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Thank you, it appears the foam piece is missing on my car, as well as the cover for the spare wheel... Need to order that.
I worked with the 3M kit on the lights in the meantime though.
Pulled the right light out as it was not sitting properly for some reason. Interestingly there is a connector that sits at the back of the light that is not connected to the car (there is no harness on car side), not sure what is it for as it seems everything works fine...
So I went away with my drill on the left light still on the car:
I actually scratch a bit the paint so I did the right one out of the car.
Final results are below, really happy with that, it totally transforms the car:
Nice looking 996 and well done on cleaning the headlights, looks much better. If you haven't make sure you spray a sealant, otherwise they will yellow quickly all over again.
So last week-end I spent some time to take care of the Porsche : removing an horrible subwoofer that was lying on the rear seats, removing the K&N intake, and a good wash!
I found on Ebay a complete intake assembly, out of a 2001 car with allegedly only 30,000 miles on it, for a ridiculously low price and it even came with the MAF on, so I will have one spare.
Everything looks very fresh so I just had to clean a bit the plastics and put a new filter in for good measure, and here we go!
Before:
During:
Then I realized the M6 Bolt to fix the intake was missing: the person who put the K&N in used a much shorter screw that is not long enough...
So a quick trip to Home Depot to grab a M6x35 bolts later, and it was done:
Looks much better to me know...
But I will be honest, I do miss the noise, so I might consider a resonator delete at a later stage, since there is basically no downside to it, just to get a more exciting sound from the back
The K&N is in good shape btw, so if someone is interested, don't hesitate to PM me, I will probably put it on FB anytime soon.
Then, next topic was the subwoofer. I am not sure what was the intention of the previous owner but there was this crap sitting on the back seat behind the driver, fully plugged and functional but not fixed anywhere so it was flying around basically all the time...
So I disconnected everything (and yes that is the rubber of my clutch pedal...):
And here is the beast, I guess I am going to try to sell it too...
I did not have much time so could not clean the wiring yet, I just capped the exposed wire and will come back to it at a later stage as anyway the previous owner put a 2 DIN in the lower center console, which obviously does not fit properly so I need to clean the whole thing out.
Btw I have the Hi-Fi option on my car but the sound is really bad, despite all the speakers seemingly working properly, is that normal?
Finally I had to thoroughly clean the car, with my usual routine of Ammo products, except for the leather for which I use Colourlock products.
All the plastics and vinyl had a white-ish sheen on them, I guess due to some cheap cleaning products applied a long time ago, but everything came back very well, and I am actually very satisfied of the interior, which looks very good... So good that I forgot to take any picture so it will come later.
As far as the exterior is concerned, the car looks very good, as long as you don't come too close to notice the various dings and scratches
But overall quite satisfied:
I also put new tires at the four corners, chose to go with Yokohama Advan Apex V601 as I learned to trust Yokohama tires in the past and have never been disappointed. Actually wanted AD08R but they were not available shortly so I decided to try those, let's see...
And so I went the the annual picnic of the local PCA chapter, it was really nice, I am eager to attend the autumn driving events that look really fun!
Imho, yes the hifi system sounds like crap. I tossed it and put a continental radio, kenwood amp in the stock location and some jl adio speakers. Its decent but looses some low tones. I just hit the gas peddle if i want to hear better music.
If sub woofers are integrated correctly, they fill in all the empty spaces. But most of the time the system doesn't have the adjustability to do it. Or the user just wants something other than really nice clean sound. I've always had really nice sound in my cars and I've spent a bunch of money doing it. This is the first car I've had where I can just listen to the machine.
Here is a picture of the foam insert in the spare wheel of my car, to fill in the blank from post 60..
So as I mentioned above, the previous owner fitted a 2 DIN stereo in the lower part of the center stack, which obviously does not fit.
So I bought the metra kit to relocate everything properly, and decided to tackle that yesterday...
However what I found behind the stereo is like a horror movie: miles of cables, ****ty welding everywhere, sometimes exposed, sometimes barely held together by loose ****ty tape...
Interesting... Is that acceptable somewhere in the known universe? There was a big fuse attached here...
Look at all this junk...
So at this point I basically blew a fuse myself here and decided to clean up everything to come back to OEM... And what was supposed to be a quick job led me to tear out the whole centre console and more...
There were wire for GPS, for a microphone, for the a blackberry charger going to the armrest (Haven't seen those in ages!), for the boom box going to the back, and other stuff I have not identified yet...
Then at some point I reached to the frunk and I realized that:
- the amp is not there (I have the M490 option)
- the corresponding wires in the loom are just cut and capped
... No wonder why the sound was crappy...
So guys, at this point I am wondering what to do...
- Should I source an OEM amp, knowing that I am missing the connectors in the cut OEM loom, so I am not sure I can find them, and I am also missing the brackets...
- Or should I buy some aftermarket amp?
I would like something relatively simple as I don't enjoy electricity jobs, and above all I want something clean
If it were me I would make an appointment with a professional install shop. I'm just saying, that is one rat's nest of wiring and you will probably never figure it out. Alternatively, don't listen to the radio and roll down the windows. Nothing like the sounds of that flat six!
If it were me I would make an appointment with a professional install shop. I'm just saying, that is one rat's nest of wiring and you will probably never figure it out. Alternatively, don't listen to the radio and roll down the windows. Nothing like the sounds of that flat six!
But actually I already pulled of most of the junk and relocated the loom in the proper place, I still need to deal a few wires that go under the dash, but I am back with something workable in the proper place of the dashboard (albeit a bit shorter )
The real question is really if I should put an aftermarket amp or look for an OEM M490. I have read here and there that it is difficult on those cars to go aftermarket but I think those comments were mainly intended to the Bose system, which I don't have.
I am not looking for high end quality, I just want to drive the OEM speakers and have a correct sound. As we know the best sound in this car comes from the back end
I would go with a continental radio from Bergvill and a small kenwood or similar amp. There r some good direct fit options and/or adaptors for speakers. Imho the factory stuff is aweful. I have a factor amp and head unit ill sell if u really want an oem look.my center stack...bergvill has the porsche stickers that go over the continental logo.
17659919[/url]]I would go with a continental radio from Bergvill and a small kenwood or similar amp. There r some good direct fit options and/or adaptors for speakers. Imho the factory stuff is aweful. I have a factor amp and head unit ill sell if u really want an oem look.my center stack...bergvill has the porsche stickers that go over the continental logo.
That looks nice. I like the cup holders. Is that custom?
That looks nice. I like the cup holders. Is that custom?
Came with the car. They work for a can but thats about it. I think pelican sells them.
my car came with this arrangent. Im not sure what u have to do to move the items around but obviously it can be done. I did have to customize a bezel for the hvac controler.
Well, I decided to clean up everything, and re-assemble without any stereo for the moment.
I made up my mind and will buy a 5ch amplifier, stick with the OEM speakers and put a 2DIN Android auto unit... I just need to chose what now...
So I had to gut the interior as some wires were running below the console and some in the door jams...
And here it the sum of the **** removed from the car...
Anyway, nice and clean now
... Just waiting for me to put the new stereo in.
I am going to have to rewire the loom to put the new amp, so I will wait for winter to do that as the car is not going to leave the garage for a few months so I will have plenty of time to manage it.