944 Turbo (952)

Hi everybody

Well, not seen one of these in many a year. One of the last of the very last ones built and it has just got a 12 month MOT with no advisories!! Sounds great, drives great & looks great…tick, tick, tick.

It comes with a smooth responsive engine, AOR gearbox with external cooler, MO30 suspension & the BIG brake calipers. New tyres, bridge spoiler, Sports deep bolster blue leather seats…what’s not to like?

Will probably keep hold of this one for a while, prices are only going one way on these models.

All the best

Mac McGovern

Cayenne (955) big boy time…

Hi to both of you

Hope all is well? We have moved on to a big boy presently. Can’t say it is my favourite vehicle to work on, everything is just soooo big and heavy. Managed to pull out the engine & gearbox last week but it was a bit of a palavar to say the least. Anyway, it is now done so happy days. Everything else should be plain sailing….errr, probably not.

We will be cracking on with this lump for the next few weeks, so give us a bell if you require anything. Looking forward to seeing this one done & dusted, so we can move onto more interesting stuff #notafan.

We have just bought a 91 Porsche 944 Turbo in great condition. I think I will drive that around for a year or two but I will post some photos soonest. These are getting very rare to get hold of these days so demand some respect in my opinion.

Anyhow, I think that is all for now. Will update in the very near future.

 

All the best

Mac McGovern

Some folks…..

Hi there

Hope everybody is safe and well. Just a quick update on what is happening in the McPorsche world. We have continued to be very busy over these last few weeks and have now decided to deliver a lot of the larger/heavier parts in the UK ourselves rather than rely on the pallet/courier services. It appears that they are pulled out too, so we took the decision to deliver. Can’t say it has been plain sailing as I do not relish driving up to Sunderland or south to Braintree, they are long old drives and the traffic is horrendous at times. Plus if I am driving for hours then it ultimately means I am not answering queries or packaging parts but something has to give I suppose.

I think we all have to get used to a new normal way to work these days. It may be a very long way down the line till things ever get back to ‘normal’, so best just crack on and get the job done. The couriers seem to be busier than ever, some of the drivers stating that they are busier than Christmas time with everybody only able to buy on-line.

We have noticed a worrying trend recently on eBay with our sales. I hope it is only a coincidence but we have had a few ‘customers’ buying parts then not concluding the sale by paying for the item. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for it as some of the sales are to experienced buyers on the selling platform. Because we sell as Buy it Now with a best offer option, we have had folks using the best offer option, so getting a part for the amount that they want to pay then ignoring any and all payment invoices. This is rather frustrating and time consuming to say the least. I just do not understand the thought process behind this. In some cases they even haggle quite a bit then when it comes to paying it is then tumbleweed time?? Quite bizarre.

Anyway, take care of each other in the meantime and hope everybody is well.

 

Mac McGovern

2020…well what happened there then?

Hi everybody & hope you are all safe

Well what happened there then? First Covid-19 then BLM!! I don’t think I need to expand on the general debates of both of those subjects, I am sure most opinions and facts will have already been discussed but I can report on how our business was/is affected during the UK ‘lockdown’. When we went into lockdown mid March, our virtual business footfall just dropped off the proverbial cliff edge. No emails, no sales, no phone contacts and it stayed that way for about the next twelve days till the beginning of April. It was like the world was in shock and didn’t know what to do or how to react. People were not spending and did not know how much they could afford to spend. People wondering what would happen next or even if they would have a job to go back to.

Then for us, we became really busy after those twelve days as though nothing had happened. All very strange indeed. Which is why I cannot understand all this weight I have piled on recently!! Normally I have a body of an Adonis 🙂 but presently sporting a body of a block of lard. Anyway, my transformation is well underway, so hopefully the weight will come back off….and my trousers will fit again. Early signs are encouraging I must say. Andy said I had the body of a McDonalds Big Mac Extra Large meal…which is harsh to say the least, seeing that they have been closed throughout this pandemic!

I have noticed a few customers have become impatient & prickly recently, mainly due to delivery issues with the couriers but obviously I am first port of call for customers issues. The courier companies have stated that delivery times during this pandemic are going to be longer than normal, so apart from contacting the couriers for an update, there is very little else I can do. I do forward tracking details to keep folks in the ‘loop’ but it seems that is not good enough at times.

I even had one guy recently contact me that ‘one of my vans’ had reversed into his car. As I don’t have any delivery vans I was a little confused. I asked him if anything was written on the side of the van. I then tried to explain to the guy that I did not own UPS at all, didn’t have shares in the company or anything else apart from the fact I paid them to deliver parcels for me, plus the other delivery companies I use. I think he got it at the end of the conversation but I cannot be 100% certain. Like I said, all very strange indeed.

Anyway I best be off, got to take the gold fish for a walk.

All the best & stay safe

Mac McGovern

Personalised Cherished number plate

How do folks

Decided to sell my cherished personalised number plate which is now on a retention certificate. It was actually removed from a Porsche Carrera 911 so very apt. It is the best number plate around for a Carrera 911 in my opinion…will even throw in the actual number plates if required. Best offer secures around the £5k mark, so please contact me with promises of gazillions of £’s or shares in a brewery may sway me.

Many thanks

Mac McGovern

New Year, new stuff

How do everyone

Well that started with a bang. I thought we would have some new stuff in but we have quickly started the year with a couple of cars with more to follow shortly. We kicked off with a nice 996 coupe with loads of Gucci parts on…aerokit rear spoiler & side skirts, a 3.6 engine sounding ace with only 55,000 miles on the clock, a tiptronic gearbox, good headlights etc. Interior is in Boxster Red, so very quirky on that front, all in pretty good nick too. Very expensive Sports exhaust silencers with valves fitted in conjunction with a X flow catalytic converter, giddiness levels off the scale so far. Even the PCM 2.1 works really well…ding dang do.

So there should be a bucketful of parts to sort through. Also just picked up a Cayenne (955) 3.2 model in good condition. No doubt the quick moving parts will be gone sharpish, so be quick off the starting blocks for the wing mirrors, brake calipers, engine etc. Got our peepers on a few other cars presently, so keep checking into the website for more goodies.

Anyway, must dash but will speak soon.

All the best

Mac McGovern

2020 and all that jazz….

How do peeps

Hope everybody has had a belting time over the festivities and are feeling energised for the new year? My trousers don’t seem to button up too well presently, so I guess that equals to having a good time…..or they have just shrunk in the wash maybe? I have already started the New Year fitness regime and purchased a new spin bike. My fitness is going really well at the moment and the bike even doubles up as a coat hanger after a hard days work for my work coat. So win win situation right there in my book. I suspect it will more and more become a coat hanger though in the future.

My friend visited me for a couple of days around the festivities. I don’t see much of him during the year due to living in different countries, so it is always great having a catch up (and drinking beer). During day one, he informed that he was virtually vegan these days….just before ordering a chicken pie for his dinner!!! Other meals during the visit included Lamb Tikka Rhogan Josh & another chicken dish from the Indian restaurant….glad to see the veganism is going well for you buddy. I am virtually a millionaire in this line of thinking….just short of nearly a million to qualify.

Anyways, onto Porsche things. We have some cheeky cars coming in within the next few weeks, so exciting stuff for us. I will update in the next blog when I know which ones we have secured. We have still been mad busy through the festivities, mainly selling/ packing stuff to ship out. One particular large part was shipped to Norway recently and Andy had a brilliant idea to save damages occurring whilst the parts are in transit. As well as putting ‘Caution’ or ‘Fragile’ tape on, he thought writing ‘bomb’ on the package would help to stop the parcels from being manhandled roughly, his logic being the couriers would think twice before throwing parcels around. I could see some flaws to his cheeky plan but didn’t have the heart to disagree with him. I told him I would consider it and get back to him….say in the year 2060. Oh take me now Lord.

Anyhow, will sign off for now to just go and do a few miles on the spin bike….or in real terms, drink some beer whilst listening to music.

All the best

Mac McGovern

Goodbye 2019…hello 2020

How do folks

Would just like to say from myself and the crew, Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to each and every one of our customers past and present. It has been a pleasure dealing with you all this year, it has been a real blast. We have met many nice folks along the way and hope this continues for next year too.

We have made our ‘final’ move hopefully and we are settling in nicely to our new place. Some building work to be done in spring but giddy already for next year and for all the cars we will encounter…I know it sounds sad but we do get giddy over nothing at times.

A little story for you. Last Christmas about a week before the big day I got a message from a French guy saying he would like to pop over and pick up a body shell from ourselves but it would probably be Christmas Day when he arrived. I said no problem as I didn’t expect him to turn up as we get these kind of messages all the time. Anyway to cut a long story short, a knock on the door Christmas Day morning and lo and behold two French guys standing there smiling their heads off….well bonjour and all that malarkey. I was not in the good books whilst I did Porsche things I can tell you, no festive cheer for the next hour or so!!

But that little story reinforces why I like doing what I do, no two days are ever the same and you have a chuckle everyday. I actually look forward to getting up and doing Porsche things.

Right then, waffled long enough now. Will speak soon but in the meantime look after each other and have a safe time over the Festive period. Oh yeah, and buy some parts too.

All the best

Mac McGovern

Worse garage purchases…

Hi guys

As we are going through the motions of another garage move, I do like to de-clutter and watch things getting binned, as there is a certain satisfaction to filling skips up with the non-moving items. The only problem with this is we generally get asked for those very same parts about three weeks after I skipped them even though they have sat on the shelf for the last four years without any interest or enquires!! True story.

Anyway, as we are moving again, it gives you time to take stock of things that will come with you and the things that won’t. I have bought some truly great workshop tools throughout the years which have made the job easier & safer and have saved me loads of man hours on various jobs. The times over my lifetime when I didn’t have the right tool for the job and I have tried to make do or driven around the world to borrow the tool with promises of getting it back to the owner within three milliseconds of completing the job must run into the hundreds…..well about eight times to be truthful but that isn’t the point. It is eight times too many.

So anyway, this leads me on to my worst garage buys. Maybe not worst but not actually needed or used in the end is probably more correct. I bought a pallet banding machine to save time and effort to securing items on pallets but it was so fiddly that it lasted just one pallet job, so we put it away into a corner of the workshop to just gather dust where it still sits to this day. And yes it is going in the skip. The next one I recall was a battery jump starter by an unknown company name, didn’t bother reading the reviews and just went out and bought it. It failed miserably first time on the smallest of engine, so it was returned pronto back to the seller. The next one was an engine stand so that I could work on engines when time allowed it but to be fair, engines don’t last long in the workshop before they are sold so that was a big fat waste of time. Plus, most of the locking pins have been lost/mislaid over time, so now it is as much use as Anne Franks drum kit.

Other things I recall were specialised oil baths/parts cleaners, which when you got a bit giddy and were giving it loads to get some ingrained dirt off parts it looked like the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster with more oil on you/the floor than actually in the oil bath. Yes you guessed it…..binned straight away. Now that I think more about it, there has been loads of crap stuff…wheel dollies that didn’t do what they were supposed to do and became all weak and feeble. I really must concentrate on decent tools in the future and not buy tat.

Anyways, must shuffle off now

All the best

Mac McGovern

PS I have just sorted out WhatsApp on Andys phone and now he calls it WhatsUp??!!! Ffs, will this pain never end…

Moving Units….again

Howdy folks

Well what can I say….moving again!!!! Jeez this is getting painful now…second move in as many years. To be fair, we are struggling with the limited room so it is time to up sticks and move on. We really must make this next move work and be our permanent home, as I don’t think I can do this again as I am beginning to lose the will to live. Anyway, we are well underway with the move, so we best get our skates on as I have a holiday to enjoy coming up the rails quickly. Looking forward to 2 weeks away doing diddly squat apart from eating/drinking. That’s probably a big fat lie….I will be worried sick that the new unit will be burnt down by the time I get back or a plague of locusts will have descended on us in biblical proportions & devoured all the Brembo brake calipers or some other catastrophe!!!! Palpitations now….do I really want a holiday????

We have just suffered a theft of parts at the unit too. Broad daylight, hopped over the fence and robbed some catalytic converters then high tailed it off the industrial estate in their getaway Citreon Piccasso. All caught on CCTV but Police can’t be bothered doing much even though number plate is easily visible…probably not a big enough crime for them to put their doughnuts down for. And as for the ‘security’ guards on site…who needs a password or anything when they just wave you on and wish the tea leaves well in their thieving expedition. Shoulders being shrugged from everybody as it is not their problem. Double thumbs up from me guys, you are all special.

Also in the same week, I received a parking fine too. I couldn’t understand this one as I always pain the £1 charge to park, so you can imagine my horror to getting a fine for £160. I still had my parking receipt so was scratching my head till I realised that I had paid for the next car park along and not the one that I was parked on. Run by the same company, they didn’t want to know about human error or any other nonsense, it was the fine or nothing. That’s me on dry bread and water this week then….

I would also like to welcome my daughter aboard onto the team, joining us as a Director of the company. Looking forward to mithering her for things and being a general pain in the a*se 🙂 I am sure it will be all good honey x

Now onto the phenomenon that is Andy. Whilst picking up our respective meals at the end of the day, he thought it was highly amusing that he had a bastard chicken meal, the school boy humour really tickled him till I pointed out that it was actually a basted chicken meal but that didn’t seem to stop him chuckling that it was a bastard meal and telling complete strangers who were shopping what he had discovered!!! The sad thing was some laughed with him (the 6 fingered on one hand variety) whilst others just looked at him as though he was moonstruck or something….I really do need a holiday I think. Also he thinks it is highly amusing when the van’s reserve light comes on as it makes an audible ‘ping’…he smiles like a Cheshire cat whilst I search for my wallet (again). The joys of picking up all the bills eh?

Anyway till next time, adieu

Mac McGovern