993 restoration

[Ferry Man]

Really? A 993? On DDK?
And a restoration? Has anyone restored a 993?, are they old enough to need restoration?

Well friends, this is such a story.
I hope you'll be interested though I concede it's a later Porsche than we're used to on DDK. But it is air-cooled and shares much of its DNA with the early 911's.
My on-line pals all hang out in these parts so I'd like to recount the journey here, on this forum, in a restoration thread.

I do love a 993. I think they are the prettiest 911. And last year - at the tender age of 56 - I found myself with time on my hands. I thought, I'd rather like to build a nice 993 for myself and - where possible - do it myself. So, I searched for a suitable car and I've ended up with this:

[23e Heure]

Hurray, another thread from Paul! Will we be treated to a long drawn out tease, but with scads of well framed photos?

In the meantime, are you going to keep us waiting before showing us something in riviera blue?

[Ferry Man]

Will we be treated to a long drawn out tease, but with scads of well framed photos?

Yep.

In the meantime, are you going to keep us waiting before showing us something in riviera blue?

Nope.

[Ferry Man]

You may decide you want a 993. Yet the spread of prices seems wildly wide. You can currently find them for sale for £35k or so.

But then you decide it must be U.K. delivered, RHD. And definitely not a convertible. Nor a targa. Not tiptronic (most were). Preferably not C4.
Aventura green is a bit dull and the dark greys don’t do it for you. You'd rather not have a cashmere or grey interior. Nor blue. Ideally it will be less than 100k miles. Solid evidence of service history is very desirable. CAT C or D out of the question.

So, now, you've narrowed it down to a RHD, coupe, manual gearbox, C2, nice colour, not stellar miles, good history, no accidents, oh and you'd like a black interior, hard back seats and maybe air-con. Possibly you even hanker for a Varioram version. And that's why you can't find one and why it costs over £70k! For a standard 993 (I won't discuss S's or Turbos, etc).

Frankly it can be difficult to track down a good car.
The car I purchased is a manual gearbox, C2 coupe. It's what I consider to be quite low mileage for a 23 year old car but what the market considers to be unacceptably high mileage.
I bought it over a year ago now and I thought I'd done well at the time. I paid £29k.

[Peter]

Looking forward to the story Paul.

[Ferry Man]

I'll admit it now, I plan to colour change the car.
Now if you ask around on the forums everyone will tell you not to colour change a 993.
993 owners are an unusual crowd, originality is valued over everything else. You don't 'hot-rod' a 993. With the early cars we are all fascinated by modified 911's, no one minds stamping their individuality on T's, E's or even S's. And 3.2's, SC's even 964's, they become track-day toys, replicas of this & that or simply transformed with wide arches, lightweight interiors, etc. But not with a 993. It's just not done.
So, I'm afraid I will admit, I'm going to ruin a perfectly good car.

Of course 98% of respondents asked will reply saying "don't colour change the car". And 1% will say "wrap it'. And the last 1% that will entertain a new shade say "if you're going to do it, then do it thoroughly".
Therefore I will do it properly.

[Lightweight_911]

Looking forward to this - I must admit to having had similar thoughts myself recently ...

[Ferry Man]

I viewed a couple of prospects before settling on this car.
Both were rather scabby but - with hindsight - I should have purchased those too.
This car looks great but the pictures flatter a little.

It's a '94 model year car (manufactured in late 1993). It was sold in Scotland and lived most it's life there. It was a well used daily driver for many years. I've also found evidence that it was used for track days at one time. It has had one respray (in 2007). It was supplied new with a bare bones spec, the only option of note was 'sports seats'. It has no air-con (which suits me fine) and was probably one of the few cars sold with 16" rims. It now resides on Boxster wheels (17" diameter).

[Tp81]

Good stuff, looking forward to watching this develop. Do you still have the RS?

Cheers
Tom

[anglophone1]

"So, I'm afraid I will admit, I'm going to ruin a perfectly good car."
This sounds great!!
C

[Ferry Man]

When I viewed the car the seller planned a 30 minute route with the test drive covering minor roads, dual carriageways and city traffic. I drove out of his road, round the roundabout and straight back into his driveway and said "I'll take it". I could tell it was a good one.

And then I was supposed to strip the car but I discovered it was rather wonderful.
So we started using it for all our driving. Or rather my wife Lyn did. She loves the car. It seems to have become her car...

[Ferry Man]

Good stuff, looking forward to watching this develop. Do you still have the RS?

Yes, I kept that so I could refer to it when I forgot how things go back together...

[Ferry Man]

I could tell it was a good one.

It was a private sale. The previous owner was buying a 997 from a Porsche dealer and I don't doubt they bid him very low for the 993. I evidently paid a few thousand more and still got a good deal.
To be fair the market doesn't want cars like this. It's high miles, had a respray, some rust, it was all a bit too much 'driver condition' and not 'garage queen'.
Most 993's these days are low mileage. They probably weren't at one time but hey....

[Ferry Man]

The rather wonderful 993 pictured below was mine in 1995. Purchased brand new. I was proud that day. It was lovely.
Tiptronic though. Tips were all the rage then. Changing gear with buttons on the steering wheel was quite the thing in the early nineties.
And Midnight Blue. All cars were sombre colours in those days. Silver, dark blue, dark grey, dark green, dark black.
The fashion was also for coloured interiors. Very light grey, mid-grey, cashmere (light tan), Metropole blue. I specc'd my car back then with a Classic Grey interior. Not many cars were furnished in black.
Porsche didn't sell many 911's in that era. Times were tough for Porsche.
It makes finding a colour combination you love very difficult.

[964RS]

Nice. Will watch with interest...