New addition to the fleet (non BMW)

[Kyle in NO]

Nicely done Charles! Those wheels look a lot better on it than I had envisioned. Are those muffler bypasses you installed?

[Karl Grau]

Are those muffler bypasses you installed?

Lol, no, I'm waaay too old for muffler bypassing. It's a cat-back system that's a little sportier sounding than stock.

Today I installed the short[er] shifter and a non-gray knob and gaiter.



I also installed a USB charging port in the new black center console's storage compartment.



I decided that I'm not going to do ANYTHING to this car that isn't 100% reversible so I had to get creative on how to power the USB charging port.
This unused plug was for a cell phone option and it's 12v both switched and unswitched. A regular bullet connector was too big so after some Googling...




I found this pigtail at Becker Autosound, so no wiring hacks for the USB port.

[m-racer]

Love the new wheels. I had an early 996. Engine went at 40k...After I sold it, but was covered under warranty. New model stuff I think. I know Tim K daily drives one with a bunch of miles. I loved the way it handled. I also lost my license in it. Long story...Drove from VA to FL because m wife got thrown from her horse and was in hospital. Ran into instant on radar on I-75 doing 114 in a 70. At least I didn't have to post bail. Your car is a stunner. Enjoy!

[Kyle in NO]

That's the same shifter I installed in my old 996. I REALLY liked the feel of it.

[Mat & Pat]

Car looks like new! Love the look of it. And love the work ethic you're putting into it. Good luck with the rest of the modifications

[tig]

Love the new wheels. I had an early 996. Engine went at 40k...After I sold it, but was covered under warranty. New model stuff I think. I know Tim K daily drives one with a bunch of miles. I loved the way it handled. I also lost my license in it. Long story...Drove from VA to FL because m wife got thrown from her horse and was in hospital. Ran into instant on radar on I-75 doing 114 in a 70. At least I didn't have to post bail. Your car is a stunner. Enjoy!

That's not a long story.

Charlie's, when are you going to upgrade the cup holders?

[m-racer]

Love the new wheels. I had an early 996. Engine went at 40k...After I sold it, but was covered under warranty. New model stuff I think. I know Tim K daily drives one with a bunch of miles. I loved the way it handled. I also lost my license in it. Long story...Drove from VA to FL because m wife got thrown from her horse and was in hospital. Ran into instant on radar on I-75 doing 114 in a 70. At least I didn't have to post bail. Your car is a stunner. Enjoy!

That's not a long story.

Charlie's, when are you going to upgrade the cup holders?

you assume that's the entire story!

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Nice pickup. They're really an underrated car the 996, I've been fortunate enough to spend a fair bit of seat time in a couple of turbos and a nice C4S lately and they're a really nice drive. Check and clean out the front radiator air ducts when you have a chance, debris, leaves, small birds etc really build up in there and will hinder your A/C and cooling system efficiency. See if you can beat my record of 7 cigarette butts.

[Justin_FL]

The wheels help the car no doubt, definitely more exciting but they really need more of a lip on them to be perfect. My brother briefly owned a '99 with basically no options, but it had the sport classic wheels and aero kit. Think he made $5K after owning it a year, but the car had around 50K miles on it and the values were creeping up on the 996s. He too had to strip and polish the lips.

I'm thinking about doing more research and checking out the 997.2s as a daily driver. Or maybe a new F150 or SUV type thing. Would definitely like something more sporty and fun but driving through the most overcapacity stretches of road in the county makes you think twice.

Not sure why the 996 got such a bad rap. The interior design hasn't aged well but I think the exterior still looks pretty good. I probably would have bought my brother's car, but the interior turned me off as did the lack of headroom. The early cars didn't have the soft touch plastic coating, or at least his didn't. Definitely a bonus to not have that sticky disintegrating goo on everything like my parents Boxster S.

[Karl Grau]

That's the same shifter I installed in my old 996. I REALLY liked the feel of it.

I did a short test drive around the 'hood and I liked what I was feeling.

Charlie's, when are you going to upgrade the cup holders?

I didn't know it had cupholders?!

Check and clean out the front radiator air ducts when you have a chance, debris, leaves, small birds etc really build up in there and will hinder your A/C and cooling system efficiency..

This was one of my initial checklist items and they were clean as a whistle.

The wheels help the car no doubt, definitely more exciting but they really need more of a lip on them to be perfect.

I agree. My first choice was BBS RS-GT wheels because they have a nice lip and a significant weight savings but they're almost $4,000 new and I wasn't seeing anything used.

[Karl Grau]

wwww

[Karl Grau]

I installed the Sport Wheel today and got rid of another gray item so I got that going for me, which is nice.

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Time to change your screen name to Karl Schwarze.

[muleskinner]

Interior looks so much better with the black trim items. I know it must sound intoxicating.

[ElGuappo]

Looking good, that sea of soft grey is receding, slowly...

[davintosh]

Time to change your screen name to Karl Schwarze.

[Karl Grau]

I took it for 2.5 hour drive this morning while everyone was still having brunch. I went to old Highway 94 out where the buses don't run and 5erFest 2004 was held. This was the first real drive and it really IS quite a car.



I bought the Sport Suspension that was available to the rest the of the world. It came in kit form and was surprisingly cheap.

[Karl Grau]

I still don't know if the decklid spoiler is deploying when it's supposed to so I tried to film it today. I've never used the suction cup mount for my GoPro wannabe so I tried it on the back window pointing forwards first. In the second part of the vid, it's pointing to the rear but I still don't know if it's working.

https://youtu.be/Wnz2xSZZX3E

Either
a) it's not working
b) it's working but the camera angle was wrong
c) it's working but I wasn't going fast enough for it to trigger

It's too bad I didn't put in for July 3rd off before everyone else beat me to it. The weather is perfect for wrenching and I could have probably gotten the suspension work done.

[Kyle in NO]

You do know there is a button on the kick panel right?

[wkohler]

But it's, like, supposed to come up automatically and junk

[Kyle in NO]

I was just implying he can test the system's functionality with the button. If that works fine, then it will extend at around 75 mph and stay that way until you drop below 37 mph. It's hard to see if you are shorter, but it can be barely seen in the rear view mirror. The important thing is that everyone else sees it and knows what a badass you are.

[Karl Grau]

You do know there is a button on the kick panel right?

As you can clearly see in the below pic, I did test it with the button. I wanted to make sure it came up automatically and junk.

it will extend at around 75 mph and stay that way until you drop below 37 mph.

I was in a posted 40mph zone so I backed off at 70. I'll check it again on the freeway.

The important thing is that everyone else sees it and knows what a badass you are.

EXACTLY! I'm glad someone gets it.

[Karl Grau]

A guy at work totalled his 997 with a K&N Hot Air Intake® on it so he gave me his stock air box.



Not only does it look a lot nicer than the 996 box, looking at the innards, it's much less restrictive air flow-wise. I also removed the Helmholtz box.



I decided to replace the strut mounts, shock mounts, strut bearings and other related wear items when I install the Sport Suspension. Still waiting on one part for the rear.

[Karl Grau]

With the Chargers leaving town, my Sundays aren't stuck in front of the television anymore (but I admit I had the game on in the background ). I started a clean up/detailing of the engine bay.

[wkohler]

How are you on product?

[Karl Grau]

How are you on product?

Good. Whenever Vince stays over, I get up in the middle of the night and steal some of his.

[wkohler]

Someone watched the train robbery episode of Breaking Bad.

[Karl Grau]

I'm surprised he never noticed the strawberry smell.

[vinceg101]

Hey, WTF?
We had a deal you would never talk about that...

[ElGuappo]

I was going to say "this is proper P-car guy type maintenance", but then I noticed only 1 cotton swab had been used. The shame...

With the Chargers leaving town, my Sundays aren't stuck in front of the television anymore (but I admit I had the game on in the background ). I started a clean up/detailing of the engine bay.