The Blurpening, Covid Coping & Returning to Form

[SlimKlim]

So I sold my M3 in January after 10 years and 50k miles of ownership. It was a hell of a run but I wasn't enjoying owning it anymore, and didn't like the idea of turning it into something I actually wanted to drive. After that many years of ownership I was into the car for so much more than it was worth, continuing to "invest" in it was just a gross idea. The plan was to just enjoy my GTI and bank up some money for a house or something eventually. Then the Trump virus happened, and all of a sudden I barely need a car. Also found myself fuckin' bored. Real bored. 

So, prologue over, I sold the GTI to a dealership in MD and bought this one-owner 2007 Cayman S, midnight blue over stone gray with 51,000 miles. No exciting options, but it has the premium package that includes Xenon lights, power seats, rain sensing wipers & the colored center caps. It was sold new in NJ but has been in FL since about 3,000mi. It showed regularly at Audi Porsche dealerships for maintenance, the last thing on record was a water pump at 48,000mi last year. So I took a flyer on it and had it shipped up from Tampa. 







So they serviced it but I'm pretty sure they never washed it. Pretty ridiculous oxidation on the top of the front fenders.






I started with a wash & quick 2 stage cut and polish so I could stand to look at the thing.





Then my used car ritual of deep cleaning the interior. This water was clear when I started and the interior didn't look particularly dirty. People are gross. Go clean your seats.





Next order of business, bitchin' tunes. 



Turns out it's kind of a bitch to install a head unit in a car with a fiber optic Bose system. You can send the stock HU out and have a stealthy bluetooth feature added to stream music, but you obviously need to use your phone for directions. Your other options are to rip out and replace the entire audio system, or get a fiber optic signal converter to make a aftermarket HU work with your factory amp and speakers. 

If you go that direction you still have two options, a "full" integration kit ranging anywhere from $350-750 that retains steering wheel controls, fader & balance settings and some other shit, or you can go the ebay option for $100 that just converts it to a left & right RCA signal. I went for the last option to get Carplay (really just Waze) but not drop a frickin comma on it. 

Long story short, these cars have terrible grounds and I spent a ton of time trying to sort out nasty alternator whine. The magic formula is to tap (fused) power and ground straight off the battery for the HU and signal converter, and install 12v noise filters on both the constant and switched power leads.

I also essentially ruined the $40 dash install kit I bought from crutchfield and had to pony up for an $80 one that actually came with a cage to slide the HU in and out of. The cheapest option usually isn't. On the plus side, this thing is a dream to run accessory wires on, there is a blank grommet behind the battery that pops out above the throttle pedal.



IDK if we have a post limit so I'm gonna play it safe and break this up. Sit tight.

[SlimKlim]

Bitchin' tunes sorted I moved on to other matters of great importance and urgency.

I'm not sure the original owner ever changed the wiper blades. Probably didn't want to get scammed by the Big Wiper Industry, just like they avoided having one pulled over on 'em by the car wax conspiracy or leather conditioner conglomorate. There was also a small rock chip, so I just went in for a new windshield. 





















And I changed some filters.





While ur in there





And I dyed the engine cover carpet to undo some Florida sunfading.





Didn't get a final photo of it, it's not a perfect match but it sells well enough in the car. 

Porsche wants $300 for a new cupholder cassette, doesn't sell any internal pieces. I took mine apart and all that was broken was this pin, preventing the right cupholder from staying closed. Spot of superglue and we're back in business. 

[SlimKlim]

The leather was cardboard hard so I used the last half bottle of leatherique I had to breathe some life back into them, the last time I let it sit outside for about a day and a half in the heat to really steam it in, and they've mostly bounced back aside from a few stiff spots. 




Brake calipers were looking kind of rough, so I ordered some replacement stickers, polished them out, ceramic coated them and then replaced the lug bolts and center caps. 

[SlimKlim]

It also went to the shop at some point during all this and got a new passenger's side inner tie rod, alignment, 4-wheel balance, had a minor lighting issue traced back to a shorted DRL socket, and got it's VA inspections done.

My first polish didn't really do much so I took another run at it and put my back into it. I ordered a 3" backing plate and pads to handle her curves more easily, and did a full 4-stage correction starting with a super aggressive extreme cut compound. It's still not perfect, but it looks like it should now.








I also installed the Rennline pedal set because the gas is spaced juuuuuust far enough away from the brake pedal to be annoying to downshift. The pedal set adds a little tab to the left of the throttle that makes rev matching a breeze. 



A girl's gotta know how to accessorize: 



And most recently, I'm testing out SEM Color Coat on the door sills, which is supposed to replicate the weird, mid-2000s-german-car rubberized interior coating. It works well enough for the black sills, so I have a color card on the way to see if they sell anything that matches the Stone Gray. 







Upcoming items: 
-Replace broken seat folding levers (right side of both seats)
-replace fuel & washer fluid caps
-Dye shift knob & steering wheel
-Paint center console to match exterior color
-Ignition coils & plugs
-Trans & brake fluid flushes
-replace cowl & rear hatch seal
-replace rain gutter gaskets on roof
-Soul PP X-pipe exhaust tip
-OEM all red taillight swap
-Adjust parking brake
-repaint rotor hats to hide the rusty bits

[SlimKlim]

Oh yeah and glamour shotz

[Gordonovski]

After having driven it slightly angrily in Annandale, I see this car as the top tier, highest Pokemon evolution of a Miata.

[Senor_Taylor]

What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the PCA, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on cars and coffee, and I have over 300 Porsche Hats. I am trained in clay barring and I'm the top polisher in the entire Porsche Club of America. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of VAG spies across the USA and your VIN is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You're fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can out hard-park in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with boxster. Not only am I extensively trained in taking photos of watches, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the Porsche Owners Facebook group and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little "clever" comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You're fucking dead, kiddo.

[SlimKlim]

A+ for effort and execution

[CaptainHenreh]

beautiful.

[*insertusernamehere*]

Bootyfull, I want one

[BLINGMW]

OH you missed the.... um... nothing.
It's awesome, way to go! 

[Jake]

Nothing like returning to the MM forums by using ObamaMicDrop.gif as your first post back. I love it. Can't wait to see in person and drive a lil' bit.

[SlimKlim]

[ScottyB]

at first i was like, wow that's a really clean, nice example!

then i see you get into your detailing tornado of justice and turn the mini-project intensity up to 11. whoa.

looks amazing man. not kidding when i say that would be my #1 trim, in that exact color. its perfect. really glad you're enjoying it. they're the ultimate everyman's sportscar as far as i'm concerned, and frankly they're better than any 911 that doesn't have turbskoos strapped to the back and/or doesn't have "GT" in the nameplate.

[SlimKlim]

Detailing Tornado of Justice would've been a way better thread title.

For <$30k I can't think of another car I'd rather own. I could wax poetic about it all day. It's the perfect mix of sporty & precise but also comfortable, civilized and usable. It's so friendly to drive Lauren did some parking lot practicing for the first time in probably 6 years and didn't stall.

I don't want to curse myself but SO FAR it's been surprisingly easy to work on, it just feels like it's put together with more thought than any car I've owned before.

I remember when these things came out people were calling them the 911 killer, I think the only thing a base 997 911 really has over one of these is being marginally more comfortable and quiet on the highway but they cost a ~$10k premium over the 987s.

[DavidL]

Beautiful man!! Your OCD detailing makes my heart happy.

Hope to see it in person some day and check it out, I would guess I'm not the only one here that has one on the proverbial mental short list!

[SlimKlim]

Thanks man! You're always welcome to stop by!

[ScottyB]

Detailing Tornado of Justice would've been a way better thread title.

i think we found your username title by accident

[SlimKlim]

oooooooooh, yes we did

[ScottyB]