MBR_WILL

So I picked up a 2001 turbo in October of 2014 from work for an amazing deal and the paint was not in best of shape. She had a few issues and leaks I had to fix. I saw it as an awesome opportunity to transform the car (I do this with every car). I plan to use this thread as a place to update and track the progress of the build on the car. It's certainly not going to be anything crazy, but I do plan to continue to clean it up and put some more mods on it. feel free to comment or help me out with any suggestions you might have.

I sold my C2 after buying the Turbo (it was hard to see it go), but the sale was so worth having the power! The car had a coolant leak from the reservior and a rear main seal leak (very slight). The paint was very neglected, and had spots all over the bumper and hood where love bugs had been left on too long and paint was missing. First few things I went after were the items I could afford to do. The reservoir was first on the list...very cheap and relatively easy job to do. Next was a full detail, window tint, and try to figure out what those ugly bumperettes were doing on the front bumper. I could not get a straight answer from anyone as to whether or not there would be holes if I pulled them off the car. I decided to do it anyway.

996tt pics by William Reilly IV, on Flickr

996tt pics by William Reilly IV, on Flickr

Untitled by William Reilly IV, on Flickr

My old C2 before it sold
Untitled by William Reilly IV, on Flickr

02 front grill install by William Reilly IV, on Flickr

The answer, as you can see, is that the holes are definitely there! They have to be filled professionally. In the meantime I removed all of the brackets and installed the 02 and up grills which held me over until I could afford to move on to the paint and body work that was needed.

autobonrun

Nice job on the refurbish. If the paint adjacent to the holes is not too bad, you can plug them yourself. Although you can buy plugs here:

http://www.bumperplugs.com/index.php...gory&path=1_11

you can also get them at auto parts stores like AutoZone. They come in various sizes. I used them to plug the license plate holes on my new (at the time) BMW X3. They look like proximity sensors when done. I just used the factory touch up paint to paint them. Gently blew air over the head to smooth out any brush marks and they came out perfect. I did have to grind the insert section down until it fit the hole diameter without widening it but this was easy as well.

An option if you don't want to have it professionally done right away.

"02996ttx50

from a c2 to a turbo? dude yer gonna plotz!

autobonrun

Here's a photo after I installed the bumper plugs. They are underneath the kidney grill. The two inside ones are the plugs. The larger outside ones are the parking sensors. It's hard to tell the quality from the photo, but the paint finish is smooth. The box of plugs from the parts store was $3 or $4. The bottle of touchup paint from the dealer was the most expensive part, around $20 if I recall, but I keep TU paint around regardless.

"02996ttx50

i have not once ever in my many years been able to improve ( properly use i should say ) TU paint lol. it always looks just like.. well, TU paint.

rmc1148

I have little luck with tu paint either, I have seen pros do wonders.

autobonrun

It's difficult I agree. The brush that comes in the TU bottle just seems to blob on the paint. For chips, I use a tooth pick or a broom straw with very little paint at a time. The airbrush below won't work for very small paint chips but for small parts like the bumper plugs you could use it. I bought a model like this one at a hobby shop, set my air compressor at 40 psig with a filter/regulator and it does a great job. Just pour a little of the touchup paint in one of the small containers. I've used it underneath my front bumper also where perfection didn't matter but it quickly eliminated all the scratches and chips. In this case (the bumper plugs) I smoothed out the brush strokes without the airbrush but it is another option.

http://www.paascheairbrush.com/produ...er/hobby/H-SET

It's pretty versatile. And with a name like Paasche, it can't be too bad. I've even used it to put the final coat of dye on some sports seats.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...procedure.html

rmc1148

My problem is I have too many projects. Wish there was a good detail shop within a reasonable distance= closes reputable place about 60-70 miles.

MBR_WILL

next up was to get coilovers on the car and re-powder coat the calipers which were looking real rough. While I did the suspension install I replaced the wheel bearings up front, re-built the front axles (had torn boots), and replaced the upper strut mounts.

996tt by William Reilly IV, on Flickr

996tt by William Reilly IV, on Flickr

IMG_1767 by William Reilly IV, on Flickr

IMG_1796 by William Reilly IV, on Flickr

996tt by William Reilly IV, on Flickr

Very pleased with the progress, I drove the car like this for a while to save more money up to tackle the next project.

MBR_WILL

Thanks man! Yea all that work is already done now but I'm slowly adding the progress I've made on the car since the end of last year. Only thing I wish I had right now is a color matched plug for the rear wiper hole.

Although the turbo being meridian silver is not my favorite...I have a tendency to look right past that because of how much more fun I have in this car.

rmc1148

Nice work and doing it right= one thing at a time done correctly.

MBR_WILL

My girlfriend is in to cars too so she has helped me A LOT with this car. I'm a very lucky guy

996tt by William Reilly IV, on Flickr

996tt by William Reilly IV, on Flickr

MBR_WILL

Thanks man! It's also been very fun to take our time with the car because it's not a daily driver. No stress in having it done by a certain time.

rmc1148

Nice pics and happy to see a clean cut attractive couple= getting rare these days.

AZ996TT

looks like a great project. keep us posted on whats next.