Well, it is about that time of the year that the Orient Express gets its annual major cleaning. This means it goes up on jack stands and gets semi-disassembled, to get in the nooks & crannies to get checked out, updated, repaired, etc.

I recommend that all Porsche owners do this to their cars, as this way you can make sure that any potential trouble spots are fixed before they really become a problem. My car has 63K miles on it now, so it is at a critical time in its life where things can go wrong if not taken care of promptly. I am happy to say that all-in-all the car is in very good shape.

This year, I found that the rear tires needed replacement. Usually I get about 23-24K out of a rear set, but this time I am replacing them at 17K. The culprit is that after I had installed the ROW030 sport suspension, I had the rear end aligned to european specs which call for an aggressive negative camber setting. The result was that the insides of the tires were worn down to the cord, while the rest of the tire still had 5-8K of tread on it. While the handling of the car with this aggressive setting was great, this is not a track car, and getting the full life of these tires which cost $350 each was more important, so I had the rear realigned to a neutral camber setting which is more in line with the US stock setting. I hope that this set will last a few miles more.



BTW, these tires are Michelin Pilot Sport N1 tires, and I highly recommend them for great handling, and a decent ride. The fronts have 40K miles on them and still have another 10-15K left.

When I was removing the tires, I noticed that the right rear rim had a slight deformation on the inner flange. I had must have run over something last year which bent the rim a little. I had the rim straightened when I had the tires replaced. For readers in the Silicon Valley area, I have to recommend Wheel Techniques in Santa Clara for rim repair and tire mounting. These guys really know their stuff, and are very reasonable for repair work. They had the rim repaired and back in 2 days.

The bottom, rear and engine have not had a good cleaning for over a year, and had gotten pretty grungy. The car has been driven in the rain twice in that time (not on purpose, mind you), and has had a 6K road trip on it in that time. A good spraying of degreaser, followed by a pressure washing , and then hand drying and detailing brought the bottom and engine back to their natural state.

Some metal polish to the mufflers, cats and headers can work wonders!



After the bottom, engine, suspension, brakes and rims were cleaned and polished, it was on the the body.

Again it has been a year since the body was completely cleaned, rock chips fixed, etc. The body got a good once over with a clay bar, then a polish to smooth out the micro-scratches, and then a fresh coat of Rejex. The rims also got a coat of rejex, but first I cleaned them with Simple Green, then a once over with 3M General Purpose Adhesive Remover to clean off road tars and oils, then the Rejex. I also give the brake calipers a coat of Rejex.

The body came out pretty good. Can you see my Jack Russell Terrier in the picture below?



When I had the rear of the car apart, I put on my latest mod, new exhaust tips. I have been wanting a pair of the "double bubble" tips forever, but have been too cheap to get a new pair. I kept hoping that some used ones would show up on ebay or here, but no luck. Well, my sweet wife liked the look of them too, and went out and bought me a pair as a surprise. She really knows how to please me!



So now the only thing left to tackle is the interior. Thanks to President Bush and the Tax rebate, I have been able to go out and get just what I have been wanting for the interior. Can you say Exclusive Option XNN?



Several Graphite Grey cows gave their all for what is in these boxes. Stay tuned next week for their unveiling!

 

Very nice pics and descriptions. I've been using rejex for awhile now and absolutely love it, especially for wheels and calipers. I only wish the underside of my car was as clean as yours. It would take me a little more than some metal polish and degreaser to get it that clean. Good job.

 

Very nice. I don't know if i have the courage to take off the bumpers.

I didn't qualify for the stimulus check....I want to buy some goodies, too!

 

Orient, just a question as you had the rear bumper cover off. One of my bumper pads is loose. How do I go about tightening it? MyPcar is an 03 C2 Cab.
What is the proceedure for removing the cover if necessary?

Your car looks terrific and it sets the standard really high for the rest of us.

 

Looks amazing!

 

Orient, you are the most **** retentive person I have ever met, and I mean that as a complement. Your car is beautiful. Cleaner than it arrived to the dealer I'm sure (no cosmoline)
AA

 

I assume you mean one of the bumperettes on either side of the license plate. Those pieces are held on with a plastic clip ring from the back side of the bumper cover.



Because the cover is just snapped in there can be some slop in how tight the cover sits on the bumper cover. You can sung the slop up by potting the cover clips with silicone caulk on the backside of the bumper cover.

BTW: This is a "before" picture of the inside of my bumper cover!

 

OE - I will never understand your obsession with cleaning a car to a level of concours but it is always impressive.

 

As the former Zone 7 PCA Concours guy, it's like being the Pope, you have a certain standard to uphold....

 

Nice job as always!

 

Very impressive. Let me know if you ever need a donor car to practice on.

I'll even drive it out to the Bay Area for that kind of treatment.

 

you really do a spectacular job making her pretty. That rear (bumper off) shot is rediculous - I must have stared at it for minutes.

I hate to admit it but I have not heard of Rejex... I am a huge Zaino fan. Please enlighten me....

Also, are the tips OEM?

 

The exhaust tips are Porsche Tequipment parts. I believe that they were also on the order sheet for 2003 and later.

Rejex is a polymer surface coating that was originally developed for the military. It has been available to general aviation and commercial transportation for years, and only recently specifically marketed to the consumer automotive market. If you put it on the hull of your boat, you can pick up as much as 5 kts. on the top end.

It is a little complicated to apply, it has to be done in conditions under 85 degrees F, and must be allowed to cure out of direct sunlight for 8-12 hours, but boy does it work.

I put it on the windshield and glass as well as the body, and wheels. Bugs that spat on the windshield don't generally stick, and those that do, wipe off with a wet rag. Brake dust does not stick, except for a fine coating that stays on with the static charge that builds up on the car. Everything else does not stick or comes off with a wet rag. The shine and depth is as good or better than the finest organic waxes, but it will last for up to a year.

 

Your cleaning process is impressive - absolutely meticulous.

Bob

 

Orient, thanks, that's exactly what I meant. Just one more question, how do the covers come off?