knfeparty

I'm standing up against all of the people who relentlessly post auto **** of their immaculate 944s on here.

Yes, you with the uncracked dash, and the perfectly straight valence, perfect rock guards, 968 mirrors/trim, 911 steering wheel, crystal white coolant reservoir, windshield wiper fluid tank, and brake fluid reservoir, and of course those 18" powdercoated wheels. I'm talking to you. Let's not forget the color-coordinated vacuum lines and powder-coated everything in the engine bay. My car ego -->

I'm going to post some pictures of my regular ol' 944 (and encourage everyone to do the same) and what I plan on doing about things I'm not happy with.

I'm looking for two things from this thread: One is helping each other out getting the cars to look nice, specifically on a budget. I'm not looking for advice like, "yes, your car would look a lot better if you dropped $2000 on wheels and tires." The second is making those of us without concours 944s feel a little more normal. I assert that this thread is technical in nature because I'm trying to get at the tech of making the car look good. Let's start with identifying spots that really make/break a car. Post mentioning what it is, and with a picture if at all possible.

Techno Duck

Painting things under the hood goes a long way..









No pictures of it, but removing cracked, discolored stone guards also makes a big difference.

Another thing that many n/a 944's could use is a straight front lower valance. A good portion of the ones now days are sagging in the center, cracked..etc.

Another thing are dirty, faded and discolored wheels. This mainly applies to guys running cookie cutters and Fuch's. When cleaned up with a fresh coat of paint in the center and a polished up lip they look fantastic. When they have a heavily oxidized lip and faded centers..they look terrible. This goes for all wheels though.. one of the best things you can do for less than $10 (a can of spray paint) is clean up your wheels and respray them.

I am not to much of a stickler on the cosmetics of a car. All of my 944 series cars were / are far from concourse material, but are plenty presentable and all look well taken care of. A couple of the things i listed above really make or break a car for me though.

knfeparty

All my friends say "Your 944 is cool, but your paint looks so bad." Always bewilders me until I realize that they're talking about the rock guards, which I hardly even notice anymore. My car is a major offender.

Solution: So we all can search and see how to take them off; it's a pain, yes, and then you have to get the glue off too.

Here's a question: do you replace them or just run without them?

Potomac-Greg

I'm also thinking about taking off and replacing the stone guards. My plan was to use heat, hoping to peel as much as possible the easy way, then 3M adhesive removing solvent.

What's funny about this thread is that I set out to buy a 944 as a cheap, disposable track b!tch, but it's now become my pampered garage queen. I ended up getting one that is TOO pretty, and I am having doubts about morphing it into a pure track car.

Tenacious_G

Replace them. 3M has a product that's cheaper than the factory one, and their adhesive won't yellow. I mean you don't HAVE TO replace them really, unless you want your friends saying "Your 944 is so cool, but your paint's got these fawkin' rock chips where those dumb colored things were!"

knfeparty

This one really ticks me off. No one else seems to say anything about this- the headliner has shrunk and doesn't cover what it's supposed to cover anymore.

Here it is at it's worst- the back piece covering the sunroof gears is totally removed for working on said gears. The cardboard is totally warped and the leather/vinyl (whatever it is) is separating. All of the vinyl around the roof is in terrible condition due to leaking, and has torn and fallen off. The passenger's side is extra bad because one of my friends tried to find a grab handle in the dark and tore the vinyl off

I have no idea what to do about this. Right now it is glued to the sound insulation pieces so it won't fall down in the way. Still leaks; I just cover the car best I can.

You can also see here "my 3rd brake light dun falled off." I taped it for the first inspection, and actually just left it in the rear cubby for the second. No one noticed!

Techno Duck

I ran without them on my n/a for a good 50k miles. I have 5 of the 6 removed on my 951, just need to get the time to remove the last one on the left rear quarter panel.

They take me about an hour each to remove, an hour and a half for the ones behind the door. A heat gun gets off the top vinyl later with a plastic scraper pretty easily. The real bitch is getting the adhesive off. I use acetone and a paper towel. It takes a long time and the paint will fade heavily and soften due to the acetone. I wait a few days for it to harden back up and polish it out. There is probably a better way to do but it hasnt failed me yet.

Having the car professionally detailed once couldnt hurt either. The way i see it, pay someone else to get all the oxidation oout and clean the real dirty areas of the car. From there its easy to take care of, just put on a quick coat of wax every month.

knfeparty

That's a great idea. I need paint correction badly- big paint gouging.



So let's get the laundry list going- this is how I received my car. Seats are a little torn- they cleaned up but still have tears.

Steering wheel leather is falling off. Solution is the AGLA cover kit FTW!!! It is great. Or you can get a momo or something, but for the money, alan gun is the way. Ditto on the shift boot, AGLA.

Also in the first picture- wooden rod to hold up hood. Classy. Buy new hood struts. They are well worth it.
The hinge for the armrest- fortunately it came with the armrest but the hinge was shot. Someone sells them on ebay, and that someone is a rennlist member too from what I remember. Definitely worth the cash.

Dash is destroyed. I just live with it- this is pricey to fix.

knfeparty

Here's a pic of the front as I got her. I found a used fog light. Doesn't work too well but it looks like the unbroken one.

Bumper is still cracked. It actually doesn't show up in most pictures; I haven't fixed it. Still some paint missing on the front there.

I took the plate off, but now I think those two rubber plugs might be uglier. Want some guidance here. I saw one guy put a 944 badge in between the bumperettes. I don't know if I think that's tacky or not.

I'm not an advocate of bumperette removal and bumper-pushing, but some people are. It's a NA and I deal with not being awesome enough to have an s2/turbo bumper.

joonas

Wash and wax. + Put back wheel center caps. + Tarck it. = Beautiful.

PSUice944

Find an "eraser wheel" for your drill... removing the stone guards is a pain, but heat and the scraper get the top off, use the eraser wheel for the rest instead of chemicals. My paint was actually perfect under there and after the wheel work. It also works great for removing any other stickers (porsche across the back if in bad shape)

El Commandante

I actually like the NA front bumper with the plate instead of taking it off, maybe its just because i have to have one and i'm used to it..

cegan09

defiantly subscribing to this one. My car is in terrible cosmetic shape. Interior isn't in the worlds worst shape, but defiantly isn't good. Passenger's seat bottom was crudely replaced with plain off white material, and drivers seat is ripping.



That roof panel was fixed by grabbing a new sunroof from a junkyard.


oh yea, and then there is 3 places where there is rust on the body panels
Guess i'm learning body work.

the last year was make her run (almost there) the next 5 years will be make her look good again.

EJnMN

Great idea for a thread. Mine is street + track, so I love finding ways to keep it just good enough... on the cheap. (The stripes in my avatar are actually vinyl tape... they come right off after a track event!)

My non-leather steering wheel is slippery as ice. I wear gloves on the track, but its annoying even on the road. I hate the look of most "wraps". Has anyone found anything that looks palatable, but will not slip at the track?

944CS

take some laquer thinner to the stoneguard, it will clean it up