to wish you purchased a turbo. And not a cab. The cabs have far less collective value.

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by Flavor 987S

Did you do leakdown? If so, what were your numbers?

You let Champion do a PPI on an air-cooled car? They know very little about these machines. An indy shop would have been much more knowledgeable.

A leakdown would add about 4 hours to the PPI process. Have the plugs changed too "while you are in there".

You are going to wish you purchased a turbo. And not a cab. The cabs have far less collective value.

I appreciate the insights.

Champion did a very good PPI and I am satisfied with the detail and intensiveness of it - they have a 30 yr. Porsche Factory trained Tech who they specifically assign to the air-cooled cars. And, I did quite a lot of research prior to chasing this car and directed them to specifically look closely at areas I learned should be of concern.

They did not do a leakdown, but did do compression - all 6 cylinders measured within 3% of each other (this is a 20k mi. car, I wouldn't expect anything different).

Maintenance, such as oil and plug changes, was not possible as this was not yet my car - we hadn't yet negotiated a purchase price, the last thing I was going to do was maintenance on His car.

I will not ever wish I'd gotten a Turbo. I've owned many turbo cars in my lifetime and probably because of this have come to appreciate the smoothness and linear power delivery of naturally aspirated vehicles. IMHO, Turbos are like the girl you don't bring home to meet Mom - great fun for a night,... but not for a lifetime.

Again, I definitely wanted a Cab, it's the primary reason I chose this car. If I want to light my hair on fire, I have a couple other toys that'll do that quite nicely. It's not what I'm looking for in this car.

Cheers!

[Flavor 987S]

A quality PPI on an air cooled Porsche is about $1,200-$1,500. By skipping the leakdown testing, you may have made a huge mistake. You don't know the true health of the engine.

The PPI you did at Champion amounts to a simple used car check-list that they charged you about $270 for.

My comment regarding the spark plug change has nothing to do about providing "free maintenance" to the prior owner. During a leakdown test the plugs are already out, if the numbers are good (on your specific car I would expect values in the 2% range +/- 1% and within a very tight range of each other...<5%) and you plan to keep the car, put new plugs in for a few dollars more. No brainer. Plugs are cheap. Labor to get to the plugs is not.

My comment "wishing you purchased a turbo" is becuase the 964 will feel very-very slow compared to your Boxster. When I was adding to my collection last year, and in search for an air cooled Porsche (which took me 21 months and 4 PPI's to find the "right car for me") the 993 C2's and C4's did not offer me any performance above my current 2006 987S. In fact they have the same HP. 280/282 and the 993 weights more...about 250 pounds. That's why it took me so long to find the right air cooled Porsche. A 1997 993 Turbo (less than 500 are in the USA).

Doing the proper $1,200 PPI on my specific Porsche protected me from buying a Porsche that would require a +$12,000 top-end rebuild. Granted, it will require one some day....just not for 40-60,000 miles from now!

You are right about the linear power delivery regarding a Turbo. But the 993 Turbo is a twin turbo with very-very minimal lag. The 964 is a single turbo, and has significant lag. With the 997.2TT turbo lag is non existent.

Enjoy your new car.

[blue2000s]

Compared to a 2.5 tip Boxster, a 240Z, and a 70s Esprit, the NA 964 is going to be a rocket. Although I wouldn't describe the torque curve of the air cooled engines linear, it is extremely entertaining.

[Lil bastard]

OK... Day#1. Got up at 3am for a 5am flight to Palm Beach. Picked up by the owner and drove the car to the Lawyer handling the sale. The Owner tried to renegotiate the deal! I called a cab to go back to the airport, and he finally signed the papers. Felt sorry for the guy, but that's all I could do... feel sorry for him. He did not have to sell me the car.

Anyway, all the drama extended my time on the ground, so I only made 500 miles before calling it a day.

The car is fanatastic. It's so tight, it's hard to believe it's 20 yrs. old. The power is amazing and I got better than 28 MPG and I was at 80 or above the whole day.

Leaving tomorrow @ 5am for a quick stop in Macon and then northward. If the car and I feel up to it, I may marathon it to get home, but most likely will make another stop and take it easy the rest of the way.

It is so much improved from the SC. Yes, it's heavier and less tactile, but not by much. It's advantages, esp. the suspension more than make up for them IMHO.

Hope tomorrow's cool enough to actually do some top-down driving, today was near 100 and I did AC all the way.

Cheers!

[Boxtaboy]

His 98 2.5 986 was a Tip, so anything he buys to replace it will be faster! Don't let anyone stop you from fully enjoying your new purchase. Congrats on the purchase and drive it in good health, Lil!

[Lil bastard]

OK... made it home tonight.

Car ran great the whole way, just a blast (at least as much a blast as you can have on cruise control and 5th gear for hrs. on end.

Special Shout to QuicKurt! I went to Autoworks in Macon GA to have the fluids changed. Met Randy and his mechanic. Great guys and they were amazed at the car and it's condition.

Despite knowing you (and he does say you truly are 'Quick' btw and warned me away from your political Blog... lol), he could not have been more accommodating. Ran the car up on a lift and inspected everything. Did the oil swap and was very reasonable. Wish I lived closer, because he'd definitely be my guy!

Thanks foir the recommendation. Even though I PM'd you and asked for his name/number and you did not reply (understandable, we're all busy), I picked the Porsche Mechanic from Google Search (3 came up) which I thought might best describe him.

I had my wife call ahead and something got messed up in translation. I walked into the shop the next day and asked for Randy. He said he thought I was going to another shop. I said no, I intended to come here, but he seemed somewhat reluctant to assist me.

I then asked if he knew Kurt from Jacksonville and all of a sudden we were 'Brothers of Another Mother', he got right to it, said I could pay by check to preserve my 'Road Cash'. Really did a nice job and again, confirmed what I'd been told and saw myself that this car is a true time-capsule. Had me on my way within 2 hrs.

Anyone in the Atlanta/Macon area would be well served by going to see Randy at Autoworks in Macon!

Thanks again Kurt for your recommendation!

Cheers!

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

OK... Day#1. Got up at 3am for a 5am flight to Palm Beach. Picked up by the owner and drove the car to the Lawyer handling the sale. The Owner tried to renegotiate the deal! I called a cab to go back to the airport, and he finally signed the papers. Felt sorry for the guy, but that's all I could do... feel sorry for him. He did not have to sell me the car.

Anyway, all the drama extended my time on the ground, so I only made 500 miles before calling it a day.

The car is fanatastic. It's so tight, it's hard to believe it's 20 yrs. old. The power is amazing and I got better than 28 MPG and I was at 80 or above the whole day.

Leaving tomorrow @ 5am for a quick stop in Macon and then northward. If the car and I feel up to it, I may marathon it to get home, but most likely will make another stop and take it easy the rest of the way.

It is so much improved from the SC. Yes, it's heavier and less tactile, but not by much. It's advantages, esp. the suspension more than make up for them IMHO.

Hope tomorrow's cool enough to actually do some top-down driving, today was near 100 and I did AC all the way.

Cheers!

I'm in Minneapolis this week. It was a beautiful weekend for a convertible Porsche.