LCSWCNA

Good Evening,

New Porsche owner here. 2007 manual S model 997.1 with 90K on the clock. Looking for general advice but more specifically in regards to detailing/maintaining the black paint. In addition, any advice on headlight restoration kits as they are slightly cloudy but not terribly so.

Thanks!

motown12

Congrats on the sweet new ride and welcome! I'm new myself but if you look under Forums>Performance&Competition Discussion Areas>Concours&Car care is where you will find the forum specific to detailing and care care, I think you should be able to find your answers there. Good luck!

TheBruce

Welcome! Car looks great.

As for tips on black paint, I cant help you there, except to say good luck :-)

As for the headlights and foglights, yea those were the first thing I wanted to clean up on my car (after the center console and AC switches). As long as they aren't crazed they will polish out nicely with your typical 3M headlight restoration kit. However you MUST take them out before polishing. The front control module is known to be finicky and there are many reports of it shorting out from people polishing the lights or bumper. Taking both out is easy and simplifies polishing as well. There is a long allen wrench looking thing in your frunk kit that you use to unlock the headlights. And in your leather manual should be a plastic key car thats used to pop the foglights out.

The kits that have a drill adapter are faster. Once you polish them I would get them wrapped with clear bra.

Good luck.

sandwedge

I'll add to the welcome and congratulations. Car looks great, especially with 90K miles on it. I'll also add to Bruce's good luck with black paint. I'm right there with you since I love a black 911 with well cared for paint. You can always get it there (or almost always) but the trick is obviously to maintain it that way.

Someone made a great point here not long ago which may be obvious to some but not something I had thought about. Use different buckets of water and rags/brushes/sponges whatever for the body and the wheels. The brake dust on the wheels is nothing more than tiny particles of metal and using the same water and sponges for body and wheels you're basically rubbing these small metal particles into the car's paint. May be a minor issue on any color but black but I took his advice and about 6 months later I'm definitely seeing less swirls.

sandwedge

As for the headlight restoration, do you have a Sam's Club nearby? Their tire shop in the Sam's Club I go to advertise about this very issue right at the entrance and even have a before and after display for all to see. I know....taking your 997 to Sam's for service or repair seems a bit odd but it's just headlights and I'm sure the process/method is the same for a Porsche as it is for any other brand.

ilovemaui

I love black cars and I've owned a few. My recommendation is to pick up an Air Force Master Blaster with a 30 foot hose for drying the car.


I never put a dry cloth on my black cars. Even a nice micro cloth can scratch the paint and leave swirl marks. I also recommend a good polish and keep the clean car under a cover when it's not being driven. Black looks fantastic when clean but within minutes of cleaning every speck of dust is visible. I also never drive my black cars in the rain which is a challange in the Pacific Moist West. If you purchase an air dryer make sure the nozzle is firmly attached before use. I've had them fly off at 100 mph and hit the car.

Petza914

Congrats on the new ride.

You won't believe this but Turtle Wax's Jet Black kit works amazingly well - yes, Turtle Wax.

I've tried all kinds of waxes polishes, coatings, etc and now on my 2 black cars use only this setup. It's a 3-step process - clay bar, polish, then wax, and I add a 4th step after the wax and add a coat of Opti-Seal. The unique thing about the products in this kit is that they're all black in color, so they seem to hide smaller imperfections better than non-black products do. Wear gloves.

Steph1

The only way I found to diminish the chances of swirls, is to keep the car well waxed, and never dry it with a sham or rag or anything. When well waxed, a car paint will almost dry itself when using a hose running water without a gun... you can see the sheet of water pulling off.

As for the few little left over droplets, a quick ride will chase them away... my brakes don't appreciate sitting to dry after a wash anyway. When I do let 'em sit to dry, they make sure to let me know immediately with a major screeetch when I back out of my garage on the following ride.

Good luck and congrats.👍

ilovemaui

Good point. You can use the sprayer to get it wet before washing, but rinse without the sprayer and the water will sheetflow off the car rather than bead up.

qikqbn

As much as I love to think that I can detail, when it comes to my black Cayman I let the professionals do it right. I am great at my everyday job , but I also realize where I am just ok at other things I do not do every day. I would recommend you pay a professional the $$$ and you will get back a car that looks like it has fresh paint and just came off the showroom floor. Black cars especially. Do a color correction once a year with a nice detail/claybar/wax 6 months later. This will keep it looking brand new.

For the headlights... I +1 the recommendations to use headlight cleaner kits and immediately put clear bra film on them. That's your best bet to avoid future degradation. Congrats on the new ride! Black is a classy color , but a p.i.t.a to keep clean!!

Same recommendation for leather interior... If you have torn/scratched/wrinkled leather seats... Get a pro to fill in those cracks and custom paint match. It will look better and last longer than if you do it yourself.. search threads for replacing the climate controls... that goes a long way to feeling like you have a fresh new car!

mujeriega

I like detailing my car myself and with the advances in car detailing products over the last 20 years, I feel like I can do a pretty professional job with some decent products, research and youtube videos.

I don't have a black car but what has worked for me and have no problem recommending are:
- Chemical Guys: (Honeydew Snow Foam, Butter Wet Wax, Diablo Wheel Gel)
- Sealant: Jescar Powerlock Plus
- Detail Spray / Drying Aid: Wolfgang Uber Rinse
- Mechanical Decon: Nanoskin Clay Sponge
- Microfiber Towels & Wash Mitts/Sponges: The Rag Company
- DA Polisher: ShineMaster / MaxShine M15
- Polish: Meguiar's M205

There are several products that I have tried and wouldn't really recommend. Some things I am thinking of trying are:
- Combo Leather cleaner/restore/protect spray or lotion. Have a separate cleaner and conditioner and don't really see the need on newer coated leather seats
- Collinite 845 wax. Like the Butter Wet Wax and ease of application but am wondering if there is something to the Jescar / Collinite combo

RiccardoB

Which polisher machine do you use?

mk85911

I have owned a black 911 for 34 years, and early on I washed it just about every day. Eventually, I learned that if I stood far enough away, about six feet, it didn't have to be perfectly clean to look great. I'm serious. Many times I hose the car off , and then drive away and let the air dry it off. Mike

mujeriega

I use the ShineMaster / MaxShine M15. Here it is on Amazon:
I'm not pretending to be a pro detailer or anything but after a good amount of research, found this is a good value for how I intended to use it (personal cars and close family) and am happy with the results. I've totally transformed the appearance of a 2001 Lexus LS and 2009 Lexus ES which looked aged but now look as good as new. Also has worked well as the last step for the headlights on my 997.2 and my wife's 2016 Toyota Sienna.

I'm sure a top end polisher (i.e. Rupes) could be smoother or not as loud but doubt there's much difference in results and definitely not for the value.

C4SDayton

I use separate buckets for car and wheels. Car bucket gets debris strainer in bottom. Wash top and hoods only front to back motion and sides only up and down strokes. That helps minimize seeing microscratches. I buy microfiber towels in bulk at Costco and use a new damp towel to dry car, then use that towel on other cars and when they aren't perfect for drying vehicles anymore, I get several uses for 1 towel to get brake dust off wheels when drying wheels. No chemicals to clean wheels, 10 minutes with a microfiber cloth works for me.