[ds968]

If I buy the Maserati, no chance I'm keeping the green 968 ; to have a perfectly good car serving solely as a spare parts vehicle is excessive ..even by my standards , lol.

But yeah, probably makes sense to leave well enough alone and abide by my own rule : " if it ain't broke, don't fix it " . Heck, switching engines with a new one could almost be be perceived as preventive maintenance, and we all know that concept simply does not exist in my world ...

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[Rap]

There are not that many 968 engines out there!!

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[ds968]

The 968 blocks ( new ) are readily available from Porsche dealers, albeit for $ 3,700. The rest ( pistons , rods, crank shaft , cams, etc , etc ) are also available but for some parts you might have to wait for a while ..a few have to be shipped from Germany . Problem of course is that you need a seriously heavy wallet ( and the will to spend that much for your precious 968, lol ) to have an engine put together from new parts bought from the dealer .

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[flash]

the real issue is that you would have to spend quite a bit to put together an engine that would sustain the kinds of things you want to subject it to.  the way you rev the engine, coupled with extended use of dirty oil, it's only a matter of time before things go bad.  that's exactly the reason i built my engine the way i did.  i knew i was going to beat the crap out of it.  so, i put in carillo rods to avoid the rod issues, ceramic coated bearings to mitigate the high rpm friction, installed stiffer valve springs to maintain higher rpms without valve float, ported and polished the head for better airflow and fuel mix, balanced and blueprinted everything, and changed my oil between 3k and 5k, depending on what it looked and smelled like, checking it every time i fueled up.  coast was nearly $20k, but i had a motor i didn't have to worry about.

 

most people are not in the position to do that, and certainly on a car that in the end will not be worth what the cost of that engine will be.  you have to really want to keep this car forever to justify that expense.  if i had to do it over again, i'm not sure i would have done it myself.  i really thought i could create the car i wanted and would keep forever, but i didn't factor in the fact that even when i was done building this super machine, that i wouldn't actually want to drive it, and moreover lacked the frequency of opportunity to enjoy it.

 

frankly, i think if i were you, i would reverse the position.  i would keep the tip for the commuter, and dump the blue car and get something more suited to your lifestyle for the weekend.  that is exactly what i did.  the targa is a car that is much more suited to the wife and i doing things together, whereas the 968 was really no fun for her, and useless during the week, so it sat.  consequently i had no fun, and the wife and i did less together.  lol - i guess that can work both ways though

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[ds968]

After driving a dozen different cars , many from five to as much as ten times the value of the 968, I have yet to find one that's as much fun as the six speed blue one, for a weekender, that is. And for what I consider FUN driving, I absolutely refuse to drive a paddle shift car. Great as a daily driver , but it simply does not do it for me in any other scenario. The Audi R8 was the only car I drove which was as much fun the 968. But it's completely impractical, can't fit anything in it , so what would be the point ? I did not buy either the 575 Maranello nor the DB9 I was considering at one time , both of which I could have had for under $ 75 k , because in spite of looks that kill, the driving experience was less than inspiring .

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[flash]

i think the point you are missing is what i was saying about opportunity.  i lacked the opportunity to take the 968 out to have fun with it.  my life did not allow it.  the wife wouldn't join me.  i do not find it all that much fun to jump in the car and spend a lot of time trying to find a road to go out and drive on, that would not also result in my incarceration.  i used to do that sort of thing, a long time ago, but i just don't anymore.  in order to really go out and enjoy the car, i had to drive quite a distance to get to a road that was fun.  that is one of the reasons i planned the events.  it gave me a chance to drive the car.  that just stopped happening though, as interest in the events dwindled and owners moved on.

 

i think you need to ask yourself when is the last time you took the car out by yourself for a spirited drive?  how many miles was it?  when was the last time before that?  i have a feeling that if you answer those questions honestly, you may well find you are in much the same position as i am, and will also determine that while the blue car may have served you in years gone by, that things have changed now, and you may not be using the car like you think you are.

 

you may well have an emotional attachment to the blue car, and letting go of it will probably be as hard on you as letting go of my blue one was, but in the end, it made sense.  during the week, i would need to drive something more practical.  in my case, it is the X5.  in yours, i think it is the green car.  on the weekend though, it really comes down to what you do on your weekends, and if it involves the wife or not.  for me, it does.  that's why the weekend car for me is the targa.  we are already getting out a lot more than we used to, and it is all because of that car.

 

interestingly, i have had this same conversation 3 times this weekend.  as much as i loved driving the blue car, i just didn't get to do it anymore, and it was always at the expense of the wife being cranky about me out playing with the car, even though she created that situation by not wanting to go with me in that car.

 

something to chew on.

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[ds968]

Wifey does not factor in at all when it comes to the 968 and it probably won't even with the Maserati, she likes cars that are very quiet , cushy-comfortable, and does not take well to spirited driving . That's why we've had Mercedeses as the " family car " for 30 + years . And for driving she likes the seat height of SUVs, so that's what she's been using as commuters for the last couple of decades .. But that does bring me back to your opportunity point and in that sense, yes , it's a bit of a hassle to go out and seek a fun road , just to drive for 20 to 30 minutes ..maybe an hour ..and then bring the car back to sit in the garage for another week , or longer . Actually lately I'm embarrassed to say it's been far less than weekly. So yeah...definitely something to ponder on, but that's in the future. I'm just not at the point where the car simply sitting in the garage just taking up space bothers me, and I have no need nor intention to ever sell it so for the near foreseeable future the blue 968 is a keeper. The green one on the other hand I'm not attached to at all - it just happens to be a fun commuter car for me .

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[Rap]

Ahh to have these problems. Life just sucks!

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[flash]

yeah - different situation i guess - incorrect assumption led to incorrect conclusion.

 

so, somebody will get a great car when you let go of the "green machine"

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[94SilverCab]

I am lucky enough to live 10 minutes from one of Fodor's 10 Best Drives in America. So, I make it a point to drive (alone or with the wife) no less than once every 3 weeks during the winter and weekly during nicer weather. I am also 1 1/2 hours to the Jersey Shore, so we like to get up on a Sunday and drive down there just to walk and have breakfast. 

 

I can understand how it would be an issue if you didn't have access to good/fun roads.

 

Jay

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[az968]

Yeah, driving hours just to drive for fun doesn't sound that exciting.  Right turn at the end of my driveway is a 60 minute loop of probably 400 twists and turns, down hill and up hill and some very fast sections.

 

Maybe start a threat on great drives for our 968? I guess that would be "Out for a Drive".

 

But, hang in there Dan, don't trade fine German engineering for Italian Fiat engineering that looks like a 968

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[Rap]

Yes, I also have the availability of great driving nearby. Dan while everyone including me suggests you should keep the car, why don't you find a Forum member looking for a great ride?

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[968Syncro]

I have wonderful twisty mountain and valley roads starting at the driveway, going for miles and miles.  I think Flash should drop off his 911 here for a few weeks so I can give it some exercise.   :clap:

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[ds968]

There are a couple of very scenic, winding, twisty mountain crests and canyon-to-ocean ( 45 + minute drives ) roads starting less than five minutes from where I live, but as beautiful and as much fun as they are to drive, after a while taking the same route over and over again starts to lose its appeal . We all know the old adage " no matter how beautiful she is, somebody out there is tired of her " so, in some ways that's akin to this scenario as well ( negotiating different type of curves though , lol ) In any event, as I mentioned before if my boss decides to keep the Maserati, it's still a win-win situation for me , I'll just keep the refreshed 968 tip as my DD ...and save a load of money too ! :-) I'm not looking for another car, this particular Maserati just happens to a phenomenal opportunity price-wise, and it's a car I've liked since they came out..plus it's in my very favorite favorite color, thus all in all and for its intended use, I would prefer it to the green 968.

Back to the original breakdown topic of this thread - I spoke to the mechanic earlier today; the car should be finished tomorrow and hopefully everything will run like a Swiss watch when he turns that key on and then takes the car on its new maiden voyage. There are ten days between now and when I pick up the car, so I hope he puts it through a few decent test runs before I take it from there to Flash's place 80 + mile down the road for the final computerized tweaking it might need and the approval of an " all systems go " before the next day's 500 mile drive home . Just too bad I'm going to be tortured for an entire 500 miles keeping the RPM below 4 K ..but I gotta do what I gotta do ...

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[az968]

That's great news, you'll soon have a great car again, what an oddesy!

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[ds968]

I heard from the shop today ; the work is finally complete, just fired it up and all is looking & sounding good . The team took a brief video clip of the moment when the key was turned on and the builder's reaction to the event ( make sure you turn up the sound before you start playing the clip ! ).

http://youtu.be/xos2MnVxe-c

The original estimate for the job was three to four weeks...max. Ha ! But we all know that things rarely work ther way we think they will, or should, and with all the " surprises " discovered along the way after the engine was taken apart, the actual time to finish everything was evidently a looooooooot longer . Let's hope the final cost is also not proportionately larger than the original estimate .

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[wildcat]

If they haven't been telling you of expense increases all along I would expect the estimate to be right on, give or take a few dollars, especially in light of the fact it hasn't been completed on time. FWIW.

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[ds968]

And just when the light at the end of the tunnel appeared, it turns out to be a freight train ; the new block has a crack in it - not detected until the car was taken out for a few test drives and started leaking . So the engine has to come out again !!!

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[Bulti]

Double do'h!

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[Rap]

Sorry to hear that.

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