Stupid 'upgrades' and headaches
 

:ah:
Seeing as misery loves company so here's my latest. Several months ago I decided to install aluminum trim rings. The adhesive of course gets in places it shouldn't and one of the rings gets scratched in the process. Fine... I clean it up as best I can.

Now I have grown tired of these rings and want to put it back to stock, but the only way to do that now is to replace the whole cluster or find a cheap one and swap the face. I tried sanding off the old stuff which was okay but I ended up leaving the rings on. Now because the plastic faces were slightly scratched around the edges I used my plastic refinishing kit, (which did work extremely well) but I ended up causing a spider crack in the backing plate of the LCD! :eek:

Luckily the unit still works and until I can get a replacement I've got to block out the crack. All this because of a useless cosmetic upgrade...grrr. At least my headers and intake had some positive effect on the car.

Any other stories of dumb things you all have done that caused more headaches than they were worth?

:cheers:
Chris

Not headaches, but I took the time and effort to do a very nice installation of the Harvey rear speaker upgrade in my '02 Box S; came out perfect.

The dumb part is I NEVER use the stereo, even on a trip, because I want to hear the car, not music.

dragonwind-

why did you decide to take the trim rings out? I like my all black interior and all black gauge cluster - but I have seen cars with the aluminum look from the factory and I think it looks fine.

did it not look right in your car? did it not adhere properly? just curious why you decided to take it out...

I wanted to go back to an original look and a couple of the rings got marked up earlier on. I have the aluminum shifter and aluminum pedals that look good, but I just didn't like the rings.
Chris

The clear part that you scratched is replaceable. Same thing happened on my 99' when I installed the rings. Totally not worth the look.

I would find a broken 986 S, instrument cluster assembly and use the clear plastic covering from that with the silver rings. None of those aftermarket ones look anything like the real thing.

The easist way to apply those trim rings is not to use glue, but intead to buy some double sided automotive emblem tape from a local autoparts store. Trim the tape into small sections and run along underside of the rings. It will stick them on firm with no mess.