pete944

The only time I can work on the car is after my 3 year old goes to sleep (usually around 9:00). I've made a list of little things the car needs and I'm trying to tackle a few every night.
I got the center cap crests painted. I did them Tuesday night and I sprayed clear coat on them before they were completely dry. I looked at them Wednesday morning and the colors ran!! Doh! I took 'em to work and repainted them. Luckily it's been slow at work so I had the time to fix them.
I also glued a couple loose headliner sections. It was loose over the passenger window and on the piece that covers the sunroof arms. I had some clear contact cement and it worked perfectly.
The grilles under the armrests for the 10 speaker system were loose and rattled a little so I drilled a few small holes and used some black trim screws to attach them to the armrests.
I bought a windsheild repair kit that is supposed to fix cracks up to 12" long and the little bullseye cracks. I'll try it tonight and see how it works. I have a crack about 6" long and 3 little bullseyes. If it doesn't work I'm only out $7.
Next up is the removal of the stoneguards, pinstripe, and the faded and cracked P-O-R-S-C-H-E decal. This should make for a fun night. After that I'll be spending some quality time with the rubbing compound and an orbital buffer.
The clutch master & slave cylinders need to be replaced too. I should get them from Paragon today according to UPS. I haven't had a problem with the clutch but I saw some fluid on the clutch pedal pushrod and figured I'd better replace them before they failed.
I've got a lot to do to get ready for the GTG on the 30th but I'll make it.

AndyK

I love it!! You have to wait till the FAMILY is asleep, so you can spend QUALITY time with an orbital buffer!!

We are insane!

pete944

That's the understatement of the century!

AndyK

Let me know how the stone-guard removal goes! Mine are kinda grungy looking, and I would love to replace at least the large ones, if it's easy enough (meaning: easy so I don't ruin the paint)!

Are you liking your Design 90 rims? I miss the Phone Dials! I'm thinking of either 968 5-spoke 16" rims, or Turbo phone dials...maybe?

dave120

If you're gonna stay with 16s, go with the 968 5 spokes...they look good. Or you could go 17 with C2 or Boxster wheels if you wanted to. Any modern Porsche wheels should fit an S2 with no spacers or anything..my 996 twists bolted right up.

OriginalSterm

My 17" Boxster wheels fit/look great too. Let me know how the removal of the stone gaurd things goes. Mine are speckled and need to be replaced at some point.

pete944

The only thing I'm worried about with the stone guards is that when I remove them the paint behind them will look better than the rest of the car.
I plan to remove them with a hair dryer and a plastic scraper. Lighter fluid should remove the leftover adhesive.

pete944

Andy, about the D90's:
Painting the crests really made a difference. All you need is some Testors model paint and a fine brush. Use gloss black, gloss red, and gold metallic. I painted the whole cap first with Plasti-Kote silver wheel paint. It matched the wheels nicely. Paint the crest gold first, then do the black parts after the gold is dry. Then paint the red parts and after all that dries, go back with the gold and a fine brush and touch up any spots neccessary. Let them dry completely overnight and spray a few coats of clear over them. I'm going to paint the wheels with the same silver I used on the caps when I get the time and also paint the lugnuts with satin black. I'll take some pics tonight and post them. I'm also going to pick up some 1/4" spacers for the rear to bring the wheels out a little closer to the fenders.

The added color make the D90's look more expensive. I'm going to be keeping them for a while due to slow cash flow! At least they are easy to clean.

dave120

Wow I found them to be quite a PITA to clean! All the grooves for brake dust to get trapped in and such..I guess compared to phone dials they'd be a bit easier. My new ones are REAL easy to clean though!

AndyK

I really like the 16" 968 rims! I JUST bought brand new Dunlop 5000's, so I have to keep it stock size (16").

Pete--Even if the color under the guards is lighter/darker, it doesn't really matter, since the NEW guards are kinda opaque. You ARE putting new ones on, right?

As for the D90's--I think they look very Camry like! Not aggressive enough, etc. They are easier to clean than the phone dials...and using P21S wheel cleaner makes them REALLY easy to clean. I still like more open wheels (those 996 twists are sweet)!

Tom R.

Andy,

If you didn't mount your tires,

I recently bought a set of very clean 968 rims with dunlop snows on them (and color center caps). wanna trade rims? the PITA is swapping my snow tires.

whats it worth to swap?

pete944

The D90's are way easier to clean than the white Fuch's that I had on the old 944. Those were a b@#ch!!
I want to eventually get 993 cup wheels but then I'll have to refinish the brake calipers. You ever notice that you can't do just one thing to these cars?
I'm not replacing the stoneguards. The ones that are on there now are so badly cracked that they look like hell. After I get the car painted I'll put new ones on. The P-O-R-S-C-H-E decal won't be replaced. I think it looks nicer without it.

nine-44

Pete, becareful with the hair dryer. I burned the paint on mine, no biggie, I was pulling the sticker to paint the car. Make sure it's not too hot to touch and you should be fine. I just pulled the stickers by hand, once they are warm, they come off pretty easily.

pete944

As long as you keep the hair dryer moving it's ok.

The shape that the paint is in there's no way I could harm it.

AndyK

Pete--You gonna pay $3k for a paint job extroadinaire, like Christian??

Tom--I mounted the tires...old ones were bald. Still, we could swap by me taking your rims, putting my tires on em, and then giving you the empty D90's...if it makes sense. You could PM me so we don't tie up the board with our possible dealings!?