Kirk's Ride...

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

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.

[SoCalKen]

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

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by SoCalKen

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??? 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.

[Kirk]

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?

[Gary in BR]

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.

[boxs2000]

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.

[ElStevano]

I just think the S looks to be off center. It's a little to the right. This will show up more now that the gemballa is below it on center. My two cents.

[Kirk]

I spent some of this weekend working on the stereo system. Here are some pictures of my solution for the dash speakers. Now I'm not much of a custom stereo fabricator. The last time I built a box and amp rack was 1996 and I've NEVER done vinyl work before. So consider this a work in process. I'm not sure I like it this way, so I'm open to constructive feedback. My SO says it looks messy where I cut the mounting tabs off the 4" speaker. I need to do something (some kind of trim) around the edge of the 4" speaker to clean it up a bit.

Here are the speakers I installed. The stock OEM speakers are on top and the new speakers are on the bottom. You can readily see why I needed a baffle to give me more clearance under the speakers. The magnet on the 4" speaker is HUGE compared to OEM and I needed a lot more space to make it fit. It fits fine with a 1/2" lift from the baffle and top mounting.



Here are the speakers installed. The Polk tweeter has a base where you can aim it a bit. I built a "pod" for it to sit on so that I could aim it directly into the cabin rather than up at the windshield. I think this looks a little funny, so I may not keep it. I'm trying to go for the best sound though. Please note that this will NOT work for most setups. The driver's side speaker will be too "bright" with it so close to your ear compared to the passenger side speaker. In my system I will be using time delay on the driver's side speaker to compensate and to put it in phase alignment with the passenger side speaker, so I'll be able to get away with this.





Kirk

[Kirk]

Okay... another mod update.

Gary in BR was kind enough to part with his carbon fiber mirror housings from GT Motorsport. He bought them for his car, but then didn't install them. He gave me a GREAT deal on these, THANKS Gary!!!

Any way, these are complete housings, not just the cheap covers you find on eBay. I doubt I saved any weight, but I have some continuity between my carbon fiber hood and side vents now. Installation was pretty straight forward, but not easy. Anything like this that's made from fiberglass and carbon fiber, whether it's a hood, bumper, or mirror housing, will not be as "perfect" as the OEM piece. It's just that the process of manufacturing the fiberglass part is far from ideal and shrinkage causes some problems. So these were not a perfect fit, but I worked with them to get it as close to perfect as I could. Overall I'm pretty pleased with the results.







Kirk