Ger's 2003 Porsche Boxster S

[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by RichRobby

I went ahead and bought 50 watt LED T10 bulbs to brighten up the obscured original sidelight but unfortunately they are too long and hit the projector shroud. They would have been great as they had a lens on them and would be super bright. Will have to find another use for them or try to return them.

Trying to find out the physical length of some 15 watt ones now.

I guess it would be useful to know how bright they need to be to pass an MOT?

Would much prefer to find a solution that kept the wiring original rather than go down the route of having to use the foglights.

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If you could keep me in the loop with where you get to, I'd be really greatful!

[geraintthomas]

One thing I've loved on Porsche's are black wheels with a silver lip. In the summer, I may do this to mine.

I'm also painting the inner barrels of the alloys silver too so you get a clean inner wheel. Like these:



Notice the inner barrels being silver, as well as the silver rim? Black inner barrels make the wheels look too dark. But these are gorgeous.

Did a quick Photoshop of my wheel (didn't do the inner barrel silver yet):



Thoughts? I'm worried that the alloys don't suite the colour theme, and that if I were to do this, I'd have to change wheels.

Do you think they work?

[Dubaday]

with the inner barrels painted silver to match the lip, those wheels will look sick!(in a good way of course)

Randy

[RichRobby]

Originally Posted by geraintthomas

If you could keep me in the loop with where you get to, I'd be really greatful!

If I split my lights again I would dremmel off part of the projector shrouds to allow the longer sidelight bulb and make it more visible. A bulb with a lens on it would then be fine I think. Seems the current clearance is about 38mm and the bulb I bought was 45mm long. Ordered the 15w which is 28mm so will see how that is when it arrives.

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[RichRobby]

Originally Posted by geraintthomas

One thing I've loved on Porsche's are black wheels with a silver lip. In the summer, I may do this to mine.

I'm also painting the inner barrels of the alloys silver too so you get a clean inner wheel. Like these:

Those wheels look superb .
Makes me think I should paint the side vents, radiator vents black and do the wheels like you suggest on my speed yellow boxster. Not sure I should do it to the oem 5 spoke wheels though, what do you think?

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[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by RichRobby

If I split my lights again I would dremmel off part of the projector shrouds to allow the longer sidelight bulb and make it more visible. A bulb with a lens on it would then be fine I think. Seems the current clearance is about 38mm and the bulb I bought was 45mm long. Ordered the 15w which is 28mm so will see how that is when it arrives.

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Unfortunately I've just read the MOT guidelines and they say the surface of the bulb cannot be 50% covered.

BUT, it also states that the front 'positioning lamps' (sidelights) should just be two lamps, either side of the car, are forward facing, same height (no specific height), white in colour (blue tint is acceptable as long as it's predominantly white), and that's it. It states that DRL's aren't testable unless they are replacing the positioning lamps, in which case they must dim when the positioning lamps turn on, and extinguish when the headlamps turn on. But mine aren't running as DRL's as they don't activate with the ignition, they're just replacing the sidelights.

So these DRL's are white, same height, either side of the car that illuminate when the switch is turned to the positioning lamp indicator. That's all that's required of sidelights. The only thing they can't be is different height, a different colour other than white, or the surface covered 50% by an object.

So in your case, if you don't want to fit DRL's like I've done, you'll have to either make the front foglights the sidelights (and fit a dimmer LED H7 bulb), or replace the main beam bulb with a sidelight bulb and have the dipped beams come on when you flash (but you'd be flashing HID's, which could be bad?), or drill holes in the headlight. That's your only options!

I'm going to the garage on Monday to confirm all of this, but the information was from the 2017 MOT guidelines.

Originally Posted by RichRobby

Those wheels look superb .
Makes me think I should paint the side vents, radiator vents black and do the wheels like you suggest on my speed yellow boxster. Not sure I should do it to the oem 5 spoke wheels though, what do you think?

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Are they 17" turbo 5-spokes, 18" turbo 5-spokes, or 18" carrera 5-spokes?

[geraintthomas]

Some random photos:

[RichRobby]

Originally Posted by geraintthomas

Are they 17" turbo 5-spokes, 18" turbo 5-spokes, or 18" carrera 5-spokes?

These are carrera wheels aren't they? They are 18".
I see why you asked as they don't have a defined edge to paint / leave silver.

Good info about the MOT.
Although I suspect that a garage wouldn't check to see if a bulb is 50% covered if it was bright enough.
If it's a problem and yours passes then I can always connect DRL's to the sidelights loom just for the MOT.



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[RichRobby]

Duplicate post

[geraintthomas]

They'd look like the anniversary wheels if you did it to yours, which I'm a fan of

[geraintthomas]

A better photoshop of the wheels, showing the silver inner barrel:





I'm still undecided.

[RichRobby]

I've received and fitted the 15w LED sidelight bulbs. They are a big improvement over the standard bulb but they don't get around the fact they are obscured. The light output is probably OK at night but touch and go whether they would escape attention in a day time test. I just don't know. Could do with an opinion from an MOT testing station, but I don't have a contact to call upon. A couple of rubbish pictures, both at night and one with and one without the phone flash operating.
Would definitely be OK if I hadn't painted the headlight inners black though.



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[Jgkram]

Here are a couple of examples of carrear wheels that have been custom painted. Although Ger's are not the single spoke variety you can get the picture. I know with his talent he could put these guys to shame.

[RichRobby]

Originally Posted by Jgkram

Here are a couple of examples of carrear wheels that have been custom painted. Although Ger's are not the single spoke variety you can get the picture. I know with his talent he could put these guys to shame.

I like, they look the business to me.

Could this be done DIY successfully?

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[Jgkram]

I thought they looked pretty cool too and they have the lighter colored rim that Ger was wanting. I've got a set of carrear's in my shed waiting for a refurbishment. Maybe I'll give it a shot.

[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by RichRobby

I've received and fitted the 15w LED sidelight bulbs. They are a big improvement over the standard bulb but they don't get around the fact they are obscured. The light output is probably OK at night but touch and go whether they would escape attention in a day time test. I just don't know. Could do with an opinion from an MOT testing station, but I don't have a contact to call upon. A couple of rubbish pictures, both at night and one with and one without the phone flash operating.
Would definitely be OK if I hadn't painted the headlight inners black though.



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I'd still be careful bud! They look bright enough, but it does say that the face can't be covered more than 50%. If they look at the headlight and can't see the bulb they may fail you!

Originally Posted by Jgkram

Here are a couple of examples of carrear wheels that have been custom painted. Although Ger's are not the single spoke variety you can get the picture. I know with his talent he could put these guys to shame.

They look gorgeous. And thank you I'm still not sure mine are suitable for the colour scheme, so I'm sticking with anthracite.

I went out for about 10 minutes and did a quick sand and polish on one of the spokes, and it came up glossy as hell. I've decided to take the wheels off, re-spray the barrels (in silver), lacquer them so they're easy to clean, then I'll sand and polish the faces back to a perfect gloss. Basically just going to give them a good refresh.

Anthracite looks amazing on this black Boxster:



But it's a slightly different shade. I love the shade on that and on the wheels you've posted, so I may have to re-do them in another shade of anthracite, preferably one with a high metallic look.

Originally Posted by RichRobby

I like, they look the business to me.

Could this be done DIY successfully?

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It can. If your alloys are already silver, tape up the edges, spray with primer, then base coat, remove the tape, then lacquer so that the edges are protected.

[geraintthomas]

Okay sorry for the repeated photos of the wheels.

I don't think the silver lip on the black wheels would work on this style. However, a fully black wheel could work.

I'm down to these choices:

Anthracite with silver barrel:



Black with silver barrel:



Gold with silver barrel:



Surprisingly, gold looks good with the black paint.

Opinions?

[BruceH]

Anthracite with silver barrel would be my choice, black would be my #2 choice.

[Terryg]

Love the gold Geraint, much as I like black wheels, that's just too dull.

[geraintthomas]

Thanks for the suggestions I think I may just keep it safe to be honest, may just keep the anthracite but refurbish completely in a better, darker and more metallic anthracite as a best of both worlds, while keeping the inner barrel.

In other news! I've replaced my rear control arms today. £120 for the two, did it in 2 hours, and my word the car is silent now. Not a single bit of knocking, so I'm very happy.