The Houston 04 SE

[GTA_G20]

PM sent. But it looks like we know the same parts person lol

[78F350]

Still going well with no significant issues. I feel that it is completed as a 'project car' and future work will be maintaining '04 Boxster rather than recovering a flood car.
Some fall foliage along the Illinois River this morning:

[jmitro]

awesome project and neat to see you're in OK

[Homeoboxter]

Very well done. Oklahoma looks great this time of the year. Especially with a Boxster in the foreground.

[10/10ths]

....to get these, stat!!!

https://www.bumperplugs.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=71

[78F350]

Originally Posted by 10/10ths

....to get these, stat!!!

https://www.bumperplugs.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=71

Thanks for the reminder. That's one of those little things that can leave a car with an unfinished look. I actually have a pair of Home Depot/Lowes plugs ready to paint (and the paint) sitting in a 'to-do' box. I'll get it done this week.

[78F350]

I went out wandering the back roads with the SE late in the afternoon. Eventually the pavement gave way to gravel and dirt. As I was taking pictures it occurred to me that I forgot to do the bumper plugs and the rear spoiler is a little mis-aligned. Darn, maybe tomorrow. Pardon the ugliness...

[78F350]

Here it is with the wrong wheels on. I never got around to replacing the front tires with the Indy500s. The old front tires need to go. I remembered, too late to order them for a trip, so I just swapped another set of wheels on temporarily.
Victor Equipment Lemans with matte black Plasti-dip:

Ouachita, Three Sticks overlook

[jmitro]

you have such beautiful roads and scenery there. here in central/western OK it's mostly flat straight roads with a stoplight or stopsign every 1 mile

[78F350]

Originally Posted by jmitro

you have such beautiful roads and scenery there. here in central/western OK it's mostly flat straight roads with a stoplight or stopsign every 1 mile

Just read this as I wait for my lunch in Mena, Arkansas. About to start the Talimena Scenic Byway. One of my favorite OK roads. ...the long way home.
Edit: Home now and really enjoyed the drive. My favorites are in Eastern Ok, but it looks like there are some roads to explore across the west too. https://flavorverse.com/10-scenic-drives-in-oklahoma/ Quartz Mountain, Ok-8... The Talimena is probably worth a Saturday day trip with a good stop for lunch.

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by 78F350

Just read this as I wait for my lunch in Mena, Arkansas. About to start the Talimena Scenic Byway. One of my favorite OK roads. ...the long way home.
Edit: Home now and really enjoyed the drive. My favorites are in Eastern Ok, but it looks like there are some roads to explore across the west too. https://flavorverse.com/10-scenic-drives-in-oklahoma/ Quartz Mountain, Ok-8... The Talimena is probably worth a Saturday day trip with a good stop for lunch.

Wow I'm jealous

[78F350]

Every time I see the pictures with those matte black wheels on the car I cringe. They were only on it for about a week while I waited for new tires. I'm definitely going to have to get some updated pics.

[Fiddlebog]

Originally Posted by 78F350

Every time I see the pictures with those matte black wheels on the car I cringe. They were only on it for about a week while I waited for new tires. I'm definitely going to have to get some updated pics.

I'm not sure about the wheel pattern, but I like the color. Maybe a bit closer to satin as opposed to flat matte would be better, but I like satin black. Especially on that silver!

[78F350]

Originally Posted by Fiddlebog

I'm not sure about the wheel pattern, but I like the color. Maybe a bit closer to satin as opposed to flat matte would be better, but I like satin black. Especially on that silver!

Those wheels actually came with in gloss black with a chrome lip and I painted them with Plastidip when I had them on my wife's car. The chrome lip didn't look good with her black/white theme.


Now they are back to the original paint (stripped with WD-40 and a pressure washer) and on my daughter's Arctic Silver '99.

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by 78F350

Every time I see the pictures with those matte black wheels on the car I cringe. They were only on it for about a week while I waited for new tires. I'm definitely going to have to get some updated pics.

They look good to me. Glad to see you're still not having problems with it. I thought you were insane for buying it and even crazier for trying to fix it. Lots of respect for pulling it off

[78F350]

When I first restored the car, there were some small cracks in the leather on the driver's seat. I repaired them with some leather repair adhesive and dye. The repair held up for a while, but eventually cracked worse.


I looked at Lseats.com and saw that they had some nice replacement leather, but not the correct color. I considered replacing both seats, but hesitated because I want to keep the integrity of the Special Edition interior.

One day I noticed that 'Oldcarguy' was doing some upgrades on his car including a full rehab of his seats. I asked and he offered to send me his old seat leather, removed intact, for free. Today, I received leather from both seats. The driver's seat has some slightly noticeable restoration and the passenger seat is almost good as new. I plan to use the leather from his passenger side and replace my driver's side seat base. I'll patch the hole for the controls, but it will not be visible against the center console.

Thanks again Fred, that leather is going to look great in my car.

[Oldcarguy]

You’re welcome! I hope the passenger seat base leather works out, looking forward to seeing the pics.

Originally Posted by 78F350

When I first restored the car, there were some small cracks in the leather on the driver's seat. I repaired them with some leather repair adhesive and dye. The repair held up for a while, but eventually cracked worse.

I looked at Lseats.com and saw that they had some nice replacement leather, but not the correct color. I considered replacing both seats, but hesitated because I want to keep the integrity of the Special Edition interior.

One day I noticed that 'Oldcarguy' was doing some upgrades on his car including a full rehab of his seats. I asked and he offered to send me his old seat leather, removed intact, for free. Today, I received leather from both seats. The driver's seat has some slightly noticeable restoration and the passenger seat is almost good as new. I plan to use the leather from his passenger side and replace my driver's side seat base. I'll patch the hole for the controls, but it will not be visible against the center console.

Thanks again Fred, that leather is going to look great in my car.

[78F350]

I finally finished installing the new leather base on the driver's seat. Rather than strip the original seat, I used a heated seat base with damaged black leather as a replacement. Stripping off the original leather without damaging the seat was slow and difficult for me. I did not look forward to the installation and kept putting it off for later.
I finally bought a good set of hog ring pliers and that made the assembly go much easier than the removal.



While I had the seat apart, I replaced the damaged webbing on the base by stitching on a scrap cut from a trunk liner. Most of the seats that I have seen from after '99 (the older seats used metal springs) have had deteriorated webbing.



Through the whole process, I didn't use any guide or YouTube video, but just muddled my way through. If you ever reassemble a seat, be sure to pay attention to the proper order of assembly. I took mine back apart twice to get the controls, wiring, and plastic cover on correctly.

I had thought of using the passenger side seat that Fred had sent me, but in the end, I used the driver's seat that he had done some leather repair on. His work had come out pretty well and I didn't see the sense in wasting it. The interior could use a little clean-up, but here it is as I was finishing putting the seat back in.

[grc0456]

Originally Posted by 78F350

I finally finished installing the new leather base on the driver's seat. Rather than strip the original seat, I used a heated seat base with damaged black leather as a replacement. Stripping off the original leather without damaging the seat was slow and difficult for me. I did not look forward to the installation and kept putting it off for later.
I finally bought a good set of hog ring pliers and that made the assembly go much easier than the removal.



While I had the seat apart, I replaced the damaged webbing on the base by stitching on a scrap cut from a trunk liner. Most of the seats that I have seen from after '99 (the older seats used metal springs) have had deteriorated webbing.



Through the whole process, I didn't use any guide or YouTube video, but just muddled my way through. If you ever reassemble a seat, be sure to pay attention to the proper order of assembly. I took mine back apart twice to get the controls, wiring, and plastic cover on correctly.

I had thought of using the passenger side seat that Fred had sent me, but in the end, I used the driver's seat that he had done some leather repair on. His work had come out pretty well and I didn't see the sense in wasting it. The interior could use a little clean-up, but here it is as I was finishing putting the seat back in.

Nice work. You’re a braver man than me!


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[GTA_G20]

Looks amazing