Couple of Maintainance Questions

[usaf-lt-g]

Hey guys,

So I just replaced all 6 spark plugs (and the tubes and o-rings). Thanks for the help on that one btw! Worked like a champ!

I have a couple of other things that have been bothering me lately...

#1 are the brake calipers. Obviously the S series comes with the Red Painted Calipers with the white Porsche logo on it. It appears that these were powder coated, and then is there a stock "Clear Coat" that's put on them to make them shiny or was that from the previous owner? Reason I ask is because the "shininess" is deffinately cracking off, and it looks like a clear coat glossy finish that coming off on all 4 calipers. Looks crappy in my opinion, and I enjoy "paying attention to detail" :)

So question #1, is there an easy way to "re-paint" or "apply this "clear coat"? If so what and where do I get the paint, and what's the quickest, easiest way to do this?

#2 another "detail" oriented observation I made while crawling around the underside of the car, is that the muffler system looks terrible. Works great, sounds great (the factory Porsche one), but looks terrible. Everything from the tail pipes, exhaust, and even the catalytic converters are all brown and look terrible.

So question #2, should I be looking for a better "aftermarket" quality exhaust system to put on ( I don't want to take away from the already great performance, and I don't want some really loud exhaust either)? Should I even really be concerned with this or am I being too nit-picky :) I bought the car because I love the way it looks, feels, etc... and I really take care of her best I can.

#3 I have some chipping on the front bumper, hood, a couple of other small nicks.

Question #3, what's the best way to repair these to looking brand new ( don't really feel like getting the whole thing re-painted )? I've never really done "paint-touchups" before, and the last time I tried, I thought you just went to the dealer, bought the touch-up kit and just applied the paint to the spot and that was it... So for a "newb" to touching up paint what can I do?

Appreciate it. Thanks!

[MarkD]

Hey guys,

So I just replaced all 6 spark plugs (and the tubes and o-rings). Thanks for the help on that one btw! Worked like a champ!

I have a couple of other things that have been bothering me lately...

#1 are the brake calipers. Obviously the S series comes with the Red Painted Calipers with the white Porsche logo on it. It appears that these were powder coated, and then is there a stock "Clear Coat" that's put on them to make them shiny or was that from the previous owner? Reason I ask is because the "shininess" is deffinately cracking off, and it looks like a clear coat glossy finish that coming off on all 4 calipers. Looks crappy in my opinion, and I enjoy "paying attention to detail" :)

So question #1, is there an easy way to "re-paint" or "apply this "clear coat"? If so what and where do I get the paint, and what's the quickest, easiest way to do this?

#2 another "detail" oriented observation I made while crawling around the underside of the car, is that the muffler system looks terrible. Works great, sounds great (the factory Porsche one), but looks terrible. Everything from the tail pipes, exhaust, and even the catalytic converters are all brown and look terrible.

So question #2, should I be looking for a better "aftermarket" quality exhaust system to put on ( I don't want to take away from the already great performance, and I don't want some really loud exhaust either)? Should I even really be concerned with this or am I being too nit-picky :) I bought the car because I love the way it looks, feels, etc... and I really take care of her best I can.

#3 I have some chipping on the front bumper, hood, a couple of other small nicks.

Question #3, what's the best way to repair these to looking brand new ( don't really feel like getting the whole thing re-painted )? I've never really done "paint-touchups" before, and the last time I tried, I thought you just went to the dealer, bought the touch-up kit and just applied the paint to the spot and that was it... So for a "newb" to touching up paint what can I do?

Appreciate it. Thanks!

1 - This is a common problem. You can repaint using caliper painting kits. It is an odd process involving a brush but it works well. The kits can be ordered or bought many places. Replacement Porsche decals can be sourced via a seller on eBay. Measure yours, there are a couple of sizes available. You then finish with a coat of a high temp clearcoat.

2 - Hmm. It is all stainless steel except some of the hardware. It can get discolored. There is a muffler modification that can be done. It is hard to get good comparisons on a computer but maybe these will help:

Not loud at all but gives it a more agressive sound and is pretty cost effective.

3- Touching up chips properly can be a bit of an art... takes a lot of patience and can be really enjoyable, IMO. I get the impression you might enjoy this kind of work. It's all about filling the chip with color and building it back up to the same exact level as the surrounding finish. Lots of way to skin this cat but if you have many chips it can be quite the project. Takes a very fine brush, matching paint and a little bottle of clearcoat. I like to order paint from paintscratch.com. Levelling it after you build up is the fun part. You can use an agressive polish... I use 2500 grit wet sandpaper but you then have to follow up with a couple of different compounds to remove the sanding haze, then polish/wax.

Hope that helps!

Edited September 22, 2008 by MarkD

[mikefocke]

Painting the Calipers

Link

This link shows someone changing the color of the calipers. You can choose any color you want, the link will give you an idea of what is involved. Key is masking off the areas you don't want sprayed. Including the fender wells, suspension and fenders. Dry cleaning plastic clothes covers work for large areas.

There are on the web somewhere instructions for painting the calipers when removing them from the car.

[usaf-lt-g]

Painting the Calipers

Link

This link shows someone changing the color of the calipers. You can choose any color you want, the link will give you an idea of what is involved. Key is masking off the areas you don't want sprayed. Including the fender wells, suspension and fenders. Dry cleaning plastic clothes covers work for large areas.

There are on the web somewhere instructions for painting the calipers when removing them from the car.

So I suposse I'll need to get a wire brush of some sort, and shave off as much of the clear coat / red paint as much as possible? Again, it looks as though the original calipers are powder coated red, so I'm not exactly sure how much prep I need to do before applying the primer.