Meet the temp car... Possible disappointment inside.

[Vince]

Well a few days ago this happened:



Driving along all happy as larry then oil pressure dropped followed by the coolant and some funny noises. Not the nice type of noises. So I have a plan but that plan for the 996 is going to be a slow burn as this time it must be done by the best (hartech) and comes at significant cost. I have owned the car for a very long time and am not ready to let it go yet so another rebuild is on the cards. I was thinking about it and decided that I needed a little something, something while I sort that out. Something that isn't my little 1.2 clio.

So what do I end up with:



Its a mk2 3.2, 80k on the clock, full service history, tyres that I have literally never heard the name of before but sounded JINGY or something, top quality stuff Anyway for the next 12 months this is the new car. Bought it today and left it at the garage as the wife didn't want to drive home but for the money it's a pretty nice little car.

 

[Vince]

I like the wheels - colour is a little dull but overall I think that’s a decent enough little stand in whilst the porka is fixed - if a little tame by comparison - hell at least it’s not a diesel TT. That’s a complete embarrassment.

It had to be the 3.2 or it wouldn't have tickled my fancy

Did you say another rebuild? What went wrong with the first?!

In time I will tell you exactly what went wrong. For now I have no idea. It's only been two days but for the moment lets assume its terminal.

 

[Vince]

Change the tyres. Jinyu are Chinese budgets.

The rears were even worse if thats possible.

 

[Vince]

What BHP are these? 240? Quattro? Not bad. What’s the rest of the spec?

This is a shot from inside:



Its got the nav, leather heated seats, sports suspension with that little button, cruise, tyre pressure control (apparently), Bose, auto dimming mirrors, probably some other stuff I have no idea. It does have a glove box and cupholders as well so that will make a nice change not burning my nuts on hot coffee.

 

[Vince]

which airline do you work for?

No airline I work in IT buddy.

 

[Vince]

Nice to see an interesting colour! The V6 isn't particularly quick compared to the TTS and it drinks like a fish, but who cares when you're ******* money up the wall on a 996?

Enjoy!

White or silver seemed to be what they come in with a few black ones here and there. Not so many other colours i noticed. I think this looks better under good light its a blue but quite a greeny blue. Which is funny as the 911 is ocean blue so its bottom coat is turquoise in the sun.

 

[Vince]

What’s the two buttons next to the hand brake lever?

Edit: To do with the roof I guess?

First one is an ejector seat for the wife (I cant remember what it was). Second is for the wind deflector. It has one that goes up and down when you press that button. There was also like a talky thing on the steering wheel so I think it has some bluetooth jaz perhaps?

 

[Vince]

Aren't the symptoms on the Porsche a head gasket failure (a bad one)?

They never go, its something else im thinking most likely thing is i've lost a cylinder wall. It's probably what they call d-cunked. I'll rip the engine out and have a look at some point.

 

[Vince]

Sorry to hear about the 996. Hope it’s not as catastrophic as it sounds! You going to do anything interesting with the rebuild like increase the displacement?

TT looks ok, but it’s no 911!

I might do something interesting there are some decent options either increasing capacity or there is a closed deck solution which would mean it could run a supercharger or a turbo, or both. So I might look into that. First off I think it's going to be asses the damage and accumulate a big sack full of money, or two sacks might be needed! I was thinking that if the little TT does ok for the next little while that I could then give that to the wife if she likes it. It's win, win the car gets fixed properly with the rebuild it deserves and I don't keep thinking I want to kill myself because i'm restricted to driving around in a little 1.2 clio.

 

[Vince]

Honestly? I would bin the 996 and stick to that. Made of ****ing cheese those 996

The TT will also be a much nicer place to be in. Seriously

Your right of course but I can't part with it. I thought about it, weighed up my options and decided that I can't let it go. I might think differently In a few weeks/ months but for now I plan to fix it.

 

[Vince]

Feels to me a little bit like motors has gone a little soft

 

[Vince]

When you rebuilt it first time what was done? How many miles since?
Seems extremely unlucky to me.

First time went something like this: Top end was stripped down, one head with a crack was sent off repaired and sent back, both heads skimmed, new chains, tensioners & guides, RMS, IMS flange, clutch, flywheel, some work was done on the heads to increase the cooling around key areas, new cooling rads, pipework, water pump, ltt, oil cooler, AOS, full custom overbore x-pipe exhaust. The entire rear suspension was also done around the same time. There was no work on the bottom end as the cylinders were really nice, no scoring what so ever. Same time it had new discs and pads all round, in terms of mileage we are probably around 5k since the rebuild which I get really isn't acceptable. I would take it back but the fella that owned the place I got it done at is serving a 26 year sentence as he went postal and ended up murdering his Mrs. This all happened the day I was due to pick my car up and ended up with me giving evidence against him in the trial.

So really taking it back is really not an option. You live and you learn, I thought I saved a few quid but it was a false economy

 

[Vince]

That's a story and a half!

It is almost unbelievable so if you want to have a bit more of a read then this basically outlines the story on that. There are absolutely tons of news articles out there on it, even a few that mention myself such as the one the BBC decided to publish without ever asking me.

 

[Vince]

Well it's back home - drove it the 100 or so miles back, it's a decent little cruiser, makes a decent growl and is typically vague handling wise in comparison to the 911. One thing I did notice is that it's incredibly easy to drive, the clutch is light, the brakes are assisted much more than the Porsche, steering is weighted nicely and overall it does what it should do. Stereo is also really quite nice heated seats are as well. So overall I think I am happy.

It doesn't put the same smile on my face as the Porsche but that was never the intention. It is a tool and I'm sure it will serve me well. A run out to Northampton on Wednesday should let me get better acuainted.

 

[Vince]

How much have you spent fixing this car in total

If I said 50k or more total spend on everything including the car over nearly 10 years that would probably be about right. It probably sits at around 5k per year. I could dig out the invoices and count it up but safe to say it is a lot.

That's partly the reason I bought the Audi, truth be told I got fed up of spending on it. There is like 100 quid of fuel in its tank and it just had new tyres all round as well.

 

[Vince]

Overall the TT is a good car, been very happy with mine for the past two years, hope this one proves to be reliable.

Me too. It' getting nothing spent on it but servicing and tyres. The Mrs has her eyes on it already as well

Ask me last night if she is insured and can she take it for a blast? I didn't insure her on it lol

 

[Vince]

you cruel man, I love it!
an amazing and sad story about the 911 - hope it's not as dire as you're fearing.

Cruel to be kind. My mrs has no respect for wheels! If I let her drive it those nice clean wheels will be scrap in no time.

 

[Vince]

Got time for a TT
The 3.2 does sound lovely

The 2.0l does sound sedate in comparison

You know what they say - There is no replacement for displacement.

 

[Vince]

True but I'm in a similar boat to you...
Got an aircooled beetle, 1300cc engine in bits and a 2276cc engine nearly finished ready to drop in... In the mean time I'll rock around in the TT with all the mod cons

All part of the fun... you got a thread on the beetle? I have a soft spot for them as well. The history behind the car is amazing - was watching something the other night (sure it was james may cars of the people) and he was rocking around in Ferdinand Porsche's first concept beetle and was arguing that it was actually a porsche

 

[Vince]

Yeah quite incredible how it came to be and then how Porsche raided the VW parts bin to start building his own car (356)
No thread at the minute, although I may post something up when I finish the engine and get it back on the road... Should be fun with nearly 200bhp

Tin can with 200hp, can't argue with that. I think the audi is heavier than the porker and also down on power so it's never going to feel fast. Mrs has taken quite the shine to it though, today when she got home it was like... can I haz now.