Academictech

My 12 year old son likes to read the 993 and DIY Rennlist forums and whenever a DIY comes up that he's sure he can handle; he usually can't wait until Saturday morning to come around.

After the right front headlight lens was damaged by some flying road debris we ordered new L and R ones from Sunset and he logged on here to find installation instructions before installing them. He was disappointed that it took only 10 minutes per side, he had already removed both the night before and cleaned the housings.

Having about 4 hours to kill before his hockey practice, he mentioned in his search for the headlight DIY that he read about an easy fix to get rid of the surface rust on the rotor hubs. The rust really shows through with those 996 TT Rims.

Out came the jack, car supports, sand paper, wire wheel, masks, eye protection and gloves. The rust removal part of the project carried over until after hockey practice as it took about an hour per hub...despite the 17' ceilings in the garage we don't have a car lift.....yet .









Stopped in at Autoparts on the way back from practice to pick up some high temp grey paint to give the hubs that factory look but when he spotted the clear ceramic based paint he thought that would look better, so we gave it a try. Not sure if the temperature rating will be sufficient to keep the clear paint on but he's right, it does look good. We'll see over time it keeps the rust at bay.

http://www.paintdocs.com/webmsds/web...pe=MSDS&lang=2

CorrdoBrit

Better double his allowance this month. Great job and what a transformation.

FisterD

Sounds like a great kid! I love the new look...much better!

helmet993

Did you coat the hats with something after you cleaned them up so nicely? They look great, but will rust again if not coated with something?

Mark in Baltimore

Nice DIY, but even cooler that your 12 year old boy is reading Rennlist and has the wherewithal to perform the DIY. I predict that he will be very successful.

CalvinC4S

Very nice!

He will be sad when he looks at it in a week though, may want to put a gray primer on it.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Duplicolor (with ceramic) is good to 500 deg F (intermittently) so it may not hold up as well as other products better suited for high-temp conditions. POR-20 is good to 1400 deg F, and both Krylon & Rustoleum make 1200 deg F paints that will do better for these applications.

Sure looks nice and your son is to be commended for all that work,...

Academictech

Thanks guys, he's a great kid and loves all things mechanical; started when he was barely old enough to snap together two pieces of lego..but only if he could build things that moved.

We did finish with Dupli-Color Clear High Temp Ceramic Based paint (I referenced the MSDS above).

We may have to recoat with a higher temp product since the Dupli-Color is good only to 500 deg F.

Thanks for the alternate product suggestions Steve, we'll watch for coating wear and update.

Meatball964

I'm in the process of the same project. No little guy to help me though. Changing out the front rotors so no prep work other than scuffing. Using a flat aluminum paint good to 1300 deg.F.
I'm about to paint the brake dust shields using a paint rated 500 deg.F can i get away with this rating ? Sorry to hijack...

Nurburger

Bart - good job getting the kid trained up early...!

Regarding the rotor rust, I really like the electroless nickel plating method:

CalvinC4S

Wow Nick that's awesome, do you plate the whole rotor as one part, then let the pads cut there area?
Any photos of what it looks like after some use?

Academictech

Those are some serious nice rotors there Nick. It doesn't surprise me that you'd have something like that given your penchant for all things great when it comes to wheels. I've used a nickel plating service (not sure if they're electo-less though) in the past for the stock tips and would definitely consider having new rotors plated once the current ones need to be replaced.

P-daddy

Wow very nicely done. I will have a talk with my 11 y/o daughter today and introduce RL to her

EMBPilot

wanted to share my rusty rotor story, figured id add to this thread...
I used POR-20 high temp paint. its good to 1400 degrees. unfortunately you need to wait 24 hours between coats. i met them in the middle and waited 18 hours before the second coat.

put car on stands (first time!)
removed wheels with new to me plastic lug remover
wire wheeled the rotor hats and sanded the hats after.
cleaned hats with mineral spirits
painted with small foam pad, applied 2 coats.

between paint coats I :
removed and cleaned under body panels
installed DDM 4500 35w HID Fog lights
new front LED position lights (again) to better match HID headlights
cleaned wheel drums & wheel wells
removed fabspeed air box & installed factory air box

installed wheels and wow what a difference. i did not paint the faces of the rotor.

i WAS very tempted to sand and use POR-20 to paint the back part of the muffler that you can see from the wheel well... i think i might do that in the future next time i remove the wheels...

Flying Finn

Awesome to hear! Especially that he had his own idea about the paint finish, especially since it turned out to be better!

I have some minor surface rust on my rotor, when I finally get to my suspension overhaul (monoball arms), I think I'll try and inspire my 10 year old to do this.