Fast40th

I've been wanting to enhance the sound of my 40AE and a bit late to the party, but still making it to the party, I'm swapping out my original mufflers with an upgraded set from Fister (storing the originals)... And it turns out that the "new" mufflers came from the recently defunct 40AE #829, which I bought on ebay and had them shipped to Fister for his bypass pipe upgrade and refurbishing... So I get to keep my car all 40AE "original" ;-)

Fister did a beautiful job with these cans, just got them last week and they go in this Thursday... Can't wait to hear them roar...

Here's a pic of the "After" (nice ceramic coating...):



And here's pics of "Before":





I'll let you know how much I like the end result...

Cheers everyone!...
___________________
Fast40th - 2004 40th Anniversary 911 #1034

mas05

Looks nice!!! I am sure you will be pleased with the sound!!

Litesonic

gorgeous.

I ran without cans for a week, just to hear what it sounded like.
I would love to upgrade to Fisters. Just need a donor set.

cobra935o

Has any body had an OEM 40th wheel straightened back out at all with any success? Also on wheels has anyone found a way to either refinish these, or make them look new again, I have a white spot on one of the spokes where it looks like some of the finish has worn off, not exactly sure what happened as it was that way when I got the car.

TAZ40JAHRE

Although I didn't have to have my original wheels straightened, I had spotting and some corrosion on them and had mine refinished (see my post and pics on p.11 of this thread). The refinishers, to their credit, did a nice job with the wheels but they just weren't the original finish, so I ended up buying a new OEM set from Sonnen Porsche (see my post on p. 12). I researched the heck out of this issue and, hopefully someone can prove me wrong, but no one can replicate the original finish. Whatever BBS does to these wheels is quite unique and they, nor Porsche, will fess up how to do it. Frankly, I probably wouldn't either based on what they charge for replacement wheels. The guys in the UK, with their weather conditions, have terrible trouble with the finish on these wheels and many of the UK 40AE owners have swapped them out for regular Carrera II lightweights or other styles. There is a company in the UK who refinishes them but they end up looking like my refinished set did. Good, but not the same finish. 99% of the world won't know the difference, so it's really up to the car's owner to decide their degree of satisfaction. You can check out the UK company's pics here: http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?p=910328

TAZ40JAHRE

In case anyone is interested, here are some companies that I found in my wheel research back in 2012 who say that they can refinish the kind of wheels we have - they say that based on their experience with shot blasted and/or ball-polished wheels from Maserati, Ferrari, etc. The first one is the company I used.

Wheel Repair Solutions (Texas): http://www.wheelrepairsolutions.com/

Proformance Industries (New York): http://www.proformanceindustries.com/

Cali Auto (Georgia): www.atlantaporscherepaircaliauto.com

Wheel Dynamics/Fast Forward Wheels (California): www.wheeldynamics.com
www.fastforwardwheels.com

Wheel Enhancement (California - www.wheelenhancement.com) was the most forthright about it. They told me plainly that no one can redo the wheels to the original finish. Not sure if they're right, but I believe that they have a very solid reputation.

cobra935o

That Cali Auto is right around the corner from me, lol. I havent heard really anything about them though. I also own an early 911 and I dont think Wheel Enhancement gets very good reviews from the early crowd for refinishing Fuchs, etc. I may have to stop by that Cali Auto and see aht they say. Thanks...

Fast40th

Yes I concur with you on this, as I went through the same challenge with one of the front wheels with a curb rash issue back in 2011. The wheels are shot blasted at the BBS factory giving them that unique look to them. I ended up buying a replacement via Wheel Enhancement who is local to me after they inspected the wheel and relayed the same message of not being able to replicate the original look/finish.

The white spots that may appear on some of the wheels may be an issue with the clear coat finish. Not much can be done there and trying to fix it could make it look worse... Ask me how I know

Wheel with rash is soon to become a small table in my office :-)

D6lc

any way of stripping the clear and re-laquering them?

TAZ40JAHRE

I certainly don't profess to be a wheel expert, but based on my experience having my original 40AE wheels refinished, I doubt that re-coating or re-laquering can be done to replicate the original finish. As I said above, these wheels can be repaired and refinished, but the quality of the refinished wheel is up to the satisfaction level of the owner. It will not be back to the stock look, but, in fairness, it will be similar. The refinished wheels are more cloudy because of the powder-coating that is used. Interestingly, from what I was told, the refinished wheels with the newer powder-coating are likely to be better protected than whatever type of clear-coating was used originally by BBS. Regardless, here are some pics. The first is one of my wheels before refinishing, with circles noting imperfections. The second pic was taken by the refinisher after the original clear coat was removed and the repairs made, but before the powder-coating was done. Note how shiny it is, and really replicates the original finish. The third is the refinished, recoated wheel. Note that it has lost the shine that existed before the coating was applied. Finally, the last pic is the new OEM wheel I bought. When I bought my new wheels I sold the refinished ones to a fellow RL-member, who put them on his 993. It looks fantastic.

TAZ40JAHRE

Here's a pic of a wheel refinished in the UK - just for further comparison.

D6lc

Thank you for sharing the images.

All of my wheels have the clear coat pitting, and one other has damage to the rim. The wheel specialist here says they can repair the rim and coat them all in a ‘chromium’ powder finish, I presume that is what the UK wheel is finished in.
From what I have seem online new wheels are around $1,000 each, so I think I might try the refinish first.

TAZ40JAHRE

Greetings everyone - to add another dimension to our collective 40AE ownership I've started a FB page dedicated to our cars: https://www.facebook.com/40jahre911

Hope you enjoy it.

yoda888

Does anyone with a 40th AE have black (or dark colored) wheels on their car? If so, can you post some pictures up?

I think there's too much "silver" going on with the car currently. I've already sprayed the front vents on the bumper black to give it some contrast. Thinking about the wheels now too.

TAZ40JAHRE

Here you go...

D6lc has black wheels, too. He may want to post some pics of his.