Phase 11/12 (late write up for posted videos)
As I get closer to completion of this project (if I ever do finish) the type of jobs I'm doing get more and more about the fine details. It's always been about the details but now I'm getting down to smaller things.
There is however one more big job to complete – the suspension upgrade. I ordered the TechArt Coilover kit plus front Axle lift. I placed the order two months ahead of the date I'd set to get it all installed to make sure the parts arrived. However dispite this and despite TechArt informing Tech9 in Hale Village the package was ready to ship. However two working days before my car was due to go in, they contacted Phil at Tech9 to say the package would now take a further two months to ship.
Meanwhile I was getting on with other jobs. My carbon bucket seats which I was never fully happy with as the leather was worn and tired looking had to be removed from the car. This is because I spoke to Linas at DesignLS and explained I wanted a custom re-trim carried out to bring them up to standard with the rest of the interior which looks new. I arranged to have the seats sent down from Cheshire to his workshop in near Heathrow Airport. The finished seats are fantastic, I was blown away by the quality of the finish.
Also I had ordered two new stickers for the car. The stickers which show the tyre info and VIN number for the driver's door frame needed to be updated as they have different graphics and one sticker was absent from my car. To purchase from Porsche costs £200 EACH! And they can take up to 6 weeks to have them made. Also they would show the wrong info as my car has the RS wheels with different width tyres etc. This items arrived and looked great. The only issue I had is one of the stickers was slightly smaller than OEM, but I can live with that. Stickers were pretty straight forward to fit (even I can do it!)
As I was preparing for a road trip I wanted to get the fresh paint on the car protected. Initially I was told the paint needed to cure for about 3 month before I could wrap it with PPF, so I left the car in my garage after the last bit of painting was done (roof). Once home form my 6 month stint at sea I was able to get this done.
I arranged to take the car to Reep NorthWest to have a paint correction and PPF bra fitted. The correction wasn't really required because the paint was almost flawless already but it had picked up a couple of scuffs and one rear quarter didn't have any fresh paint so had swirl marks still on it. I arranged with Reep to take my car and on the day drove down to the premises in Deeside. However it turns out I had actually been talking to Reep Yorkshire! I checked my emails and I saw I had neglected to even mention that I wanted to take the car to the NorthWest unit (20 minutes from my house). By this time I had no way to re-organise so I had to drive the two hour trip to North Yorkshire. Frustrating! Also meant that I'd have to return home that evening and drive back up three days later to collect the car. Not a big drama but annoying when you weren't expecting it. The guys at Reep were excellent, very accommodating and helpful allowing me to film and to dictate the first day somewhat so I could film it. I opted for a clear front bra, which covers the front wings, bonnet, mirrors, A-pillars and front of the roof. I may however get more fitted as I don't like the way you can see the line on the roof, so maybe in future this will change.
PPF going on after paint correction
For the suspension I had to scramble to try to find a solution. I was told the lift kit was ready but the coilovers were not. As it's all made by Bilstein to TechArts specifications I decided I'd just purchase the B16 Damptronics kit and fit the Axle lift. However this also seemed to be a problem as I found out when I contacted Bilstein UK. The B16 kit had been on backorder for 8 months.
I decided to look at other manufacturers for a solution. I really wanted the lift kit but I was told that I might not necessarily need it if the coilovers were set just right. Another of Tech9's customers has a 997 GT2 and he had coilovers fitted with no lift kit and he seemed to be happy. "Just view your front lip spoiler as a disposable item that can be replaced every 18 months or so" I was told. In the end I went with the Ohlins as after reading many, many forum posts I realised I couldn't find a single negative review of their equipment. As opposed to the Bilstein which I had read quite a number of negative (as well as many positive). The great thing was that as well as the reviews the equipment would actually be quite a bit less expensive than the £7k I had spent on the TechArt kit which never arrived.
Suspension arrived quickly however another issue. The Ohlins comes with a PASM cancellation kit which tells the car to not throw up a fault when you press the PASM button. However Ohlins said it was on back order and wouldn't be ready for 1 month. I was due to leave for a trip to Monaco in a few days, so some more research and we decided to try to pull the PASM fuse and deactivate it in PIWIS - it worked! So if you are buying this kit and your car has PASM, don't spend £400 on a PASM cancel kit, just follow this instruction.
The car looks amazing and it feels the last part of the puzzle has been inserted. The car feels finished to me now. I will add more parts such as a roll cage but mostly just little things now. In the next article, I'll talk about how the car drives now it's complete. It's quite a contrast!
Links
Reep Group
http://www.reepgroup.co.uk (make sure to arrange with local people!)
Tech 9
http://www.tech9.ms
Stickers
http://car-bone.pl (can have them made to exact spec)
Suspension
https://www.ohlins.com
Seats finally back in the car. Look amazing
New stickers are excellent quality (will be interesting to see how long they last getting washed etc.)
Finished detailing
Suspension all finished ready for my road trip!