11x02 - Porsche 993 Targa

[bunniefuu]

This time on Wheel of Dealers, a
sporting legend that's been left to rot.

It's the most unloved, uncammed,
uncared for 911 I've ever seen.

This car needs rescuing, the risks
are huge and the money is tight.

You realise if anything
is wrong with that it's

going to cost us hundreds
and hundreds of pounds.

We must add value and performance.

Our pork needs love
and I'm here to give it.

And Ed needs his wits
about him to save the day.

This 60 pound part actually compromised
the performance of our 60 grand Porsche.

I hunt down iconic cars
that have seen better

days and Ed is the mechanical master
who makes them great once more.

And then we sell them
on, hopefully for a profit.

The Porsche 911 is probably the most iconic
and significant sports car in history.

There are seven different models but
the 993 is emerging as a firm favourite.

A modern spin on the classic
lines that originate from the 60s.

Hanging out over the rear is a granite 3.6
power plant, these days Porsche use water

to keep it cool so the


air-cooled 911s and this
keeps demand rock solid.

The 993 offers world-class handling,
superb grip and neck-snapping acceleration.

Oh, I want one!

The 993 is one of the Porsches that
everyone wants to get their hands on.

The car that came after it, the 996, is
actually less desirable on the forecourts.

If you're thinking of finding a cheap one
then just forget it but if you're looking

for an affordable one, that's going to
take some Patience with a capital P.

The 993 was over 50 grand new in 1995
and a decent one today will be 20 grand up.

So if I'm going to carve out a profit
on a 993 I need to start at the 15 grand

Mark and cars at that money
have usually been crashed.

Now I've been looking at lots of ads,
I've made a few calls but there's pretty

much no way I'm going to
get anything at my money.

I've found this one car, it's on an auction
site, it's a blue Targa 993, it's got four

main dealer history, it's
also got a list of issues.

The good news, it's the desirable six-speed
manual but the bad news is it looks awful.

Bidding is up to 11 grand and it's
on offer at a fixed price of 13 grand.

I'm interested.

So I think the best thing for me
to do is to go and get in front of it.

The seller has left the car at a Porsche
garage and the guy who runs it knows it's

a 17-year history but there's no warranty
whatsoever which is worrying as a Porsche

with problems can quickly
turn into a money pit.

This is nice isn't it?

I'm somewhere between Bath and Bristol,
this is a car business, there's no flash

bunting anywhere, there's no
sign saying that they sell cars.

This is one of those exclusive
businesses that's by appointment only.

Look at this.

Hello there, are you Ian?

Hello Mike, I'm Ian.

Nice to meet you.

How are you?

What a place.

Look at all these lovely cars.

Yes.

Fantastic.

So I've come to see a
nice shiny Porsche 911.

Which one is it?

Well, lots of shiny cars but the one
you've come to see is that one over there.

The filthy dirty one.

That's absolutely typical for me.

What's going on here?

Is this not one for you?

No, it's a car that's in storage with
us so it's not one of our cars for sale.

Do you know the person
who owns this car then?

Yes, we know the guy.

He's had it from virtually a year
old so he's had it most of its life.

Did he avoid every
single car wash and every

opportunity to Polish it
in those 20 odd years?

It looks that way.

It needs a good clean.

It certainly does, doesn't it?

These wheels, Ian,
these have to be the worst

looking alloy wheels
I've ever seen on a 911.

They're just heavily corroded.

They're split rim and the salt's just got
in between the two parts of the wheel so.

they certainly needed some attention.

Well I can hang around while you do it.

Okay.

Look at the rear lights.

They've been sandblasted.

Yeah, they've just faded.

It's due to age.

There's a small crack on the
rear reflector here as well so that

needs replacing and the rear
lights just need replacing really.

Problem is, replacing any
of this stuff, as long as it's got

the word Porsche attached
to it, it's a lot of money, isn't it?

They are.

Yeah, it's a shame.

It needs a bit of work.

I can tell you if this is
an incredibly straight

car, all the panel gaps are good, it doesn't
look like it's had any nasty accidents.

No, it's a really honest car, Mike.

Very, very straight.

Okay, very good.

Shall we have a look inside?

Look at that.

Oh, it's just the same in here, isn't it?

Look at it.

Very tatty.

That steering wheel looks like
it's been cooked in a frying pan.

Yeah, it's the same on the inside.

It needs some work going on it.

Gear knob's all tatty, the seats are a
bit messy, but there's some good stuff,

isn't there?

I love the great big rev
counter slapped up on the dash.

Very traditional.

All Porsche have rev
counters directly in front of you.

And this glass roof, that's fantastic.

That feeling that gives you of openness.

Let's see if it works, because if they
don't work, they're a problem, aren't they?

Yeah, they can be, Mike, but
this one seems in very good order.

Look at that.

Oh, that's wonderful.

See, I like that.

You can get it all the way back, can't you?

Absolutely.

Very nice indeed.

And I'm glad it works.

Is this a car worth saving?

Most definitely, Mike.

What you've got to remember is
it's a six-speed manual Targa 911.

Okay, well, I'm sure it doesn't want to be
sat here any longer with us gawping at it.

It'd be happier out there on
those lovely country roads.

Can I take a protest drive?

Please do, have a drive.

So let's see how it performs.

It's still got its
barbed wire in this car,

and it still gets down
the road quite smartly.

It's good.

It's probably one of the best
point-to-point cars in the country.

Look to 16 comes up in under six seconds.

This car wouldn't break
sweat at 150 miles an hour.

I love the howl from that flat six
engine hanging out over that rear axle.

Unfortunately, this
car has got some bad

stuff, and it's time for
me to start moaning,

because this car has
got the very cam engine.

Basically, it's got a very clever
engine that can tune itself on

the move to get the maximum
amount of power out of the engine.

And this car should be singing
along at 100% all the time.

And the problem is it's not.

It's around about the 90%.

There's something missing.

And then there's the
suspension, because a car

like this 993 should be inspiring
confidence into every twist and every bend.

This car's got multi-link suspension.

It was the first time it
was used in a regular 911.

And it should mean that this
car grips to the road like a limpet.

Only problem is this
one feels woolly, saggy.

It's a bit all over the road.

And knowing that, I can hear it
knocking all over the place and groaning.

So whatever it is, this car has
got a problem with its suspension.

And another thing, this car's
got a really cool little gadget.

It's an electronic spoiler
that pops up at speed.

And is it working?

No.

So the question is, do I want this car?

Every ounce of my car-dealing instinct tells
me to walk away and head for the hills.

Why?

It's the most unloved,
unkempt, uncared for,

left out in the cold,
literally, 911 I've ever seen.

But if I walk away from this car,
there's only one place it's going.

It's going to end up on the scrappy.

And that would be a crime.

Who would want to see
this car being crushed?

It shouldn't happen.

This car needs rescuing.

Right then, Ian.

That was very charming.

It's... I've forgotten how
good they are, those little 903s.

They're great fun, aren't they?

They're fantastic.

There are things wrong with it, though.

It's just missing that
little extra little zap.

Not only that, the suspension
feels a bit tired and a bit woolly.

How much did the
owner say he'd take for it?

£13,000.

£13,000. I see you're clashing
on to quite a bit of history there.

Yeah, we've got a
lovely history on the car.

We've got everything here.

Lots of invoices, just a
complete encyclopedia on the car.

OK, well, I still think it's just
that little bit too much money.

I think I do want the car, but I think
£12,000 is where I want to be with it.

But it's a real honest
bid, and I'll take it

away and I'll make it
look fantastic again.

The owner has told me
what he can take for the

car, Mike, and at £12,000,
I can shake your hand.

Yes? Fantastic.

Just bought myself a 993.

A price of £12,000 is
a great deal for a 993,

but I don't know how much it's going
to cost to rescue this sickly Porsche.

It may hide issues that
we can't afford to fix,

and I hope this rescue
mission doesn't ruin us.

The Porsche 993 is the
last of the air-cooled 911s.

It's a legend.

But our car has seen better days.

It's not far off the scrap heap,
and this is a proper rescue mission.

It's the most unloved, unkempt,
uncared-for 911 I've ever seen.

And if we can't fix this car cheaply,
we may not be able to save it.

Well, I've got myself a Porsche 993.

It's 100 or so miles back to the workshop,

and with this one, there's
going to be no trailering.

No, no. This is a driver's car,

and I'm going to enjoy every single
one of the miles back to Ed's garage.

Now, the thing is, this car, when it was
made, it was made for the German Autobahn.

It should be used to go
in flat out at high speed,

and here in the UK, it's barely
ticking over at British speed limits.

So what we're going
to do is fix this car up.

We need to get it feeling factory fresh.

You've got to remember,


walked into a showroom
and paid £60,000 for this car.

If we can get that feeling
of excitement again,

then I know we'll have a winner on our end.

Right, so it's time to get the slipper down

and see what Ed thinks
of our latest challenge.

Hey, how are you doing?

I'm good, sir.

You all right, Ed? Good to see you.

What do you think of that then, eh?

I know you're a fan of air-cooled engines.

I've got you the granddaddy
of them all, the Porsche 911.

Or, to be precise, a 993.

This is a top motor.

It's not, look, the wheels
are definitely not top.

Look at the light lenses,
they're not topping anyway at all.

Right, right, right, calm yourself down.

There's a little bit of
work to do on it, and we

get to that, but let's
start the good stuff, okay?

All right.

Let's go to the engine room first.

It's very impressive, you like that?

You like that?

That's the flat-six, 3.6 air-cooled engine.

I do like air-cooled engines, and
this is proper engineering as well.

If I'm not mistaken, it is actually
the Vario Ram system on there,

which means you get a bit of extra
oomph when you want to go a bit faster.

Unfortunately, some of
the boosters disappeared.

Well, look, it's lost about


But you love these
engines, so could you just dig

around and see if you
can find that 20% for me?

Yeah, dig around in the engine.

You realise if anything is wrong with that,

it's going to cost us hundreds
and hundreds of pounds.

Don't say that, just don't say that.

It's going to be fine.

Right, have a look inside.

Slide behind the wheel of a
proper German sports car, eh?

So, what do you think of that then?

Well, it seems to have a
lot of dials, which is good.

A really horrible steering
wheel, a very nasty gear knob.

But, I mean, I don't know,
does everything work?

It's lovely, it all works,
except for the boot spoiler.

Oh, come on, it'll be a fuse.

There's no way it's going
to be as easy as that.

It will be a fuse, don't moan about it.

All right, fine.

How does this handle?

I was hoping you weren't
going to ask me that.

Ask me something else.

Come on, it's a Porsche,
how does it handle?

It's not brilliant.

When you get down the
road, it makes a few bumpy

noises underneath and
a little bit of knocking,

so I gather there's something
wrong with the suspension.

So, what you're telling
me is you've bought a world

renowned car, okay, that
doesn't really go very well,

doesn't actually handle very well,

has got electrical
problems and looks like it's

been parked in the
sea for most of its life.

When you put it like that, yeah, we did.

But listen, you're missing
the good bits of this car.

This is a Porsche 993.

It's a rare motor and this is a good one.

It's got the glass target
roof, six-speed gearbox,

flat six engine, rear wheel drive.

This car will be brilliant when it's done.

With a car like this, it
was near the end of its life.

Look at it.

Somebody's abused it and it's all
about rescuing it and turning it around.

One day, I'm going to say no.

Don't say no, please.

But not today.

But you can't just keep
buying stuff like this.

Just, you know, just get a nice one.

It's pretty cool having
a 993 in the workshop.

It is, after all, the last
of the air-cooled 911s.

It is a genuine performance legend.

And typically with Mike, of course,
it's not exactly the best of the bunch.

And he was saying that although it's
quick, it's not as quick as you'd expect.

And although it handles
better than most cars,

it doesn't handle quite as well
as you'd expect from a Porsche.

So clearly, it's a car
that's not all it could be

and it's my job to get it
back to the top of its game.

There are signs of neglect everywhere.

The awful wheels will need
to be sent off for a refurb

and I'll ask Mike to order me
a new shock absorber or four

because ours are weeping and that's
going to affect the ride and handling.

But my first job is to tackle
the engine's lack of grunt.

Come on, Paul.

It sounds pretty sweet to me.

Mike was complaining that
when he gets into the mid-range,

just as you think the engine's
going to come on, Song,

it actually kind of
flattens off a little bit.

So it's almost as if there's
something else causing an issue.

Now, this is the first car,
other than the RS models,

that was fitted with the Vario
Ram system, which is just in here.

And the idea is it
kind of messes with the

length of the inlet port
to change the power.

to give you as much power as you can
have all the way through the rev range.

Now, I'm just wondering,
if that wasn't working,

maybe that would give
us that kind of flat spot.

Most Porsche engineers
prefer to remove the engine

to get to the Vario Ram as
the engine bay is packed tight.

But it can be done in situ, and I'll try
that first, because it's simpler and faster.

Things are starting to get
slightly more complicated

when it comes to
disconnecting everything,

because although I can see
where all the wires go easily enough,

there are an awful lot of vacuum pipes.

And that's because the Vario Ram
system is actually controlled via vacuum.

So any pipes I take off have to go back

in exactly the same place, otherwise
the whole thing won't work properly.

So to make my life a little bit easier,
I've got myself a nice simple printer,

which will do lovely
neat labels, which means

when it comes to putting
everything back later on,

it'll be a lot easier.

The Vario Ram is hidden
inside the inlet manifold,

and it's a further four hours.

before I can wrestle that from the 993.

There's still some dismantling to be
done before I can reveal the system itself.

So this is the very heart
of the Vario Ram system.

You can see you've got all
these various bits of ducting,

but also you have these sliding
tubes on top of some other tubes.

Now, it's quite complicated,
I'll try and explain

how it works. You have the air coming
in from the outside world, that's then

threaded through all these pipes into this

distribution chamber, if you like, and
eventually it goes out through these tubes

and of course through these longer
tubes into here and into the engine.

Now this is called the vibration
tube induction mode, and the idea is

of course that the air is going a
long way around to get into the engine.

Now that gives you maximum torque
at the kind of low to medium revs.

At 5000 rpm an
actuator or lever pulls.

the outer tubes over the inner tubes

and shortens the distance
the air has to travel,

atomising the fuel and delivering

a bigger bang. Where some
engines have a flat spot, this one keeps

giving. I use a vacuum pump to test
the actuators themselves, including

a third one which opens
just before the red line.

They're all functioning.

Then I check the inlet tubes.

So that kind

of works, but doesn't
pop back up again.

Ah,

okay.

You can kind of see what's going on.
So now, every time I use

the vacuum, the actuator
itself is actually working.

The spindle is spinning around

but what it's not
doing is dragging.

the part with it, unless it's got gravity

to help it along. So it
seems somehow this

pin has actually detached
itself from the arm.

I'll just pull this out the
way all together. There's a

little arm in here and that's
actually not moving around.

under any load.

So the system is failed by a single
component. Porsche won't sell you anything

from inside the Varyeran.
You have to buy the whole

manifold made of magnesium
at £700 new or £450 used.

For a while, no go, but then
I managed to locate a 993

with a broken engine and I'm able to buy.

the plastic cuff all on its own.

A very close shave.

Well there we go,
this is our replacement

part. It's kind of mad
to think that this £60

part, which I have to say seems a
little bit expensive, actually compromises.

the performance of our £60,000

new Porsche.
Well now I've got it, hopefully

pop it in place and
everything should work a treat.

If I have got any element
of the rebuild wrong, I

could cause big trouble
for the legendary flat 6.

And at £12,000 for a replacement
engine, I really don't want to consider it.

Time to find out
if I've done it right.

Well that is a bit of a relief. Clearly
I put the engine back together again

properly, which is lovely,
and she sounds at least

as good as she did
before, but I'm not going

to know the full
benefit of our fix until.

we take her out on the open road.

But before I can do that, I've got
a whole load of work to sort out.

Our Porsche has a lot of weeping
shock absorbers, so I've tasked

myself with finding
a new set that will

dramatically improve the


Hello there, are you Pat?
Hello, I am, yeah.

Hello, Pat, I'm Mike. Nice to meet you.

Mike contact Pat has spent
the last 20 years selling custom

suspension kits for Formula 1 racing
cars and top-end road cars, and promises

he can deliver me a set
of dampers that will better

what the 993 had when
it came out of the factory.

Now Mike, this is Melvin.
Melvin, how are you doing?

Nice to meet you.
He runs the machine shop here,

and he makes all the magic
happen, so I'll leave you in his hand.

So you don't actually do anything?

I'm afraid not.

So Melvin, nice impressive
machine, what does it do?

Right, CNC turning machine.

We start off with a length of aluminium

which is loaded in the machine,

shut the door, cycle start.

This will eventually be
a top cap of our damper,

one of 40 components made on the premises.

The billet is milled by two further
machines to carve out an edge.

And before this can be used later on,

it will need to be coated
with a protective layer.

So that's it? That's it.

So all these machines,

hundreds of thousands of pounds invested,

and we end up
with... Righto, that's it.

Next, suspension guru
Lawrence assembles the

internal section of the
dampers from a shaft,

a piston, washers and gaskets.

It's labour intensive,

but hand built dampers can be
stripped and rebuilt in the future.

These fully adjustable dampers

contain a relatively
large amount of oil,

which means a more
controlled ride for the 993.

But all this engineering
comes in at three grand,


the shelf replacements.

I'm hoping the high spec
will draw interest from

keen drivers and drive
up the selling price.

Once the dampers are pressurised
with nitrogen, Lawrence machine

tests them to make sure the set up is
right for the car. I've asked them to be

spec towards hard driving, but
they can be adjusted again later.

The computer says yes.

That's one of the pieces that
we were machining out earlier.

It's been to the anodisers, come back,

looks fantastic. So I've
got new dampers, Springs

and fully adjustable top
mounts. We're good to go.

Aren't these just fantastic?

Now, our 993 has never had a tree, and
I reckon that's wrong for a car like that.

So these are just what the car needs.

Now, there's no doubt going to improve the
handling, and they look pretty cool too.

Let's get back to the workshop.

The tricked up dampers have
wiped out a major chunk of

our kitty, so I really need to win
back a higher price at sale time

to save face. It's a
massive gamble and the 993

still has the potential
to swallow more money.

The 993 is an air core
performance legend.

I'd never seen a bad one
until I clapped eyes on ours.

This car needs rescuing.

Ed's sorted the performance out, but

the ride and the handling
still need to be addressed.

And I'm hoping my brand new high
performance dampers will pay dividends.

Mike was complaining that the
suspension on this car was knocking

and feeling generally
a little bit imprecise.

And that's a real shame on
a 993, because these cars

are renowned for great
poise and fantastic handling.

Now thankfully, we're a little
bit ahead of the game on this

because I noticed earlier on that
the offside shock was weeping,

and to that end Mike actually
found us some replacements.

But obviously, I'll have to
take off the old ones first.

before I can put on our new ones.

Swapping the suspension is much
more straightforward than you might think,

and is basically a
bolt off, bolt on affair.

But as soon as I get started,
I spot another problem.

Now ordinarily, I wouldn't
have to touch the brakes

to change the strut,
but I can't help noticing

the sorry, sorry state
of this back plate.

In fact, the other one is so rotten
it's actually almost missing altogether.

Now obviously, the job of
the back plate is to protect

the brakes from all the
detritus flying around

in the wheel arch, and
it's clearly just a sign

that this car hasn't seen that
much love over the last few years.

Obviously, they're all
going to have to be changed.

So this means I have to
remove the brake calibre and

disc to get to the plate,
which bolts behind the hub.

I clamp the brake lines and
completely remove the calliper.

And once the discs are out of
the way, I can get to the back plate.

Wow, look at the state of that.

Well, now I've removed the
back plate, I can actually see

a classic culprit for knocking
suspension, and that is

the dropling that goes
down to the anti-roll bar.

So I'm going to do, I've got
my pry bar, pop that underneath

the suspension arm and then
just rock things around a bit.

Oh, look at that, and straight away.

I can actually see and hear.

a kind of a notchiness. So I'm pretty sure

that's the reason why you can hear knocking

from the suspension that
Mike was complaining about.

And if this side is gone,
tighter are the others

as well, and therefore, we
need to replace those as well.

I was hoping to have one job.

here, and actually I've
got three, but at least

every single one is
restoring the 993 to health.

So I drop out the droplinks,

which I'll replace later
at a cost of around

£95, and carry on
stripping out the dampers.

Nothing I'm doing here is beyond the scope

of a home mechanic, and it could
save you £200 in specialist garage labour.

Well, this is the front strut
that I was worried about.

You can see that all the
dust cover is kind of eaten

away there, and that's
probably why it started

to leak, because obviously
grit and dirt have got

into the seals, they've
worn them away, and then

the fluid has actually
leaked out all over the rest

of the dirt, as you can see.
Obviously it makes sense

to change them as a pair, but
the rears are also not looking that

clever. You can see there's
loads of corrosion there on the

actual shock itself.
The Springs aren't very

clever either. So it's
great that Mike's got

us these replacement
units, and they really

are rather lovely.
You can see there's a spherical

bearing on the top,
which is very, very cool.

Also, that actually is lovely
and stiff, and very accurate,

so it's much better than the
kind of compliant rubber you'd

have in the original units, because this
keeps the suspension nice and taut. Also,

there's an adjuster on
here, and that means you

can adjust camber, so
a very clever bit of kit.

If you replace non-adjustable
suspension with adjustable

units, it means you have
to try and get the ride

at roughly the correct height before
the wheels go on. But it may need further

adjustment after the car
has driven a few miles.

With the dampers in
place, I can get my new drop

links in, and then it's
time for the backplates.

Now, people think that
genuine Porsche parts can

be expensive, but these
backplates were just £20.

Bargain.

There is some good news.
We don't need to replace

the discs or brake pads, as they've
both got loads of meat still on them.

The calipers are bolted back into
place, and before the 993 moves on the

road, I'll bleed the brakes to
make sure there's no trapped air.

Mike's keen to add value to the


certainly do that. They're quite easy
to adjust. At the end of these cables on.

the rear units are toggles
to alter the stiffness of the

ride. These are accessible
from the inside of the engine bay.

This car was never going to be a
quick fix. It suffered many years of

neglect, and it's going to take
even more time in the workshop

to Polish up all those rough edges.
But having

said that, I'm actually happy
with where we are now, because

we've now got a 993 that
potentially will actually ride and handle

even better than when
it came out of the factory.

I can't wait to get those wheels
on and take it for a test drive.

Ed, how are you?

I'm good, sir, I'm good.

Now, as a very special, but very unloved.


think we should call it that, fair enough,

is actually going reasonably well.
I found a problem

with the engine that
actually may well explain

why you have this sort of
feeling of lack of oomph.

Okay, so shall I prepare myself when
you tell me how much it cost? Well,

it was less than £100. Really?

Wicked! Well done. And you couple that

with your brand new shock
absorbers, we've now got a

car that's also going to handle.
So we've got a car

that's nice and sporty,
and it handles well. We are

getting there. Well, we kind of
are, but of course we didn't really

have much money to
do this car up in the first

place. Now you've spent it all on the shock

absorbers, we've got nothing
left to try and make it look

less like a dog.
Well, we have to try, because

this car's got a really good
heart, and it deserves the

best. And if we leave it with
that left out of the cold look,

we would have failed to have rescued it. So

I don't care if you have to
steal the parts, whatever you do,

make it better.

Mike has found us
perhaps the worst 993

available. It was
lacking power, and it had

handling problems.
Now, I used the past tense

because I've now fixed
those issues, but we're still

not out of the woods yet. That classic
rising spoiler seems to be kaput, so

that is my next job.

The back end of the 993 has a reputation.

for twitchiness, and
this spoiler is supposed.

to pop up at 50 to add downforce.

I can't do that speed in the
workshop, but there is an override.

So if I turn on the ignition, and then

operate the switch on the centre console,
hopefully the spoiler should pop up.

That does not sound good,
does it? So, clearly the switch.

works, the motor works, but whatever's.

actually connected to the motor,

just sounds like it's mashing
some gears or something. Not nice.

Right, now for this next part, I need

Paul to give me a hand,
because what I'd like to do

is actually run the motor, and then try
and work out exactly what is going on.

So, I imagine there's a
mechanism that's obviously

got a bit of an issue.
So, OK, Paul, go for it.

So you can hear it spinning,
nothing's happening, and I reckon

if I just lift this up, maybe...
Oh, there we go.

So,

it's engaged. Now,

I can see a little Crescent.

just down there inside the
mechanism with all the little

teeth on it, and I can
see that some of them

are missing. So just
go down a little bit,

a bit more,

there we go, actually one tiny bit
more, look at that. So there, so I can see.

there's quite a few teeth that have
somehow got mashed over the years,

and that's why it's not lifting up.
So, basically, the motor's.

spinning, but those teeth
aren't engaging at the right

time. So, now I have to
work out, how do I get that off?

If this mechanism was a sealed
unit, I'd have no option but to replace

the whole thing. This one
is reassuringly mechanical,

which means I've got a
fighting chance of taking it apart.

It's actually possible
to break the assembly

down with a basic set of tools.
Sometimes old tech is best.

So, with those big bits of
plastic out of the way, I can now

see how this mechanism
works. So, we've got our little

quadrant gear here with
the sort of mushed up teeth.

There's another little round gear that
operates that, and that is driven from this

kind of drive here. Now, this will
be some kind of worm gear here,

driving around a cog inside that, which
gives you a little bit of a kind of a gear

ratio, and that in turn is
driven by this flexible drive here,

which goes into the motor. So, if I just
pull that off, there you go, you can see

a bit like a speedo drive, that little
square end there. And we know all of this

works, which is great,
but a couple of little

switches in there
actually stop things at the

right time, which is cool. So, all I
have to do now is actually remove that.

I need to free the spindle that holds
the damaged quadrant gear in place.

The challenge is not to lose
the valuable spacer at the end,

so I wind tape around it to
stop it falling into the engine bay.

Well, here we have our toothed
quadrant, and you can see very clearly

that some of those teeth are rather mashed.
Now, over

the nearly 20 years, it's
been going up and down

and up and down. Obviously, the torque
of trying to lift that little spoiler up

has actually been a bit
too much for this particular

part. Thankfully, the driving cog
seems perfectly okay, so that's groovy.

Now, if we'd had to replace
the whole mechanism,

which is often the case
on performance cars,

it would have cost us £300.
But, thankfully,

in their infinite wisdom,
Porsche have allowed

me to buy just that
little quadrant at just £20.

So, I've got the part, but I do need to
get it back in exactly the same position.

If I don't, the spoiler won't
lift high enough, which

could compromise our Porsche's
aerodynamic performance.

Now, it's not ideal
that we've got metal

rubbing on metal. Now,
if we were to use a wet

lubricant, the problem then
would be that, of course,

as you're driving along,
you'd be picking up sand and

grit and dirt and stuff, and eventually
that would all accumulate on the wet grease.

And, of course, then
you'd end up with all this

grit being ground into the mechanism.
Not ideal.

But you can use a dry lubricant.
In this case,

I'm just going to use
a little bit of graphite

from a pencil, and
then you just rub it.

over the teeth, and then
that way it's going to be just

enough to stop the two
metal parts rubbing together.

It even works on things like keys if they're
a bit sticky in a latch. Very simple.

So here we go. Moment
of truth. Just turn on the

ignition and then push
our spoiler up button.

And it sounds a lot
healthier than last time.

And there we go. It is fully extended.

Fantastic. It just goes to show
that if you kind of delve into

what might look like a scary
mechanism, you can end up actually

with a nice, cheap fix.
And on a performance

car like our Porsche,
that is a good thing.

Our 993 isn't a quick

flip and sell-on. It's a rescue
mission. So far, we've cured many of.

its problems and reinstated
some of this classic racer's vim.

But the kitty has taken a pound in,

and the only way to grab back our investment
is to win a very strong sale price.

One Porsche,

one mission. This car needs
rescuing. Never has a 993 needed so

much help. So far, we've
delivered on our promise to save it.

Ed's cured the faulty engine,

tamed the raggedy ride and handling, and

even addressed the rotten electrics.

And now it's time to.

wind back the clock on the
hopeless exterior. Now, first up,

these lights aren't
looking very clever at all.

They've obviously spent far too long

in the elements, basically. The sun
has degraded the top surface. And in fact,

the reason they're so matte is there's
thousands of little scratches and cracks

in that surface. So no end of polishing
will actually get them any better.

The rule of thumb is that good salvage
parts are 25 to 50% of retail price.

And I've sourced a salvage rear
light set for £250 compared to £600.

I always clean the cavity
behind the lights. It may

never be seen, but if
in future it's revealed,

it shows the car's been cared for.

I'm spending the bare
minimum on the remaining

jobless, but they are all essential. The
interior is sound, but the nasty wheel and

gear knob need a swap. I've gone
for high quality used items, which have

intact leather. That set me back
£150, and they're all a DIY fit.

Now, another detail that's ruining the
look of this car are these two tailpipes.

They're both quite corroded, but also this
one isn't even from this model of Porsche.

So they both have to go, but they are so
corroded they actually need to be cut off.

Replacement refurb tailpipes
are £200, a staggering

price. But it's the appearance of the
Porsche that is a key weakness, and I can't

afford for a potential buyer
to get hung up on rusty details.

The front fog lights and
indicators get a makeover,

with clear lenses for a
more up-to-date look.

Now we've been upgrading
light units, but what's

often forgotten are the
light bulbs themselves.

Now this headlight unit is about 20
years old, and thankfully over that time.

light bulb technology has actually
improved. Now obviously we're

trying to upgrade all the areas
of the Porsche that we can,

so actually choosing the right light bulb
is more important than you might think.

There is a vast range in the quality of
bulbs available, and here's a telling demo.

One of these cost £3 from a garage,

and the other twice that.

Add water and you'll see why.

Okay, so you don't normally
spray your bulbs with water

but it's quite a dramatic example of
how different the quality of bulbs can be.

Now you can see the one that's exploded

is actually a cheaper bulb, and it's
been made out of hard glass, whereas the

one that survived is a more expensive.

OEM quality bulb made out of.

quartz glass, and that really can
take massive temperature differences.

And if that wasn't enough, I've lined up.

three bulbs in a headlight
assembly to show how they perform.

I'm concentrating on halogen
bulbs as our Porsche can't

easily be retrofitted to use xenon.

The £3 bulb can light

the legal spread pattern
on the workshop door

but you'll see a dark
area and a lack of intensity.

Doubling the cost adds


But it's the premium bulb costing £20

where you can really see
the difference in sharpness.

On the road the OEM quality
bulbs will light for an extra 35 metres

and that's why I'm putting them, albeit in
a single filament bulb, back into the 993.

Well it's now time to put
the wheels onto the car

and I cannot believe that
these are the very same ones

that we took off because
they're in such a bad state.

Well look at them now, they look brand new

and they're going to
make the car look fantastic.

The refurb costs were £500 for the
set of wheels which is good value.

A better set would have cost £1000

and would probably still
need to have been cleaned up.

I've also added a new set of
tyres for extra peace of mind.

And lastly I ask my detailer pal
Lee to have a look at our Porsches

paint. If it's 25 microns or more
in thickness it can be deeply

polished. An infrared metre
confirms our paint far exceeds that

so he uses a series of cutting compounds
to reveal that underneath all that muck

the 993 is a
handsome car after all.

So there we are, I've transformed
this sad 993 into a gleaming beauty.

I'm happy with that and
I hope Mike will be too.

Hey, how you doing son?

Wow, look at the 993, oh
that's epic. Last time I seen

this car it looked like it
was on it's sick bed but now

it looks brilliant. I'm glad you're pleased
because I've actually spent a few more

pennies than you might
have liked but it was definitely

worth it because we
rescued it. Do you know what?

I don't mind how much money you spent on
the car, it was definitely worth it because

the first time I see this car it looked
like it was heading towards the auto barn

in the sky but now thanks
to your surgeon like hands

it looks like it's made a
full recovery so well done.

Thank you.

We've given this Porsche
a new lease of life.

Underneath that grime was a


And after a spell in the
workshop it's been reborn.

It's tough to find a 993 under


crashed but I discovered this
used in a Buze example on an

Internet auction site.

Can I take a pretest from you? Please do.

It had risk written all over it.

It's the most unloved, unkempt,
uncared for 911 I've ever seen.

I closed the deal at a keen


top of the engine to address
the failing Vario Ram system.

And he's grabbed one back
the punch of the air cord 3.6.

The dampers were past it so I
specced fully adjustable suspension.

More costly but if any car
deserved it, it was out of 993.

Aren't these just fantastic?

The broken spoiler
only needed a single cog.

There's big bits of plastic
out of the way I can now.

see how this mechanism works.

And then Ed replaced the exterior parts
of the Porsche that were letting it down.

He even added detail and underneath
the fine paint work was revealed.

Rescuing this Porsche was
my goal but you can't save a 993

cheaply. Despite plans for a modest
outlay, we topped 17 grand on a 993.

Was it worth it? Well,

let's put it to the test.

One of the finest roads in the
UK. The beautiful Yorkshire Dales.

If you've got a car
like this and you've got

some time in your
hands, this is what you do.

The 993 was made for driving and
if you're going to do some pedalling,

do it on the road the car would choose.

I like your thinking, sir.
And I have been thinking.

I've thought a lot about
the story of this car recently.

There's the big picture
and then there's the details.

I'm not really sure where
you're going with this but carry on.

Okay, well, hear me out. Okay, the engine.

This engine has now got
this wonderful howl. Listen to it.

Absolutely fantastic.

But it's just the detail.

Oh, sure, yeah.
I just took all that stuff out

and roosted it around, put it
back in again. No worries at all.

Okay, well, the suspension.

This car was a bit woolly before
but now it's pin sharp, lovely

and tight and it rides wonderfully
but again, it's just the detail.

I revitalised all that suspension.

You say it's that insignificant.

Where are you going with this?
Where I'm going with

it is the fact that all those
bits individually are important.

but as a whole, there's the big
picture because what we've got

here is we've got a car
that is an absolute legend.

We've got the last of the air-cooled.


sports cars ever and we have rescued it.

Okay, I finally think I get
where you're going with that.

A big draw A lot of Porsche
ownership is the fantastic

club scene. We're joining a drive out which
includes five generations of 911 and our


to the historical convoy.

There are lots of Porsche
clubs in the UK and in Europe.

All you need to join is a
Porsche and a lot of enthusiasm.

I'm drawn to Barry's


It's such a classic 911

shape. It's in a motor
magazine that it achieved 198.

It's one of the fastest cars in Britain.
Are you kidding?

Seriously? What a car. I
absolutely love it. What's it worth?

Difficult to say. It's got somebody
up here for it but basically, it's 75,



Lovely, yes please.

So if Mike and I were to get with you guys
a lot more often on these scenic drives

and stuff, would our car
really cut the mustard?

Oh, definitely. I like it.

It's a nice car.

It's been a great day on the
Moors but the sun is falling

and it's nearly time to
head home to the workshop.

Now Michael, something
we haven't talked about yet.

How much are we actually
going to sell our car for?

Well, do you know what?
When I first got the car, it

was all about rescuing the
car. I'm not about the money.

but now when I see how good
it looks, it's all about the money.

So why don't we ask 20 grand? Really?

That's pretty cool.

I've had a lot of interest in the Porsche.
It looks great

in the pictures and I've had three very
serious offers but nobody has turned

up with the cash as yet but
this guy behind me, Francis,

he says he's got the money
but is he willing to do a deal?

So then Francis,

you like the car? Beautiful.

I like the way it drives.
Drives really well.

I like the way it looks. Looks superb.

Okay, well this is a true classic,

this car. Last of the year called.

The thing is, are you
going to be the new owner?

I'd like to be, mate. If we can do

a deal on the money.
Well you know what I want for it?

£20,000 and I think it's worth every
penny of that because it's a lovely

car. I'll give you £19,000
for it, mate. £19,000?

£19,000. An offer straight out the
back, very good. I'd love to say yes but

the truth is, I've had
quite a lot of interest in

this car.
Just on the phone, people have almost

bidded me, you know, what I want for it
but you're here. Can you go a bit more?

I'll give you £19,500 for it, cash now.

You've got the cash with you?
I brought the cash.

Hold out your hand. You just bought
yourself a 993, well done. Cheers, mate.

Anything over £19,000 is a superb
price and we make almost £2,000 profit

but the real prize is that a
Porsche has been saved. The


of the air-cooled 911s and this one

is no longer on its last legs. If you
want to see more icons being turned

around by me and Ed, join us
again soon on Wheel of Dealers.