Originally Posted by JTT

You're going to love it! I put one in my new garage when I built it a few years back. Best EVER. Warm, dry and cool in summer...brilliant!

Originally Posted by az968gpw

Was in the garage today working on my car and it was quite pleasant. Back to working in a t-shirt rather than a sweatshirt and warm cap.

Originally Posted by pauldvazquez

Uh...apparently I was pretty challenged just doing the project, much less taking pictures and creating videos of the project. A few takeaways from the project:

I used the Mantra kit as supplied by Crutchfield. I am pretty happy with the trim kit. The instructions could have been a little better, but all in all were pretty thorough.

I opted for the wiring kit. The wiring kit worked well. I did not connect the brake switch wire to the brake switch. I used a brake bypass kit that negates the need to have to have the brake on to perform certain functions of the head unit. Do a brake wire bypass search on Amazon, they have several.

The upholstered side trim on each side of the center stack is removed by pulling the forward ends loose out, away from their clips, then sliding it rearward, toward you. I forgot that minor detail, something I should have known about with all the different write ups and videos I had seen and read.

I decided to remove the plastic lower center stack frame, which made it much easier to route the HVAC control wiring into the lowest opening. It only required removing 4 screws to do that. The only down side I can see with doing this is the reveal line between the upper and lower center stacks is a bit wider than it was before I did the work. I might take the side trims off and see if I can raise the lower center stack by shimming it up to take out any slop in the screw slots on the frame.

The portion of the wiring route between the rear camera location and the head unit is somewhat challenging. There is very thick and relatively firm firm foam rubber insulation behind all the interior trim panels. I ended up removing all the rear deck panels, the passenger side, interior rear quarter panel trim and the section of foam insulation at the rear quarter panel and the door threshold, as well as the passenger footwell under dash panel. As I wrote originally, I was a little sore the next day from the contortions required to do that work. I used a 16” long 3/8” drill bit to create a space for the wiring to pass by removing the tail light, and the grommet the tail light wiring passes through, then drilled through the main wiring grommet and through the foam insulation. You must be careful here. You do not want to damage that wire bundle. My sunroof drain also passed through near that location. I did not know about the sunroof drain until after I had pushed the drill bit through. Luckily, I missed it by a 1/2” or so. I used a 3’ long HVAC zip tie that I had in my collection of stuff to push through the grommet and foam, then taped the wiring to it and pulled it through the grommet and the foam.

One snafu that cost an hour or so of delay was the HVAC unit would not slide completely into the lower space. It would get within around 3/8” of being flush, but would not go further. After much head scratching and measuring I finally determined that the ~1/8” ridges on the top, rear sides, about 2” long, needed to be ground down slightly. Once I did that, the unit fit in the space perfectly.

The microphone for the phone was just clipped to the top of the A pillar trim. I am not really sold on that location, but it probably is the ideal location, acoustically. I watched one video where one of the dummy switch fillers on the drivers side of the console was drilled to fit the diameter of the microphone perfectly. That installation looked ridiculously good. I may reroute my microphone to near that location and temporarily mount it test out the performance. If it performs at least close to the A-pillar location, I think I will do the permanent mount in the console.

I have not received the camera yet. Ordered straight from China, right before the Lunar New Year celebration started. Also right before the coronavirus outbreak started...so it might be awhile before I receive that. It will mount utilizing one of the license plate light lens locations. A combination light/camera assembly is made to fit the license plate light opening, maintaining the light and providing the mount for the camera. I will update the project when I receive the camera....some day.

Hopefully this makes sense. Feel free to ask questions, I would be happy to respond.

Originally Posted by Mike Mullins

Originally Posted by pesuazo

I did not do anything today...just admired it in the garage....with all its rock chips in the front bumper and windshield looks sandblasted....and I still love my car.

Then pondered for a bit, and thought about the list of things I will do to it in the spring: Remove front bumber cover, clean radiators, put in the $5 screens on the scoops(home depot) , change sparkplugs and oil tubes, may be clean the engine from all the oil and grime.....and then continue driving it......

Originally Posted by az968gpw

Replaced my gas cap, the broken lanyard had bugged me for years. When you order the replacement cap from Porsche the kit doesn't include the little plastic push pin needed to connect the lanyard to the car so I had to have the dealer send one to me. Now nicer than dealing with a loose cap.

Originally Posted by sgt1372

Looked all over the car; no wheel lock key to be found. Of course, prior owner said he didn't have it either. He owned car for several years and the tires on the car are relatively new. So, that really doesn't compute but I don't see why he'd lie about it if he had it. Whatever . . .

Anyway, just going to order a replacement key from the dealer, assuming they can identify which key needs to be purchased. I'm planning to buy a new OEM set of wheels for the car which will probably require new lugs because I'm switching for aftermarket 19s to stock 18s. Would rather buy new OEM lugs to match the new OEM wheels when the time comes.