AARGH the dreaded exploding 993 rearglass and the hi's and lows of my first rennsport

[porschyard]

Well my first trip to california and Rennsport Reunion is behind us and i wanted to share some of the highs and lows of my experience. Let me start off by thanking my good friend carlos and the entire ALEGRA MOTORSPORTS team for there generosity, kindness. and freindship. we were brought in and treated like family and ALEGRA MOTORSPORTS IS TRULY A FAMILY.

First the lows as there were few, after getting my 993 out of the AMS hauler we ran over to the hotel checked in and hit the road to bixby bridge, ( note the rear glass in the pic ) after dinner on the wharf carlos invited my wife and i out to the house for a small party so we headed that way on a twisty canyon road. about 5 minutes away from the house the windshield started to fog up so i turned on the defroster and about 2 minutes later, "BOOM" It sounded like a muffled gunshot. it felt like someone threw a 4x4 log into the side of the car.

My wife yelled what the hell was that and i said i dont know but theres going to be one hell of a dent in the body. we were close to the house so i kept driving and she starts saying i here something crackling. I am half deaf from guns, airboats, and being a mechanic for 40 years so after the 3rd time she said it and i was still ignoring her she yells at me I HERE SOMETHING CRACKLING. Then she says OMG the rear window is shattered and i glanced in the rear view and instantly new i had just become a victim of the dreaded 993 rear window mystery breakage.

Now this was not something new to me as i have had about 1/2 dozen or so customers that this happened to over the years with no definitive explanation for it. I pulled over and got out to look and the entire rear glass was still intact in one piece but was completely shattered in tiny pieces. i got back in the car and when i closed the door 3/4 of the rear glass crashed into the back seat. I was calm because i had seen it before but the wife was a bit rattled until i explained it was not that rare.

We went on to the party and everyone was like HOLY SHEET and pitched in to try and get it cleaned up but without a heavy duty vacuam we were wasting our time. We left around midnight and found a 24 hr. car wash near the hotel and 1/2 hour later and 14$ in vacuam cleaner fee's and we were good to go.

So the wife says "NOW WHAT" and i said we drive it like this for the next 4 days which we did and with the fister stage 3 mufflers and the cup air filter housing we listened to a 6 cylinder varioram concert for the next 4 days, it was AWSOME and even the wife loved it. We did not turn the radio on once the whole time we were there and we put over 500 miles including 2 trips to BIG SUR and exploring the canyon back roads.

So if you saw an ultraviolet/M M's purple 993 driving around with no rear glass or was wondering about the only car parked in lot 2 up on the hill with a car cover on it now you know the WHOLE STORY

The only other low for me was i blew the start in the tractor race on saturday starting from the pole position driving the ALEGRA MOTORSPORTS junior, i was pretty mad with my self that i failed to execute my plan, good thing it wasn't a points race LOL, And i had to listen to the wife rubbing it in with SO YOU GOT BEAT BY A WOMEN ?, to which i replied NO i beat my self

now some of the highs ( there are too many to list them all )

1. My first Rennsport Reunion and it was AWSOME
2. Seeing the unveiling of the new 935, I love 935's
3. Seeing carlos's porsche indy car on the track, talk about COOL
4. Seeing carlos back on the track in the 962 with a smile on his face
5. Seeing alwin springers expression when i showed him pics of the 935 tub that i acquired in march, he was very interested.
6. Getting Hans mezger autograph (among others) on a really cool shirt i had made that will possibly be auctioned off for charity.
7. Redeeming my self by passing 3 tractors to finish 3rd in class and 4th overall on saturday. It was a blast driving the tractor and i truly wanted to beat Patrick Long but it wasnt meant to be.
I wanted to bring my 329 super but there was no room in either hauler
( Damn 904, 962, 959-S, porsche Indy car, and a couple of 997 cup cars along with the junior were hogging up the haulers) LOL. but again thank you carlos for letting me run the tractor it was a blast and the tractor race appeared to be a big hit, there is always next time.

[porschyard]

bixby bridge note the rear glass

[porschyard]

now i know what its like to drive a soft window targa with the window unzipped, really cool literally LOL

[porschyard]

only car on the hill with a cover on it

[porschyard]

FREEKIN INCREDIBLE cant wait to here more details, hope the h.p is in the 800 range

[porschyard]

Carlos and Patrick Long,
How rare is that, so coolIndy car on the track in the corkscrew yeehaw

[porschyard]

Alegra Motorsports JuniorWhether its a championship race or an exhibition race ALEGRA MOTORSPORTS crew chief TONY DITTO is always focused

[Cairo94507]

Thanks for posting the pictures. Sorry to hear about the back glass. Really a shame but fortunately replaceable. Cheers, Michael

[Fubawu]

I saw the car and thought that's odd?? Nice to know the story now.

[puddy]

Wow, i've never heard of the rear glass breaking on 993's, sorry you had that happen, great pics!

If I ever get a 993 i'll probably apply a rear window tint to help keep glass in place if it ever breaks.

[techman1]

Years ago, received the same "Gift" Luckily the rear window tint held it in place till the scheduled repair. Missed the "Boom", came out to the garage to see the damage happened in a hot garage.

[porschyard]

[QUOTE=puddy;10203146]Wow, i've never heard of the rear glass breaking on 993's, sorry you had that happen, great pics!

If I ever get a 993 i'll probably apply a rear window tint to help keep glass in place if it ever breaks.[/QUOTE

its more common than you would think and is unique to 993's
i spoke to nino on the AMS crew and he said when he worked for THE COLLECTION in south miami back in the day he saw alot of them broken for unexplained reasons

i think the tint would have helped keep it together until you could lay down a blanket or something to catch all of the broken glass

[ADDvanced]

Originally Posted by porschyard

its more common than you would think and is unique to 993's
i spoke to nino on the AMS crew and he said when he worked for THE COLLECTION in south miami

I drunkenly stumbled upon that dealership at midnight years ago and took selfies with all the cars. lol.

[peter leinberge]

Props to Greg Eliff in post #6 !

[porschyard]

I drunkenly stumbled upon that dealership at midnight years ago and took selfies with all the cars. lol.

HaHa, back in the day the surrounding neighborhood was kinda the hood, not the type of place you want to be stumbling around drunk at night LOL

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

Way to not let the broken rear window ruin the weekend for you!

[Peter Zimmermann]

Check out my book, "The Used 911 Story," 9th Edition, pages 235 & 236, under sub-heading "Glass Cautions." I wrote about this problem, and have known about it for many years, and brought forward the subject text from the 7th & 8th Editions! No extra charge for rumors and theories!

[porschyard]

Originally Posted by Hi_Fi_Guy

Way to not let the broken rear window ruin the weekend for you!

Nothing could have ruined this trip of a lifetime for my wife and i and the 4 days of a 3.6 varioram at full song up and down the canyon twisties was like music, even the wife thought it was cool although when the varioram intake kicked in with the cup air box you did not hear the fister stage III exhuast, just the scream of the intake. The color is very unusual and it turned alot of heads and the missing rear glass got alot of double takes. i could see people shaking there heads and probaly saying ONLY IN FLORIDA LOL

[Kraftwerk]

Love that color!

Rear glass once blew on my M3 when I was cranking the song " Road Runner " I was with a really fun girlfriend and we laughed about it for days. Glass is a 'super-cooled liquid' = unstable. Fun to drive w/ missing rear glass, a bit of a pain to replace.

[pgeorgeson]

I saw you and the car at parking lot at the hotel. I assumed it was a smash-and-grab situation. Glad it wasn’t.