Boston911fan

Well, not to insult MA Shaw's products, I like to use OEM parts whenever possible. I coulda bought 993TT hollow spoke reps for my VW, but I bought the real thing. Even if I do end up convincing myself that buying his spoiler is financially the wiser choice, how can I convince myself to cut a hole in his $750 spoiler?

Please do not take this the wrong way--I know his spoiler is of very high quality.

briefescape

You do not need convincing about cutting a hole into spoiler you just need to be convinced that your body shop is up for the task .
I know my bodyshop well enough that if I would of chosed to install the third brake light into the spoiler they would of been up to the task .
What I am saying it is important to have good relationship and trust with a body shop , upholestry shop and indy ect. .
I have made friendship with these shops and it works well when I need custom things done right .

Cheers Guy

Boston911fan

Thanks for the encouragement, Guy. Believe it or not, I would actually take the spoiler to my stereo installer. He is a genius when it comes to plastics and fiberglass, and he was given the Top 10 Installers award. We already discussed it, and he would have to make several jigs to get everything perfectly centered, and then he would use a router to make the groove in which the light would be recessed. I'd probably use the light assembly from the basket handle to make it look sort of factory. I trust him fully. He has done work on my VW Beetle, and it's amazing. Plus, you should see his other work. He currently has a Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR who's owner spent over $100k on the installation. Then, I would take it to my friend who owns a VW restoration shop. His work is equally as good. He is doing the painting and mounting of the tail whether or not I embed the light into the spoiler.

Boston911fan

I just thought of another idea. What about using Bumper Plugs to fill the holes of the basket handle? That way it will be easier to replace it for inspections. Or should I just permanently smooth the holes?

jackb911

Just my opinion, but I'd recommend filling the holes. Chances are that the basket handle has left some ugly marks in the paint that will show up when you remove it.

If you don't plan to run the 3rd brake light all the time, how about modifying one that would look OK standing alone, with a magnetic mount? There are also some aftermarket LED motorcycle taillights that could easily be modified to work as a 3rd brake light. You could get a quick disconnect plug at an electronics supply store and it would be a simple proposition to take it on and off.

The more elegant solution IMO would be to have your fiberglass guru imbed a LED 3rd brake light into the RS wing, or fabricate a housing for it and hang it under the wing. Here's a skinny one that would probably work...it's for a C5 Corvette <gasp!>

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1997-...Q5fAccessories

TheOtherEric

IIRC, somebody on the 964 forum found & installed a REALLY thin 3rd brake light up high in his rear window. You'd have to do a search.

BTW, nothing wrong with using Corvette parts. I have VW Golf fog lights and Ford fuel injectors.

Boston911fan

Oh yeah, I never noticed that. My Jetta came with those lights. I can't put a 3rd brake light in my rear window because it's a convertible, so you won't see it if the roof's down.


You're a genius. You're right about the marks. Didn't think about that.

TheOtherEric

Lol, no my idea was go find the guy who did that, get his thin LED strip, and install that into the RS spoiler. IIRC, it was thinner than the OEM porsche light strip.

Boston911fan

Well, I am going to place my order soon for the RS parts, since it takes a month for them to come from Germany, and I want it done by March. Now that I have had some time to think about things, I am having second thoughts on the RS spoiler. Here are my two options as of now for my cabriolet:

1. RS splitters and RS spoiler
2. RS splitters ONLY

I'd love to hear your opinions. Thanks!

Mark in Baltimore

Splitters and spoilers. The aero imbalance notwithstanding (irrelevant for a street car), having an RS tail-only car will look a tad imbalanced to the eye, IMO.

I thought you had these under consideration in the first place??

TAI2

Splitters and spoilers. I currently have just the splitters and really feel the need to complete the look. I'm going with MA Shaw and will have a 3rd brake light strip installed in the spoiler. I will start the search for the thinest strip shortly.

Boston911fan

I thought I did, too. I should stop second guessing myself. But I was thinking of just doing the splitters without the spoiler, but today I feel like doing both (that could change again). I told TheOtherEric that I decided that I should just proceed to buying the spoiler so I can get it out of my system. Otherwise, I'll always agonize over whether I should have done it. If I get sick of the tail, I could always sell it on Rennlist.

Keep me posted on what 3rd brake light you find!

TheOtherEric

My vote still goes to Aerokit/Techart front splitters and rocker panels, with no wing.

TheOtherEric

p.s. here's a pic of a car with just RS splitters and no rockers or wing. Just food for thought. More pics here.

murfysflaw

My $0.02... the front splitters w/o the side skirts and/or wing look odd. Just doesn't balance out.

Conversely, I don't think the wing w/o the splitters or side skirts looks bad at all. Although, in the end, I prefer the front splitter + wing together (don't care for the side skirts really).