To de-amber or not to de-amaber...that is the question - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

urban_legend · 03-06-2009, 03:58 PM

Black 2001 - any comments from the forum on how they have liked the apperance before and after?

crios · 03-06-2009, 04:48 PM

You have to do it...looks so much NICER!!!

I did it all, taillights, headligths and side, and used the silver bulbs.

There is no Amber anywhere!!

ddb · 03-06-2009, 04:52 PM

urban_legend,

I think they made a nice improvement on my white 2000. IMO they make the car look a little younger.

ddb

Quickurt · 03-06-2009, 05:28 PM

Call me old fashioned, well hell, just call me older than dirt!!
I like the amber on the black-on-sand beige, but then again, the 987 has far less amber to begin with.

ddb · 03-06-2009, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quickurt

I like the amber on the black-on-sand beige, but then again, the 987 has far less amber to begin with.

I don't disagree. Your 987 looks great!

jmatta · 03-06-2009, 06:04 PM

No amber here and my car is black, also.

Lil bastard · 03-06-2009, 06:48 PM

I'm keeping the amber on my guards red, if it were black, I might reconsider.

I did swap out the tail lamps for the all-red 550 edition ones though, the tail light was the only place I didn't care for the amber.

jwade · 03-07-2009, 04:31 AM

I had to switch mine out. Looks alot better. By the way lil B, after looking at your pianted bumperettes, I had to get some.

They are being done up right now and should be here early next week. Call me crazy for paying, but I went with Eric at Bumperplugs for the work. Looked at my potential labor prep time spent and materials cost and although maybe a little cheaper, I am a very busy person and he is already set up and does outstanding work.

Select the link highlighted in BOLD below for picts.

RandallNeighbour · 03-07-2009, 06:34 AM

De-ambering is expensive. I'd say do it if you plan to keep the car indefinitely because it takes five years off the look of your car. However, if you're not planning to keep the car for many years as your hobby car, it will not yield much in the way of value upon resale.

My complete de-amber was nearly $1600 with litronics, tail lamps, side markers, and clear bulbs in the side markers and tail lamps. I've yet to do the mod where you take a soldering iron and heat up the amber in the litronics. I just can't take that risk.

Lil bastard · 03-07-2009, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwade

... Looks alot better. By the way lil B, after looking at your pianted bumperettes, I had to get some...

Thanks, didn't know if I'd like them, so I got a used pair from LA Porsche ($30 IIRC) and painted them myself.

Never painted urethane before so I was kinda nervous. My wife's co-worker's dad owns a body shop and talked me through the procedure - sanding, cleaning/degreasing, using flex primer etc. They turned out great with no blemishes at all.

But, I still have the originals so if in 20 yrs. it's more acceptable to have the car in 'correct' trim. Sort of like the Dino guys who put the 'cavallino rampante' (Prancing Horse) emblem on their cars in the 80's (so everyone would know it was a Ferrari), but who are now scrambling to replace them with the correct Dino badge.

I totally understand wanting to farm them out. It was a lot of work and I'm not sure I'd want to do it again. Good luck with them!

@ Randall - I totally agree with you.

vath2001 · 03-07-2009, 11:26 AM

I guess I would de-amber my car to seperate it from my brothers or my neighbors... hold on, they don't have a Boxster.

Not many running around in my area, so my car stands out on its own. If I had extra money to throw around..... changing out the lights would be very low on the list... below new radio and new rims.

schnellman · 03-07-2009, 11:44 AM

As most seem to agree it's a matter of taste. I went with the 550 style tail lights as much to honor our lineage as to update the look.

bkiersz · 03-07-2009, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddb

urban_legend,

I think they made a nice improvement on my white 2000. IMO they make the car look a little younger.

ddb

Ha! You used an old before and after modeling trick! Looking at the lights one says "wow! Totally different!" Upon closer inspection one notices that you also changed the wheels and removed the badge! Like in the before and after platic surgery ads where the after photo includes a new hair style and nicer clothes!

That being said the after does look sweet. I love the wheels!

bkiersz · 03-07-2009, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

De-ambering is expensive. I'd say do it if you plan to keep the car indefinitely because it takes five years off the look of your car. However, if you're not planning to keep the car for many years as your hobby car, it will not yield much in the way of value upon resale.

My complete de-amber was nearly $1600 with litronics, tail lamps, side markers, and clear bulbs in the side markers and tail lamps. I've yet to do the mod where you take a soldering iron and heat up the amber in the litronics. I just can't take that risk.

Where did you get your litronics? Doesn't sound too bad to me. I can't find litronics for less than $2k by themselves, let alone including tails and side markers. I had given up and decided to just get standard clear headlights.

Perfectlap · 03-07-2009, 07:39 PM

I'd put it at the very bottom of my mod list. least bang for the buck mod so far. Most people won't notice and it doesn't improve performance or the driving experience. I'd do better wheels and tires first, GT3 front bumper and skirting next (whole new car at that point), a throatier exhaust, if your shocks are creeping lower I'd do the PSS9 Bilstein next (not cheap). For the interior painted center console to match the exterior and Tequipment shifter with new floor mats makes the interior look wayyyyy better.

The one mod that got away from me was adding the Carrera gauge cluster and well now that I think about the Euro spec 03 rear bumper as well.

crios · 03-07-2009, 11:07 PM

[QUOTE=....I've yet to do the mod where you take a soldering iron and heat up the amber in the litronics. I just can't take that risk.[/QUOTE]

Randall, this mod sounds scary, but it is not, I did myself, so EASY!!! The whole Mod cost me less than $40 and took about 15min!!! Looks so so much nicer.

Directons here:
http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=178&hl=Amber

ddb · 03-08-2009, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkiersz

Ha! You used an old before and after modeling trick! Looking at the lights one says "wow! Totally different!" Upon closer inspection one notices that you also changed the wheels and removed the badge! Like in the before and after platic surgery ads where the after photo includes a new hair style and nicer clothes!

That being said the after does look sweet. I love the wheels!

bkiersz,

Of course you are right. Not only did I change the lights, but also the wheels, the hood crest, the bumperettes, exhaust and I debadged. Not to mention the current pics feature the hardtop.

You just have to use your imagination and focus on the lights!

Thanks for the compliment on the wheels. They are currently my favorite offering from Porsche.

ddb

ddb · 03-08-2009, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crios

Randall, this mod sounds scary, but it is not, I did myself, so EASY!!! The whole Mod cost me less than $40 and took about 15min!!! Looks so so much nicer.

I too removed the orange film. Right out of the box new before sticking them on the car. At first I planned on only using several small plier type tools that I purchased just for the project. I had read where others were successful with this method. It didn't work for me so I had to go to the soldering iron route which worked well. Of course that was over 4 years ago and my hands aren't as steady as they were back then.

BTW, I believe I paid $1200 for my new Litronics as part as group buy not long after I bought my car.

Mike_Yi · 03-08-2009, 04:04 PM

I like the look of the black with the amber. If you are that much not sure about, but have some cash burning a hole in your pocket, I'll give you my PayPal account and you can send it to me.

jmatta · 03-09-2009, 05:34 AM

When I deambered my '02, I didn't bother with the litronics and bought 996 headlights instead, for around $500 (in like new condition). Sold my ambers for $300, so the upgrade was cheap. I don't drive my Box at night that often and couldn't justify the expense.

The amber came out quite easily with the solder iron technique and I appreciate the clear look with black compared to my friend's black '02 with amber.