Porsche 991 Front Emblem Removal

Posted a new video up on my (GTSilver) YouTube channel....

I have a new GoPro camera and was trying-out various settings and formats for recording in a POV mode. Audio is crap -- sorry!  I'll be adding an external mic ASAP.  Image quality is only good considering the poor lighting conditions in my garage and as much movement I make while talking!  Overall I am happy with the camera, but will continue to experiment with settings until I get better. I've decided that I'll move my posts, DIY and other various articles to Video.

Enjoy....

2015 991 GT3 Cup Technical Guide

The attached is something I didn't realize I had access to until just recently, and thought I'd pass along for those who didn't know they did either!  LOL

The 991 GT3 Cup technical guide is full of interesting details about the inner-workings of the 2015 991 GT3 Cup Cars -- a whopping 321 pages of illustrations, tips, pics, and procedures!  Wanna know all the functions of the steering wheel and ICD (Intelligent Color Display)?  Dismantling the bearings in the gearbox?  Replace the piston seal rings in the brakes?  It's all there and more!

Download Link:  2015 991 GT3 Cup Technical Manual

Enjoy!!

Plastidip Touch-Up: 991 C4S Wheel

As posted in my "Removing Plastidip" post, I am also touching-up the other three wheels on my '14 991 C4S.  Mounting snow tires for the NE winter caused some of the matte black dip on my 20" wheels to pull-up.  Although in the previous post I was stripping the Plastidip from the wheel before respraying, I only needed to do that for the single wheel.  The other three wheels had only minor pulls or rips in the black dip coating -- so I chose to clean the wheel up and respray.

This video (a bit better quality this time!) captures the process I followed to get each wheel back to "new".

Appreciate any feedback / comments!

Plastidip Touchup and Respray

For the previous post, check out:  Removing Plastidip from 991 C4S Wheel

Plastidip Removal: 991 C4S Rear Wheel

I posted a (lame...) DIY video over on my GTSilver YouTube page:

The Background:

Short story is that I have had my '14 Carrera Classic wheels painted with matte black Plastidip for about a year now.  I just had new tires installed, and the process of doing so pulled some of the 'dip off.  The drivers side rear was in the worst shape and I decided to strip the whole wheel face and reapply.  The other three just needed minor touch-ups and a respray.

I am loving this stuff...  Even with harsh weather of all kinds, and many washings, the Plastidip on the wheels has held-up extremely well.  I had one small instance months back where I had a "chip" in the "dip", and that was easy to fix without refinishing or painting the whole wheel.

I'll post another vid and more on the touch-up process later....

I have never removed Plastidip before, so went into this project with my fingers-crossed.  I found tons of videos and online descriptions about painting wheels with dip, but very little on removing.  So I decided at the last second to record my work on video, using my iPhone 4S.  I know, the quality is crappy, and editing is very poor.  I'll work on improving as I do more videos.

Removing Plastidip from Wheel:

The video is self-explanatory.  I start-out peeling by hand, then try a heat gun, then WD-40.  All worked, with the WD-40 being very effective without any harm to the underlying wheel finish whatsoever.  While the peeling by hand method works, and applying heat made peeling a bit easier, the WD-40 method was super effective and I probably should have started there.

Totaling the time I spent stripping, cleaning, and respraying this one wheel I realize it is not a "quick" process.  I believe I spent several hours just getting to a point where I was applying new dip.  But this was my first time, and I was experimenting (and trying to video with one hand and work with the other), so I don't think next time it will take me nearly as long.


As I was starting the respray, my phone memory hit a wall, so the video abruptly cuts off...  but you aren't missing much.  I applied something like 7 coats, going heavy as I want the next time I have to strip the dip to be easier.

Happy to answer questions, provide more details if it would help you!  Just reply / comment on the video or this post.

Thanks!

991 DIY: Removing / Installing Front 3-Point Seat Belts

Following is a brief DIY for those of you out there who want to swap their factory three-point seat belts for different color, need to remove the seat belts for another project, replacement after an accident, etc.  I don't have any pictures at this time, sorry.  This will have to be purely a description DIY until I can find some time to do this on my own C4S.

Let's go!

Preparation:

• You will need to have an assortment of Hex and Torx bits, sockets and a screwdriver available.  I don't have all of the individual sizes available at the moment.
• Have a set of plastic interior trim tools handy.  You will need to remove the trim covering the belt assemblies, etc.
• Disconnect the negative (-) terminal to the battery!  You must do this to avoid any issues with the pretensioner unit, either triggering or throwing fault codes.  Also remove the key from the ignition (if you have keyless entry, remove the starter key from the dash).  I have read various opinions on whether this is necessary on the modern P-cars or not, but why take the risk?  The official PAG Workshop Manual (WM 691119) instructs the disconnection of the battery, so I say do it!

Note:  The seat belt pretensioner unit is no longer usable or safe once it is triggered.  The unit triggers an explosive charge to lock the belt when there is an accident, and should then be replaced.  It works in conjunction with the Airbag (except in rear-ender where the airbags won't fire.)  If you need a replacement, you can order from authorized Porsche parts suppliers.

• Lastly, You are going to be working in some tight spaces.  Consider whether it would be a whole lot easier for you if you remove the front seats entirely from the car.  Totally something even the newbie DIY can tackle, and will make your life a lot easier.

Step 1: Remove B-Pillar Trim

• Loosen the three-point set belt bolt found at the bottom near the door sill.  There is a small black plastic cap covering the bolt.
• Using a trim tool or your fingers, grip the belt "collar" trim piece on the B-Pillar on the sides and pull directly out from the pillar. 
• Release the unlocking bracket on the clamps and pull it forward.
• You may need to use a pointy tool or wire hangar bent to release from within the pillar...
• Slide the trim piece down the belt out of the way (exposing the seat belt mounting points which were concealed by the trim piece).

Step 2:  Remove the Rear Side Panel Trim

• You may want to remove the C-Pillar trim piece (upper trim piece where the rear seatbelt enters the roof-line belt collar - and you will need to remove this piece if you are replacing the rear seat belts...) first.  The trim pieces for the side panel, roof panel, and C-panel all come together back there, and it may be less risky to remove the C-pillar trim first.
• Remove the rear seat cushions -- you can just lift up and pull forwards.
• Unscrew the rear seat back locking pins from the side panel -- using a socket or drill with appropriate bit ( I believe this is a T25 bit), unscrew the locking pin and place aside.  This is the only fastener holding the panel in place.
• Grabbing the side panel trim at the bottom and top, pull the side trim panel up and swivel it inwards from the top towards you.
• Disconnect the electric connector to the side panel speaker
• Pull the backrest bearing collar inwards and off.

Step 3:  Unfasten Front Seat Belt Mounts

• By the door sill, locate the lower mounting point of the front seat belt, which you loosened previously.  There is a plastic cap over the bolt --  remove the protective cap.
• Using an appropriate Torx, unscrew fastening screw and remove belt fitting and spacer sleeve.
• At top of the belt, at the B-Pillar, use your Torx to unscrew and remove fastening screw.
• Pull the belt strap out of the guide bar.

Step 4:  Remove Seat Belt Pretensioner Unit

• Moving down the B-Pillar, locate the Pretensioner unit.
• There is a single fastener holding the pretensioner unit to the pillar.
• Using your Torx, unscrew the fastener.
• Pull the pretensioner unit up and out of the pillar.

NOTE there are electrical connection(s) to the pretensioner!  There are variants, based on geographic region.  Following is for USA.  Rest of world there is only a single electrical connection -- I can't confirm this, but if you find one or more connectors, they all work the same way.

• Release the locks on the electric connectors (USA) on the seat belt pretensioner using a screwdriver.
• Disconnect connectors

And you now should have the entire seat belt assembly removed from the car.  Carefully wrap the removed / stock pretensioners and seat belts and store someplace safe -- or if the pretensioners have already been triggered slice the belt and toss since like an airbag, the pretensioners shouldn't be reused once triggered.

To install new belts and pretensioners, follow the above steps in reverse order.  Also, note that when hanging the new belts, you will want to "turn" the lower mounting plate of the belt 180 degrees before fastening-down.  

If you are tackling this project and take some pictures, I would be happy to post them and give you photo credits!  I think some pictures of the pretensioner, trim panels removed of that area would be very helpful to others!

DIY: Porsche 991 911 Rear Side Window Removal and Installation

(Posting this up without all of my pics for now -- can't find 'em.)

I had an opportunity not long ago to assist in the removal and installation of a rear side window on a 2013 Porsche 991 Carrera.  More recently, a 6Speedonline / Rennlist forum friend reminded me that I never posted the step-by-step online.  So here we go, I'm finally getting-around to it!

Following are the steps required for removing the rear side window and installing a new unit.  While this was a replacement, if for some reason you needed to remove an undamaged window, the steps are the same and you can simply re-install the existing window unit.

First, a few notes to prepare for the project:

• If you are replacing the rear side window, know that the glass and lower edge trim are provided as a single part -- you can't just buy the trim piece separate from the glass, you have to order the "kit" which is a factory-installed glass and trim unit.
• The lower trim moulding around the side window is not removable from the glass assembly.
• To remove the glass assembly from the car, you will have to remove the roof trim moulding along the upper-edge of the window, as well as the B-Pillar interior trim panel.  I will describe those in the steps below.
• Be very careful with the roof trim moulding, as it is very easy to bend, kink, and scratch.  Otherwise, have a new part ready to replace the one you mangled!
• When installing the glass assembly, you will have to adjust the window glass so that it is aligned perfectly on the x-and-y axes of the forward window panel.  This is a bit tricky but take your time and it will look great.  You need to get the side window glass flush at the surface plane but also the gap between the rear and front glass panels must be perfect or the window looks a bit crooked.  Hint:  Get a measurement of the gap between the two BEFORE you remove, and keep that handy.  What I did that worked great is to find a small piece of cardboard, or rubber sponge, something you can mark and cut it into a gap template and use after the new glass is installed to check the gap from top-to-bottom -- I'll go over this in more detail later.

You will need the following for this project:

• Torx with T-20 star bit
• Metal shaft with 90 degree bent tip (or something similar for releasing B-pillar clamp)  
  
• Microfiber towels
• Painters tape

So let's get started!  I've snapped a few reference pictures  (NOT from the replacement project I did recently) from my own 991 and will use these to point-out where the fasteners are and so on....

Start on the exterior of the car.  With the door shut and window fully raised, you should get a measurement of the gap between the front and rear side windows.  You don't have to do this, but later in this DIY when you install the new window it will help you with the alignment of the rear side window.  To create a gap tool, take a piece of cardboard, or something similar, and hold it flat to the gap.  Take a pen and mark the the edge of front and rear windows.  Slide the template down along the gap to check consistency of the gap.  Once you have the measurement, you can notch the template so that you have a simple "tool" to check the gap.  More on that later.

Step 1:  Roof Trim Moulding Removal

You need to remove the roof trim moulding that runs from the windshield back to the rear window.  This is a single piece.  Blue arrows in pic below indicate the trim piece to remove...

To do this you will need to do the following:

1. Pull rubber door seal from the areas indicated in the next picture.  The rubber seal comes away from the frame very easily -- no adhesives or anything to worry about.  You need to pull it down and out of the way, and completely off if you want to protect it.  It is a single rubber piece that could easily get crimped if you are not careful;  

   

   Pull down, and near the door corner begin pulling towards front of the car as you pull down...

2. Get a Torx tool with T-20 tip.  Along the front section of the moulding that you just exposed by pulling the rubber door gasket down there are 8 small clamps that you need to turn 90 degrees to release the moulding.  

   

   Small plastic fasteners are easy to break -- gently turn them 90 degrees. 

   These are small plastic parts that break easily so take your time and don't force or you will need to replace them;  

   

   After pulling rubber door gasket down, the moulding fasteners are along edge inside the gap.
   

   

   There are a total of 8 small plastic fasteners for just the front section of moulding.

3. Once you release all 8 clamps, start at the front, and slowly pull the trim down towards the ground, away from the roof -- NOT forcing it or bending, just free from the clips you loosened in step 2.  As you pull the trim down, get a body trim tool plastic wedge and put it between the trim and the car body to keep it away....  The moulding is stiff.
4. At the rear section of the trim, there are (3) three larger clamps.  Sorry I don't have a picture of these....  You need to release these to get the trim fully removed.  They are like hangar-clips that the trim piece snaps down onto.  Starting at the B-pillar, begin pulling the trim free of the clamps, at the same time sliding it forwards, away from the joint where the upper trim connects to the lower part.  

   

   Circled the joint in the trim where front section separates from trim fixed to window.

   Be careful with the trim piece as you pull it away from the car entirely, as it is somewhat flimsy.  Find a safe, soft place to put it, and perhaps even cover it with a nice comfy blanket or something!

Step 2:  B-Pillar Interior Trim Removal

The B-pillar interior trim panel must be removed to access the release / alignment bolts.

1. You may want to loosen or even release entirely the seat belt at the bottom mounting position to give you some more slack;
2. Pull the belt collar trim (the small plastic part with a slot where the belt disappears into the trim) away from the B-pillar trim.  You can put your fingers into the slot and pull up while pulling out from the pillar and it should just pop off;  

   

   The belt "collar" comes off easily and you can slide it down to the floor out of the way.

3. Pulling from top and bottom (interior trim tools work best), pop the B-pillar trim / cover away from the pillar.  There are 3 small pins that snap into the pillar - one at the top and two at the bottom.  But in the middle, just above the opening for the belt collar, there is a clamp that must be released by poking it from "inside" the B-pillar.  Porsche has a special tool for this, which is just a handle with a metal shaft bent at the end.  I found a picture of the tool shown above.  The tool must be inserted in a hole just below the clamp location, just above the bolt holing the seat belt to the pillar, and then angled up and turn to press the tip of the tool against the clamp to release it from "inside."  Hard to describe the motion -- but any tool with a similar tip could be used.
4. With the clamp released, you can now pull the B-pillar trim away, and if you haven't released the seat belt, just let it slide down out of the way.

Before we move on, just a few comments.  First, if you've made it this far without breaking anything, you are doing awesome!  The clips/clamps and moulding are fragile, and you might break them.  But just keep in mind that the hardest part is now out of the way!  

You may also want to consider removing the C-pillar and rear side trim panel (directly below the window) but they are not mandatory.  Also, if you don't remove the rear side trim panel, you may want to put some microfiber towels, or painters tape down along the bottom edge of the rear side window  to protect the panel from any scratches, scuffing, etc. as you remove / replace the window assembly.  If you do want to remove either trim pieces, and would like a DIY post on doing so, just let me know....

Step 3:  Rear Window Removal

With the moulding and trim removal out of the way, you can now focus on removing the rear window assembly.  There are only two (2) fasteners actually holding the window in place -- the rest are just guide tabs!

1. Unscrew the two mounting / fastening nuts on the B-pillar;
2. With the fasteners removed, gently push the window from the interior near the front of the window until the two positioning pins are free of the B-pillar;
3. At the same time you are pulling the window towards you away from the car body, note there are a few guide pins (top / bottom of assembly).  As you clear the pins from the body, begin carefully pulling the entire window assembly towards the front of the car.  There is a "slot" pin at the rear of the window assembly trim that slides into a slot in the C-pillar area.  This is the final point of contact that you need to clear.
4. Take the entire window assembly away from the car....  If you are re-using this assembly, I would recommend wrapping it up in a blanket or towels to protect it.

You are done!  You should have the moulding, trim, and window assembly safely stored somewhere until you need to replace.

Before we get to the installation part -- now is a great time to thoroughly clean all the nooks and crevices around the door, window, and roof trim that you normally would never be able to reach during even a concourse detailing session.  Wipe all down with cleaner of your choice, and maybe even a bit of wax, like detailers wax.  But if you don't really care about things like this -- just skip it!

Installation:

All of the removed parts are installed by simply reversing the steps outlined above.  The re-installation of the roof trim moulding is a bit difficult, as you have to get it aligned perfectly to avoid having a crappy-looking external joint near the back of the side window.  I've seen a few cars on the dealers lot that look a tiny-bit "crooked" or not fully aligned.  So take your time and hopefully you'll have a good time with it!

When re-installing the rubber door gasket, take your time and make sure that it is slotted properly around the entire perimeter.  The tricky section is the right-angle between the B-pillar and roof line.  You may need to force it in a bit, but make sure it is not folded-over or creased when doing so.

However, one step that you will need to go through is alignment of the rear window.

Window Alignment:

Once you get the rear window assembly mounted back into the body, you use the two positioning pins to move the glass into the proper position before tightening-down the fastening nuts.

To do this, get your tool that you used to mark the gap between front and rear side windows.  Move the rear window around until you have the correct gap top-to-bottom between the two windows.

At the same time, you should make sure that the edges of the two windows are on the same plane -- ie so you don't have the rear glass edge sticking-up higher than the front window edge.

Once you feel the glass is aligned to perfection, tighten-down the two fastening nuts on the interior of the B-pillar.

And that's it!  You should now be able to put all the trim bits back together and finish-off another successful project.  

If you found this helpful, please "Like" and comment.  Appreciate any and all feedback!  Also don't forget I am open to suggestions for other projects if you have a  need, comment / contact me through this blog.

Thanks!

Porsche 991 911 Center Console Switch Box Deconstruction

Porsche 991 911 Center Console Switch Unit

Here's another one for all fellow "tinkerers" out there...  I have been thinking about how the 991 center console switches function, and what one might be able to do with the "blanks" that all of the 991 models seem to have (I have seen fewer blanks on a GT3, but nearly all other 991 models have at least 3 blanks in the console switch unit).

What follows is a step-by-step breakdown of the center console switch module from a 991.  In this particular case, the donor did not have PSE (Thanks for fellow member for donating!).

My thinking is this... that although the unit is a single controller, we should be able to figure-out how to modify the switches in order to do something with the blank spots, such as build-in custom switches for radar, other accessories that one might want to install.

The challenge in doing anything with this console module?  It is a single control board, with various switches mapped and likely programmed specific to the car and its' options (ie when you add PSE they replace the entire switch unit, not just add a single switch).

In the "old days" you could pull a single, isolated switch from the dash or console, and replace with something else, or at least gain direct access to specific wires and such going to the accessory buttons.  Nowadays, all of the switches are on a single circuit board, and tie-in to the car network (CAN) through a couple of wires and a connector.  So you really can't just move the switches around, remove something and replace with a different function, etc.  At least not yet...  LOL

Let's get to the deconstruction.

You need to remove the switch module from the center console, so if you haven't already you should review the DIY I posted previously on just how to do this.

DIY:  Center Console Trim Removal

So if you've followed the removal DIY, disconnected the cable running to the switch-box, you should be holding the 'black box' at this point.  Here is the module sitting on my bench...

This is the "underside" of the switch box.
Note the part #'s S/W and H/W versions

After you have the module on your bench, flip it over so you are looking at the "bottom."

There are 6 torx head screws that you need to remove, as indicated in the following picture.

The small screws removed....

Using the smallest T bit that I have I removed each one and set aside...  These are small, so if you have a tray or even a small plastic sandwich bag you should put them in a safe place.  Would hate to lose one of these buggers!

With the screws removed, gently pull-up on the the back-cover and put aside.  You'll find as you separate the back from the main assembly that there is a rubber gasket layer sandwiched in there (covering the circuit board) - you'll notice it in the area where my thumb is in the following pic.

Place the back cover aside.  In this picture, you can see what you've exposed is a single circuit board.

Now pull-up gently on the circuit board, separating it from the main assembly.  Do so carefully, as in the picture below you'll find that there is a spring in the center -- don't lose that!

Red arrow indicates a small spring in the center of the assembly.

Have something handy, like a small bowl or plastic bag, to put the small bits in.  Place the circuit board to the side.

Since the "top" of the switch box assembly is face-down on your table, you are now looking at the underside of the switch actuators....

I've indicated where the "blanks" are so you can see the difference
between those and the actual "live" switches from the console...

The first observation about this is that given the space under the dummy switch covers (effectively they are hollow) it is very possible that an aftermarket / custom switch assembly can be added.  More on that later.

Let's move over to the circuit board for a moment....

On one side you see the standard green board with some chips and other bits visible.  Flip it over and on the other side is a rubber gasket of sorts...  You can pull that off - there isn't anything holding it in place that you need to worry about.

The small metal discs correspond to the switch contact points, which in turn are mapped to the corresponding circuits for controlling specific features / functions of the car.  This is all via CAN-BUS and programming, so if you were expecting to be able to tap into specific wiring for a switch you are out of luck!  These are pressure sensitive contact points, and represent either an ON or OFF state....  The rubber gasket is effectively protecting the circuit board and contacts from any moisture, such as when someone might spill or drip beverages onto the center console.  Might make for some sticky buttons, but looks to me like there wouldn't be much chance for shorting or other electrical problems!

Back at the "rear" of the switch console box -- you can remove the three grey assemblies, taking care with the center one which has a spring.  The plastic bits literally just fall-out so nothing tricky needed for removal.

In the case of my car the switch buttons are to control the metal sunroof.  Open / Close / Partial settings and corresponding buttons.  If this were a cab car, I would expect these buttons to control the top open / close functions.  In a coupe with NO sunroof option?  Not sure what would be there. Probably just blanks.

To remove one of the buttons that are already in place, you will need to push it out from the rear.  I used a small micro-screwdriver and gently pushed until it popped-out a bit and I could pull it the rest of the way out.

Here's a pic of the switch face plate or cover removed...

The face plate is a small thin black plastic part with a small hole in the corner (for the red indicator light).  NOTE that the face plates are right - or - left side specific.  For example, the PSE button can only be installed to the right bank of buttons...

Once you have the switch face plate removed, you can remove the chrome plastic bit from the front of the console box.

In the following picture, you can see the "dummy" or blank button face removed, with the small chrome bit removed from the "real" button just above.

Here you can see the difference in a "dummy" button  (circled in red) and "real" or working button (upper space in the pic below) when the faces of the two buttons are removed.  In the functioning button, note there is a black "box" of sorts inserted, which when face is on and pressed contacts with the actual contact switch on the circuit board.

You can remove the black plastic "box" in a switch by gently pressing on it from the face side to push it out the back of the console box.  And do the reverse if you are inserting a new button....

Following is a pic showing the two buttons on the right that have been completely removed from the switch box.

And from the reverse side....

Pic of the various bits deconstructed and laid-out on the bench.

So, you've deconstructed your center console switch box...  What can we do with this information???

Well, I didn't do anything.  I simply put it all back together again.  But, I now know that if I really wanted to add a "custom" switch integrated to look factory installed I could.  It isn't going to be fully-integrated at an electronics communication level (CAN BUS), but a physical integration with the switch face plates.  To add a custom switch, you will have to create an access port into the space directly under the switch face plate you are customizing.  This means drilling a small hole on the side of the console box and routing your wiring through and into the space directly below the switch box.

Of course, until someone does this and shows in detail, it is just a concept.  Couple of other things to know -- You can purchase a switch repair kit from Porsche that includes replacement switch face plates, switch console box, and other bits.  I think this currently runs about US $225 or so.  Also, this kit is needed whenever an owner adds Porsche Sports Exhaust to their car, as the kit includes the new button to turn the PSE on and off.  Here is a pic of the kit (swiped this from an online marketplace):

Note also that the switch repair kit does require a match to your VIN -- in the example pic above, this kit was obviously for a car that is NOT a convertible, and doesn't include the metal or glass sunroof option, since there are no buttons for roof control in the middle of the switch panel.  So check your VIN when you order a switch repair kit.  And no, getting a kit with the additional buttons DOES NOT mean that by installing you will magically have PDCC, front lift kit, PSE, or a convertible!!!!  LOL.  These are replacement buttons and other parts, but you will need to get any programming done by the dealer (or independent with the PIWIS tool and the option codes for your car from the factory).

Anyways, this is a LONG post -- sorry all!  I've run out of steam.  Happy to answer any questions if you want to post them.  I also have a spare switch kit that I can dig into in more detail if you have any questions.

Thanks!

DIY: Porsche 991 911 C4S Vinyl Hood Wrap

Well honestly, before I go any further, let me say that this is going to be more of a "review" rather than a true DIY.  Yes, I'll explain how I went about wrapping the hood of my 2014 991 C4S -- but I won't show you step-by-step pictures.  I was considering this to be a "dry-run" as I have never wrapped the hood of the 991 before, and I really wasn't sure that I would want to post anything about it if I failed....

Well, as you can see from the following pics, I didn't "fail."  Seriously, you would have to get pretty darn close-up to my hood to see the telltale signs of an amateur job.  Amateur?  Yes, I have to admit that despite the countless hours of practicing on various objects, wrapping other parts of the car (including the roof panels), I don't feel that I could claim that I am wrapping at a professional level.  More on that later....

Here's what I did:  I ordered-up some 3M 1080 vinyl wrap in Matte Black.  I wanted to match the roof vinyl that I applied a while back.  Having a 'free' Saturday night, I decided last night to do the wrap.  The conditions weren't that great.  The weather here in PA has been cold, and even with the warmer temperatures the previous day the temp in my garage was about 43 F at the car level.  I do have a construction propane space heater, but literally ran out of propane in the tank minutes after firing it up.  But I decided to do the project anyways.  So I cranked up some music, got a beer, and started the prep work.

I had thoroughly hand-washed the car the day before.  It is very clean...  But I then worked the hood with a clay bar to get the surface super-smooth in prep.  After claying, I rubbed-down the surface with a prep solution.  Afterward, I opened the frunk and removed the hood badge.  This was the first hour of my project.

With the surface ready, I then checked the temperature at the hood surface.  I was still on the fence about whether I should ditch and wait for warmer weather...  It too read out at 43, so I continued.  My next dilemma was what to do about the Xpel front-end wrap that was already in place.  My car came from the dealer with a partial front-end wrap, so the hood has a line across it about midway.  This is barely noticeable on my GT Silver car, but of course putting the matte black vinyl on top of it would make the line stand-out much more.  But at the same time I didn't feel like peeling it off as I was pretty-sure that I would probably pull the black vinyl off anyways, and didn't want to leave my front-end unprotected ( I drive this car almost daily).  So the decision was to wrap right over the Xpel.

I placed the 5'x6' vinyl out over the hood, face-down.  I am doing the wrap on my own, so I would have to work the vinyl a bit at a time and use tape to hold it in place at times....    With the vinyl face-down, I first cut the larger piece into a shape roughly outlining the overall shape of the hood, but with enough vinyl around all edges to work with.

I then flipped it over, and taped it in place.  Then, I pulled the vinyl and backing down carefully towards the nose of the car overlapping, stopping about half-way down.  With the paper backing exposed, I peeled it off and cut it away.  Then carefully placed the sticky vinyl area back into previous place, touching in a few spots to set it in place.  I could then start working the top areas of the hood up to the windshield edge to remove all air, wrinkles etc.  This went extremely well and was very easy.  Looked perfect and not a single hint this was installed by me... !

Once that section was done, I pulled the vinyl near the nose of the car up and overlapped the area I just finished.  I pulled the paper backing off and carefully pulled the sticky vinyl down to the nose.  This didn't go as well as the upper portion of the hood.  As the hood slopes towards the nose, it is also curving a bit, and the vinyl was not cooperating.  I had some "wrinkles" and other issues in the surface.  BUT, I found that this is where patience paid off.  I simply applied heat, and working in smaller sections at a time slowly worked all of the issues out of the vinyl until I found myself at the front edge.

I used my heat gun to continue working-out any bubbles or bumps in the hood, until it all appeared perfect...  Now I turned my attention to the edges and trimming.  I slowly went over the entire hood edge, working the vinyl over and under the edge.  I then got my knife and began slowly trimming the excess vinyl off.  By far the trickiest area to work on were the two corners of the hood at the windshield.  There wasn't much clearance to work the vinyl from underneath, and the corners are very pointed in shape.  In the end I got it done simply "ok."  I will want to redo that area no doubt.

I also had some trouble in couple of areas where I trimmed a bit too much away, and the wrap didn't come far enough under to be consistent.  I don't see the edges of the hood, but looking at the edges when the hood is open you can see the problem.  I am too anal to let that go....

And basically that is it!  I finished.  Took me about 2 hours and 45 min, including the prep work.  I put the badge back on, and went back over everything with my fingers, squeegee and heat gun to make sure I didn't overlook anything.

Here are my pics taken the day after...

I am not going to show you a picture of the underside of the hood...  like I said, the trimmed edge didn't come out as perfect as I expected, so I will need to spend more time on that aspect of the project next go-around.  Which I plan to do.  In the next few weeks...  LOL.

Needless to say, I am very happy how this turned-out.  I had my brother-inlaws both inspect the work in the daylight today, and they literally didn't notice anything until I pointed it out.  Like the line across the middle of the hood where the Xpel film ends.  Or the small creases up under the edge near the windshield.  They had no idea this was vinyl until I told them.  So that made me happy!

Stay tuned, I am going to re-do the hood, and may just tackle other parts of the car soon!

DIY: Porsche 991 911 C4S Roof Wrapping

Some time back I decided to add some unique style to my 2014 911 GT Silver C4S.  Among other things, I changed the chrome accents / badging to matte black, changed the headlights out to OEM Black PDLS units, changed the entire exterior mirror assemblies to matte black, and so on.

Additionally, I decided to change the entire roof to matte black, using vinyl wrapping material.  I didn't get a good set of pictures throughout the installation process, but will post here what I do have...

I chose to use a 3M 1080P product, which for those of you who aren't familiar is an automotive vinyl wrapping material that is very durable, easily installed, and completely removable without negatively impacting the OEM painted surface.  I had read a ton of articles on vehicle wrapping, and my opinion is that 3M manufactures one of the better-quality, "higher-end" materials for wraps.

I ordered the vinyl material online from a reputable 3M vinyl supplier, along with some basic application tools such as surface prep, squeegee, and blades.  I don't remember the exact cost, but I think for the surface area I am dealing with I spent about $75.

Here's a "before" picture - not the best view, but clearly shows the three sections of the roof that I had to deal with in my case (obviously, is you have the 'no-sunroof' option, you will only have one large surface to cover....).

My '14 C4S roof includes the metal sunroof panel, so my roof is 3 separate areas.

To get started, make sure the  car is very clean, focusing on the surface area you are going to cover.   I did my usual wash routine, then used some cleaning solution to thoroughly remove any oils, grease, wax or other residues from the surface.  If your car roof is "dirty" you may also want to clay bar the surface -- in my own case I didn't feel this was necessary as the surface felt very smooth and "slippery" to the touch.  Wouldn't hurt to clay anyways, but I decided not to.

You should also make sure to get the area completely dry, paying attention to the areas where moisture might remain for an extended period, such as around the weatherstripping....  I used a air hose from my compressor to blow the water out of the cracks around the area.

 The next step -- and although some may feel this is not necessary -- is to remove any exterior trim, which in my case meant the weatherstripping / rubber gaskets that run along the roof edge as well as around the metal sunroof on my car.  I found that the stripping is actually 5 separate parts -- there is a single 'box' of weatherstripping surrounding the sunroof panel, as well as 4 smaller segments - 2 on each side, front and back, where the stationary sections of the roof meet-up.

I started with the rubber stripping around the sunroof.  I found that this is a single large / continuous rubber piece, a square...  I opened the sunroof, and began at a corner.  Gently pull the rubber up and it should start sliding off as you work around the perimeter of the sunroof.

Start pulling-up at the corner of the sunroof panel.

Be careful, and try not to stretch the rubber too much.  It does deform, but you can totally reuse this piece as I'll mention later.  I am not sure what the price is to replace, and it shouldn't be too bad, but if you are careful and take your time you shouldn't have to worry about it.

Pull-up carefully around the perimeter of the sunroof.

Once I had the rubber gasket removed, I found a nice safe place and put it aside.  I then turned to the 4 smaller rubber strips at the front and rear of the "side rails" along the roof.  Note that this is also the area where you would install the footings for a roof rack.  At first I was thinking that these rubber pieces would come off similar to the rubber running around the sunroof.  But that was not the case....

These rubber sections are anchored much more "permanently" than the sunroof gasket, and in fact I can confirm that these are intended to be replaced entirely upon removal.  I confirmed by looking-up the Porsche PIWIS official workshop manual article.  That would be "WM 605419 Removing and installing seal for roof assembly" for those that care....

You gently pull-up on one end of the rubber seal, and then you'll have to cut-off and remove any plastic bits that remain.  So, I didn't do this!  LOL.  I was worried about cutting something important, so I merely pulled the piece up and positioned out of the way while I worked in that area.

Red arrows indicate front of roof above windshield where I pulled-up the rubber weather stripping.

Each of the strips pull-up at one end, but are secured in place by a plastic fastener that unless you do want to clip off and replace you should take care to not tear or deform.

This is a close-up of the rear roof area, just above rear window...

With that taken care of, I again made sure all moisture was removed from the areas where the rubber gaskets are.

My next step was to lay-out some knife-less tape where I wanted to trim and tuck the black vinyl.  The piece of vinyl was already the best size -- that being a 5' x 4' single sheet.  I decided to use the knife-less tape so that I could avoid any risk of putting scratches in the paint around the roof when trimming the vinyl to three sections.

This method is also great if you don't want to remove the rubber gaskets...

Make sure to leave enough tape sticking-out so you can easily grasp and pull once the vinyl is down.

Make sure to overlap the tape so that you can "cut" the longer
side rails first, then the perpendicular shorter sides second.

Once all the tape is laid-out, you can get ready to place the vinyl.  Unfortunately I did not keep the pictures I snapped while working on this part of the project.  Sorry!  I'll do my best to describe the effort....

If you ever watch the thousands of YouTube videos out there for vinyl wrapping, you'll notice that in most cases roof wraps are put in place by at least two guys, maybe more.  But I am here to tell you that you can do it with a single person, or one set of hands!

I took the vinyl piece, and leaving the backing-paper in place laid it out over the roof.  I then started at the front and pulled the backing half-way towards the rear of the roof.  I pressed-down in a couple of spots near the middle.  As I did this, I began moving my squeegee evenly around the vinyl in a center to front pattern to firmly set the vinyl in place.  I continually worked the squeegee to remove any bubbles or wrinkles from the vinyl, progressively pressing more firmly as I worked the entire area.

Once I felt that I had done enough on the front-half, I reached under and pulled the remaining backing off.  I then started near the center of the roof and while pulling the vinyl taught towards the rear windows began working the squeegee to press the vinyl onto the roof.

I have to say that this was a really simple procedure once I got going.  Just take your time, hold the squeegee at the right angle to the surface and pay attention to detail!  I spent maybe 45 minutes tops getting the vinyl down.  In comparison, I spent nearly two hours prepping for this moment!

Once I finished, I let the surface rest for a bit.  Had a beer, or two.  I then went to the knife-less tape "ends" and started firmly pulling to create my cut lines.  This was a bit tricky at first, but you just have to firmly yank the sting to get the first cut line started.  If you laid-out the tape correctly, you should have a very nice straight line following the gaps around the sunroof and rails.  You can go back around and just yank the tape remnants out from under the vinyl.  This is easy....

Next step is to begin tucking the edges of the vinyl wrap down into the sides of the sunroof / roof panels.  If you've removed the weather stripping / rubber gaskets, this is very easy.  Just take your teflon squeegee and fingers and firmly push the edges down.  If you've cut properly, there should be plenty of material to attach so you won't have any edges exposed to the elements.  You could also use an edge sealing fluid to more firmly bond the edges to the roof, but I felt that tucking the edges under the weatherstripping should be sufficient.

Here's a pic of the front section after I've tucked the vinyl and replaced the rubber strips...

Follow the same to complete all edges around the roof, and replace any weatherstripping once you are satisfied you have a good bond at the edges.

Boom! You are done!  If all went smoothly, you should have a great-looking wrapped roof panel!

This is an "older" after-shot back in warmer weather and before
I changed to the black mirrors....

Next up?  I am going to wrap the frunk hood in either same matte black or may try something very different and go with a matte blue metallic!  

Thanks for reading!!!