[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Ok I have been a visitor to 6 speed for well over a year and this is my first post. I had planned to post my 'story' last November but an accident saw the rebuild start all over. Sigh..[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Back to the beginning.. I suggest you grab a coffee.[/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']I am a long term Porsche enthusiast who bought my first Porsche a beautiful 1988 930 with 48,000km back in 2000 and did by first club day almost immediately. After realising I was in the wrong car to track, I purchased a specifically built 993 wide body race car. It was road registered (some how) weighed a little over 1000kg and was an absolute revelation on the track but you would chip your teeth if you tried to drink a coke while driving. VERY stiff and loud. After about 18months my wife wouldn't get it any longer to drive to the track and I had enough of towing it so I searched for a MK1 GT3. Looking for a 996 GT3 Clubsport was the main game amongst my fellow Porsche Club Queensland members. Only about 15 from memory right hand drive clubsports came to Australia. Most were 'touring'. I found the GT3 remarkably 150meters from my home in the basement of the high-rise next door. Owned for 6 months by a guy who had bought it and parked it as his wife hated it. Hadn't used a tank of gas. Speed Yellow and immac. That was a fantastic road and track car and a real keeper ( in hindsight). After another 18 odd months and probably around 30- 40 track events I was ready for the next and ordered a 997 GT3. I was approached to sell my 996 GT3 from a club member and did the deed. With a wait of about a year or so for the 997 Gt3 I thought I would take the lifelong plunge and buy a Ferrari. You have to do this at least once in your life and with the promise of jewelry, endless romantic dinners and anything else I could barter with, I had the green light from my long suffering wife. The kids were off our back now and it's time for a 30 yr dream to be filled. Well that what was planned. The reality was that while doing my rounds I met a guy who was selling his 360 and his recently purchased Lamborghini. "Say what"? Your selling your Lambo? Yes he was selling both and heading over to the states. When I first saw the orange Gallardo (with race pipes, egear, clear engine cover etc etc) I was weak at the knees. I do not recall ever being so moved by a car. A Ferrari dream was dead on the spot and I was the owner of a Lambo. To my surprise the owner who had bought it new said to me after agreeing on a price that I could come and pick up the Lambo that Friday night and sort out the money the following week. What faith in human nature. I picked it up Friday night and as agreed paid him the following week. I have had the Lambo now almost 3 years and still makes a $20,000 car seems a waste of money. [/FONT]



[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']If you are thinking of a G ..do it. So after the V10 380kw G I honestly couldn't get motivated on the 997 Gt3. I wanted to but every time I considered it I couldn't raise the motivation and gave my 997 Gt3 slot to a fellow Porsche club member. So after being Porscheless for probably only 6 months I thought I would buy a 996 TT as a work, track car once a month. A Gemballa 996 EVO 650 had been bought by a club member and basically kicked all the 996 GT3s **** and was cupcar fast on Hoosiers and set class records on the longer tracks that are still standing. RWD, cup doors, wide body and owned at the time by the Gemballa dealer and raced by the Porsche dealer who is a good steerer. Apparently had Aus $150k of mods. Engine and gearbox went back to Germany prior to its delivery.[/FONT]


[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Mmmmm so after reading 6speed I thought a TT was the go. One of the guys in the club was selling his beautiful black TT to take delivery of his white 997 GT3 and the deal was done. After 2 or three track days I was faced with doing mods and realised I had a LONG way to go to get the weight and times down. I had been pestered by another club member to sell my 996 TT to him and another deal was done. Across this time I had swapped seats and been a Rally Navigator for a number of tarmac rally events for various club members. Targa Tasmania for the AMG Benz team, East Coast Targa in a 993 TT, Mt Buller 16km hill climb in a 996 TurboS and was bitten by this new bug. I thought I will start with one of the ex targa Porsche rally cars and a deal on the black 996 Turbo S was done mid last year. Already with a full cage, race seats, exhaust, shocks, clip on steering wheel, GT3 brakes and in need of a good home. It had been stuck in a few times and repaired and had just completed Targa Tasmania 2007 and gone through a barbed wire fence and was at best 'rough' but the price was right and I had a vision to kick the GT3s butt trackside. [/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Once home the first thing was to remove the 4WD, put on a set of cup doors I had bought and Gt3 control arms for more adjustment and a set of Hoosiers. After a 1.095s at a local track Morgan Park in my Mk 1 GT3 I did a flat 1.8 in this TT. By this meet the 997 Gt3s in the club were now down to 1.07s and it was on! On the topic of 2wd. I couldn't believe how hard it was to drive without the inside wheel and tyre spinning exiting corners. I had to be gentle and take corners in 3rd and use the tq where I felt I should use second gear. Completely different to the GT3. Using just 3rd and 4th and the power avail lead to the fastest times. Not going near the redline. Also took part in a Porsche Club 400m sprint day. Ended up going against a mate in his white 997 GT3 and I doing back to back runs to establish the fastest. Both doing high 11.9s at 118mph if I recall.[/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Ok so I took the TT to our local Porsche workshop and the transformation began. I ordered a Techart TA front nose, side skirts, GT2 adjustable wing, RS back window, LSD, ordered a white paint job from the 997 Gt3 colour range, steel braided the brake lines, painted the centre console white, new windscreen, a beautiful carbon bonnet to match the doors and it came it at 1415kg with 1/4 tank of fuel. I had it chipped with a GT2 chip ( apparently) to deactivate the TT PSM ($4000 rip) and at the dyno 338kw at the rear wheels. As this was quoted by the tuner who took $4000 of me I went and got another dyno. 318rw kw and 830nm from memory. This was on k16s as the previous owner swapped them out of his K24 to bring in more lower rpm power to avoid the accidents that were occurring. Tight winding road rallys and k24s are either slow or dangerous in the wet or dry. Running Gt2 intercoolers with K16s running 1.1bar on 98 octane.[/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']So we had a white GT2 under construction being built as a white Techart GT Street S. I had tried to find a 996 Gt2 over the previous 12 months and proved hard to find so I was now building my own and as it had already been tracked I was not destroying its resale or butchering its original integrity. So while the GT2 was being built over about 3 months, I was looking for a navigator, a towcar and trailer to go interstate competing.[/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Ok so after checking out various towcars I was approached to see if I wanted the black on black manual Gemballa Cayenne that the Gemballa principle had also owned. Man this thing sounded and looked positively wicked and as soon as I showed my wife she knew it was heading home. I had seen it compete at a club motorkana at a Porsche track day and it had come in 2nd!. Wasn't sure about 22'' x 295 x 30 tyres on a tow vehicle but the research came up positive. Deal was done. I located an as new GT3 Cupcar specific trailer locally and I approached a good friend ( mates wife) who had expressed an interest in tarmac rallying and appeared brave enough to be my navigator. She jumped at the chance. She had herself competed in Porsche Qld club events in her husband's twin turbo Gemballa Boxter and got a trophy to show for it.[/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']After weekends of back road practice in the early hours getting our road calls right off prepared notes, it was time to upgrade race licenses, buy new race suits, carbon helmets, normal spares, find a Maintaince contract trackside for support put it all together and head to Melbourne ( about 17 hr drive from S/E Qld) to compete in the 2007 Mt Buller Sprint. Since I was 15 I was a Porsche and motorsport junkie and this was going to be an event not short changed so I took 2 weeks off work with my wife and nav and hit the highway interstate. Mt Buller sprint is around a 16km hill climb in a heavily timbered bush environment that has a snow resort on top in winter. This was in November 2007 and while cold is not supposed to snow. The temp was just over 18 degrees Celsius and a beautiful day when we unloaded the car for scutineering and we were amped. From memory it's an event with around 80 - 100 competitors. We took it easy as the roads have steep edges and when I last competed I recalled about 1 in 10 cars crashed out. In fact I recall that 3 went off the mountain going back down the mountain to do the next run. Only stopped heading to the bottom by some trees. I had seen horrific accidents including a GT3 roll into a tree driven by a father who put his son the nav in a coma. Had to cut the roof off to extract him. So with the danger we were - I thought being careful in our first runs. The first day of events was in rain and in poor conditions and we took it easy but a number of accident occurred with one a fatality. A Navigator died. Car was driven by a proff Carrera Cup driver. Car went over the edge and hit a tree on the way down. It's quite unnerving getting to the top and hearing not all the cars made it and now searching the roadside faces.[/FONT]


[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] The next day the weather was very poor again with light snow on top at the resort and a very somber mood was over the event due to the death the day before in an Elfin. A vote was taken on whether to continue and it was a majority vote to go on. I didn't vote to continue. We regrouped at the bottom of the mountain and I was so determined not to get to amped' I refused even a cup of coffee. I decided I would keep under 4000rph to keep us and the car in one piece. That was the plan anyway. At about the 12km mark on a '9 left' call up hill the Gt2 went sideways over a slight hump and started to head sideways over the side of Mt Buller. I saved the slide and got the car heading in a straight line but I was parallel to the road down a meter on an angle that I knew was not going to be able to pull it back out off. No way it was doing anything except going down over the side... and continue into some very bad news. Between us and heading down the face was a tree stump about 1m or just over 3 feet across. Through luck more than anything I drove the Porsche into the tree dead on. If it came in sideways my nav would have died I would think as would I have if i put it in on my side. Peter Brock a racing legend in Australia died in a road rally this way recently. My carbon doors would not offer much protection. So we hit the stump head on at about 80kph - 50mph. CRUNCH! Actually I can't type the noise it made but it was expensive and nasty.[/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']You will see that in the photos the headlights are missing. They kept on going in the impact about 10m or just over 30' into the distance. My navs helmet flew off and it was quite a wallop on impact. My navs eye sight didn't return to normal for weeks. We were in a full race harness and I was fairly compacted in the groin area I'll tell you. The doors opened fine but the car was a mess. All of our safety gear such as safety triangle was in the front and compacted. Infact our Cayenne keys and digital camera were also in the front and were smashed into wafers. You could only wonder what a side impact would have yielded for us both.' Eventually we had to use a crow bar to see what we could salvage from under the front bonnet. The next day my old fellow and ***** were black and blue. I weigh 90kg and the impact via the straps between my thighs had a NASTY effect. Not something to visit the doctor about but a side effect of impact I hadn't thought of. Seating was tender for a week or two.[/FONT]


[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Back to my accident, I was helping out my nav when I heard another car come up the mountain and it was a Porsche and to my surprise he stuck it in on the previous corner. He under steered into the face of the cliff. Then a short time later a M3 came by and stuck it in on the next corner up but didn't go down off the edge too far. It was almost freezing and it may have been black ice I hit on the slight hump in the road. Not something I have ever seen. If this was black ice - I was from sunny Queensland. Considering the amount of effort that went into turning it into a RWD and removing PSM I was perhaps in the wrong state at the wrong event for my mods. Anyway the total distance I had done on my rebuild was about 100km between rebuild, testing and crashing. Aahhhh.[/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']I cannot put into words the atmosphere in the Cayenne on the way home with the destroyed GT2 in my rear vision mirror for hours upon hours. Just when I would forget and think about something else.. I would see it again. Back home I emailed Vivid Racing asking if they has a frequent buyers club as I was off again ordering parts. I thought I may be able to find a front half of a TT but as it turned out all I could get was a new front tub to start rebuilding off from. So the GT2 ended up in the local Lambo repair shop who provided a competive quote. As it turns out the car was not perfectly straight from the previous accidents and neither had the repairs been completed professionally. So the car was cut in half just in front of the gear shifter and the front apart from the brakes and some minor parts, all placed in a bin. The air conditioning / demister ducting was even smashed under the dash. The steel brace holding up the dash was even bent. It was quite and impact. On my wallet as well I could see.[/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']With all the parts coming piece by piece it was put on the rack and made perfectly true and rebuilt over the following 5 months. For a second time much of it. This time while I was at it I would make more changes that had been on my mind. Changes such as rose joint all the suspension joints, replacing the lower control arms. I actually got 997RSR lower control arms for 7degee adjustment. Strut brace. I removed all the air conditioning and demister for weight reduction and put in a windscreen form a cup car with electric demister and 2 electric blowers for air that ended up being incorporated into the dash speakers. Quite cool. Second time around I painted the roll cage the same colour as the car ( 997 Gt3 white) to match the console. The tow truck driver damaged the rear bumper pulling it off the tree and that needed repairs. So everything apart from the brakes forward of the dash is new. Finished off with an aggressive alignment copying 996 cup cars. 5 degree on the front and 4 degree on the back. Cup car slick put on and corner weighted. Came in at 1415kg with 20litres of fuel. Close to 3000lbs. It is street registered by the way.[/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] The repair bill I have not seen as they havent all arrived but the first round cost me about $45,000 and this lot will cost $70,000 to ?. No insurance obviously.[/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']But last Friday I picked up the car after my daily visits to T and D Autos Albion who did the original and rebuild with outsourcing as required. It was quite a moment when I got it back again. I took the day off and headed out to n event the Porsche Club was holding at Morgan Park Warwick about 1 1/2 hours west of Brisbane. This is where it had done a flat 1.08 on old tyres just after I went RWD no LSD with cup doors and GT3 control arms on 100 lap old Hoosiers. I was pumped for a time to break the turbo street class. The record stands with the black Gemballa 996TT with 650hp, RWD, Cup doors, 8 piston brakes and a low ratio diff was a lap of 1.0762 back in 2005 that has stood since. A 996TT cost $350,000 Aus new and it was acknowledged that another $150,000 was spent on it. The motor and gearbox went back to Germany and the body to Sydney for its upgrades. The current GT3 lap record is 1.07.02. All on Hoosiers which are popular here. So only a second in it.[/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Well the day was a shocker. On the first out lap getting heat into the tyres the ABS wouldn't release coming into a corner and I went straight ahead. Luckily nothing to hit. Just lumpy dirt and grass. I came in and removed the ABS and PSM completely as it was interfering and you wouldn't know if it was going to let you turn the corner or make me slow to a crawl without releasing. Once the ABS applied itself all you could do was go straight ahead. A real danger. Doing 1.11s when this occurred. WTF?? So the ABS was disconnected under the bonnet at the ABS system itself and 2 fuses were removed under the dash. So I had no ABS and the brakes were a pain to apply with enough pressure to stop hard and fast but then not lock up. A real pain as I had planned a fast day with all the mods. I got into a run with a lightweight 930 turbo on slicks and banked a best of 1.085. [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']One problem that became apparent is the tyre profile of there cup car 18". It is quite a bit taller than club tyres. We dropped the front ride height and with this height jacked up at the back from the higher profile rear tyres it handled like a dog. We have changed the springs to 1000lb at the back and 800lb at the front from memory during the rebuild. We rebuilt the Drummond Shockies to specs the company advised and it bounced on corners so much that trackside flag marshals commented as did other competitors on the way it exited corners and handled bumps. This is now work in progress as this was on slicks and I am going back to Hoosiers. So the day ended with no damage and off to another event at Queensland Raceway called Top Gear the following day. [/FONT]


[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Unloading the trailer I was optimistic as this is a big paper clip like track. Good straights. The Gemballa 996TT holds the record in the club with a 1.17.44 from 2006.This is 996 Cupcar fast for us weekend warriors.[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']That was the best time at the time a number of us had gone in a cup car or any car for that matter. Let alone a 996 TT. We hired 996 Cupcars for a blast that year and didn't get a under 1.17 on slicks and the Gemballa was on Hoosiers when it set that time. A 996 GT3 was the benchmark at more than 1.20s then.[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']So my first laps during qualifying were 1.26. I was appalled as that was Boxter fast!. Without ABS to pull it down from 225kph on the back straight I was braking way too soon. So I went back to the pits rehooked up the ABS and kept the PSM disconnected. [/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']The event tracks kept changing each race but the car got more competitive and finished 4th in the final handicapped race with a lap time passing other cars of 1.21. Not good but gave me a lot of promise. I was driving it harder and harder. Maybe after the 5 month rebuild process I was not hanging it out too much and suffered in the times. I have attached photos of the event.[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']On the cool down lap I lost 4th gear so guess where the Gt2 is? Yes back at T and D for a gearbox rebuild. Does it ever stop? [/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']997 GT2[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']About a month ago I went to the Australian test track release of the 997 Gt2 at Eastern Creek outside Sydney. I got the opportunity to do a few laps at the wheel and also a few laps as a passenger with local legend Jim Richards in his Targa Spec 997 GT2. It is not a seminal as the GT3s pretty quite and in some respects I have to struggle to say - an anti climax. Its just so good at being normal! The expectations were sky high and while it was fantastic it does not give the involvement or thrill as a GT3. It is a road biased car I felt - not a track biased car as the 997 Gt3 and the RS more so. A few of the people with me had raced GT3 cup cars the weekend prior and felt the same. It will I feel come out the race track and struggle against the moded GT3s and moded 996 TT and 996 Gt2s. Unless the driver is fearless and a gun. That is a tough thing to say as I have a GT2 I have built, but I don't think spending $490,000 Aus and starting the process of modifying is the way forward. The track day scene in my club is ultra ultra competitive with a number of the weekend warriors having 996 cup cars and 997 Gt3 cup cars on Porsche club days. One fellow club member even purchased from the USA a 996 GT3 RSR that won at LeMan. The 997 GT2 I believe wont come into its own for a couple of years. As the 996 TT and GT2s did (993 Gt2 excluded) the prices drop over a year or two in the second hand market and they eventually get in the hands of the die hard club day sprinters. Look out then.[/FONT]

[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Thanks for reading by (long) story. [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']More photos will follow..[/FONT]

 

Nice write up, nice car, did you buy this car from L. Kalnin by any chance?

 

Here is the accident ..

 

5 months and too much $$ to think about..

 

No.Bought off SCUD.

 

5 months later...

 

After 5 months..

 

Trackside...

 

Trackside before 1st rebuild.

 

That was an awful crash...

 

**** me dave you can type . on the 997 GT2 comment we were all a little disappointed at eastern creek, but since picking mine up on saturday and putting some miles on it, the car is epic. come over to my work this week when it dries up and we'll go for a spin. you will change your view as i did about this car. how tough does that 997 cup car look ! he looks like a fast steerer

 

great read

 

wow amazing car! thanks for the all the info

 

I can never type something so long. Great story and enjoy the new fast car.