Seriously, this would look so much better if it had the 550 tail lights -solid red.

Great Job!
 

Hi Kirk,

I've been watching the progress of your car. Think you did a heck of a job on it. I like the rear bumper with the exhaust moved up, awesome set up. What kind of cost to have new bumper and muffler set up like yours?

Kirk,

You did good my friend.

Honestly I was woried about the tail lights and license plate frame. But, I generally believe in the its your car at least try it. I am here to say on your car color and with the rear modded the way it is the tail lights come together and look great. I can see how the license plate fram also fits. With the 2 chrome pipes at the same level any other type of frame just would have looked funny.

There is the cutout option to increase the sound of the new exhaust. It would add even more weight but its an option.

The car looks great.

Thanks Gary. I am a bit of a chrome lover from my big, fat, cruiser motorcycle days where EVERYTHING gets chromed out. That's kind of the idea in the back anyway - polished wheels, clear lights, chrome exhaust tips and license plate surround.

I've got the Maxspeed chrome oil, brake, and windshield wash caps too and lots of chrome fasteners/covers inside the two trunks. I'll get some more pics once everything is really done.

Yes, yes, yes.... the engineer in me really wants to fab something up and it actually will be pretty easy with this exhaust. That's probably my next big project. I'm going to run bypass valves from the mid-pipes straight to the exhaust tips. If I have to go with the electrically controlled valves (rather than vacuum controlled, which are hard to source), then I've found that MSD makes an RPM adjustable control switch. With that you can even set the valves to only open after a certain RPM - pretty trick. :D If you're still considering this mod for your car we can collaborate and I can give you some details on the control scheme I'm planning. I might not start on my car though until the fall...

I'm not sure about the bumper and exhaust cost. You'd have to check with Heinz Meis with Gemballa NA in Malibu, CA. I believe he's the only source for these parts in the US. I asked him about two years ago and I think he originally quoted $6,500, but I'm not sure if that included the exhaust. The exhaust was like $2,000 alone and the exhaust tips were $750. :rolleyes:

Personally, I've looked for good deals. My spend on aftermarket parts on my car now stands at $6,500 total. That includes GT3 front bumper, litronic headlights, carbon fiber hood, clear side markers, GT3 brake ducts, BSA wheels with Falken tires, Gemballa GT side skirts, Kokeln carbon fiber side scoops, LED tail lights, LED third brake light, Porsche speedster humps, Gemballa GT rear bumper/exhaust/tips, lower stress bars, Knock Link, TV, HKS CAMP, Polk speakers, aluminum pedals, and a few other things. The Gemballa GT rear bumper on my car cost me $700, the exhaust was free, and the chrome exhaust tips were $50. :eek:

Pictures of the Assistant
 

Thanks for the positive comments guys! I got my Assistant to go out with me to a car show today. Damn it's HOT, supposed to top 100 F this afternoon!!! After the show we ran out and got a few "hot" pictures of the car and uh... my Assistant too. :D She could barely touch the car it was burning up and she wouldn't take off the hat as the sun was just too intense. Remember the car still isn't done though, side skirts and intake scoops go on next week.

Here's my favorite composition:
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3640a.jpg

Two asses, one big, one small, which is better?
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3636a.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3635a.jpg

Too hot to touch the hood!

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3652a.jpg

I see THONG!!!

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3646a.jpg

Who loves short shorts? I LOVE short shorts!!!

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3642a.jpg

Interior Shots
 

Here are some interior shots. I carried the black, silver, and chrome theme on into the trunks.

Rear trunk with Maxspeed oil cap and painted dip stick and radiator cap. Bolt heads are covered with chrome caps:

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3656a.jpg

Front trunk with Maxspeed brake and windshield fluid caps, again chrome caps on bolt heads:

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3653a.jpg

I went a little overboard on the front trunk and even did some work under the plastic covers: red silicone hose for washer fluid, black and chrome wire loom, painted horn and other brackets silver, removed wiper motor assembly and painted it silver and replaced yellow zinc bolts with stainless bolts, chrome bolt head covers, polished aluminum AC pipes, etc.:

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3659a.jpg

NICE CAR man,
but looks like u forgot to paint the hood.
and those tail lights, wow :confused:

Kirk, you have to stop posting pictures of the under hood goodies,
I am almost done with my car (no really guys this time I mean it...I am almost done) but now you show my the chrome and paint and all, man I will never finish my car at this rate. Your car looks great.
Again THANKS KIRK!!

Hi Kirk, You got yourself a nice pair of @sses, I like them both :D and the thongy over the short shorts is as beautiful as the pipes coming through the rear bumper :) , Ok now where's my wife :p

I love your Passion man :cheers:

id paint the carbon fiber hood, and to me the tails look cheap but otherwise nice car man :cheers:

I have to concur. The hood needs paint and the tail lights have to go.

They you have a show car.

Otherwise, it looks a tad ricer the way it is.

hey, we are GERMAN over here.

:D

Kirk,

Leave the hood naked.
I was not a fan of the CF hoods until I saw a white GT2 with one like yours. It was beautiful.

I think the car is fine just the way it is. I would not choose the tails but they work on your car.

I do agree with Bruce that the car is a tad ricer. If you look in the latest Modified magazine three of their featured cars are silver with a black carbon fiber hood and they've got one on the back cover. But those are all Japanese cars. :p To each their own, I personally really like the look of the carbon fiber hood (unpainted).

I do have to agree though that the tail lights are a bit much. They've just kind of grown on me, but when I first put them on I was like :barf:
If I get serious and do any car shows I would probably switch for the shows over to the tail lights that are red at the bottom and clear/white (not smoked) at the top. I'd like to see how they would look on this car. More conservative for sure, but this is hardly a conservative car...

I just got the car back from the body shop and they did an excellent job putting the Gemballa GT side skirts on. I'll get some more photos this weekend. Hopefully my Kokeln side scoops (carbon fiber again) will arrive soon. Of course you know with the additional scoops on the side the car's going to look even MORE RICE! :eek: Ha ha ha

Who you calling RICE??
 

I have those scoops on my car!!!
Not CF but still scoops. I love the scoops and I think you will also. I do have a set of CF mirrors I was thinking of installing...hmmmm

On the tail lights: How about making a clear set. Just remove the red lens (easier said than done) and insert a few red bulbs?

What kind of CF mirrors did you get? Just the covers or the whole housing? I'd like your feedback on price vs quality, although I understand you don't have them installed yet. That's cool that you also have the Kokeln scoops.

You need the red lens/reflector on the tail lights to make them DOT legal. All tail lights need a red reflector. Look at the Prius clear tail lights like mine and you'll see that they still have a red reflector too. I put my front license plate on last night, so now my car is 100% street legal. I try to stay under the radar with the local authorities. :p Well at least I'm not giving them a reason to pull me over.

I got the set from GT Motor Sport
http://www.gtmotorsport.net/index.php?menu=Boxster+Street&page=Carbon+Fiber+Mi rror

The quality on the mirrors and the quality of every other item I have from GT Motorsports has been very good. The reason I dont have them installed is I could not figure out how to do it. I have since changed my mind on installing them and they are in my shed waiting to go on a white 996tt I have not bought yet. :)

I have the Kokeln scoops and love them, I think it changes the character of the car.

You are right about the red reflector. I say leave the tails alone they look good on your car.

Whew... this has been a long and difficult journey for me. I haven't really been able to drive the car since January. But it's gotten to a good point of completion as most of the exterior work is done. I'm just going to enjoy the car now for a while and save some money! :p

So here's the latest pics... I got a carbon fiber license plate frame for the front. Not sure that I care for it though. I've got the Gemballa GT side skirts on and the new paint has been polished out. I got a lower spoiler for the bumper painted and installed, but I probably won't use it too much as it's WAY low. I already removed it in these pictures. Finally today I got the Kokeln carbon fiber air scoops. I'm pretty impressed with the overall quality of the Kokeln parts.

All that's left is an alignment tomorrow to hopefully resolve a rub issue in the rear. Then me and my Assistant are off to the coast this weekend to take in the mighty redwoods and get some good photos of her with the car. So more pics to come next week. :D

Later this summer maybe I'll play with the stereo equipment. I've got a load of amps and processors, some brand new, that have just been taking up space in my garage for years. I used to compete in car stereo years ago. I'm getting the itch to at least drop in some decent subs. I just hate to hack into the Becker DSP system as the time adjustment for position on it is actually pretty decent - as good as my Alpine time delay processor.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3660a.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3666a.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3667a.jpg

Looks good.

The scoops are really nice.

Have fun with the stereo I cant wait to see pictures.

Here are some pics of my car pretty much in final form on the exterior. The only thing not included was the front lower spoiler. I didn't bolt it on because it would not have survived some of the rough roads we had to traverse. Me and the Assistant headed over to the Pacific this weekend and toured the redwoods and coastline. It was cool, rainy, and the car got dirty, but we did our best to get some photos to share. Enjoy!

Yes, this is actually me, the girl, and the car.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3951b.jpg

More pics, no explanation needed:

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3988b.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3725b.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3728b.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3759b.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3772b.jpg

Some more photos from the coast when the sun came out:

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3891b.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3901b.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3913b.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3923b.jpg

Okay, last set of pictures.... We got compliments on the car at every rest stop, lunch break, gas stop, etc. I guess it stands out.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3948b.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3967b.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3974b.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1.../CIMG3984b.jpg

Kirk,

Absolutely fabulous ! Great pics...

Nick

that would be a perfect boxster if the lights were stock (the oem red/smoke) and rest of the body parts painted...i dont see why you didnt paint those, reminds me of the kids running around with unpainted body pars on cars that cant afford to paint it (unless thats the reason, you ran out of money hehehe)

I like the car, well done! Like many, not crazy about the rear lights, think it takes the sophistication down a notch, but overall the car certainly gathers attention and looks nicely put together.

I actually like the unpainted hood and side scoops. The overall two-tone effect is different from all the other silver Boxsters out there, and looks good.

See you hit on it there djomlas... I'm just a kid. 37 yrs old, but still definitely a kid! Clearly you just don't get "it". Pick up any modified car magazine - Modified, D Sport, Sport Compact Car, and you'll see a LOT of cars sporting unpainted carbon fiber bits, especially hoods. It's a look, a new look. Take a look at the new Taurus and Prius and you'll see the same kind of tail lights too. Again, it's a look - a newer look.

Actually the carbon fiber hood is painted. The carbon fiber is covered with several layers of clear epoxy and/or clear coat. I bet the paint alone is 1/8" thick! But it's painted with a UV resistant material to keep it looking clear. It's actually produced and meant to be left clear like that... Clearly the manufacturer gets "it". :D

Kirk the car does looks nice in that last set of pics, and it appears as though your really enjoying it, and that's very cool. I'm jumping on the band-wagon IMO the carbon fiber (hoods) and altezza lights are so five years ago. The fact that the car manufacturers are offering such "looks" now clearly indicates the trend has passed :D :D :D ;)

Hahaha... very good point! It is pretty sad to compare the looks of my car to a Taurus or Prius!!! :barf: The truly hot look now is what they call the VIP look - a sleek looking car with an extreme drop, obscenely negative camber on the wheels, and chrome, deep dish rims. Nice look IMO, but the extreme drop is not real practical for a driven car. So I stuck with the dated, but more practical boy racer look. :p

Darn Kirk,your making your ride one of a kind.

I'm with you on the carbon fiber parts,I kinda like it. I would buy;carbon fiber mirrors,hood,side intakes and rear trunk rear spoiler.

Does the driver side intake actually make a difference in the intake system?

Ram air systems typically only work at illegal speeds 100+ mph. It should make a difference though at speeds along those lines. I know that a very similar system on my motorcycle had a measurable affect on the intake air pressure, even at more sane speeds.

The passenger side intake has a fan behind it for engine compartment cooling and it does suck in. So the scoop on that side should have a positive affect.

That is a way cool ride. The carbon fiber hood looks good, in practical terms what's the point in having it if you are going to paint it, you're not doing it for weight purposes. Oh, and the school girl photos are great also. :)
I wish I had the free time you have!
Ken

Thanks Ken! Who said anything about free time??? :p It basically took me four months to repair the rear bumper (got it cheap because it was damaged). I did it in my free time, bit by bit, batch after batch of epoxy resin and fiberglass then bondo. That was a major PITA because it took forever and my car was out of service the whole time...

It's all been worth it though. I took my 9 year old daughter out for a "date" last night to a fancy restaurant. She got all dolled up in a beautiful dress and was sitting high and mighty, like a princess, in her booster seat in the Porsche. Once on the way to dinner and once on the way home someone stuck their head out of their car and yelled "nice car" etc. at us. My daughter was grinning from ear to ear as she felt very, very special riding in Daddy's Porsche. :D

Decal Suggestions?
 

I’d like some feedback on what you guys think of these photos. I got a free decal from Gemballa to put on my rear bumper. It’s pretty nice – carbon fiber look. I got it on and shot these photos at a car show this last weekend. What do you guys think about the Gemballa decal in relation to the “S” decal on the trunk? I think it looks a little funky in the pictures. Do you think I should ditch the “S” trunk decal or does it look good as-is?

Hey Kirk,
My opinion is to remove the "S" and keep the Gembella.

I like the Carbon Fiber pieces.
As far as the tail lights, I think that they look good on your cars color but not a black or red car. The tails really go with the mods youve done on the car.

IMHO it looks a little too much. With the "s" on your windsreen, trunk and new Gemballa decal looks too much. I would remove all the decals except your "S" windscreen. Sometimes less is more.

The truly hot look now is what they call the VIP look - a sleek looking car with an extreme drop, obscenely negative camber on the wheels, and chrome, deep dish rims. Nice look IMO, but the extreme drop is not real practical for a driven car. So I stuck with the dated, but more practical boy racer look. :p[/QUOTE]

Ok I know you guys are gonna make fun of my old self because I need help clarifying this term. "VIP" look I though referred to 4 door sedans usually Japanese like Lexus, Nissan etc. I though this term originated with the Japanese car culture (VIP magazine and tuners, WALD, SPOON, HKS etc. ) were customizing their cars to compete with the likes of AMG, M, and other high price European makers and tuners. :confused:

Very nice
 

Kirk dont mind the criticism too much, these guys all have good taste and your no exception. Its brave to experiment and yours yielded good results. You car looks very unique. Love the gemballa sides and rear, it ties in the gt3 front well. The car looks very futuristic. You should take it to some shows. The back reminds me of terminator for some reason but its nice. If you get bored of the lights there are other LED alternatives out there.

I see your going for the modern interpretation of the speedster. Going along with your two tone you should consider black or carbon mirror covers ( in trend now) and covering your windshied frame with black vinly( or paint it) I have seen it and looks good ( S2000 has it too).

Overall your car will be a fine example that will be sure to show up on a google search under crazy boxtser or end up on a kids wall.

enjoy!


-Nick

haha my bad
 

oops I just realized you have what looks like carbon mirror cover already. I guess I looked at your early pics.

again one of the nicest 986 on the forum.


-Nick

Thanks Nick. Actually I am strongly considering getting some carbon fiber shells for my mirrors, not just the covers. They're pretty pricey though. What I have on the car right now are just some mirror bras that came with the car when I bought it. I put these on to contemplate the look.

I know what you're talking about with making the windshield frame black. I've been thinking about covering it with black vinyl. There's a guy in the San Francisco area named Danny who has a two tone Boxster like this. He normally runs with the silver windshield frame, but as you can see in this photo, when he went to SEMA he put on a hard top and placed vinyl over the windshield frame.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...stol6/p01a.jpg

That's the one thing that's missing in this photo of a two tone Boxster with Zeintec hard top. Looks a little incomplete without the black windshield frame.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...stol6/p01c.jpg

I wasn't sure how it would look without a hard top though, but spurred on by your comment I found this picture, which I assume is Danny's car again:

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...stol6/p01b.jpg

This is similar to what my car would look like with the windshield frame covered in black vinyl and the CF mirrors. I have the CF hood and Kokeln scoops like the car in this picture. I really like it! I think this has convinced me to at least try the vinyl on there and see how it looks. Thanks again for the input Nick!

yea i know mirror shells are expensive but sometimes they come on ebay so keep an eye out. or if you want you can just get black covers for the time being. but what you have works. yea I have seen that boxster in the pic you posted. I have talked to the guy who owns it and been on some drives with him. Im considering the black vinyl too...

Your car is still own of the coolest looking boxsters though. I have the gemballa front bumper to which you have the side skirts for, but i have aerokit1 side skirts cuz i couldnt find gemballa ones. so your car is deffinately unique.