Making progress but a long way to go.


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I'll be honest, I didn't even notice that you converted to a round headlight until I looked at it a third time (went to the start of the thread to catch up). I'm very curious to see how it ends up.

You mentioned earlier in the thread about 'learning a lot about painting plastic', I'm about to do that, any tips?

Biggest tip I can give is if you have the opportunity use a practice piece of the same material. I ran into different reactions to the paint and the prep wipes.

Makes sense, thanks! Did you end up with a good combo of prep and paint brands/types that you could share?

Simple alcohol and water worked best for me on the prep after cleaning the area a couple times. As far as paint goes my first try was rust oleum for practice. Had the worst reactions, ended up using an automotive paint but still going to redo it now that I have a spray gun and better paint possibilities.

People have been doing great things with the boxster and these two were my inspiration to try something i have never done before.

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I have zero automotive training or skill. Just want to see what i could do. It is almost time to for primer so thought i would share the progress thus far.

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First time painting with a gun vs spray cans. Not professional but I like what i have accomplished.

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Got my new to me wheels figured out. The lips or not great but the price was right lol

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Mostly painted, still have the bonnet to do then put it all back together. Nothing is bolted in on this picture i just wanted to see it all together, even dirty lol. Paint is a 5 foot job right now, I am hoping when I cut and buff it will look decent. I have learned a bit during this project and have years before i make amateur level.


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Cut and buff is not an easy task to get right. 5 foot paint job I have learned to like because i have hit my limit on trying to make it better. Ended up shooting another coat of clear to get it back to poor from horrible. I have to finish correcting my mistakes on the bonnet then put it back together. Final assembly hopefully next week along with new to me wheels.

I'm not sure I've ever painted anything that I was totally satisfied with. I really like that color- what is it?

I appreciate knowing I am not the only one but this thing is bad. The paint is listed below, saw it used on dipyourcar and fell in love with it.

Kp pigments zbr hypershift.

Amazing work man!

I appreciate it. It’s far from show quality but it has been fun bringing an idea to life.

I will Be the first to admit, my measurements were completely off. I understand now why you should have your wheels in the sizes you want to build out to instead of widening the car and trying to make wheels fit. Rebuilding 3 piece wheels however turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. Next summer I am going to have to go back and change quite a few things but right now I am happy with the direction. Hoping to have it in a drivable state before I hack it up again, lol.




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Getting my rear wheels balanced has proved to be more difficult than i thought it would be. Tried a few shops and none could get it done because the 18x13 won't fit their balancer. Going to work on moving the radiators forward up front for wheel clearance there until i find a place to do the rears.

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The fitment looks great! Once you have the wheels dialed in I'm sure it will feel like it's all coming together more. Keep the update coming!

Thanks, but the fitment is where it is. I made the fender wider than I wanted in the rear. My own fault, I didn’t have the wheels when I was doing them so it was kind of a guess. To anyone wanting to widen the front you can use a metric 8 rod coupler to put on the stud and push the radiator bracket outward. Gave me the clearance I needed. Now I have to figure out fender liner modifications to fit because I don’t think I want to drive without them. I think this week I am going to put it all together and see the finished work before tackling the liners.

Question if anyone wants to give input. My rear end is as good as I can get right now. I will likely redo it next summer but wondering what I should do with the gaps between taillights. I thought about doing this

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But I don’t have the skill to create that. So I am thinking mesh to fill the empty spots or maybe just leave it empty. Thoughts? My car

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I have spent a bit of time trying to make the front fender liners fit. This is not going so well. I am still working on it, then i need to figure out the rear. While working on the front i have noticed my tires stick out about 2 inches pass the bumper on the front but are inside the wheel well. I am debating on adding a piece to cover these two inches.

my car
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similar pic i found
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So I finally got the headlights and turn signals wired. Not sure why but passenger is not working. Will have to dive into that another day. I added a piece to the bumper for where the front tires stick out. Not sure how I feel about it, don’t think I will keep it and just let tires stick out.


Accidentally deleted image. Not sure how to fix.

]Before I added the extension by the wheels. Not sure what I did but deleted image. Will try to fix later

When I was building this project I could never get the rear bumper right. I ended up chopping off the bottom half because it made it look more crocked. Today I finally made a piece to finish it up in a style I like once I figure out how to attach it. Now to get the headlights adjusted properly and then a test drive when I get time. Still have to make fender liners, first two attempts were trash.


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Not done but close.



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Quick test drive today. I thought I had it fixed but still rubbing up front. I did however get the rear fender liners done. Not factory looking but will do the job well enough.

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I feel like the rear is missing something. Toying around with this idea, would appreciate thoughts.

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I think I got the rubbing figured out. Only more test drives will tell the tale. One mistake I made is I never got a reference line for the stock headlights and now I am trying to adjust these with no firm lineup point. A few more test drives and rewire front turn signals and she will be ready for the big test. Interstate travel to make sure nothing flies off LOL

Got a short drive in tonight to test my headlights. Drivers side needs to come up a bit but not to far off. Got up to 60 tonight and everything is still in place. Have more confidence in my work. I have a few rattles that I can’t remember if they were there before the work so will keep driving and see. These larger tires really change the steering. Next week go see my alignment guy and see if we can dial this in better.

I'm wondering what speed humps would look with the body changes, and not worry about the hard top.

I want to drive it to much to not have a top. I may try to get a set of speed humps just so I know. Funny thing is I am not much of a convertible guy.

Well after a drive today I think maybe the 265/35/18 are just too big for the front and will not clear unless I change the radiator setup. Going to move down to a 235/40/18 and see if that gives me the clearance I need. Side note, I think pictures make this look better than it actually is lol

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Hope the new tire size helps out. I know you're kicking yourself but I am really digging the hypershift paint.

Luckily the tires were just the rear set I had originally on the car so no money wasted there. I bought a used set of 235’s to make sure they fit before spending real money. Did the same thing with the 335 rears.

I agree! It's gorgeous!

Thanks. The color is ZBR from KP pigments, fell in love with it when I saw it on Dipyourcar YouTube channel.

Fantastic work! Super impressive!

Welcome to the forums

The change to the 235 tires gave me the clearance I needed. I will look into fitting the 265’s at a later date because to be honest I think they looked better. There is stretch going on now which isn’t the best look.

265 tire up front

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235 tire


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Ordered these to try and get some more contact patch in the rear. Hope it works. They get installed Thursday, I was going to attempt myself but figured I need a new alignment so let the show do it. http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1708958509.jpg