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New to me: Purple 993.

72K views 389 replies 114 participants last post by  dubdaze68 
#1 ·
In the proud tradition of TCL, I thought I'd start a thread about my recent car purchase. I'll also update every now and then with mods and repair work.

So . . . Here we go!

I've wanted a 911 for the last few years. I had my heart set on a long-hood (pre '73) but I live about 3 hours from the nearest major city. The classic 911 market is really hot at the moment so I found it really hard to jump on any deals. In retrospect I was a little too picky at the start and I should have jumped before the prices went up.

My second preference was a 993. I set up email alerts and eventually found this - a 1994 911 Carrera in Amaranth Violet. Unfortunately it's a UK delivered car and it was 1500 km from home. Normally I wouldn't have been too swayed but I instantly loved the colour. It's also got the Recaro softback seats which were an expensive option.

I phoned the seller and got a good vibe. They emailed through the service history on the car. A few more phone calls (workshops / negotiation) and I booked a flight to pick it up.


About to board a dash 8 for my third flight - ever.


Short stop over in Sydney before flying to Brisbane.

I landed in Brisbane and caught a train into the city. I've never been to Queensland before so it was interesting to see the city. I went to my bank and got a cheque and then caught up with a friend who took the afternoon off to chauffeur me around in his caddy. We went to lunch and then headed to meet the seller.


I swooned at the colour but noticed a fair few scratches and dings on the paint. The seller showed me through the interior and I found it to be in great condition.





The car was calling me so I went ahead with the purchase.

Within 15 minutes I'd already had a guy in a ute try and race me. :sly:


So here it is getting its first refuel. Walking back to the car I was struck by just how small the 911 really is.
The route

I told my work mates about the trip. The overwhelming opinion was that I should go inland rather than via the pacific highway. I ran a comparison of the traffic on the Roads and Maritime website. There were 33 traffic incidents within a kilometre of the Pacific vs 3 on the inland route. I was told that the inland route the smart choice but boring. So I decided to risk it and go via the pacific.

I left QLD at about 5pm. I lost an hour when I arrived in New South Wales (daylight savings) and stopped at Byron bay for dinner.




As I was parking the car I reached down to close the sunroof. I hit the wrong switch and activated the rear wiper. It let out a loud scratching noise.



:banghead: Seller didn't mention that.

I still felt pretty good so I booked a hotel and pushed on to Coffs Harbour - another 240 km.

The headlights work pretty well but I still took the opportunity to tail a Land-cruiser which had Nuclear fusion headlights. It really helped as I was worried about animals. I probably was a touch ambitious and I got to Coffs at about 2330 and went straight to bed. I woke up pretty early and looked at the maps - almost 1100 km to home which was do-able in a day.

It turns out that Pacific Highway was a mistake. I'd imagined it would be like a diet version of the Great Ocean Road. Quaint small towns and nice scenery. It so wasn't. Limited overtaking and a tonne of roadwork. Nothing interesting to look at. I mean, the highlights were the big banana, a car dealership shaped like a clam and a daycare centre shaped like a bee hive. I should have listened to literally everyone and gone inland.



I packed the car in the morning and took a quick look around the resort. It's probably not a big deal for the coastal folks but it was pretty cool to have a beach to myself - for a few minutes.


I jumped in the car and stopped for an early McLunch and refuel in Taree.

Back on the road and I hit Sydney around 1500. I thought I might miss the worst of the traffic, but it was still pretty bad. It was good to be off the Pacific highway.

Traffic on the Hume Highway was light and I stopped at Yass for McDinner and fuel. It was about here that I realised I had only about 3-4 hours left and smiled. A moment later I realised I STILL had 3-4 hours. I then remembered I'd bought an audio book to listen to. About 12 hours too late. It helped break the boredom.

I caught up to a truck passing another on a hill. I rolled off the power early and dropped down to 3rd. The trucked finished the overtake and moved back into the left lane. I floored the accelerator. The engine screamed but there was no acceleration. I looked at the tacho and it was on ~6000 RPM. I took my foot off the accelerator for a moment and then reapplied it slowly and completed the overtake. For the last 250 km I was panicking that I needed a new clutch.

I got into my town and put the car into 6th at about 40km/h. Floored it and the same thing happened again.

FML.


I arrived home a little after 9pm. Overall trip average - 8.69 L per 100km over the 1478km. Not much worse than my Golf.

I slept really badly due to the clutch problem. The next morning I noticed that the clutch pedal was sitting much lower than the brake or accelerator. I stepped on the pedal and it returned to half height. I reached down and pulled it and it sprang to the normal position. Luckily the problem turned out to be a sticky clutch pedal rather than something more serious. A clean and lube and it's working normally.

My thoughts on the car?

When I drive my GF's fiesta or my golf, they feel like this in comparison. So light and easy to drive!
Rides MUCH better than my golf. It's quite comfortable except for the seat belts which cut into my neck.
The seats are awesome.
The golf feels faster around town. You need at least 4000 RPM on the 911 before it wakes up.
Ergonomics aren't great.
All of the controls are heavy and you have to think about everything more than a new car. It's loud, grumpy and graceless at low speed.
Most of the panels have small dents or scratches. The clear on the spoiler is peeling. I've polished out a couple of the scratches with minor success. I've attempted to remove the spoiler but it looks like I'll need to remove the entire OEM wing to get the spoiler off.
The rear reflector is UV damaged. I've started to wet-sand it I think it should turn out ok.
Rear speakers are toast. The cones have been baked in the sun. It's got crossovers and splits in the front and they sound pretty ordinary.

Anyway, here it is a couple of weeks later with new number plates.


I'll update with pics and comments as I fix it up.

Oh - it's been nicknamed Barney.
 
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#57 · (Edited)
I can only assume that the original owner never left his car sitting outside much as when the guards were pulled off my 993 turbo, they both came off in one piece. I know this because when I had to have my car repaired after the minor damage from a very careless young lady, they had to use them as templates for the new ones because they couldn't source direct replacements. I was told that the original size is no longer made, I don't think that's true(?)
 
#60 ·
I pointed those out to my shop but they said they weren't "Porsche approved" I wasn't paying the tab and they were the go-to shop for Porsche work in my area so I had not choice. They got 997 stone guards and cut them to size. I can't complain, they did a great job and you can't tell they were hand cut.
 
#63 ·
I love purple cars. :thumbup:
 
#68 ·
Not particularly, other than being hilariously time consuming. The two small ones just aft of the wheels on each side were only a little wider than my scraper at their widest, so the plastic part came off easily. A little bit of a goo-b-gone type product took care of the adhesive. The two big ones forward of the rear wheel were very badly cracked and came off in about 400 pieces. I wound up taping open a grocery bag and sticking it to the bottom of the rocker to catch the falling pieces because I hate sweeping :laugh:
 
#69 ·
I missed this thread originally!

1) Amazing car and even with some surface imperfections (befitting a 20 y/o car), it's still probably well bought.
2) Sport seats. Envy level rising.
3) So cool you had the opportunity to bond with it on that drive...and that you didn't think twice on driving a 20 y/o German car that distance straight after purchasing it. Says a lot about the C911's durability and (hopefully) the PO's upkeep.
4) I think I parked in that very same lot in Byron Bay 2.5 years ago. :D But in a Mitsu Outlander Sport :(
 
#74 ·
Thanks Italian :)


I had my MK4 serviced a couple of weeks ago and they advised that my CV boots needed replacement. I booked it in today and at 3 o'clock they phoned to say one of the joints is beyond repair. VW don't stock the part anymore, so they ordered an aftermarket CV which won't arrive until next week. $350 extra. :mad:

Good excuse to get out the Porsche!

July was super wet and the car has been stuck in my shed all month. I did some very (very very) minor works in the back yard. We've had a couple of sunny days. The ground seemed firmer than it has been in weeks. I got out the boards and gave it my best.

It wasn't enough.



I split my pants while trying to get it unstuck.

I should have bought a Carrera 4.
 
#77 ·
You're right - I need something! I've been chasing fencing contractors for the last couple of weeks to organise a set of gates. This will give me the ability to leave via the land behind my house. It'll also be easier to organise landscaping once I have rear-access.

Your journey/car was my morning read and it's threads like these that keep me coming to tcl. Love everything about your grimace purp 993 :thumbup:
Thanks Timmayy! :) I'll continue to update with progress and news.

So here's the latest!



I bogged the car on a Wednesday night and I had about 20-30 minutes to get unstuck before it got too dark. I tried again on Thursday night. I got some traction on the left side but then started to slip on the right. By the time I realised I'd already dug another rut - and then it was too dark.

A friend offered to bring over his 4WD and winch on Saturday, but I gave it another shot on Friday night and managed to break it free. A few days warmth, some wooden chocks and a bit of luck really helped.



As I cleared the rut I slowly started to reverse towards my garage. I reached over to adjust the mirrors so I wouldn't hit my dogs kennel or the patio but they were frozen stuck - still pointing at my rear wheels. I had a panicked moment because I didn't want to slow down (for fear of getting bogged again) but I couldn't see where I was going. Luckily I cleared the obstacles and made it into the garage.



I gave it a wash - removed the mud from the mirrors and drove it for a few days while the MK4 was being repaired. It really makes the MK4's steering feel like utter garbage.

I've also been experimenting with an airbrush (on a spare fuel flap) with the eventual plan to respray my spoiler. I don't expect it to be perfect but I want to make it passable until I get some body-work done.



Does anyone have any tips on how to approach this? I know that I'll need to sand off the flaking paint before I start. Should I then prime it? Or will it be OK to spray over the sanded and prepped base colour?

Thanks guys!
 
#83 ·
Agreed for metal, starting there then making sure a good bond with primer and blocking the primer out then a tinted primer coat then final base / base & clear was how I learned to do it. Time and prep is what makes or breaks a paint job for sure. When I did my Corrado it had a been cleared in sections/other paint was laid down. I went all the way down to metal on that and worked up from there, took forever but was worth the effort without a doubt to ensure no flaking/lifting/rust.
 
#93 ·
It's definitely a love it or hate it colour. :)

My resident German interns in the office gave me this nice translation:

Hi,

I have a few problem with the export. Custom wants extra fee. If I have to pay hem, I will pay back the entire money amount. Custom request another 10% on top of the purchase price which will be more expenses than profit for me. I will contact you tomorrow night with an update and either the tracking number for the shipment or the reimbursement.

Best regards from Germany​

If you need help I'd gladly have them translate a reply
Legend! TCL Delivers. Thanks Lasrsktr. It's kind of what I thought he was saying, but much easier to comprehend. I've sent him a quick email back saying I still want it. :thumbup:

993 update - we're heading to the German auto day in Canberra this weekend. I'll post some pics when I return. :)
 
#94 ·
I made it to the show! :) I left work at 2 on Saturday and arrived in Canberra at about 530. I caught up with a mate and went to dinner, then washed the car and checked into the hotel at 10. The hotel car park was full so I had to park in the unsecured airport carpark. Not ideal, but nothing happened to the car. :thumbup:

There were about 300 cars were on display and the German ambassador attended which was pretty cool. The weather was pretty crappy but it was still a good show. Anyway, here's some Porsche photos from the show. Other brands here













I got home about 5 on Sunday.

Big weekend! I'm now officially on the hunt for parts to install cruise control.
 
#95 ·
OK! Time for an update!

I found a set of cruise control parts on rennlist - Everything except for the wiring. The internets opinion was that the car would already have wiring in place, so I removed the steering wheel, front seats, airbox and heater to try and find the harness.

No luck, but this was under the seats.



Porsche only sell the complete wiring harness for the car, so I might have to search wreckers or ebay for a used one. I'm not looking forward to routing it. :banghead:



Servicing!
I went for a driver training day at Phillip Island (not in the Porsche) and I took the opportunity to get the car serviced in Melbourne. The workshop was really helpful and they replaced the belts plus the clutch slave cylinder and a hose. My initial "fix" was to clean and lube the master cylinder and pedal assembly. This reduced the frequency of the problem, but their work has made a huge difference. The pedal is much lighter and smoother. I've got a lot more confidence when accelerating from a stop. :thumbup: I thought the pedal was meant to be heavy and it's much nicer to drive now.

If the problem returns then I'll get the master cylinder and kinematic clutch lever replaced.

Sadly, they found a bit of rust in one of the heat exchangers and there's play in one of the suspension links. They didn't give me a price, but I'm not looking forward to fixing them.




I also got to catch up with a mate while I was in Melbourne. I've never driven an M3 and he'd never driven a Porsche so we had a little fun learning about each others cars.

Throttle response in the M3 is amazing and the howl from the exhaust was lovely. The steering was razor sharp too. It didn't feel ~50hp faster than the 911 but it was much snapper down low.






I can't believe how big the M3 is compared to the Porsche. The cabin feels about 50% larger. It was also weird to think there's only 6 years difference between them. So many more features. luxury and improved ergonomics and design in the M.

Anyway, the trip went well and the car didn't miss a beat. More updates when I have something to report :)
 
#96 · (Edited)
I got the car tinted today. The rear window lets in a lot of sun so this should keep it a little cooler.




And a work in progress . . .



I'm looking at getting it thickened and recovered in black leather. I've got a MK4 R32 wheel in my Golf so I want something like that. I'm tempted to go for carbon fibre, but then I'd need other CF parts throughout the cabin.

I've also found this page which gives tips on how to restore single stage paint. I hope to detail the car over the Christmas holidays but none of the local car shops have Meguairs #7.


No luck on the cruise control wiring harness hunt but I haven't given up.
 
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