[flash]

lol - colorado or something like that. 6 speed

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[Coupefan]

Hi Flash,

I've been eyeing that black/red coupe with your sc kit on it. Do you have any insight into the car? Any reason not to buy it? Do you know if it is stage 1 - I live in California so would have to smog it here. The website says stage 1 is CARB legal - any issues with passing smog?

Thanks in advance.



Joe

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[986boxster1998]

[quote name='Coupefan' timestamp='1374893373' post='146127']

Hi Flash,

I've been eyeing that black/red coupe with your sc kit on it. Do you have any insight into the car? Any reason not to buy it? Do you know if it is stage 1 - I live in California so would have to smog it here. The website says stage 1 is CARB legal - any issues with passing smog?

Thanks in advance.



Joe

[/quote]

Hi Joe,



The car in question has the Stage 1 kit and was owned by Jon Brown when Supercharged; he used to hang out here and .net and he sold the car in Arizona a little over a year ago (his asking price was $15,000). I was considering purchasing the car when it was originally listed for sale two years ago and like the Red Interior, Limited Slip Differential, and the fact it has the D1R SC kit. Jon had told me he had a shop install the kit for him and the car has the original head gasket and the head was not reconditioned prior to the install. I Hope that information is helpful.



Dan

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[flash]

it is fully CARB certified. there are zero issues with passing smog, assuming the sticker i provided is on the hood, the kit is unmolested, and the engine is running right.

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[ds968]

In terms of the head gasket if the car has over 80k miles or so I'd be concerned - when the top was redone on my car at 100k miles, all of the engine components were so perfectly clean they looked as if they came off the factory floor, but even with as perfect as everythig else was, the gasket stood out as the only thing which looked as if it was on its last breath of life... Had I not needed that rebuilt ( timing belt broke ) and if I had put the SC on with tne old head gasket still in place, I don't think more than one month would have gone by before that tired thing would have given up..

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[Coupefan]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm tempted - will call the dealer to look into it further. How long should I expect an original head gasket to last on a 96k mile car with sc?

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[Cloud9...68]

Mine looked pretty bad at 115K as well.

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[gbarrier]

I'm approaching 140K with original gasket and stage 3. Will probably do head and gasket at next belt job. S/C was one of the first group shipped so it's been blown for a while.

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[Scott Collins]

Coupefan-



I did my head gasket around 100k miles if I recall, and it was showing signs of going. When I pulled it, it was a good thing. Looked like it had only a short time left and my car has always been stock. I posted some pics a while back if I can find them.



The 968 is sometimes a bit unpredictable, though. For instance, even with the known transaxle issues with regard to preload set too high at the factory causing the pinion bearing to fail, some cars have

never had any issue whatsoever. Mine is one of them, at 108k miles now. Water pumps are similar - some seem to go forever, and others don't make it past 80k miles.



It goes without saying that the way the car is driven plays a big role, but beyond that,



When I read comments like that from gbarrier, above, with stage 3 and original gasket, I am not surprised. That's an example of what I am talking about.



For your piece of mind, I would suggest that you factor in the cost of replacing the head gasket in addition to the purchase price. This way, if you do have to do it you will be expecting it, and if not, it will be like a bonus!



-Scott

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[ds968]

[quote name='gbarrier' timestamp='1374948070' post='146141']I'm approaching 140K with original gasket and stage 3. Will probably do head and gasket at next belt job. S/C was one of the first group shipped so it's been blown for a while.[/quote]



Wow, that's awesome ..but somehow I'm not shocked, with these cars it's always luck or the draw I think ..some people get 100 K miles or more on their timing and balance belts , others fail after 30 k miles, you can have the variocam pads last for a quarter million miles on some cars , others see deep grooves and cracking after 75k miles, hoses and other rubber parts can last 30 years or more some cars and not in others , yada , yada, yada ..so if you got that kind of mileage out of your gasket and with the SC on top it all, luck is on your side, but no guarantee the next guy with a comparable 968 will have the same experience .. As they always say , YMMV :-) ! And depends on how much of a gambler / risk taker you are .

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