01-11-2008, 11:40 AM
many of you know that one month ago i went out to virginia to pick up a new car to give to the father in law who could no longer drive the TR4-A, and wanted something more fun than the acura
after 2 weeks of searching for a really low mileage tip cab, josh (banditsc) sent an email telling me about this car - it was originally a california car that was then sent back east a couple of years ago - it wasn't the color combination that i was initially looking for, but when i saw it, i knew it was the one - a few phone calls later, and i sent the money back east, confident we had found "it" - no quibbling about price - no hesitation - bought it sight unseen, my thinking being "at 14k, how bad can it be?" - i figured i would throw 5k or so at it and it would be great
pete went down, verified that it was indeed what we were led to believe, drove it an entire 50 feet up onto the trailer (i didn't even want him to drive it and risk the original belts snapping), and brought the car back to his shop - there it got all new belts, hoses, fluids, etc, front to rear, and a complete once-over to make sure nothing else was in need
once it got here, the real work of the total clean-up began - it was exactly what i expected - it was a 14k mile car that had been driven and not meticulous, but not a mess either - clean underneath, with the exhaust still shiny - even the wheel wells cleaned up very nicely
i then went about removing the interior and refurbishing half of the interior panels - the seats looked great, and the door panels were without blemish, but missing most of the hardware - they had none of the traditional classic grey "browning" - underneath them though, the original owner had removed the 10 speaker stock system and installed a big aftermarket system - then when they sold it, they removed most of that and stuck in a pair of 2-way clarion speakers behind the mid grills - they left the mess of wiring and a few other components in the car, and nothing was connected - i just removed everything and started over - i gave it a pair of JL audio 6" woofers and 1' tweeters in the doors, and put in a pioneer deh4400 for a deck - in the rear i installed a pair of pioneer 3-way 4x6 speakers - all of them got foam enclosures - a bit of time tuning, and it ended up not bad at all
a few odds and ends (lights, bulbs, trim pieces, etc) a new set of oem mats and the interior now looks brand new - a couple of electrical hiccups fixed and now everything is up to snuff and working great
then, up it went into the air - out came the factory springs and in went a pair of low mileage hatchback springs - this brought the front end down 1/4" - i did this so as to reduce the amount i had to raise the rear to set the ride height correctly
after that, she got the strut tower brace, lower brace, and the big chassis brace, and off to the alignment shop - once back, the wheels came off and they went out for refinishing
while they were out, i spent some time in the engine bay - not a lot to do there, as the car was already fairly clean - a quick wipe down and waxing of the sheet metal in there, and you could shave from the reflection on the paint under the hood - i added the early engine bay trim plastics to clean up the ugly cables and stuff for the cruise control and all that - very tidy now
then it was time for the body - nothing serious - no big dents or anything, but there were a few little arm dents in the fender, and a good bump in the hood above the battery terminal where somebody forgot something under there - there was also a lot of rubbing from the car cover it sat under most of its life too, as well as a couple of good scratches - the paintless dent guy got rid of all of the dings, and thanks to the detailers, all but one scratch came out completely, and it is very faint - new grills and she looked all new again
all in all, the car has come out great - very clean - very tight
total investment, including travel, to pick it up and bring it home was about $26,700 - below budget, and a touch below the 25k that i have long maintained as a target cost for any clean cab, whichever way you go
not bad for a car with 14k miles on it and looks brand new - a couple of remaining small details this morning, and i'm done - delivering today
they hardly do it justice (white is so hard to shoot) but here are the long awaited shots:
after 2 weeks of searching for a really low mileage tip cab, josh (banditsc) sent an email telling me about this car - it was originally a california car that was then sent back east a couple of years ago - it wasn't the color combination that i was initially looking for, but when i saw it, i knew it was the one - a few phone calls later, and i sent the money back east, confident we had found "it" - no quibbling about price - no hesitation - bought it sight unseen, my thinking being "at 14k, how bad can it be?" - i figured i would throw 5k or so at it and it would be great
pete went down, verified that it was indeed what we were led to believe, drove it an entire 50 feet up onto the trailer (i didn't even want him to drive it and risk the original belts snapping), and brought the car back to his shop - there it got all new belts, hoses, fluids, etc, front to rear, and a complete once-over to make sure nothing else was in need
once it got here, the real work of the total clean-up began - it was exactly what i expected - it was a 14k mile car that had been driven and not meticulous, but not a mess either - clean underneath, with the exhaust still shiny - even the wheel wells cleaned up very nicely
i then went about removing the interior and refurbishing half of the interior panels - the seats looked great, and the door panels were without blemish, but missing most of the hardware - they had none of the traditional classic grey "browning" - underneath them though, the original owner had removed the 10 speaker stock system and installed a big aftermarket system - then when they sold it, they removed most of that and stuck in a pair of 2-way clarion speakers behind the mid grills - they left the mess of wiring and a few other components in the car, and nothing was connected - i just removed everything and started over - i gave it a pair of JL audio 6" woofers and 1' tweeters in the doors, and put in a pioneer deh4400 for a deck - in the rear i installed a pair of pioneer 3-way 4x6 speakers - all of them got foam enclosures - a bit of time tuning, and it ended up not bad at all
a few odds and ends (lights, bulbs, trim pieces, etc) a new set of oem mats and the interior now looks brand new - a couple of electrical hiccups fixed and now everything is up to snuff and working great
then, up it went into the air - out came the factory springs and in went a pair of low mileage hatchback springs - this brought the front end down 1/4" - i did this so as to reduce the amount i had to raise the rear to set the ride height correctly
after that, she got the strut tower brace, lower brace, and the big chassis brace, and off to the alignment shop - once back, the wheels came off and they went out for refinishing
while they were out, i spent some time in the engine bay - not a lot to do there, as the car was already fairly clean - a quick wipe down and waxing of the sheet metal in there, and you could shave from the reflection on the paint under the hood - i added the early engine bay trim plastics to clean up the ugly cables and stuff for the cruise control and all that - very tidy now
then it was time for the body - nothing serious - no big dents or anything, but there were a few little arm dents in the fender, and a good bump in the hood above the battery terminal where somebody forgot something under there - there was also a lot of rubbing from the car cover it sat under most of its life too, as well as a couple of good scratches - the paintless dent guy got rid of all of the dings, and thanks to the detailers, all but one scratch came out completely, and it is very faint - new grills and she looked all new again
all in all, the car has come out great - very clean - very tight
total investment, including travel, to pick it up and bring it home was about $26,700 - below budget, and a touch below the 25k that i have long maintained as a target cost for any clean cab, whichever way you go
not bad for a car with 14k miles on it and looks brand new - a couple of remaining small details this morning, and i'm done - delivering today
they hardly do it justice (white is so hard to shoot) but here are the long awaited shots:
94 Midnight Metallic Blue Cab Porsche 968 w/deviating cashmere/black interior and WAY too many mods to list - thanks to eric for creating www.968forums.com
"It isn't nearly as expensive to do it right as it is to do it wrong."
