Ger's 2003 Porsche Boxster S

[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by BruceH

You may want to use some VHT caliper clear coat on your calipers. Otherwise, I don't think the decals will last long.

Amazon.com: VHT SP730 Gloss Clear Brake Caliper Paint Can - 11 oz.: Automotive

Lovely, thank you!

[grc0456]

Originally Posted by BruceH

You may want to use some VHT caliper clear coat on your calipers. Otherwise, I don't think the decals will last long.

http://www.amazon.com/VHT-SP730-Gloss-Clear-Caliper/dp/B000CPJLV2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462208020&sr=8-1&keywords=VHT+clear+coat

Yes, ordered some of that exact product. Thanks, Bruce and Ger

[geraintthomas]

Along with the leather cleaning at the end of the previous page, I managed to give the car a good coating of HD Wax this evening.

















And a better one of the wind deflector decal:

[BruceH]

Originally Posted by geraintthomas

Lovely, thank you!

Originally Posted by grc0456

Yes, ordered some of that exact product. Thanks, Bruce and Ger

You guys are welcome

[m3j0n]

the little touches make such a huge difference! great job.

[geraintthomas]

Many thanks

[geraintthomas]

Greased my brakes today as they started to squeal a little - I forgot to grease them when I installed them. Oops!

While the wheels were off, I decided to try to remove the years of brake dust/fluid stains that were on the alloys.

Before (this was AFTER I washed the wheel!):


After:


Before:


After:





They're not perfect inside, but they were a nightmare to get clean. I had to use a mix of AutoGlym Custom Wheel Cleaner, 2500 grit wet and dry sandpaper, and Meguiars Ultimate Compound. They're far better, and seeing a clean alloy wheel barrel through the spokes is far more attractive!


Back wheel:


Front wheel:


Much better, you think?

[grc0456]

Looks great. Nice result.


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[TrumpyAl]

So much better!

Have you tried an iron dissolver such as Iron-X or Decon Iron?

[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by grc0456

Looks great. Nice result.


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Thank you quite pleased with it.

Originally Posted by TrumpyAl

So much better!

Have you tried an iron dissolver such as Iron-X or Decon Iron?

Nah I haven't actually, I don't know anything about it :/ you think that would help?

[BRAN]

Immaculate!
Nice work, looks fantastic.

[grc0456]

Originally Posted by geraintthomas

Thank you quite pleased with it.







Nah I haven't actually, I don't know anything about it :/ you think that would help?

These products chemically react with the brake dust to break it down. This reaction causes the product to turn purple (and they have an odd sweet smell). Then you rinse off.

My experience with the Car Pro Iron X is it works well on removing light brake dust on wheel exteriors, but for that baked on, old, heavy duty kind in inner wheels no matter what product you use will need a significant amount of wet sanding, compound and elbow grease.

[geraintthomas]

Aaaaahhh, Merlin's Blood, Very Cherry, etc. Gotcha, I didn't know what they were called or how they worked. Thanks!

[TrumpyAl]

I agree, it would take a lot of treatments to move that kind of buildup, and you'd still have staining to remove anyway. A wheel brush like a Daytona Speedbrush is the best weapon in your arsenal against buildup of that magnitude forming in the first place - when coupled with a user friendly non-caustic wheel cleaner they make it so easy and pleasant to maintain the drum. A small brush for around the nuts and you're set.
Iron-X or the like I'd recommend before your periodic wheel wax/sealant. So every six months for me. (but we don't have salted roads to deal with down under)

[geraintthomas]

Good advice

Nothing much to report, just been running the car as usual. But today I decided to install some ambient footwell lights that are on when the lights come on. This mimicks the ambient light found up by the dome light, and bathes the foot wells in a very dim orange glow. When you open the door, a brighter light turns on.

Here's what was needed - wire, two bulbs, and a soldering iron:


Made a loom (testing it with a battery)




Then wired the positive into a 12v feed that the parking lights work from, and grounded the negative.

Done!

Footwells when you open the door (like before):


And now when you're driving at night:


Sorry about the quality, didn't have a tripod for the DSLR.

Very happy

[BruceH]

Very nice work! I love the look and the bright/dim function Pics look good enough to me.

[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by BruceH

Very nice work! I love the look and the bright/dim function Pics look good enough to me.

Thank you I've been outside about 3-4 times now (it's 23:26 over here) to look at them in the dark. It looks awesome!!

[grc0456]

That's nice work, Ger. I'm not much for electrical work. How does the parking light feed "know" the doors open or close?

I did do a mini-mod the other day. I had replaced the ashtray with the non-smokers cup a while back. Doing so left a live wire under the console that used to power the ashtray light. I removed the bulb from the ashtray (kind of tricky), drilled a small hole in the cup, plugged in the light and inserted it (fit snugly) in the hole. Viola! I did add a dab of paint on the top of the bulb to reduce glare.



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[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by grc0456

That's nice work, Ger. I'm not much for electrical work. How does the parking light feed "know" the doors open or close?

The wires that come out of the fuse box, I tapped into the ones that went to the courtesy light. They turn on whenever that turns on, and fade out as well when the courtesy light fades All thanks to Particlewave for finding the information for me.

Quality mod too! I'm tempted to get the non smokers thing as well, so this may be something I do too

[geraintthomas]

One of my alloys wasn't in the best condition, with curbing and lacquer peeling causing dirt to permanently show. I decided to give it a quick blow over with the spray cans. Only took an hour.

The alloy as it stood


This is the problem with it. This is as clean as I can possibly get it


Rubbed down the bad areas


Primer


First coat


Second coat


Lacquer


Finished


Looks much better on the car.


But then, just my luck, I dropped the wheel brace and it chipped the paint


Oops. Will go over that part another time, can't be bothered at the moment!

Either way it's far better now. To be honest I should have rubbed the whole alloy down as it's left a few areas a little 'bobbly' from where stones have hit the wheels over the years. But still, for an hours work I can't really complain.

Got me thinking though. What do you guys thing if I colour the wheels in anthracite?