2003 Porsche 911 Turb-OOOOH

So I'm old school.  I really, really like the look of the classic BBS wheels.  That look has evolved a bit, but the closest modern BBS wheel with that look is the RS-GT.  I've been looking for a nice used set in the proper offsets and widths for a bit.  Thought my friend locally had a set but it turns out that while I could make the offsets work with some rear spacers, the rear wheels were only 10" wide, not the 11" I need nor the 12" I'd really like to have.

Rennlist to the rescue!  Not only were these the proper, wide body offsets, but the fronts were 8.5" wide and the rears 11" wide.  So not quite the 12" I'd love to have, but still perfectly acceptable.  They look to be in great shape and the seller has the original BBS wheel boxes to ship them in.  Already sold the GT3 wheels on the car to a friend locally too.

Perfect!

Adam

Awesome,  those will look great.

OK if you get bored of those wheels I want them. I have a thing for BBS wheels for Porsche.

Second the "always wanted BBS" thing.

I've got a line on a set of BBS-LM's (9" front and 10" rear), but waiting on the seller to tell me how much he wants for them.

Ordered new tires for my new to me BBS wheels today.  Felt putting on the 7 year old HTRZ3 tires wasn't a great idea.  Firstly, I hate them.  Secondly, they're really old. 

Have a set of 245/40/18, 315/30/18 Falken Azenis 615k+ coming.  There's a definite lack of tire choices out there for this car in the 18" sizes and I have no desire to buy 19" wheels...

So the car has had a cold start hesitation for a bit.  You get on the throttle and it almost stumbles.  I replaced the coil packs and spark plugs, as I needed to anyways, but the hesitation was still there.

A friend sent me a link explaining how to do a throttle body adaptation.  Since I'd disconnected the battery when I put the GT3 seat in and then didn't do the alignment, the DME probably wasn't happy with where it thought the tbody was.

It was easy, quick and free, so I did it.

Love the wheels.  As much as I love how you’ve just jumped in to this car with both feet!

I often debate about getting rid of my 996 to become a 996 turbro.....

In reply to AnthonyGS :

I, of course, support this fully.  The Turbo is SO much more car than any other 996 with the exception of the GT2/3.  The cheap side of me was attracted by a C4S that I could've bought for $10k less than a turbo, but the that car will continue to depreciate, has the alphabet soup engine issues and doesn't offer a whisker of the performance the turbo has.

End of the day, the turbo really is worth the additional cost...

So in a Keystone Kops routine (because I'd given my wife the Blue Whale today as I had to take her Cayenne Diesel to the dealer for some warranty work/recalls) it took 4 trips to get all the wheels/tires to and from Discount Tire.  I needed to take the current GT3 wheels to them to remove the tires since I'd sold the wheels and my friend didn't want the tires.  Then I needed to take the BBS wheels to the shop.  Then I needed to take the GT3 wheels and the mounted BBS wheels back home. 

This thing is $50k!  Since it's a base model its not sporty.  Since it's tiny inside it has no utility.  Other than someone wanting the badge, I don't see the point of it.  It could barely fit 4 wheels/tires inside of it and that's with the 60% part of the rear seat folded down.  Lame!

The end result is worth it tho.  The BBS wheels look AWESOME on the car!

Tomorrow afternoon I'm boost leak checking it.  Then in a few weeks I'll do the brake fluid flush and oil change, then install the rear toe plates and get an alignment and it'll be ready for the season.

Used some PVC fittings I got from the hardware store and a schrader valve to make a boost leak kit.  Found a large leak at the bottom junction of the drivers intercooler, probably from me not seating it all the way when I did the spark plugs/coil packs.

Once I'd fixed that, I pressurized the system again and it dropped 2 psi in 30 seconds, with an audible leak from the engine bay.  So, definitely a leak, but a smaller one.  Unfortunately I couldn't pin point the leak using a soapy water spray.

It sounds like it's coming from around the throttle body area but there are a few check valves there, plus an O ring that hold the Y pipe to the throttle body that could be the culprit.  My plan is to order all that stuff since its cheap, drop the engine down a few inches on its mounts so I have access and replace it all.  Then zip tie all the vacuum line junctions I can reach, then pressurize the system again...

Check valves and throttle body gasket ordered.  Plan is to get on this not this Friday but the following.  Gotta change the oil on my wife's Cayenne Diesel this Sunday...

Ok, so when I pulled the 911 off the lift last Sunday to get the Blue Whale on it to install the TRD Pro shocks I felt something rubbing.  The next day I double checked that I'd ordered the proper sized tires, which I did.  I took a quick peek at the rear, as running 315's tends to cause an interference with the rear fender liners but it looked ok.

Today I took a closer look and found the problem.

The front tires were rubbing up against the bottom of the front strut housing. I looked at the offsets of the front BBS wheels and they're 18x8.5, ET56, . Contrast that with the GT3 wheels I took off, which are 18x8.5 ET40. Oh. I could even see a bit of tire material on the passenger front strut housing.


So I took the 15mm spacers I was using on the rear with the GT3 wheels and installed them on the front. The pic above is with the spacers installed and you can see I now have clearance, as well as the tire rub mark from before.

So now I basically have the same as the GT3 wheels, 18x8.5, ET41 compared to 18x8.5 ET40. On the rear I can see room to bend the very bottom of the wheel liner bracket in and use a heat gun to massage the fender liner, which I'll probably do tomorrow after I've replaced the half shaft on my SUV.

Did some work to the 996 today to get it ready for the season.  Flushed the brakes again, with ATE Typ200.  I briefly considered using the ATE Super Blue I've been hoarding, but decided not to as I had a heck of a time flushing the skanky 6+ year old Super Blue out of the car last summer.  Good thing too as the fluid basically came out a pretty dark green color.

Looks like there was still a bunch of the Super Blue in there.  I've now run almost 3 quarts of Typ200 through and I'll use it for my next flush as well.

Next thing was installing the "Aero" front lip spoiler.  It's an option on these cars, called the "Aero" option and it includes a deeper front splitter and a fixed rear wing.  Since I put on the GT2 rear wing I wanted the larger front splitter to offset both the rear downforce but also the looks. 

$102 later from eBay and here it is, looks and fits great!

Still liking the bendpak?  I’m ordering one this year I think.

In reply to AnthonyGS :

Yup, it's the only high lift option that fits in a residential garage.  Just be aware that you'll need to put 2x16's down on the lift deck so a lowered car can clear the bridge jack.

I'm the Tech Chair for my local PCA region, today I hosted a Tech Inspection Clinic at my house.  Need to get some more folks interested and willing to help out doing tech inspections before our track events.  Had fun, met a bunch of nice folks, my Turbo was the guinea pig.

Looks like a good time.  Finding out the turbo is 500-600 lbs more than my C2 has me considering adding lightness and power to a C2 instead.  

In reply to AnthonyGS :

Turbo is ~300lbs heavier than the same year C2.  Which it more than makes up with from the two hair dryers it has.

This engine will be running around 1,000 horsepower in a friends car, which I suspect will make light work of that 300 lbs:

And whilst this engine is, frankly, horrifyingly expensive it's probably on par with taking serious weight out of a 996.

In reply to Dammit :

Nice!  Just by swapping turbos on mine, bigger fuel injectors and an updated tune I can knock on the door of 650hp.  Honestly unless one/both of my turbos fails I can't see doing it.  My car now probably makes 500hp and its plenty fast.

Yep, "slow" and "Porsche turbo" are not easy bedfellows.

The power-to-weight ratio of the turbo-cab is the goal for my engine project, it's pretty arbitrary TBH but you've got to pick something.

Got my new workbench in this morning and spent several hours going thru my stuff, throwing things out and organizing.

Ended up having some drawers empty, time for more tools!!

I have garage envy - mine has been described as "a nerve-wracking game of adult kerplunk", as it's got everything packed in so tightly.