$15,000 Porsche: Are we stupid, or the smartest bargain hunters you know?

Looks to me like you did inherit the sheer lunacy gene.

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

I think having a line of communications with a good car shipping company in advance would be a smart safety net in case you can't pull this off in time and have to punt on the fly & drive.

Okay folks, when Tom is driving it home, nobody answer their phone if he calls.

The seller didn't want to be bothered with much. If it's a $35k car when fixed, then get the dealer to put in the $15k transmission and sell the car for $35k. That puts $20k in pocket, which is $5k ahead of what Tom offered. But that's the key to good deals, isn't it. Get someone when they would rather have money now than hassle and money later.

Jerry From LA said:

Looks to me like you did inherit the sheer lunacy gene.

He's not really surrounded himself with sensible people either. There are no people telling Tom this is a bad idea. It's enablers all the way down.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I can confirm that this is, in fact, true.

Mainly because even if it is a bad idea, it still makes for a great story.

I'm with the other people that think that all real P cars have 4sp anyway so just drive it home. Those gears are for "regular people," not the regulars here. 

I love everything about this.  However I'm also the same guy who adopts things like this, can't get it fixed properly on my own, then ends up spending $25k in repairs.

But since we are playing with YOUR MONEY, I'm all in!  Not to mention my bet is that you fix it perfectly and for less than he was going to spend.

On a serious note, I would just have the car shipped.  Since it will drive on and off of a truck it wouldn't be terrible and would allow you to fix it in familiar surroundings.  But that wouldn't be fun a story.

Thanks for all of the comments/encouragement everybody! It's certainly a big project, but I'm more excited than ever about it.

To answer the question: No, I don't have any plans to flip this one. I think it will look great in the garage long-term. 

And I did ask a friend that parts out Caymans if the transmission would fit anywhere in the car. Their response? "Absolutely not--don't even think about it."

Keith Tanner said:

Jerry From LA said:

Looks to me like you did inherit the sheer lunacy gene.

He's not really surrounded himself with sensible people either. There are no people telling Tom this is a bad idea. It's enablers all the way down.

Yeah, Nicole is really the last sane person in the chain. She told me this was a great idea and we should do it....

You have a truck with a camper that can tow a trailer, no?

Why not just drive cross-country twice?  Then you can see more. 

Colin Wood said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I can confirm that this is, in fact, true.

Mainly because even if it is a bad idea, it still makes for a great story.

The BEST stories are ALL bad ideas, and the WORST ideas make the BEST stories. 
 

Some of us embody that in human form. 

Never just had 4th as a top gear but driving across country in a Cayman is so good I've done it 5 times.

When are you going to get it ?
Does it have a spare tire ? Full size ?

Lots of  lonely road out there if you have a tire problem  !

PS , plus any other Porsche only stuff , fan belts etc

In reply to Tom Suddard :

This sounds like the script for an episode of "Roadkill", but without the flip flops, running out of gas, overheating, or burnouts for distance. I say go for it - real good chance it's just the fork pin loose or missing. Easy fix, once you get the car on a lift. And the transaxle out. And apart.

And then get all put back together.

What could go wrong?

On your drive back to Florida, at some point you'll be passing through Texas. Probably central-ish Texas. Just so happens to be where my place is - with a large, air-conditioned shop with a lift and lots of metric tools - you know, just in case something needs fixing. There's even a guy around here that parts out Boxsters (and Caymans, too - I think) on the off chance that something needs replacing with something slightly less broken.

Keith Tanner said:

Jerry From LA said:

Looks to me like you did inherit the sheer lunacy gene.

He's not really surrounded himself with sensible people either. There are no people telling Tom this is a bad idea. It's enablers all the way down.

I knew someone who bought a black on black Legend with an automatic trans that was stuck in a certain gear.

He drove it to Ohio from, IIRC, South Carolina.  Then manual trans swapped it (which is more involved than it should be, the firewalls are different auto vs manual and the pedal box doesn't just bolt in, and did I mention Legends had a separate diff housing?) and ended up with a black on black 6sp Legend for far less than a genuine one was selling for at the time.

But it all started with banging off the rev limiter or close to it for a couple days driving it home.

Colin Wood said:

Are we stupid, or the smartest bargain hunters you know?

Two things can be true at the same time...

Will be watching this thread to see how it ends up. 

If on your drive back you get south to Jackson, MS before making it to FL, holler.  I'd love to see it.

And since I'm usually a pretty straight shooter, I will answer the question.  This is pure madness, but it sure will be fun to watch!  I'm interested.  Honestly if I had a car magazine and needed project cars, this would've been super tempting to me too.  If I ever own another Porsche, it will most likely be a Cayman.  If I win the mega millions, I will get the rally GT4 version and make Porsche a lot of money in shop time. 

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Can i buy it as is? 

earlybroncoguy1 said:

In reply to Tom Suddard :

On your drive back to Florida, at some point you'll be passing through Texas. Probably central-ish Texas. Just so happens to be where my place is - with a large, air-conditioned shop with a lift and lots of metric tools - you know, just in case something needs fixing.

He knows someone else in central TX with a large air-conditioned shop...

I'm thinking maybe we K-swap the thing

yupididit said:

Can i buy it as is?

No, I called dibs. 

Andy Hollis said:

earlybroncoguy1 said:

In reply to Tom Suddard :

On your drive back to Florida, at some point you'll be passing through Texas. Probably central-ish Texas. Just so happens to be where my place is - with a large, air-conditioned shop with a lift and lots of metric tools - you know, just in case something needs fixing.

He knows someone else in central TX with a large air-conditioned shop...

I'm thinking maybe we K-swap the thing

Finally, a voice of reason!

Andy Hollis said:

I'm thinking maybe we K-swap the thing

A k-swap wouldn't solve the trans problems, but it does make everything more complicated, so I really don't know why this wasn't part of the original plan.

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

I've got an SHO 3.0 V6 sitting in the shop as man cave art, we could always throw that in to see if fits. 

Tom Suddard said:

 

1. Drive the car home in fourth gear, hoping the loose parts wouldn’t find their way into anything too important on the way.

This might be the first time in history that people didn't complain about the Cayman's long gearing.

In reply to Colin Wood :

Yeah, we've all got terminal content-brain disease here, even me. And I'm the one who usually says "that's a bad idea".

The BTS on this one is that we had been trying to plan a trip to Seattle to visit our friends out there sometime this year anyway, and adding a Porsche to the equation made it all make sense.