urquattro20Vt

Hey guys-
So I'm pretty sure the '91's (maybe all?) came with black(?) tips, yes? My actual exhaust tip has of course seen more heat than the WG side (guess I should drive harder ha ha) - so is in more need of a refinish.
Not sure how hard it would be to polish both tips? But I'm not a blingy guy so fine with factory finish if it's a big pain the a$$.

But what is the factory finish? Any info/tips appreciated.

Thanks-

Brandon
'91 Turbo

cobalt

Most colors came with black tips although I have seen some colors come with polished. My turbo and other cobalt blue turbos all seemed to have polished tips. No rime or reason on other colors but I have seen it. I couldn't tell you what color black. I assume a high temp paint would be needed. Most are looking dingy by this time.

Megatron-UK

I repainted mine several times. Black first (mine is a late 92 production code), and then the second time I did them silver, which on a black car meant they didn't just get 'lost', and was the better of the two options imo. They lasted a good few years each time I did it. Just a case of cleaning them off properly and keying/priming.

I'm not sure they get quite hot enough to need specialist paint, but I had a couple of tins of BBQ/stove paint each time, which gave a nice satin-like finish.

urquattro20Vt

Did you paint them silver? trying to picture how that would look vs polishing them...
Yeah agree - thinking black could get lost. Polished could be nice if not too much of a PITA

Brandon
'91 Turbo

cobalt

They polish up nicely. Mine were polished not painted silver.

bweSteve

Mine were a dull faded black when I bought the car (20 yrs ago), and I could see some bright stainless poking thru from underneath, so I decided to polish them, and haven't touched them since.

My car is red, so the polished looks awesome, and thats one thing where I really don't care whether it is quote "factory correct" or not,... its the way I like it, and it stays that way.

... although I will add that no PCA National Concours Judge ever said anything about them being Polished,... so maybe I skated on that one.

cobalt

It would only come into question if it were placed in preservation class. If in preparation class they can't discount for lack of originality. Besides they shine just as much as the rest of the car.

bweSteve

I've only ever put my car in preservation. I knew going in I would get deducted for 3 things: the rims, exhaust & being lowered. You may have forgotten back then I was in training to be a National Concours Judge, which I am now (... and at that time I was already about 5 yrs into being one of our local Chesapeake Region PCA Judge). So reading the PCR's was in my nature.

The craziest experience I had at Nationals (I think it was back in 2018), was when the one Judge told me my car had been repainted (his clipboard in hand), I objected & said that it was all original,.... he insisted & started lecturing,... so me being an honest guy (I only do it for the fun), I told him that I had put Ceramic on the paint & that THIS WAS the Preservation Class after all,... and after YEARS of seeing the red paint on my polishing pads, I knew I needed to do something to stop the oxidation & eventual removal of all the paint (cuz I liked to keep it shiny with Carnauba etc),... anyway,... he disqualified my car. When I got the judging notes, it said that I was not allowed to "modify" the paint. Zero points. The NEXT crazy thing that happened at that National PCA Concours, was that the Head Judge came to find Joan & I two days later, and told us that they were going to propose modifications to the PCR to allow for any "rub on" products (which Ceramic is). We had already shrugged it off, but it was nice to hear the apology. Besides, one of my very close friends Manny Alban once told me "Concours is the best parking you can get on the day, for the price of admission, so anything after that is a bonus". We have always just kept it in the "fun" category, and a great place to meet owners of great cars.

cobalt

I recall you saying that. I have judged parade a few times but only preservation class. I judge many local and zone events but preparation class since preservation is only really parade level. I started judging back in the 80's when we had the big events in Orangeburg NY, PCNA headquarters. Many of my friends started judging long before that going back to the days of the Manhattan trophy. Sorry but IMO you got screwed. As far as the tips I wouldn't deduct although if it came down to a tie it might be one of those things I would question and if needed and the owner couldn't come up with an answer I might consider as a tie breaker. I have found judging at Parade that most of the judges don't know this era cars all that well. I had a great time judging in 22 preservation 993/964 but I had to correct my co judges several times about things they were unsure of. Nobody is infallible and I was mistaken regarding 993 jack bag colors. Always learning.

Was this prior to 16? I judged preservation in 16, I read he PCR as I recall the only paint concern was 75% original topside paint. Interestingly my co judge was the head of the Parade concours and said it was not a concern. I do know that somehow the winner of the 15 preservation award got away with more than 75% of the car being painted. You didn't need a paint meter to tell it had been. It is after all the worlds most subjective sport. I got screwed in 16 when I was deducted for dust (pollen) when my car was judged 5 hours sitting in a pollen filled field after the other cars and dinged for things that did not exist. Like dirt on the nuts on the inside of my speedlines which there was neither a way to check or any chance it existed. The best was a deduction of 5 full points due to bad math. **** Happens.

Next time you show your turbo at parade I will volunteer for preservation. You will be judged fairly by me.

Megatron-UK

Yes, imagine them a satin silver finish. It looked good at the time, they're a bit worse for wear now, but have since been removed and replaced by new larger Fabspeed oval tips.

I think I have some images from when I first refitted them. I'll try to find them.

Iirc, they're not actually stainless; the visible part of the tips is a fairly thin surround around the tailpipe itself.

urquattro20Vt

Is there a procedure or method or product you guys recommend to get the paint off and polish them?
I don't necessarily want or need them to be perfectly mirror polished - but nice n clean silver will be good.

Thanks again-

Brandon
'91 Turbo

peterpullin

for a satin finish we use some kind of pad. this produces a perfect finish for inox machine housings used in the industry. so you can simply remove the rest of black paint and give the tips a new finish. no polish as basic needed. we usually use 320 to 600 grid. there is 800 or 1200 too. depends on your need.

cobalt

Sounds like a scotch bright pads We used them to give a brushed effect on railings and things we made back in aprior life.

So this is a very low mile original Turbo SL in my favorite color. I have to assume that some colors came with polished tips as I always thought. I know my tips looked like this when I bought the car.

peterpullin

gere a picture of this product and an example if the result using the 320 grid. raw stainless steel polished for seconds. should do for a semi mate finish.

urquattro20Vt

The silver looks a lot better than black would have

Brandon
'91 Turbo